In article ,
David Looser wrote:
"Rob" wrote in message
om...

I'm of a view that if you do have an opportunity to provide something
to a high standard, you take it. Not everyone will appreciate it,
maybe, small price. I found the whole roll-out of DAB wrong-headed.


How high is high?

Indeed. Most of these comments come with the benefit of hindsight. DAB was
a long time in the planning - and making radical changes late in that
process would have been difficult.
I remember driving round Birmingham on a coach equipped with a
demonstration system long before actual transmissions started - and the
difference in reception between that and FM was quite astounding.

--
*Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:17:43 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
David Looser wrote:
"Rob" wrote in message
om...

I'm of a view that if you do have an opportunity to provide something
to a high standard, you take it. Not everyone will appreciate it,
maybe, small price. I found the whole roll-out of DAB wrong-headed.


How high is high?

Indeed. Most of these comments come with the benefit of hindsight. DAB was
a long time in the planning - and making radical changes late in that
process would have been difficult.
I remember driving round Birmingham on a coach equipped with a
demonstration system long before actual transmissions started - and the
difference in reception between that and FM was quite astounding.

How come you didn't go on the Kingswood Warren coach? Much more
convenient.

d

In article 498e8bea.169358828@localhost,
Don Pearce (Don Pearce) wrote:
Indeed. Most of these comments come with the benefit of hindsight. DAB was
a long time in the planning - and making radical changes late in that
process would have been difficult.
I remember driving round Birmingham on a coach equipped with a
demonstration system long before actual transmissions started - and the
difference in reception between that and FM was quite astounding.

How come you didn't go on the Kingswood Warren coach? Much more
convenient.

It was laid on for an IBS meeting taking place at Pebble Mill. I don't
know which came first - but Birmingham bull ring is (was?) notorious for
poor FM reception. Could have been the same coach - it was said to have
state of the art aerials and receivers for both DAB and FM.

--
*Funny, I don't remember being absent minded.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:53:33 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article 498e8bea.169358828@localhost,
Don Pearce (Don Pearce) wrote:
Indeed. Most of these comments come with the benefit of hindsight. DAB was
a long time in the planning - and making radical changes late in that
process would have been difficult.
I remember driving round Birmingham on a coach equipped with a
demonstration system long before actual transmissions started - and the
difference in reception between that and FM was quite astounding.

How come you didn't go on the Kingswood Warren coach? Much more
convenient.

It was laid on for an IBS meeting taking place at Pebble Mill. I don't
know which came first - but Birmingham bull ring is (was?) notorious for
poor FM reception. Could have been the same coach - it was said to have
state of the art aerials and receivers for both DAB and FM.

Sounds the same - 12 seater minibus?

d

In article 498d6859.225789953@localhost,
Don Pearce (Don Pearce) wrote:
It was laid on for an IBS meeting taking place at Pebble Mill. I don't
know which came first - but Birmingham bull ring is (was?) notorious for
poor FM reception. Could have been the same coach - it was said to have
state of the art aerials and receivers for both DAB and FM.

Sounds the same - 12 seater minibus?

No - a full sized one. 40? seater. There would have been a riot if it had
been small given the attendance at IBS meetings in those days. As it was I
think they had to do two trips to cover everyone. So the hospitality would
have taken a bashing during the wait. ;-)

--
*The statement above is false

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:40:05 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article 498d6859.225789953@localhost,
Don Pearce (Don Pearce) wrote:
It was laid on for an IBS meeting taking place at Pebble Mill. I don't
know which came first - but Birmingham bull ring is (was?) notorious for
poor FM reception. Could have been the same coach - it was said to have
state of the art aerials and receivers for both DAB and FM.

Sounds the same - 12 seater minibus?

No - a full sized one. 40? seater. There would have been a riot if it had
been small given the attendance at IBS meetings in those days. As it was I
think they had to do two trips to cover everyone. So the hospitality would
have taken a bashing during the wait. ;-)

The day at Kingswood Warren included an inspection of the encoding
kit, which occupied a serious amount of rack space back then. Also I
got chatting with the audio research chaps and had a good nose around
the audio labs and listening rooms. I got my first listen to a really
well implemented sub there, and it inspired me to build mine.

One particularly interesting thing was two adjacent rooms. They
measured identically for reverb time at all frequencies, but one was
well diffused while the other had large areas of flat wall. The
difference in sound between them was astounding, particularly the
stereo image, which was pin-sharp in the diffuse room and almost
unlocatable in the specular one.

d
--
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

I remember driving round Birmingham on a coach equipped with a
demonstration system long before actual transmissions started - and the
difference in reception between that and FM was quite astounding.

A high bit rate I'd imagine, it being a demo, not the real commercial world.

In article ,
Mike O'Sullivan wrote:
I remember driving round Birmingham on a coach equipped with a
demonstration system long before actual transmissions started - and the
difference in reception between that and FM was quite astounding.

A high bit rate I'd imagine, it being a demo, not the real commercial
world.

Nope - IIRC the same bitrates as used at the start of the service. the
current reduced ones came later.

But just to point out, bitrates have little to do with actual reception.

--
*Why is 'abbreviation' such a long word?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message

In article ,
Mike O'Sullivan wrote:
I remember driving round Birmingham on a coach equipped with a
demonstration system long before actual transmissions started -
and the
difference in reception between that and FM was quite astounding.

A high bit rate I'd imagine, it being a demo, not the real
commercial
world.

Nope - IIRC the same bitrates as used at the start of the service.
the
current reduced ones came later.


I've been told they used 256 kbps in that demo. Then when they
launched they used 192 kbps for Radios 1, 2, 3, 4. Then in 2002 they
slashed the bit rates of R1, 2, 4 to 128k and 6 Music and 1Xtra
started using 128k, and Asian Network's in mono and Radio 7's in mono,
and Radio 4 is in mono in the evenings when R5 Sports Extra is on-air,
and R3 is 160k in teh daytime when R5 Sports Extra is on-air

You're sticking up for a national disgrace, Plowman.


But just to point out, bitrates have little to do with actual
reception.


Gosh, how insightful.



--
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

The adoption of DAB was the most incompetent technical
decision ever made in the history of UK broadcasting:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/da...ion_of_dab.htm

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Mike O'Sullivan wrote:
I remember driving round Birmingham on a coach equipped with a
demonstration system long before actual transmissions started - and the
difference in reception between that and FM was quite astounding.

A high bit rate I'd imagine, it being a demo, not the real commercial
world.

Nope - IIRC the same bitrates as used at the start of the service. the
current reduced ones came later.

But just to point out, bitrates have little to do with actual reception.

Did you mean to say "bitrates have little to do with actual sound quality" ?