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   station directory latest radio news air today feedback features  | |  Feedback archive An archived selection of comments and e-mails can be found below. Please be patient while the page loads. |
  | Your Letters
Wavefinder worries I bought a Wavefinder in April. The BBC's data service was dated January and was never updated. I couldn't get any other data stations, even after buying a loft antenna. I updated online to software version 1.4 and later uninstalled the Wavefinder. Wavefinder support can't tell me how to get rid of version 1.4. Since I can't therefore reinstall the software, I can't now use the Wavefinder. I bought an Evoke 1 and it's excellent. Anon You should be able to remove Wavefinder software installations in the normal way - through Windows Add/Remove under Control Panel. I usually start again by installing Version 1.2, then Version 1.4 over the top - this works for me - unless, of course, the original software has been lost. I would imagine Version 1.4 of the software is still available online, although you may have the download stored somewhere on your PC. The BBC's first 'test' DAB EPG is now up to speed, I believe. My first Wavefinder gave up the ghost at the end of last year - luckily those nice people at Level 1, who provide support for the Wavefinder, came to the rescue. The second works fine - though I don't run XP or anything like that - and I'm probably the only person not to have become completely disillusioned with the device. For me, it's the only way I listen to DAB. Ed. Happy with the service? This site is wicked......BIG IT UP Matt Exceptions to the commercial radio rule Thank you to David for his comments about commercial radio. I could not agree more. Since the Radio Authority has been formed it seems that there are no longer any real controls on commercial radio. Most independent stations are just utterly dire. There are some exceptions of course: Classic FM is a refreshingly different format produced in a professional way; the LBC stations in London provide a useful, enjoyable, interesting and informative alternative; although I preferred Talk Radio UK, Talk Sport has much to commend it for providing an excellent sports talking-shop; Saga Radio provides a service more akin to BBC Radio 2 of 20 years ago, which I think is worthwhile. Unfortunately, the vast majority of commercial local stations just seem to take the boring and bland middle ground, never daring to do anything daring, different, interesting or intelligent. They all seem to mimic each other. Even Jazz FM is playing pop music during daytime - due to the Radio Authority's lighter touch, but just inexcusable. As a result most of the valuable radio spectrum is wasted on dross - nothing more than cheap local radio 'free-sheets' playing endless repetitive music - *boring*. Thank goodness for the BBC and well done to those commercial stations, mentioned above, that dare to be different and do it very well - take a bow! Mike Pleased with DAB digital radio I read with interest one of your correspondent's thoughts on DAB. I have a DAB in the car (Blaupunkt 52), a Pure Evoke in the house and a DAB handheld. In the main I am really pleased with them all. I know there are those who aren't happy with the space (Kbps) allowed for stations on multiplexes and the subsequent effect on quality. While this is a fair point, I haven't noticed any drop in quality on the equipment I have listened on. I am sure it isn't up to the quality of FM in some cases, but I would have thought to the majority hearing, for example, Magic and Radio 5 on DAB would be a great improvement on listening on AM. I can't agree with a previous contributor to these pages who said that DAB is the new AM - I do agree with him when he calls for more frequencies to be allocated to DAB. Why not up the quality by using spare channels? I also agree with him on the power used to broadcast the service. I have no trouble at home and in the car but my DAB handheld suffers terribly when listening to it on the move or at the gym. Surely we could do with a little more power from transmitters if DAB is to succeed in this form. Overall, though, I couldn't go back to having an analogue radio in the car and on the walkman. I love the choice offered that isn't available on FM or AM here in the north east. Jonathan I think stations using different equipment can sound completely different - Primetime Radio doesn't (the last time I listened, anyway) sound all that good on DAB, but stations like The Storm and The Arrow prove that you can have really good technical quality on DAB. Many people I know that have DAB, bought it to listen to talkSPORT or Five Live. One in five of us according to recent research, bought one to listen to BBC7. For me, it's the choice, but when you're listening in the car or on the move with a lot of ambient noise around you, do you need perfect audio quality anyway? As for using up spare space - I