more from the 'Keith G school' of uk.rec.audio-ism:


Hookay, pursuivant to the recent thread about Freeview digiboxes, I've
now got the Sagem (that PJO *made* me buy! :-) all nicely hooked up
so that we can view and record 'digital' simultaneously, rip to disc
and do gawd knows what else (but *not* set timed recordings from more
than one digital channel in the same session....!!).

(Gotta say it while I'm on, I thoroughly recommend these little
buggers at the knock-down price - ugly as sin but quick and zippy to
use with good onscreen graphics and perfectly acceptable 'digital'
picture and sound quality!)

One of the dubious benefits with Freeview is you get a number of Radio
stations included (like they're not oiling us up for the FM
switchoff!)

I think the gmnt is getting carried away selling after what they got for
the 3g phone licence.

Now, entirely disregarding my 'personal preferences' (otherwise we'll
have Rudi reaching for his squirrel gun, but I'll give you a clue -
right now I've got FM mono going through a pair of vintage Yank valve
monoblocs and it's so damn mellow I can slow the traffic down outside
by 30%, just by opening a window...) I've got a flurry of questions:


Anyone know when the FM switchoff is likely to be (sorry if this is
already well-known by everyone else)?

I've got it bypassed, but how long does it take to bugger up the
screen on a valve (CRT) telly with a fixed 'radio station' logo?

Conversely, will routing the digibox through a DVDR (which needs to be
switched on) for hours at a time do any harm to said DVDR? (Heat,
laser or summat?)

Anybody know a two click way of getting the audio only (up to 6 hours
worth!) off a DVD-RAM disk to HD/CDRW?

That depends. Does the disk contain video, and you want the audio from
it, or is it a DVD-A disc? If it contains video you could rip as normal
and use virtual dub to extract the audio to a wav file. I know of better
ways, but I'm not familiar with much windows software.

When FM is switched off will there be any independent/pirate FM
broadcasters?

Aren't the frequencies being sold with the TV ones?

God knows who they think is going to buy them, by then I'm sure
internet/bluetooth will be the prefered method of transmission. There
can't be many applications for low bandwidth signals that need a meter
long aerial to pick up and can barely be used indoors.

Does Jazz FM *ever* broadcast actual Jazz?

No, but BBC4 (tv) isn't bad.

Do the Freeview bitrates compare favourably with DAB broadcasts?

Is 'digital radio' really *radio* at all or is it just TV with a very
boring picture?

Well, I don't think there's an mpeg2 video stream in the same way as TV.
THe picture it shows has more in common with digital teletext than normal
tv.

Is that right 'digital radio' will also broadcast pictures.... ??
(getting *really* confused now!)

Yes, IIRC, but not proper moving images like TV. It'll be a logo of the
station, still picture of the presenter or somthing.

Will they/do they use any form of 'copy protection' with digital radio
(other than the DJ or presenter gabbling over the end of the music,
like they do...)?

nah.

--
Jim H jh
@333
.org