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Messages - skeezix

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4786
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/11/abandon-digital-radio-switchover-stations


John Plunkett   
theguardian.com, Monday 11 November 2013 03.00 EST   


A group of broadcasters has called on the government to abandon plans for digital radio switchover, claiming the move would jeopardise local radio and cost households "several hundred pounds" each.

The consortium representing 80 stations across the UK listened to by 6 million people a week issued a joint statement on Monday less than six weeks before ministers are due to confirm its policy on the matter.

The group said the switchover posed a serious risk of listeners losing access to radio because most households only have an analogue set. It estimates that there are about 100m analogue sets still in use in UK homes.

The switchover – in which national, regional and large local stations disappear from AM and FM – would hamper smaller local stations and force homes listening on analogue to spend hundreds of pounds on new digital receivers, the statement says.

The group is made up of 13 commercial companies including UTV-owned national sports station TalkSport and Celador Radio run by Paul Smith, the man behind ITV's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.

Scott Taunton, managing director of UTV Media (GB), said: "We think the concept of migrating stations from AM and FM [to digital] is flawed. There is no consumer demand for this and unlike digital TV switchover there is no digital dividend for the taxpayer. The bulk of people are quite happy with the radio services they already have.

"We're not saying digital radio is flawed but it's like saying mobile phones are so prevalent we can switch off all the landlines. This hasn't been thought through and we shouldn't be rushed into a decision."

The initial target date of 2015 for the switchover has already been pushed back, after digital radio take-up was slower than expected. The commercial radio trade body, the Radio Centre, has suggested 2018, while others have said 2020 is a more realistic target for the switchover.

Ed Vaizey, the minister for culture, communications and creative industries, is due to clarify the government's switchover plans on 16 December.

Digital Radio UK, the body tasked with overseeing the switchover, said most radio groups, representing the vast majority of listeners, continued to support an "in-principle decision on radio switchover".

A spokesman said: "We believe that the future of local radio is secure and that the fact that FM will be sustained for ultra local commercial stations and community stations is good news for listeners and local radio."

But there remains uncertainty about how the multimillion pound nationwide network of digital radio transmitters will be funded. Digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio currently falls a long way short of the coverage provided by analogue radio.

A memorandum of understanding announced last year outlined an agreement in principle between the BBC, commercial radio and the government on how DAB rollout would be funded. That agreement,was described by one source as "dead in the water".

A spokesman for Global Radio, the biggest commercial radio group which includes Classic FM, Capital and Heart, said coverage and funding issues had to be addressed.

"We hope the ongoing debate will be less about switchover - which, in any case, will not happen until listeners are ready – and more about the necessity for continuing investment in Britain's digital infrastructure," said a spokesman.

Sales of digital radios have stalled at just under 2m over the past four years, with a recent report by the media regulator Ofcom suggesting more than half of homes without a DAB set have no intention of buying one in the next 12 months.

A spokesman for Bauer Radio, which includes Kiss, Magic, as well as a number of national digital-only stations, said: "A positive decision from government on digital radio will provide the radio industry and all stations, national and local, with a certain and exciting future at the heart of the UK's digital economy. We believe that with the right structure, investment and talent, local radio will thrive following switchover."

The 13-strong group of commercial stations behind Monday's statement also includes UKRD, CN Radio, Anglian Radio, Quidem, Radio Jackie, and Brighton's Juice 107.2.

Celador chairman Paul Smith said: "We think there's no need for the government to be committed to switchover. The two platforms have sat together for many years. We are not saying it's bad technology but what's the point of excluding listeners from the services they are comfortable with?"

Digital TV switchover was completed in the UK in 2012 after a relatively trouble-free five-year plan was rolled out across the country. Digital radio switchover has proved more problematic, with the advantages of the new technology less clearcut to the consumer.

A total of 35.6% of all radio listening was on digital platforms in the third quarter of this year, the lion's share on DAB radio.

4787
Heard the Benny Hill theme, followed by ID and into music.

4788
S7 here and sounding good. Heard it on the same time as RFW, both were mixing for a while.


Heard what sounded like an ID of "KAGE Minneapolis/St Paul. The Edge." Wasn't paying attention at the beginning, so not sure if its KAGE, KEGE or something else.