think any extra space used by a station on DAB would attract a premium to the multiplex operator - one probable reason why the upping of bitrates isn't a more common practice, sadly. Ed. Disappointed with my choice in Gloucester I very often go on your website and read the feedbacks on DAB Radio, especially the few in the last week or so, and agree with some of them. I listen to a Radio Station in Birmingham - Saga 105.7fm - which is almost the same as Primetime Radio, on my hi-fi, but had to get a larger FM aerial and the reception is now fine. Before I purchased the new Evoke 1 DAB radio I contacted different sources to get advice and was informed that I wouldn't have much trouble in picking up the stations that I want to hear. Here in Gloucester we are not on the Severn Estuary or West Midlands multiplexes. I bought the new radio only to find that Gloucester has not "gone digital" yet. I can't get any local stations or BBC Radio 1, 2 or BBC Radio Gloucestershire and - like some of the feedbacks I have read - I am disappointed with it. There has been a lot of hype about the Evoke 1 and now they have a new Evoke 2 with FM/AM. Anon We've kept you as "Anon" as you asked us not to print your comments. However, it's a chance to pick up on a few developments. It's true that some areas won't be getting local DAB digital radio until space is made available on a future waveband "L". The BBC is working to improve digital radio reception and by the end of 2004 many places that can't pick up the BBC national services will be covered by new transmitters. The BBC digital radio website gives a predicted coverage map for next year. Band "L" broadcasts are unlikely to start until 2007/8. There's an outside chance of picking up other multiplexes if you connect an external aerial to the Evoke - though you'll need to position the aerial in the loft or somewhere high up to stand the best chance, however, there are no guarantees of an improvement. You might consider a postcode check to see if you can pick up the radio channels on Freeview digital tv. Check the Freeview site for coverage. This would give you BBC 6 music and BBC7, for example, providing you are covered by a transmitter. Finally, a poor signal isn't necessarily the fault of the Evoke - it's just that coverage is very limited in and around Gloucester. It's more the case that there aren't enough transmitters yet. If you're getting the Digital One multiplex, this is the most you can expect at the moment. Ed. DAB in Northern Ireland I think the DAB scene here in Northern Ireland is very disappointing. On our local multiplex we only have an additional three "digital-only" stations: Kiss from London, Primetime (which is still in mono, despite being in stereo on other multiplexes covering other areas) and 3C (country music). All the rest (except Q102.9 and the new BBC stations) can already be received either on MW or FM. There isn't a single rock station available and definitely no Digital One multiplex for the foreseeable future. I did contact the Radio Authority, Scottish Radio Holdings and Digital One. Scottish Radio Holdings (the operator of the local multiplex) told me that what we have now is likely to be all that we will get until the new "Band L" frequencies are issued in a few years' time. This is due to the Republic of Ireland being awarded some of the Band III frequencies, although it seems that they do not have any plans for DAB in the near future. Apparently, national stations were given the option of taking space on the multiplex, but talkSPORT and Virgin Radio declined to do so. Only Classic FM took up the offer, which I think is a great pity . People in the rest of the UK (especially London) with access to DAB don't know how lucky they are having so many new services compared to those over here! I think for people living in Norther Ireland Sky Digital is a better option for receiving digital radio at the moment. Peter The Northern Ireland multiplex - effectively a combined national-regional multiplex - was handled very differently to the equivalent one for England, Scotland and Wales. One of Eire's channels is being used to broadcast WRN and Today FM, but none of RTE's stations, which have space reserved for them, are currently being broadcast. It's a shame Northern Ireland didn't have had two national commercial multiplexes instead. I would suppose the non-appearance of Virgin and talkSPORT was down to cost issues involved with hiring space on the multiplex. Ed. Standard of commercial radio The email published from Mike in the West Midlands regarding the Radio Authority (RA) awarding a new licence in that region re-awoke an issue I took up with the re awoke last year. I live in North East England where the standard of commercial radio in this region is appalling. Every commercial station seems to be a clone of the next: the same music being played on every station. Sugarbabes, Pink, Kylie, Robbie, LibertyX, Justin, etc. When I contacte the RA, I was told that