frequencys about to be licensed in London

[famefm]

I have just seen that ofcom are offering 101.4 94.0 92.2 and 96.5 fm

[teckniqs]

Where?

[famefm]

101.4 almost the same as before Hammersmith area and the other 3 for East /and southeast London

[famefm]

I was surprised when I saw it its on ofcoms lasted listings saying that they are suitable frequencys for comunty radio, so if 92.0 94.5 and 106.5 are on offer ( I didn't see them today )that would make 7 frequencys about to be licensed

[Westman]

101.4 has always been a lovely RSL for them to give away. Brit School always had 101.4 when they had their RSL.

Also used by an Asian station in Brick Lane for Ramadan.

[famefm]

The station that had 101.4 in Hammersmith was supposed to be permanent

[teckniqs]

It was occasionally used for RSL before On FM 101.4 were allocated.

[famefm]

Would be nice if something decent actually got licensed on fm only rinse so far that is worthy has been on so far I wouldn't have thought to many people like the 107.3 thing and why don't solar or misoul go for fm instead of dab any other suggestions answer on a postcard

[Effemm]

Cos DAB is the future , why would Solar go FM...wont happen,

[shuffy]

DAB the future... ha ha ha

Recently there seems to have been a burgeoning in numbers of new DAB stations - I can't see many of them lasting though, there are a lot of ill-conceived flash in the pan ideas like "Union Jack" Radio which is on one of the main national multiplexes yet is destined to make a loss - their gimmick is a website where you can contribute to the choice of which track appears next. Unlikely to hold most peoples' attention for very long - especially if they've got a modest CD collection.

Incidentally Solar have appeared on the "experimental" low power multiplex in Manchester... along with LGR!! That's at least three ex-pirates on this multiplex now!

[famefm]

I know solar is on low power dab in London and misoul is on dab also and people just don't seem to care because we are going to skip a generation and go straight over to tune in via the Web because I already have done so

[famefm]

I just saw the other message about solar and they did want fm but were put off because as usual the license was going to be far more expensive

[famefm]

I just remembered now that when misoul started online 5 years ago Gordon Mac the founder said he wanted fm and dab is a poor system

[Albert H]

The problem with DAB is that the implementation has been done "on the cheap" and the transmitters are under-powered. The original specification for DAB gave required field strengths that were 10dBm more than was actually provided. This meant that the vast majority of potential listeners who tried DAB, found that it either gave "bubbling mud" sound effects or that it just didn't work at all! Listening in a car is a hit-and-miss effort - it's OK in most of London (not all!), but when you get out of cities, the coverage is pitiful.

DAB now has such a poor reputation with broadcasters, that it's not really taken seriously, and OFCOM can't give away licences. None of the DAB-only services are really financially viable - many are just "vanity" projects. I recently enquired about a few city-wide licences for major UK cities, and was told that if I could provide them with "suitable" proposals, I could have the licences for nothing, and would just have to pay the "transport" costs - i.e.: transmitter facility rental.

Experiments are now taking place with DAB+ - the "enhanced" version of DAB that uses better codecs, is more robust, and has additional facilities - and there is now a fully Open-Source encoding and transmission option, based on SDR modules and cheap computers with good quality sound cards. OFCOM have encouraged trials (by giving out free test licences) and several pilots have taken place. However, nobody is seriously considering the upgrade to the new format, because the vast majority of existing digital receivers wouldn't be able to decode it!

As open web coverage becomes more ubiquitous, and as more cars are equipped with wi-fi gear, Internet mobile listening will increase. DAB may end up being the technology that gets missed out - the majority of listeners will go from FM straight to the 'net. Public wi-fi needs to be widely encouraged and the current crop of providers need to stop trying to monetise is - they haven't realised that most users want to move from network to network - they're not stationary users with a laptop these days - and nobody is going to pay to connect to public wi-fi if they lose connection every 100m.

If I had any advice for niche, "community of interest" broadcasters these days, it would be to get established on the 'net. "Broadcast" plans from some hosting companies are now quite cheap, and the technology is well known. Don't make the mistake of using Adobe "Flash", Microshaft "wmv" or any other proprietary protocol: go for some Open format that can be decoded on ANY hardware if you want to maximise your audience.

[famefm]

Thanks Albert isn't that similar to what I have been saying only difference is you have provided the technical know how the rest of us don't know like I said solar and misoul seem to be hardly noticed on dab and going straight on line they are both in decent stereo now and look how many people now have blue tooth car radios now?

[Albert H]

At least we don't suffer the American "IBOC" - In Band On Channel - mess. The Yanks have added extra digital sub-carriers to their ordinary FM Stereo stations. These are in quadrature to the difference sub-carrier in an effort to reduce the required bandwidth, but these splatter for 200kHz either side. When you consider that the Americans think a 50kW transmitter is a "small" one, you should be able to see the problem.

Manhattan is a case in point 13½ miles long by about 2½ miles at its widest (about 23 square miles in all). They have several 200kW+ transmitters on high buildings to cover that area! They just throw power at the problem, and try to crush the raised noise floor that their stupidity causes. With a bit of intelligent planning, they'd be able to cover the area with about 40 different stations, each running a couple of hundred Watts. All the interference and cross-modulation problems would immediately disappear, and their power bills would tumble!

[famefm]

I never knew anything like that but I have heard signal overload sounding to powerful a long time ago and has a sort of blunt sound

[famefm]

I have just looked at the applicants for the up and coming community licence applications for London and there are 3 current pirates applying I won't name them in case someone gets upset but they are on the list

[sproggy]

I have just looked at the applicants for the up and coming community licence applications for London and there are 3 current pirates applying I won't name them in case someone gets upset but they are on the list

I don't know why not. It's publicly available information.

I count 4: Flames, Flex, Hot and House.

Mi-Soul and Starpoint have also applied.

Surprised at the large number of total applicants who still think they can make a go of community radio considering the high rate of failure.

[biggiedan]

I have just looked at the applicants for the up and coming community licence applications for London and there are 3 current pirates applying I won't name them in case someone gets upset but they are on the list

I don't know why not. It's publicly available information.

Where can one find this information ?