They say you learn something new every day -
I had a few minutes to kill on top of a hill to the north of London this evening, so knowing how you can sometimes pick up really distant radio stations when the weather conditions are correct I had a little "surf" through Medium Wave and Long Wave on my car radio. Found a few French and German stations on Medium Wave, then went to see what's happened to Atlantic 252 on Long Wave... I couldn't understand what was being said, but after a few seconds "ALGERIE" appeared on the display! Trying a few other frequencies I found "FR INTER", "DLR" and "M CARLO". There weren't any stations broadcasting names on Medium Wave though. How long have radio station idents been broadcast on Long Wave? Even 198kHZ shows "BBC R4" after a few seconds, so it's not just the continentals.
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it's still bad quality sound though !
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DTC
Not sure what was going on your end, but as far as I know, RDS is not and can not be transmitted on Long wave
quote from the RDS standards org
"RDS works on the FM waveband only since the RDS information is encoded within the FM signal. RDS is not available on medium wave, long wave or the AM waveband"
what radio were you using?
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Bring back the Home Service and the Light Programme!
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And BIG L on 266 and Caroline on 199
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Dunno, but my SAAB used to give me traffic when I was on AM, but not station idents - very handy for a 5 Live fanatic
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>Dunno, but my SAAB used to give me traffic when I was on AM, >but not station idents - very handy for a 5 Live fanatic
Ah thats possible with twin tuners, or the radio is frequency multiplexing or hopping, basically it monitors rds traffic programes on FM while you listen to am - but NO station idents in AM - not possible.
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Talking of LW, if you want to read about an exciting new radio station that is going to be taking to the air in the not-to-distant future, have a look at:
www.longwaveradio.com
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Isle of Man, eh? Looks quite fab in a pop-tastic kinda way.
In the meantime, here's BTO, so let's rock...
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what radio were you using?
The standard-fit one in the Primera. It was definitely receving data from the airwaves, as it would only come up with a station name when there was an audible programme.
Unless the station names are programmed into the set at manufacture? It knew 198kHZ was BBC R4. But it wouldn't do it on MW, and everyone knows 909 & 693 for BBC R5, 1053 & 1089 for Talk Radio etc.
I suppose it's possible that LW broadcasts use such a low bandwidth there's room for a station ident on the side...
I'll try it in the Skoda now it's back, but I think most of the world knows what MW/LW reception is like in one of those!
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>Unless the station names are programmed into the set at manufacture? It knew 198kHZ was BBC R4.
possible. Bear in mind that due to propogation (distance you can hear the station) LW is given continental allocation. (ie only radio 4 has 198 in the whole of europe) where on MW allocation tends to be on a national basis with ERP (effected radiated power) caps - so 909 could be shared by several european stations.
>I suppose it's possible that LW broadcasts use such a low bandwidth there's room for a station ident on the side...
Its not a matter of bandwidth, its due to modulation method. (FM vs AM) FM transmits a carrier or side band that is used for RDS data (and turns on the stereo light btw)
The only way you can transmit data on AM is by modulating a tone that you would hear as a chirping noise.
For interest, just below the lowest frequency your LW set will receive ( ie where you cant hear) is where the RN transmit to Trident subs while they are still submerged - its only a call sign that tells them to float the comms link to the surface to receive orders
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DTC
?????????? Dave_taxi_crasher possibly? >:-l
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How long have radio station idents been broadcast on Long Wave? Even 198kHZ shows "BBC R4" after a few seconds,
Dave,
April Fools Day falls on the 1st of April, not the 2nd!!
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Dave, April Fools Day falls on the 1st of April, not the 2nd!!
I can see your point DD, but try it, it really is true!
Irritatingly I can't get the stereo in the Skoda to work at all this evening, I hope the bodyshop disconnected the battery before they started welding....
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Dave
Tried LW on the Jeep radio last night - nothing. But then I am still waiting for the RDS time to reset to BST, so perhaps it's not too surprising!
Terry
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Terry,
Not all FM stations with RDS Station ID transmit the time signal.
Tune into Radio 2 for a while and as long as the time update facility is active on your radio (it is switchable on mine...) it should correct its self.
John R
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John
Thanks. I have R2 on most of the time. Probably makes me more to be pitied than despised!
I don't think time update is switchable on mine and from experience coming home from Europe it can take anything from 30 minutes to a week to correct - although it happens the other way almost immediately I drive off the ferry in Calais!
I've found R4 and Classic FM also work - eventually.
Terry
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I can see your point DD, but try it, it really is true!
D-T-D, I did try it. The only LW station my car radio will pick up without static is 198kHz. No idea of the station name as your suggestion, Re: RDS, didn't work.
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