the stations did differ in their music output, some play chart music whilst others play r&b and so on, and there was certain to be some overlap. My view is that it is all 'pop' music. The RA attitude appears to be that, once the licence is awarded, the station can to a certain extent do what it wishes, as long as the laws of decency and political correctness are upheld. The quality of what is broadcast appears to be less important. So Mike, you may have to prepare yourself for more Kylie and Robbie if the RA run true-to-form. An added note; I contacted a commercial station in the North East last year regarding the repetitive nature of their music play list on all of their programmes apart from sports. The programme controller did not reply to me but, one of the station presenters did by phone and agreed whole heartedly with me that the station output was boring and repetitive. That from one of the station presenters! Surely the RA have some responsibilty to address the quality and variety of commercial broadcasting as much as awarding licences and upholding decency? David The new regulatory body, Ofcom, is to take over the role of the Radio Authority from October. The new Broadcasting Bill, which has recently been debated in the Commons, at least suggests that if a radio station wishes to change its format (i.e. switch music output or reduce the amount of speech programming), Ofcom must hold a public consultation. This may go some way in making it more difficult for stations to "head for the middle ground". Ed. Some thoughts on DAB implementation Being a radio fanatic I thought it was about time I had a play around with DAB digital radio, so I recently obtained a Pure Evoke-1 DAB radio. I just love the beautiful wood veneer case. If only all wireless sets could be made this way! As a portable radio the sound quality is also extremely good from the ported internal speaker, an impressive and thoughtful design in this respect. But is DAB worth it? Well, yes and no. For: Much improved choice Against: Low bit-rates of 128 Kbps mean relatively poor sound quality - certainly not as good as FM and nowhere near 'CD quality'. This is, in part, due to the fact that the government has restricted the number of UK DAB channel blocks that broadcasters are able to use - a situation that must be corrected. The Evoke-1 is fantastic when sat on the kitchen window ledge. Listening to the Wimbledon coverage on BBC Five Live was quite a revelation. The frequency response of the internal speaker is very good. Jazz FM sounds good on the kitchen window ledge, too. As for signal strength, in my area we are served by BBC, Digital One, MXR West Midlands and NOW Wolverhampton. In the kitchen window the signal quality shows 100 percent. This window faces west towards the Wrekin. In an upstairs bedroom window, which faces east towards Sutton, Lichfield and Turners Hill, signal quality is also good and gives additional reception of the CE Birmingham multiplex at about 85 to 90 percent. However, as soon as this portable radio is moved indoors, e.g. to a central position in the lounge reception of all signals falls off dramatically - as would be expected. I wanted to connect it to the hi-fi in the corner, but in that corner quality falls to around 60 percent, and sound quality is unacceptable. It seems that for good sound quality a reading of over 85 percent is required. DAB digital radio is marketed as a radio medium that does not suffer with the fading, hiss and crackle of analogue broadcasting. As such it is being badly mis-marketed, because although it may not go hissy and crackly when the signal falls off it makes much worse noises - bubbling and burbling away in the corner and, as the signal drops right off, is prone to some very interesting squeaks before all audio is lost. I did not expect anything else of course - I never believed the marketing men. I fully expected to have to install some sort of aerial outside or in the loft, which I did. A vertical folded dipole in the apex of the loft space gives 100 percent on all five multiplexes. Using the Evoke's tuning aid to fit the aerial, the meter shows full deflection. A coax cable runs to an upstairs bedroom and also to the hi-fi in the corner of the lounge and this gives reliable reception. DAB is the new AM, but it cannot compete with FM, for these reasons: As for outright audio quality - it's okay. It cannot be described as being anywhere near CD quality - another myth from those marketing men. But I did not expect it to be as good as CD. At 128 Kbps it is not even near FM quality - it has that slight gritty 'digital' edge and broadcasts lose all the space and ambience that are both still successfully conveyed on FM. Lower bit rate speech stations really suffer with a background of digital artefacts. Listening to DNN (Digital News Network) on MXR at 48 Kbps is very lo-fi (not that it matters too much on this type of service - which, incidentally, is a very useful station indeed). At 