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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
Bring back XCel! Your DAB FAQs should probably mention DRM, the digital system for AM broadcasters and the only realistic prospect of digital radio for a much of the country. I enclose a URL for Fen Radio, reflecting the Fen Radio/Star reorganisation. Bring back XCel - all is forgiven! It was worth the quirky presentation driving through their area, as there was real music, including some live. Anon True - I need to look into DRM at some point. Ed. Don't forget DRM In the excellent information that you publish on radio would you please also include information on the first new digital radios now starting to come onto the market giving reception of DRM transmissions. This is the new digital coding being used by an increasing namber of stations, including the BBC, who are starting broadcasting digital transmissions using the medium wave and short wave frequencies. This gives clear non-fading reception of national and international stations in near stereo quality. These new radios will be the first of a new generation of receivers giving listeners international access to DRM digital transmissions alongside DAB multiplexes. David David has given a website for more information. Ed. Thoughts on DAB in Cardiff Here in Cardiff I have been listening to DAB digital radio ever since the local multiplex starting broadcasting about 3 years ago. I now have a hi-fi tuner, Perstel portable and Goodmans CD/DAB combo radio and a Blaupunkt in-car DAB radio. Until recently I could not receive the new regional multiplex in my part of Cardiff, but this has now improved after many complaints. I can now tune in to the BBC national, national commercial, regional and local multiplexes giving me a wide choice of programming to choose from. In reply to Anne on 11th August 2003, regarding the sounds from her radio, I found a similar problem with my car radio. In my case I was travelling home, having just picked my car up with the radio just fitted. I discovered these bleeps and eliminated them when I pressed the 'traffic' button. Recently, I accidentally pressed the 'traffic' button again and the bleeps returned until I repressed the button. If Anne still has the problem, this may help. Dennis DAB digital radio card for Laptop? Could you tell me if a DAB card exists for use with a laptop? Paul Hmmm, there are DAB PCI cards for use in a PC, but I'm not sure of a card that you could use in a laptop. However, a Wavefinder might be the answer, although beware as this type of digital radio needs a PC with a spec up to the job. Ed. Which DAB radio to buy - Roberts RD3 or Evoke 2? I am trying to decide which portable battery operated DAB digital radio to buy. I have narrowed my particular choices down to either the Pure Evoke-2 or the Roberts RD3 (it's proving difficult to find a review of the latter). Can you tell me which has the better sound, features, etc.? Richard Having seen both radios "in the flesh", I have only had the opportunity to review the Evoke-2. The Evoke wins on the sound front as it has twin speakers, allowing stereo sound from the box straightaway; the Roberts RD3 is fitted with just one speaker. The RD3 does have tone controls, allowing you to make adjustments to get the best sound from its mono output (it's stereo through the headphones I believe). On the features count, the Roberts RD3 has the edge with four more presets on both DAB and FM wavebands and, due to its size and styling, feels more like a traditional "kitchen" or "portable" radio than the Evoke. That having been said, I prefer the veneer of the Evoke 2 to the slightly plastic look of the RD3, even though it does, relatively speaking, take up a little more space on the shelf. Would anyone with an RD3 care to comment? Ed. BBC Radio Leeds on DAB in Scunthorpe? I can pick up BBC Radio Leeds on a small FM radio in Scunthorpe but not on my DAB radio - is there any way I can get it? Simon Having tried a postcode check, it looks as of you should only be able to receive the BBC's national digital radio stations. If you can borrow a DAB external aerial, you might like to try this to see if you can pick up the Leeds multiplex on channel 12D. If you can't borrow one, you might like to buy one. Ed. Southend radio? I live in the Southend on Sea area, and seem to remember sometime ago that another radio station with the county stated that they were going to set up a radio station covering this part of Essex. So far nothing seems to have happened regarding this situation, and was wondering if this area is ever likely to get a dedicated radio station of it's own - even though the output from the county wide ILR service is covering this area - the areas of news and sport (locally - and surrounding areas seem to have been forgotten by the powers that be - even though I know these are being advertised). I wondered if any moves had been made on this matter or