Digital radio switch-over this year?

[blackrose]

I just heard on the news that the digital radio switch-over may happen this year, which means the FM signal is switched off if particular criteria are met including the number of digital listeners reaching a certain proportion. 

I have a DAB radio and also a 12v FM car radio on my boat. I use the FM quite a lot and it would be a shame to lose it especially when away from my mooring/shore power as the battery draw is so low (1amp). 

Are there any 12v DAB car radios with such a low power draw?

 

Edit: Would one of these work with my existing FM car radio?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EasyDAB-DB-1-Universal-Plug-and-Play-Car-12v-24v-DAB-Digital-Radio-Adapter-DAB-/252845701361?hash=item3adec738f1:g:-qYAAOSw6kxXIenp

Looks like the total power draw would be the 1amp from my FM radio + 2.1amps so it triples power consumption.

Edited April 14, 2017 by blackrose

[Athy]

I haven't heard this news item, but it would be a draconian move. DAB radios have been popular for only five years or so, and there must be millions of people who still have ordinary radio sets (a quick count reveals three in our house and two on the boat). Must they simply throw these sets away and fork out for (quite expensive) new DAB ones?

Edit: a look at the B.T. web site suggests that "the end of the decade" is the earliest likely time for such a changeover to take place, so we have plenty of time yet. Also, only FM was mentioned, so perhaps long wave and medium wave transmissions will not be affected.

[blackrose]

I heard it on the Today programme on R4 this morning. They killed off analogue TV quickly enough so I doubt they'll be any reprieve for FM radio. By the way, why in the news do they only mention FM radio? Doesn't this also affect AM - or does nobody use that anymore?

Edited April 14, 2017 by blackrose

[WotEver]

It's certainly not happening this year and it wouldn't surprise me if it's still 5 or 10 years away. 

Unlike digital TV which gives superior reception (in most cases), DAB reception is still very hit and miss. Cheap DTV receiver boxes were available for years prior to analogue switch-off so that by the time TV changed over for good the vast majority were already watching digital.  

The government has stated that it will look at setting a date for FM switch-off when 'the majority' of the country 'can receive it'. How will they determine this? We own a DAB radio so 'we can receive' DAB, but as a percentage of our radio listening it figures less than 1%. Neither of our cars has a DAB receiver and our home Hi-Fi is FM only. I see no cheap DAB to FM boxes on the shelves of Currys or Maplins so how do we convert our cars to DAB?

Until the majority of the population does the majority of their listening on DAB I doubt the government will even start considering setting a date. 

[Athy]

25 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I heard it on the Today programme on R4 this morning. They killed off analogue TV quickly enough so I doubt they'll be any reprieve for FM radio. By the way, why in the news do they only mention FM radio? Doesn't this also affect AM - or does nobody use that anymore?

Yes, I did ask a similar question in my last post. As for people listening to medium- or long-wave, yes they certainly do: a good example is Test Match Special, on Radio 4 LW (that's a station, not an engine) whose audience figure I do not know, but it's probably over a million. (EDIT: listening figures are estimated at 4 million, but of course some of those will be on digital rather than LW).

12 minutes ago, WotEver said:

 I see no cheap DAB to FM boxes on the shelves of Currys or Maplins so how do we convert our cars to DAB?

 

This occurred to me too. It would not be very convenient to attach a set-top box to a portable radio (I was going to write "transistor" but I am unsure whether these are still used in their manufacture).

[rusty69]

Looks like Norway turned theirs oft in January. 

Seems very short sighted for cars with only fm available. 

 

I much prefer the fm radio on the boat. Better battery life, better signal without external aerial, probably better sound quality. 

 

Long live fm

[WotEver]

7 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Looks like Norway turned theirs oft in January. 

And it was hugely controversial and unpopular. However, Norway has some unique problems. A population of only 5.5M people scattered across huge areas of fissures and fjords meant that getting FM to them was difficult and expensive. So the powers that be decided to simply not bother any longer and let the market sort itself out for solutions. 

I doubt our government is that brave or stupid. 

Edited April 14, 2017 by WotEver
Changed m for M because it's not 5.5 milli-people!

[WotEver]

11 minutes ago, Athy said:

I was going to write "transistor" but I am unsure whether these are still used in their manufacture

They all have transistors in them for sure - even DAB radios - but I think the generally accepted adjective would indeed be 'portable'. 

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, WotEver said:

doubt our government is that brave or stupid.

I hope your right. It would be a bit short sighted,but it will happen eventually. 

[WotEver]

Just now, rusty69 said:

I hope your right. It would be a bit short sighted,but it will happen eventually. 

My bet is 2033 - any takers?

[cuthound]

What you are all overlooking is that the Government will make a fortune selling off the old FM frequencies. 

I suspect they will do it as soon as "the majority" is achieved.  However what criteria they use to determine when this has been achieved probably won't be widely published. 

