Moving R.R.R.R.D.D.D.D.S.S.S.S

[Mosfet]

Question-Why has moving R.D.S not become the norm for the Hot,Club type of station in Dublin.?
Energy106,Magic105,KissFm,Storm106 are all using moving R.D.S for a very long time.So is moving R.D.S naff or cool????????:confused:

[Darren B]

well its illegal for a start, why bring undue attention to youreself from the powers that be for something so trivial ?

[Tabasco]

It's not illegal, it's against BCI rules, which of course don't apply to pirate stations.

The pirates are using 'made up' PI codes, anyway!

And the BCI rules are not strictly legal under EU regs anyway. The EU has a policy to encourage the use of Enhanced RDS, which features scrolling text information services.

With the increasing use of high tech displays in cars, like navigational aids etc, the BCI's assertion that scrolling text is distracting just doesn't hold water.

Many EU countries allow stations to use scrolling text - it's just another example of the BCI's motto "The answer is NO, now what's the question" !

[Justin Speck]

I think you'll find that scrolling RDS is actively discouraged across the EU. That doesn't mean that some legal stations don't do it or that it is illegal but it is frowned upon. It is usually against guidelines rather than against the law.

J

[021]

Its the rotating station name that the BCI are against, (not Radiotext, which after all RedFM are using to give details of the times of their shows, phone/text numbers, email address etc) Car radio usually do not have Radiotext
A rotating station name often gives a nasty jumbled display if reception is less than ideal so its best avoided, though this would be much less of a problem in areas where the whole city is line of sight with the transmitter.

[Mike]

"A rotating station name often gives a nasty jumbled display if reception is less than ideal"

Hear Hear. When Im listening to Magic 105 even in quite good reception areas the screen displays total gibberish Also it IS very distracting while driving (probably depends on type of display on your car radio and position on dashboard)

[ex-pirate]

I know once that Q102 in the north west used moving RDS, for at least a year before they got a wrap across the knuckles from the Radio authority (UK).
When I last checked, Q97 were using radiotext, unsure now however.

[Nick]

I have built moving RDS units myself, but I am inclined to agree with the theory about station name display.

At one time Magic, and Thunder were transmitting similar messages, and the same telephone number. So it could be confusing that way.

The scrambling and jittering of the data is another issue - with a static PSN, once the radio has received it, it is buffered, and doesn't change. It is even stored in memory when the radio is off - if a station goes off air, and you tune in your RDS radio, the PSN is still there. With moving PSN however, it can take a long time to figure out what station you're listening to, and sometimes all you get is trash like "M82h_GR_" when the data is corrupted.
Buffering is out the window too... when I turn my RDS radio onto magic it comes up "38345555" and Energy comes up "CDS_&DVD" or something like that.

The bottom line is Moving RDS is Excellent, in areas where you have a saturated signal, but if it even drops a little, however indetectable on the audio, the moving PSN is screwed up.

[021]

Is it still the case the both RTE Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1 both still have the same RDS PS name "Radio 1 " ??
Why don't the authorities intervene in this??
Are RTE and the BBC in dispute over this??
It can't be argued that these stations cover different areas, at least one of RTE's transmitters (Clermont Carn 95.2 ) is deliberately designed to cover as much of Northern Ireland as possible, so you have 2 stations serving the same area with the same RDS name!
RTE Radio 1 sometimes plays pop music so even people well familiar with both stations will be confused!
Surely the confusion that this causes might also be distracting to motorists adjusting car radios etc.???

whats wrong with perhaps
"RTE Rad1" or "RTE R.1 "
?

[Mike]

Yes they both use the same PS name and its a bl00dy farce.

Whats just as stupid though is the PTY codes used by many stations e.g.
Lyric FM = POP
Today FM = TALK

[Justin Speck]

Car radios work off the PS code rather than the PI and hence RTE Radio 1 would not retune to BBC Radio 1.

As far as the UK is concerned, PS codes are allocated (by the Radio Authority to independent stations). As long as they put out the correct PS, the Radio Authority dosn't care what PI they put out or how often they change it (with the exception of moving RDS of course!).

J

[021]

"Whats just as stupid though is the PTY codes used by many stations e.g.
Lyric FM = POP "

Mike,
Is this happening on a TOYOTA car radio?
I have seen Lyric display as Programme Type "POP" on an RDS radio in a recent Toyota Corolla (do not know who makes the radio), yet the station is showing "Light Classics" on an RDS separate (tuned to the same transmitter) !!
If you look at my posting about RDS data from various stations, the PTY number for the station is "13", which does indeed correspond to "Light Classical Music"

[Mike]

Yeah its a Toyota.
Its wierd alright maybe either the Toyota or the seperate uses American RDS ?

(The US uses a system called "Smart Radio" which is similar to RDS but uses different system of PTY codes)