when we are likely to get a station of our own - even though moves were promised by another radio station within the county - but nothing seems to have happened. I hope somebody will be able to answer this question for myself and many others. Andrew Does anyone know of any plans for a permanent licence for Southend? Ed. Saga Radio drops a clanger? About 30 years ago a friend told me a good test of whether you were listening to FM or AM was whether or not you could hear the "6 o'clock alarm" bell ring near the beginning of "Daydream Believer" by the Monkees, and I found this to be true. A few days ago this was played on Saga Radio at 128kps - and I couldn't hear the bell! Jeff Stations on DAB in Clacton Hi, I think your web site is great. I have had a DAB digital radio for about two years now and I haven't found any new local radio stations for quite a while here in Clacton. The London stations can be heard fine, but not any from a local Essex multiplex. Do you know if there will be a DAB multiplex for Clacton or Colchester in the future? David Your nearest DAB multiplex would be that for Southend and Chelmsford. Have you tried performing a re-tune or a manual scan to see if a signal from this multiplex (on channel 12D) can be found? If not, try an external aerial if you can. Ed. Thinking of buying a DAB digital radio Hi, I live in the Manchester area and I'm thinking of buying a DAB digital radio... will I be able to pick up stations in Cumbria and Scotland, etc.. Jud It's best to try a postcode check, or check our listings to see which stations you can pick up in the Manchester area. You can find the postcode check via our national stations listings. You might pick up stations in Lancashire with an external aerial attached to your radio, but you certainly won't be able to receive those broadcasting to Scotland. Ed. Southend radio? I live in the Southend on Sea area, and seem to remember sometime ago that another radio station with the county stated that they were going to set up a radio station covering this part of Essex. So far nothing seems to have happened regarding this situation, and was wondering if this area is ever likely to get a dedicated radio station of it's own - even though the output from the county wide ILR service is covering this area - the areas of news and sport (locally - and surrounding areas seem to have been forgotten by the powers that be - even though I know these are being advertised). I wondered if any moves had been made on this matter or when we are likely to get a station of our own - even though moves were promised by another radio station within the county - but nothing seems to have happened. I hope somebody will be able to answer this question for myself and many others. Andrew Does anyone know of any plans for a permanent licence for Southend? Ed. All The Hits on DAB I was just looking though your radio list for Scotland and I see you have not listed The Hits that is now Broadcasting on DAB digital radio in Central Scotland. I only found it after doing a re-scan of the DAB radio earlier tonight. Darren Duly added, thanks Darren. Ed. A fan of DAB digital radio Firstly I am a big fan of DAB digital radio - I have a DAB tuner in the car and a portable walkman-style radio. I love the choice of channels, but I believe the power of the transmitters should be turned up. In my case I regularly lose the signal in the middle of town (even in streets that are fairly wide open without that many obstructions). My worry is that people will experience bad reception and believe DAB digital radio is a dud Jonathan I think poor reception can be experienced with both FM and DAB digital radio, especially in built-up areas. An increase in power would certainly help as would some extra transmitters. Ed. Which portable DAB radio? I get the train to work and listen to Talksport on my personal radio. As you obviously know the reception is poor for MW stations especially going under bridges and through tunnels, so I've noticed that there are now a few personal DAB radios out there and thought I'd get myself one. Not to sound like a label hunter but I have not heard of some of the brand names and therefore have no idea which one is the best! I have also read that the batteries only last for about 12 hours: is this true? If so do any of the radios include any way to charge up the batteries?. Kevin Many of the handheld DAB radios currently available, such as those from Pure Digital, Ministry of Sound and Grundig, use the same electronics housed in a different case, depending on the brand you buy. Often the only real difference is the number of batteries each can take. For example, the Ministry of Sound DR-011 uses only two AA batteries, giving around ten hours' use. With an extra battery, the Pure PocketDAB(tm) squeezes a few extra hours out of the radio. The Ministry radio comes with a rechargeable battery pack and the necessary charger to get you listening again, while the