Why do you like FM?

[Gordon]

As to your query re receiving LW (and I take it you are not a cricket fan!) I have two fully restored Bakelite vintage valve radios, a Bush DAC90 (1946) and a DAC10 (1950) The first one has wonderful stations on the dial like Leningrad, Droitwich, Hamburg, Marseilles, Lyons, Budapest, etc. Their tone is wonderful and there's that lovely pause whilst the valves warm up. There is no crackle or hiss whatsoever. If only I could get R3 on them!

Wow!! those radios sound great with those evocative station names. And no, I would not say that I was a cricket fan. As for R3 on MW isn't it still there somewhere or has it already gone the way of all old technology? Where do you get the old valves from for these old sets? They are getting scarce.

[Anna]

Wow!! those radios sound great with those evocative station names. And no, I would not say that I was a cricket fan. As for R3 on MW isn't it still there somewhere or has it already gone the way of all old technology? Where do you get the old valves from for these old sets? They are getting scarce.

Gordon, those two radios are my pride and joy. I picked them up for nothing when I was dealing in antiques, they were restored by a young valve anorak geek, I dread them breaking down but I know he has vast stores of valves. They are LW/MW (MW is AM now) but the only things you can get on MW are some local radio stations and some weird foreign stuff (Romania?), not R3. I just love the cricket and Geoffrey Boycott slowly looming out of the ether! Considering the sets are both over 60 years old I consider their technology pretty good!

[Don Petter]

They are LW/MW (MW is AM now)

Er - No! LW and MW have always both been AM.

[Ferretfancy]

My reason for thinking that the FM switch off may not happen for years, is that there is a long wrangle going on about who bears the cost of the switchover to DAB. The BBC is being asked to cough up for this, and not surprisingly has dug its heels in, given the current state of its finances.

[Gordon]

My reason for thinking that the FM switch off may not happen for years, is that there is a long wrangle going on about who bears the cost of the switchover to DAB. The BBC is being asked to cough up for this, and not surprisingly has dug its heels in, given the current state of its finances.

Whilst the BBC is in penury they are still building their DAB network with new stations coming into service and more planned. As far as I am aware they are doing their own bit towards getting coverage up to near that of FM which is one of the criteria for switchover. OfCom are currrently engaged in a project to scope the transmitter and spectrum requirements for matching FM in all national and local networks. This plan is due to be completed this spring and can then be costed and then decisions can be made.

However the problem you refer to is that the commercial side seem to want the BBC to help them pay for their networks too! They certainly are smarting under the costs of maintaining 2 networks so there is incentive to get rid of one of them but not at the cost of losing too many listeners and thereby ad revenues. In this competitive age in media DAB needs to move on towards DAB+ and perhaps DMB but that needs business plans that make sense and this is what lies behind the financial stand off.

One thing is sure, the "government" [ie the taxpayer] will not be paying for DAB development and switchover - except through consumers buying receivers!! If no-one pays for it then DAB will remain moribund and if no attempt is made to force it along then it might just remain as a bit of a problem child.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far to this thread - I did expect a lot more defence of FM. On the old boards there was a long series of posts on the subject with very vigorous views expressed. Have we all lost the will or have we found more convenient ways of listening!?

[Anna]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far to this thread - I did expect a lot more defence of FM. On the old boards there was a long series of posts on the subject with very vigorous views expressed. Have we all lost the will or have we found more convenient ways of listening!?

I shall be very sorry to lose FM but, it's all about reception as we have discussed. On the subject of reception (television) I see a lot of people on this thread have FreeView. Here FV only gives BBC1, 2, 3, ITV 1, 2, Five and Channel 4. This is why I have FreeSat (just the box and dish, no subscription) I have a friend in London where, most surprisingly, she cannot get any channels with FV. Incidentally, Wales switched off all remaining analogue tv last year.

A lot of people far more knowledgeable than I have mentioned the systems they have put in to listen conveniently in whatever room they want. If DAB can be improved to guarantee clear reception then of course I will invest in a radio, but until then I really have no option but to stick with what I have. Quite frankly, I cannot see FM being switched off in 2015 unless far more money is invested in it. From the beginning it's been a bit of a damp squib I think.

[salymap]

Anna I think I started the long thread on keeping FM on the old MBs and it ran its course. Dave2002 was the main contributer to it and it seems that FM may be here for some time yet.
Regarding Freeview TV, I did a scan for channels yesterday and was amazed to see I appear to have 103channels, When I clicked on some they needed a 'smart-card' to access them so I shall have to delete those. I also had an alarming number of'adult' channels. I think I shall just delete those too.

[Anna]

Regarding Freeview TV, I did a scan for channels yesterday and was amazed to see I appear to have 103channels, When I clicked on some they needed a 'smart-card' to access them so I shall have to delete those. I also had an alarming number of'adult' channels. I think I shall just delete those too.

salymap, I am not sure how many channels my non-subscription FreeSat gets but basically I only watch BBC, S4C, Film Four and sometimes Channel 4 or ITV (the reason I rarely tune to commercial stations is that the adverts drive me nuts and during Downton Abbey I was almost tearing my hair out as the breaks seemed to get longer and longer!) I haven't looked to see if I have any 'adult' ones, don't think I will either.

What did amaze me was my friend in London not being able to get FreeView at all. Apologies to Gordon for going a bit off-topic but basically, it's all well and good asking people to switch to new technology/broadcasting/listening methods but the infrastructure has to be in place and, more importantly, working.

[Gordon]

I have a friend in London where, most surprisingly, she cannot get any channels with FV.