192Kbps, BBC Radio Three shows that DAB can be nearly as good as FM and is acceptable through a good HiFi. At 128Kbps BBC Radio Two is not a patch on FM: the low bit rate ensures that all depth and ambience is lost. A pleasing aspect is that Dynamic Range is much better on DAB than FM, even if outright sound quality is nowhere near FM. I was listening to a record programme on BBC Radio Shropshire and the crescendos on some recordings were quite outstanding - something that would not have been heard on todays highly compressed FM. Due to the relatively poor sound quality of DAB it should be regarded as the new AM - a band that gives excellent choice but mediocre quality. As an expansion to radio services DAB has much to commend it. There are a number of additional services which I would otherwise not be able to hear. As a replacement for the quality of FM: no way! To sum up: DAB: I like it for it's choice. I love the Pure Evoke-1. It is an exciting new technology. Due to restricted bit rates, sound quality will never be as good as FM or CD. The format is being mis-sold. It is not CD quality or interference-free. It should be marketed as the format that gives unrivalled choice. To give more choice and better quality the government must be pressurised to release more DAB channel blocks. The excellent Evoke-1 can tune 41 channels from 5A to 13F, but the government has only released channels 11B to 12D for DAB use in the UK. A daft and unacceptable state of affairs which must be addressed. In the main - well done to the broadcasters for bringing more choice, and especially well done to Pure for the Evoke-1. Mike West Midlands licence - let's not have another music station! I am extremely pleased to learn that the West Midlands region is to benefit from a new radio service. Much as I enjoy music, I must plead with The Radio Authority not to allow yet another commercial music station on the air. We are already swamped with plenty of music stations on FM , AM , together with a multiplicity of additional choice from satellite and DAB. Since the programming quality of Independent music based radio is already in a parlous state - with automation and networking all too prevalent - arguably due to too much competition, we surely do not need yet another rock/pop station. The Radio Authority is now in a superb position of being able to award a speech-based station that can truly compete with the output from the BBC and offer something new and completely different to this wide ranging licence area. WBC appears to be an excellent proposition, being backed by Chrysalis, which already has representation in the region and therefore a good base on which to build a competitive speech based station. Newstalk 105.2 is also an excellent prospect which should benefit from good resources. But please not another pop/rock station. Radio frequencies are far to valuable to waste on yet another such station. All of the proposed music formats are available elsewhere either on AM, satellite or DAB and to duplicate them on this valuable licence would be an inexcusable waste. This is the last opportunity to create a truly challenging, useful and relevant radio service for the West Midlands that can only be made financially viable and sustainable by giving it the opportunity of this last regional licence. Let's not throw this last chance away! Mike Search for a station Is there a 'local' radio station, trading as 'Town Talk', operating out of Devizes, Wiltshire? Can you develop a 'search' facilty, where a town, area can be entered and a list is returned of radio stations that serve the area. Radio waves, like wind, take no notice of national, county or area lines as to where they can be picked up. Some 'ground' locations are natural receivers known for the variety of radio stations, they can 'receive'. D It can be a bit of a trawl to find a particular station - that's why we have a Google search on our main listings page. A search facility like the one you mention is certainly possible but would require a database-driven solution, so that pages would be created "on the fly" for a certain set of parameters (such as a the name of a town or area, etc). Sadly all this is beyond my programming skills! As you say, radio waves can and do travel further than the area they are supposed to serve and people like to find out what they're listening to, but for the moment I'm afraid the listings are staying as they are, for better or worse! Incidentally, the station you may be thinking of is 3TR FM ("Three Towns Radio"), based in Warminster. Ed. Where's the local feel to DAB? Having this new thing called DAB digital radio is great; I haven't got one myself yet, though I will. But what is it with all these local radio stations from miles away, from places such as London, being broadcast in South Wales? Are there any plans to provide a local digital station for South Wales instead of wasting space on the muliplexes with stuff from the north west and northeast