PocketDAB(tm) has a DC adaptor included for mains use too. Both of these radios use the headphone cord as the antenna, so sometimes in poor signal conditions these radios can stutter. (For more feedback, read our comments from purchasers of the Ministry DAB). There are a couple of other alternatives from Perstel; these use a standard telescopic aerial to pull in DAB stations. You can feel a little silly walking around with the aerial extended, so beware! However, telescopic aerials tend to pick up signals better, so it's a bit of a compromise. Ed. Where's the input? On the specifications for the Roberts RD3 it states that there is an external aerial input but I can only see a line out socket. Where is it? Anon Anyone with an RD3 care to confirm? Ed. Poor choice on the FM band in Northern Ireland A few months ago I commented about the lack of stations on DAB in Northern Ireland. Well, not only is the DAB scene in Northern Ireland poor but the number of FM stations isn't too good either. Belfast, which is one of capital cities of the UK and has a population of over 500,000 has only 2 ILR stations. One of these stations (Belfast Citybeat) is only a small-scale licence. No regional station exists in Northern Ireland, which I think is a great shame. Compare this to say Dublin which has seven stations at the momont and is due to get another four shortly. Even Southampton, which I visited recently, and with a population half that of Belfast has at least three stations and I was able to receive at least 3 or 4 more from neighbouring areas (like Isle of Wight Radio, Ocean FM, Spire FM, etc.) at good strength. There haven't been any radio developements on the FM band in Belfast since 1990 when Belfast Community Radio (later to become Belfast Citybeat) came on air. I noticed that earlier in the year Belfast was on the working list for a possible 2 new radio stations.Here's hoping that these will materialise and that Belfast will get something out of this. If UTV (the local ITV company) has enough cash to own local stations in the ROI and the rest of the UK (I notice that Juice FM in Liverpool is their latest acquisition), surely somebody could generate some interest in the local radio scene here. Incidentally, there are now more digital radio stations on Freeview digital tv in Northern Ireland than on the local DAB multiplexes (23 on Freeview compared with only 19 on DAB digital radio) Peter Local band - local airplay I have recently had reason to talk to a number of Essex based 'Local' radio stations about a local band to see if they would be interested in playing one of their tracks. To my frustration the stations run by GWR acknowledged that it was a good track and worthy of airtime, but it was not on their playlist and as such they could not play it. The good news, however, is that a non-GWR station played it and it received a very positive response. Is there a licensing reason why GWR stations are not allowed to play non-playlisted material? Do you know who determines the playlist? Is this a local decision? Sorry for the rant, but if local stations can not play local talent, and can only play national playlists how are they deemed to be local? Is it down to the local adverts and the occasional local news bulletin? Chris I think a lot of programming for GWR stations is centralised - they have a base in Swindon and tend to network programmes between certain stations and times of the day (usually evenings and weekends). All radio stations have playlists, it's just that some stations have chosen to stick more rigorously to them than others. Their format may not necessarily state they must give airtime to local bands - only local news and sports reports, for example. The good news is that a DAB digital radio station, The Storm is keen to promote up-and-coming rock bands. If your band fits this category, you could try contacting them. Ed. Putting things straight Just a few follow-ups to what you have written on your feedback page (from the letter of 28th August). Real Radio are owned by the Guardian Media Group, not Chrysalis. In any case Real aren't available on MXR North West, as Capital Radio's 105.4 Century FM is on there instead (it is local after all, and Capital are shareholders in MXR too). When you say "Emap could broadcast another one of its own services, such as Q Radio or Kerrang!, in the North West", well actually it did and launched Smash Hits! Radio when Real left EMAP Liverpool and EMAP Central Lancs. EMAP can't launch any more owned services on EMAP Liverpool or EMAP Central Lancs due to current ownership rules. A DAB multiplex licensee may broadcast any number of local analogue services it has a license for, but it can only broadcast one extra DAB service that it runs. This is why the multiplexes launched with just KISS 100 on them. However, the exception to the rule is where there is a multiplex that covers nearly all of the DAB PPA, in this case MXR - therefore EMAP can also run a second DAB-only service, which is Smash Hits! Radio. So even though both multiplexes have space for another service at 128kbps, it is unlikely to be Kerrang! or Q as this would be breaking ownership rules. Ashley Thanks Ashley. I realise Smash Hits Radio was a replacement for Real Radio (our pages announced this at the time, what I meant was another station in addition to Smash Hits, but as you point out this not allowed under current rules. I keep thinking of John Myers at the helm of 105.4 Century Radio and that "Trouble at the top" programme, hence my confusion with Chrysalis and GMG. