The Humble Kitchen Radio

[jean]

The smallest radio I've got is a tiny Pure FM/Digital earphones thing. I usually get better reception with Digital - or I did, until the thing suddenly started offering me only a very limited list of stations including Absolute, Team Rock, some Christian thing, Classic FM and BFBS radio, none of which I've ever knowingly listened to. No BBC at all! Anyone any idea why?

[mangerton]

Because the BBC keep on telling us how good it is. (They should learn to tell the truth.)

Indeed. Some years ago, the Advertising Standards Authority stopped them from describing DAB as "CD quality". We now hear the weasel words "Digital quality".

So is my mobile phone.

[mangerton]

The smallest radio I've got is a tiny Pure FM/Digital earphones thing. I usually get better reception with Digital - or I did, until the thing suddenly started offering me only a very limited list of stations including Absolute, Team Rock, some Christian thing, Classic FM and BFBS radio, none of which I've ever knowingly listened to. No BBC at all! Anyone any idea why?

Yes. It's no longer picking up all the multiplexes. A re-tune is required.

[Don Petter]

Indeed. Some years ago, the Advertising Standards Authority stopped them from describing DAB as "CD quality". We now hear the weasel words "Digital quality".

So is my mobile phone.

So is my finger!

[mangerton]

re that (qv): does anybody have a clue? - wiki is no help.

There's some info via Google, but not much. Trawler band was around 160 m, or 1.8 MHz, and fell out of use in the sixties when shipping began to use VHF.

Then again, my parents bought their radiogram in 1949.

[Nick Armstrong]

So is my finger!

That's a great aggressive line, Don!

[Don Petter]

Re: Allouis

Google/Wiki 'Allouis transmitter'. Longwave, installed 1939.

(I can't seem to copy the URL on my tablet.)

[Don Petter]

That's a great aggressive line, Don!

Well, I did spend eighteen years working for a company called Digital Exploration. (No kidding.)

[Nick Armstrong]

Something that I have just thought of, does a strong FM signal mean that it's likely that you'll get a strong Dab signal?

No. Here it's the opposite - since the ..ahem.. beef-up for the 2012 Olympics, there's a great DAB signal here in central London, but FM has always been lousy. So I'm totally sold on DAB (or internet radio), unlike those earlier in this thread for whom FM remains the preference. And I think the sound of R3 music on my Pure Evokes is great. As with CD compared with LP, the COMPLETE absence of pops, hiss or crackles is a huge bonus for me, even though maybe to purists the last ounce of sound quality may be better with FM (though I'm not convinced)

[Nick Armstrong]

Well, I did spend eighteen years working for a company called Digital Exploration. (No kidding.)

... there's no messing around with you Don, quite clearly!

(Did you ever find anything, by the way?)

[Don Petter]

... there's no messing around with you Don, quite clearly!

(Did you ever find anything, by the way?)

The joy, as always, was in the hunt ...

[Nick Armstrong]

The joy, as always, was in the hunt ...

[jean]

Yes. It's no longer picking up all the multiplexes. A re-tune is required.

Thanks. How do I do that?

(It's so tiny there are very few options for doing anything.)

[Beef Oven!]

Not necessarily, as the two systems use different transmitters. You can check details for your area here.

FM reception is not brilliant where I live. I bought a Sony DAB/DAB+ portable in the summer, and have been pleasantly surprised by the results. I can carry it throughout the house, and it works everywhere, whereas my FM portable has to sit on the kitchen windowsill.

When I were a lad, we had a large radiogram, which lived in the sitting room and was definitely not portable. It did however have Long, Medium, and Shortwave reception as well as Trawler Band. (qv)

edit: DAB+. I'm thinking ahead here, in case the benighted OFCOM ever decide to get up to date with the rest of Europe and the world.

Thanks for the link, mangerton.

[teamsaint]

Well, I did spend eighteen years working for a company called Digital Exploration. (No kidding.)

Was it a joint venture?