Cycling UK Forum

When the discussions were about turning off the FM radio signal, I was horrified. Yes, we used online for our radio needs in the livingroom, but we had portable FM/MW radios using them in the kitchen and in the workshop.

Then, we bought a bluetooth speaker system so we could use online radio via the bluetooth anywhere in the house, not just the livingroom, and within reason it works outside in the garden too. We bought a DAB radio for the workshop and now FM/MW isn't needed domestically at all and since changing our car in 2017 that came with a DAB radio, we haven't listened to - or needed - FM/MW radio at all.

Are we typical and FM/MW is dead and not required?
The whole subject seems to have dropped off the media.

Mick F wrote:Are we typical and FM/MW is dead and not required?

No you're not typical. Not that many cars have DAB. Ours doesn't and neither did my company car recently handed back.

When available, DAB is my first choice (H-H-Hancock's Half Hour) but FM/MW is still needed by some peeps so should be kept going for a few more years until DAB ownership reaches a suitable and fair critical mass.

I dislike DAB for 4 reasons.

1 it's slow to turn on and to tune in
2 it eats batteries (in effect it's a small computer). The batteries in our FM sets typically last a couple of years
3 No two DAB radios decode at the same rate, thus if you have DAB playing in one room, switching another on in a adjacent room leads to wierd and unlistenable echoing.
4 Audio quality is generally poorer than FM.


I am happy with FM and am in no rush to change.

Spinners wrote:No you're not typical. Not that many cars have DAB. Ours doesn't and neither did my company car recently handed back.

Our younger daughter's car has a cassette radio. Our present car doesn't even have a CD tray.
It was buying a more modern car with a DAB radio that tipped the balance for us. I've almost forgotten about analogue radio.

Dab is not always reliable round here. So still having fm onto fall back on is useful home is either internet,satellite or dab. But car you need fm . Dab in the house needs you to be upstairs for most stations

My cars got DAB .... but seems to be unable to actually ever find a signal ! ... so it's mostly R4 FM, and SD card downloads (hardcore, Trance, gay electro pop, Kate bush, mike Oldfield et al .. ).

I’ve just checked DAB coverage. We have eleven BBC stations available here and that’s it. Surely coverage has to be better than this before they switch off FM.

you wont ever get DAB in a smartphone but most have an FM radio.
The only thing good about DAB is there is an old fogeys radio station called Angel that plays old stuff ( i mean olde stuff ) You need a DAB+ set to receive that. Some times quite interesting

Just another upgrade to increase sales of new equipment Like scrapping perfectly good cars so new ones can be sold
New systems should surely be better than old ones, in every way, especially energy use
What about 'remote' sparsely populated areas?

Cyril Haearn wrote:What about 'remote' sparsely populated areas?

In reality .. the majority of the UK !!

Can you get "traffic messages" (TMC) on DAB ?
If going down the M6 I used to have TMC on but using DAB I don't seem to be able to get it.

landsurfer wrote:

Cyril Haearn wrote:What about 'remote' sparsely populated areas?

In reality .. the majority of the UK !!

Yep. We're still a "fringe reception" area for national FM stations here! No local stations on DAB but I've almost line of sight to BBC Norfolk's MW transmitter on the banks of the Great Ouse near the A47.

FM turned off? I just bought this!

Al

cycleruk wrote:Can you get "traffic messages" (TMC) on DAB ?
If going down the M6 I used to have TMC on but using DAB I don't seem to be able to get it.

Is that still a thing?
I thought everyone used smartphones or satnav for stuff like that these days.

In my opinion even DAB is temporary, the obvious path forward is internet based stuff. A lot of modern cars have built in cellular access and whatever ones reservations that's the direction everything is going and presumably at some point the infrastructure will improve to service it.

al_yrpal wrote:FM turned off? I just bought this!

Al

Looks like a copy.

I've got a raft of old valve stuff in my attic including a few portables.
I have to make up 90v batteries by stacking 3v button cells to run them!

Not sure that any of the portables have FM though, a few of the mains powered ones do.
If they turn off FM then I'll have to make a pirate transmitter - back to my youth!