2346Z ID: "93.7 FM KEGE Minneapolis/St Paul with 100,000 Watts."

KEGE was a station in Minneapolis in the mid 90's:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KXXR


0030Z Bunch of old ID's then off.




4789
Can hear the IS (Swedish Rhapsody) fine, but the voice is unintelligible.

4790
Could just barely tell something was there, but couldn't make out anything.


4791
I listened to the recording and it sounds like the numbers are correct.

The tones & music are from the Swedish Rhapsody numbers station.
Example: http://numberstations.co.uk/swedish-rhapsody/

4792
Simple substitution of letters for numbers:
FOAHTGNIDNEPMI
PDMCYNNUBROFTNEDISERP
OLDISSYEKNOMAIAIAIAI


Written backwards:
I M PENDING THA OF
PRESIDENT FOR BUNNY CMDP
IAIAIAIA MONKEYS SIDLO


Not sure what that means or if even correct.  ???


After reviewing a bit more, think that the lines might be written left to right, but each individual word is backwards:
OF THA PENDING IM
CMDP BUNNY FOR PRESIDENT
SIDLO MONKEYS IAIAIAIA

Perhaps last line
LO SSID MONKEY IAIAIAIA
or
O L SSID MONKEY IAIAIAIA


Note that its CMDP, and I would suspect it should be CMDR, however, the number in the transmission is certainly 16(P), not 18(R).


4793
Other / Re: Pesky Party 6930 LSB 0020 UTC 10 Nov 2013
« on: November 10, 2013, 0223 UTC »
They didn't invite us... jerks.



4794
Quote
I can't wait for my next electricity outage

I tried my own here by shutting off the main breaker to the house. That wasn't enough. Still had noise.

When we lost power to the block, that was enough and was dead silent for RFI/EMI.



4795
In addition to the s-meter, I like giving a SINPO rating. That's more subjective, but there's no standard calibration for s-meters. Ideally, a field strength meter would be best, however, they're expensive and frankly, not worth the cost for most people.

http://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/SINPO


4796
0108Z 25432 S7 Just came on with music.
0113Z 15431 S6 Op. But can't make out much.
0113Z 25422 S6 Twisted Sister "We're Not Gonna Take It"
0116Z 25422 S6 ID "This is Radio True North"
0138Z 45523 S9 Signal came up.
0141Z 45423 S9 Santana "Oye Como Va"
0152Z 45423 S9 Kim Wilde "You Keep Me Hangin' On"
0223Z 45423 S9 ID




National NC-183D with Wellbrook ALA1530S+ loop

4797
0022Z 25422 S7 Music. Some deep & frequent fades, but on the occasion its in, its pretty decent.

Shortly after this it faded out.



National NC-183D with Wellbrook ALA1530S+ loop

4798
North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6940AM 0001 11-9-13
« on: November 09, 2013, 0022 UTC »
0019Z 45433 S9+ Classical music
0021Z 43433 S9+ Jazz type music. Some QRN from peskies.
0028Z 35433 S9+ OM talking in a subdued voice. Gave ID, but couldn't make it out.
0028Z 35433 S9+ Violent Femmes "Add It Up"
0058Z Off




National NC-183D with Wellbrook ALA1530S+ loop

4799
North American Shortwave Pirate / Re: UNID 6935 AM 2241 UTC 8 Nov 2013
« on: November 08, 2013, 2315 UTC »
2305Z 25432 S7 Music
2314Z 25432 S7 ID "Liquid Radio"
2314Z 25432 S7 Music
0023Z 34433 S9 ID. Some QRN from peskies or something.
0023Z 34433 S9 Music




National NC-183D with Wellbrook ALA1530S+ loop

4800
2223 15421 OM talking. Deep fades.
2225 15421 Martin Denny "A Taste of Honey"
2233 15421 Tom Jones "Kiss"
2236 15421 ID

Thanks for some afternoon drivetime music.



Sony CDX-GT570S car stereo with 31" whip



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