It's all down to location and quality of receiver installation including especially a decent aerial. FV is not planned to be portable.

Where you are it is probably your location that is behind reception problems being only able to get at some multiplexes - and that even after switchover has happened and power has been increased significantly.

Where she is she should not be short of available signal from Crystal Palace BUT in dense urban areas being close to a transmitter is no guarantee of good reception due to the radio wave being deflected all over the place by buildings etc before it gets to the place where you are. I suspect she's using an indoor aerial and/or watches in a ground floor flat/house room perhaps on the "blind" side [probably North side] of the building. What is her analogue TV reception like? Can you say which part of London [approx] she lives?

From the beginning it's [DAB] been a bit of a damp squib I think.

You would not be the first and will not be the last to take that view!! However if you do have decent reception then DAB does offer a much greater choice of programmes - if you like lots of inane pop music that is - and sports cover on R5 is better than the alternaive MW. Just like FV the choice isn't real - choice is between one duff programme and several others. All that home shopping stuff which apparently makes money!! Sic transit etc etc.

[Anna]

I suspect she's using an indoor aerial and/or watches in a ground floor flat/house room perhaps on the "blind" side [probably North side] of the building. What is her analogue TV reception like? Can you say which part of London [approx] she lives?

Spot on for location! Trouble is, it's a rented property so an aerial would be a problem but putting in the postcode just results in 'Sorry, you cannot receive'

However if you do have decent reception then DAB does offer a much greater choice of programmes - if you like lots of inane pop music that is - and sports cover on R5 is better than the alternaive MW. Just like FV the choice isn't real - choice is between one duff programme and several others. All that home shopping stuff which apparently makes money!! Sic transit etc etc.

I'm not interested in inane pop, have never watched a shopping channel and the only sport I follow is rugby and cricket, but it would be nice to be able to listen to Radio 7 old comedy programmes sometimes without being chained to the computer. Having just said that I now realise I could listen with my cordless headphones! Why didn't I think of that before?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I did expect a lot more defence of FM. On the old boards there was a long series of posts on the subject with very vigorous views expressed. Have we all lost the will or have we found more convenient ways of listening!?

There's very little need to defend FM. The hi-fi magazines do a sterling job when they review DAB/FAM tuners. But more significant is the continued lack of interest in DAB by most of the world's manufacturers. Today, Frau Alpensinfonie bought an mp3 player with a built in radio. All those in Currys had only FM. They had nothing with DAB. You can buy DAB radios on the high street, but if it were so popular, you would expect the most modern gadgets to include it.

[Gordon]

You can buy DAB radios on the high street, but if it were so popular, you would expect the most modern gadgets to include it.

FM does need defending because if it is not it will be taken away anyway, sooner or later unless current policy is reversed. Leaving it to minority interest HiFi mags is not enough - they make a bit of noise but are not pro-active in any of the groups associated with the Action Plan Project where they could be better involved on the inside - and the majority of people are apathetic.

So what is going to stop the onward progress of the switchover project? If there were to be a concentrated effort by consumers to boycott DAB receivers there may be a clear message to be seen but that is not happening, they are taking to it slowly. The worst of situations is in place: DAB take up is still slow but there is no clear imperative incentive for people to move to DAB so it is moribund. No one will kill it but feeding it is not apparent either. The threat to remove FM doen't seem to be galvanising anyone into a visible and audible strongly organised resistance. The problem with DAB is that despite the obvious apparent advantage of more channels this has not proved a universal appeal because most of the content is not attractive and much of it is already available on FM. There is no money in radio.

DAB modules are not simple or cheap and so will be expensive to add to MP3 players. FM detectors in a chip are very simple and are very easily fitted into small spaces.

[BetweenTheStaves]

I believe in the old adage 'If it ain't bust, don't fix it'. FM does all that we ask of it.

I highly recommend Grant Goddard's blog.... http://www.grantgoddardradioblog.blogspot.com/ where he frequently highlights the rubbish spouted by Ford Ennals et al regarding 'How wonderful DAB is'. I notice that many European countries have shelved their plans for compulsory DAB.

[Jon Benger]

At home I have internet radios (squeezebox and Roberts which connect wirelessly to a router. I have been delighted with the sound quality, reliability, and huge choice of stations. On the move, however, the situation is different. On my daily journey to work (100 miles by train) I get DAB coverage for less than half the journey on a portable player. I do slightly better with FM (perhaps 75% coverage), but the sound is often very fuzzy. I get by far the best and most consistent radio sound quality using the 3g connection on my mobile phone, and of course this gives me access to the full range of iplayer material. I now need something similarly useful for the car. So in answer to the original question I like FM because it works almost anywhere (especially out and about), but I have found a better solution for listening at home.

[Ferretfancy]

Lots of interesting replies here, but perhaps we have lost sight of the millions of radio users who simply enjoy listening to their FM sets in the kitchen, bedroom, or wherever. Many people would not be interested in relatively high tech solutions, but will have to go out and buy DAB sets when they are currently quite happy with what they've got. The fact is that there are not that many models of DAB radio on the market due to manufacturer's reluctance to commit to the system whole heartedly.

I'm able to use a good FM tuner with my good quality sound system, complementing it with Freeview reception. If I re-arranged it a bit I could supplement this by adding internet radio as well, but huge numbers of listeners would simply not want the complication of it all, why should they be deprived of a service ? It's very easy in these discussions to debate the provision of the right bit rates, download opportunities etc. etc. while this goes right over the heads of a substantial majority.