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! Ed. Chorley Local Radio - is it permanent? Chorley Local Radio (CLR) has started broadcasting in the area of Chorley, Lancashire on 87.9 FM. Do you have any information as to if it's a permanent station or just temporary as it's been in the past? Keith I think the station is broadcasting with a 28-day licence. Unless I've missed something, I don't think a permanent licence has been awarded for the area. A big giveaway is the frequency - anything further down the band than Radio 2 is almost certainly an RSL (or a pirate!) Ed. Is DAB in Medway going to get any better? I listened to the hype, checked my postcode for reception and then lashed out GBP160.00 for a Pure Evoke 2 portable radio. What I ended up with was a limited selection of stations (not the "multitude" that was promised), plus the dreaded squelching if I change the radio's position as much as inch. I've used my radio in London - it's brilliant; in the Medway Towns it's rubbish. Is the situation going to improve ??? Stan Kent and Medway will get their own local DAB multiplex from April 2004 - until then, reception of the two national multiplexes may be patchy (as our own plans for DAB digital radio mustn't interfere with our French counterparts), but the BBC is adding more and more transmitters to boost reception for 85 per cent of us by the end of 2004. It sounds as if your Evoke-2 might benefit from an external aerial. If you can't borrow one to try, you can find more information about aerials online. Ed. Picking up DAB transmissions in Switzerland? I live in Geneva, Switzerland, where, given ou position between the two mountain ranges of the Jura and the Alps, reception of the BBC World Service is horrible and now that Sky and the Beeb have fallen out it doesn't seem worth buying a satellite to receive BBC Radios 3 and 4. Would DAB be the answer? I have read (not in a professional article) that DAB radios can receive BBC programmes 'throughout most of Europe'. Is this true? Julie Alas, DAB digital radio coverage is only comparable to the equivalent FM coverage, so you wouldn't be able to pick up services being broadcast from the UK over in Switzerland. Each country has its own plans for DAB services and the 'limited' bandwidth means it's very unlikely BBC services will be carried outside of the UK on DAB digital radio. Ed. Is DAB compressed? Is digital radio compressed like, say, analogue Radio 1 is? C Yes, digital radio suffers from being compressed just like FM radio does. Ed. Any DXers in the house? I was wondering if there was any kind of radio available that would allow me to listen to UK MW stations halfway around the world - in particular, I want to find a way to pick up BBC Radio Five Live from the west coast of the USA. Internet broadcasts cut out sports commentary, so do you know of any radio that goes beyond shortwave reception and can pick up Five Live so far away? LB One for our 'long-distance' visitors, I think. Does anyone know of any way this is possible? Ed. To the rescue! In response to the questions asked by Chris regarding a DAB digital radio for his blind father, I am not aware of any DAB radios with speech output to help a blind person select a station to listen to. I have not yet got to grips with the presets on the Goodmans GPS280. By default, the stations are arranged in an alpha/numeric order so I have got used to this, plus it will automatically go to the last station you listened to when you switch it on. The GPS280 is the nearest radio to meet the criteria set out by Chris. For ease of use, especially from a blind person's point of view, the Perstel DR-101 is by far the best, although I accept it does not have speakers and presets. The fact that stations are grouped by multiplex makes it much easier to remember the station order and, of course, it is portable! The later version of the DR-101, like the GPS280, will also go to the last station you listened to when you switch it on. Robert Thanks for the information, Robert! Someone wrote a while ago to say that if you hold in a preset button for just over a few seconds on the GPS 280, it should store your choice of station in that particular preset. The trick is to be patient whilst holding in the button as there's no bleep to indicate a station has been stored successfully. Ed. Clan FM and Castle Rock FM on DAB digital radio |