and others. There's no local feel to it! J There's an opportunity for DAB digital stations to have a much more local feel - in fact, once more digital sets have been sold and the number of listeners to DAB passes a certain threshold (say, 30 percent of all radio listening), many stations will be obliged to provide local news and info as stipulated in their format. I'll expect we'll still hear the DJ pass over a mention of your town, but there'll be local news bulletins and other local content that can be "slotted in" to the shows, along with the ad breaks. It's a bit of a compromise - there has to be enough listeners to these new stations to make them work, but alas having local presenters up and down the country affects the bottom line - profits (or reducing the losses, as DAB is an emerging technology, it is taking time for it to become widely accepted). Unfortunately, the obvious way to minimise costs is to have one presenter - and network their show. Ed What's the frequency? With the Evoke 1 or other DAB digital radio tuners, is there a way you can choose which mulitiplex frequency to scan? For instance, living in the West Midlands with a good aerial, could I attempt to tune to another multiplex outside of my area? Would I need to enter the frequency, etc? Gary The Evoke has an autoscan facility, but I'm not sure if it's possible to manually scan each "channel" for signs of any signal - there ought to be a way. I would imagine the best way to try for other stations is to stand near a window in an upstairs room and try pointing the aerial in various directions. Or, you could try connecting the Evoke to a TV aerial or investing in an external aerial. The TV aerial test isn't as daft as it sounds and is a cheap way to check for any reception of other multiplexes. Ed. Plans to broadcast European stations on DAB digital radio? I read a earlier comment about listening to French stations suggesting using the internet, using a French satellite service or living nearer to France. I assume the same applies to Spanish radio? Are there no plans to reciprocally broadcast the stations of other countries? I assume that there is no point in me buying a DAB set until that time and would be best using the web until then? Kevin DAB opens up space for other stations to broadcast - that's why we're seeing local DAB multiplexes launch on which brand new services can be found - country music stations, easy listening services, and so on. Unfortunately, there is a limited amount of space or - literally - bandwidth available to DAB stations at the moment. So the stations that are launching at the moment are ones that there is a market for and these increase "listener choice". There is also a cost issue to broadcasting on a DAB multplex, and that's another reason why it's very unlikely we'll hear French or Spanish stations on DAB. Although the educational value may be high, for example, the number of listeners wanting to tune in to such stations would be limited. If you did want to pick up French stations, you could investigate Worldspace radio - the system carries a lot of French, a few German and one or two other foreign language services - you can check for programmes, too. Alas, there don't appear to be any Spanish stations available and, not having access to any satellite services myself (I've a Freeview box), sadly, I can't comment on services on this platform. Ed Goodmans GPS280 : storing stations can be done - here's how! I have had the Goodmands GPS280 DAB radio since it was first released - I had to take back the first one for the same reasons as David, unable to store stations; the replacement radio was the same. After some perseverance I found that it can be done: When you are tuned to the station you want you must press the button that you require the station to be stored under and hold it; be patient it will store the station in this location. Then repeat the same process for the other nine locations. There is life on the other end of the Goodmans helpline but only just! Chasa Great stuff, thanks for your help, Chasa. I've forwarded your comments on to David, and I'm sure they'll be gladly received. Ed. Winamp conversion easy to follow Your information regarding converting a Winamp file to the Windows .wav format was very helpful, easy to follow and allowed me to use a song for a multimedia project I was trying to finish! Thanks so much and keep up the good work! If there are any keen golfers out there, check out UtahFairWays, as it is a website that I am a partner in. Kelly I'm glad it all made sense. I often re-read some of our articles and think about re-writing them to make them easier to read on the web, but alas there isn't always the time. Ed. Cool music mix Your stations and music selection is fantastic! Thanks for many enjoyable hours. Best of luck on the job search. Mark Thanks for your kind comments. The search is still ongoing, but hopefully won't last too much longer! Ed. Backing to Carmarthenshire Sound |