[pearley]

The original criteria for a switchover date to be set was when 50% of radio listening was via digital and when National DAB coverage is equivalent to FM and Local DAB reaches 90% of population and all major roads.

Adaptors to enable FM car radios to receive DAB are readily available.

[Athy]

3 minutes ago, cuthound said:

What you are all overlooking is that the Government will make a fortune selling off the old FM frequencies. 

 

But, if there are no radio transmissions on these frequencies, what would be their purpose? Two-way radio for minicab firms?

[WotEver]

8 minutes ago, pearley said:

Adaptors to enable FM car radios to receive DAB are readily available.

For £100. When they come down to £15 like DTV set top boxes they might prove popular. 

Yes I know you can get them for around £50 but the cheap ones suck. 

[DHutch]

9 minutes ago, WotEver said:

For £100. When they come down to £15 like DTV set top boxes they might prove popular. 

Ditto.

They are also a royal sod to fit, unlike a setup freeview box.

Daniel

[Athy]

13 minutes ago, WotEver said:

For £100. When they come down to £15 like DTV set top boxes they might prove popular. 

Yes I know you can get them for around £50 but the cheap ones suck. 

Then they may offer an economical way of replacing your old Hoover.

[dor]

Whilst adapters are available for DAB to FM,  I doubt they will pick up traffic information in the same way.   Most built-in satnavs have live traffic info and this comes from FM radio.

But the one thing that will decide it is the greed of the government, who want to sell the frequencies.

[WotEver]

8 minutes ago, dor said:

But the one thing that will decide it is the greed of the government, who want to sell the frequencies.

That's twice now in this thread that 'selling off the frequencies' has been mentioned. Where did you read that they're going to be sold off? Every plan that I've ever read stated that they'll be reserved for community radio. 

[dor]

1 minute ago, WotEver said:

That's twice now in this thread that 'selling off the frequencies' has been mentioned. Where did you read that they're going to be sold off? Every plan that I've ever read stated that they'll be reserved for community radio. 

I'm afraid I can't quote the source, it is something I read a while ago.  This government giving something away? I'll believe it when I see it, unless there is something in it for their mates if they didn't sell them off directly.

[WotEver]

This two year old blog might educate. It's still valid today. 

http://www.ebuyer.com/blog/2015/05/when-will-dab-replace-fm/

[cuthound]

According to the Pure website, they will e mainly used for community stations but some will be used for local radio stations.

"What will be done with the frequency freed up by moving FM stations?

The FM frequency will be used for local as well as other smaller broadcasters such as community, student and hospital stations."

Presumably private companies will bid for the right to broadcast locally.

[blackrose]

I was half asleep this morning, but knew I wasn't imagining it.

Have a listen at 1hour, 40 mins:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08lfcb1

1 hour ago, WotEver said:

My bet is 2033 - any takers?

I think you might lose your shirt!

[blackrose]

1 hour ago, WotEver said:

It's certainly not happening this year and it wouldn't surprise me if it's still 5 or 10 years away. 

I wouldn't bet on it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/13/new-golden-age-digital-radio-heralds-review-could-end-fm/

 

Edited April 14, 2017 by blackrose

[WotEver]

4 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I was half asleep this morning, but knew I wasn't imagining it.

Have a listen at 1hour, 40 mins:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08lfcb1

I listened. They stated that The Daily Telegraph ran a sensationalist article which stated that we might reach the 50% 'listening to DAB' point later this year, which could trigger a government consultation on switching off FM. 

Three points lead on from that. Firstly the 50% point might not be reached this year. Secondly it might not trigger a consultation immediately and even if it did that consultation might not conclude that switching off FM is a good idea. Thirdly, the government have stated that they would give at least 2 years notice before the actual switch off.  So, if the 50% target is reached, and if the government decided to have a consultation, and if the consultation concluded that we should lose FM transmission, then the earliest that could happen would be 2020.

An informative article here: http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/radios/article/digital-radio-switchover-explained

9 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I wouldn't bet on it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/13/new-golden-age-digital-radio-heralds-review-could-end-fm/

Yup. Sensationalist clap-trap. Designed to sell newspapers. 

15 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I think you might lose your shirt!

I might, yup. But I belive that 2033 is closer than 2017. 

[blackrose]

3 minutes ago, WotEver said:

I listened. They stated that The Daily Telegraph ran a sensationalist article which stated that we might reach the 50% 'listening to DAB' point later this year, which could trigger a government consultation on switching off FM. 

Three points lead on from that. Firstly the 50% point might not be reached this year. Secondly it might not trigger a consultation immediately and even if it did that consultation might not conclude that switching off FM is a good idea. Thirdly, the government have stated that they would give at least 2 years notice before the actual switch off.  So, if the 50% target is reached, and if the government decided to have a consultation, and if the consultation concluded that we should lose FM transmission, then the earliest that could happen would be 2020.

An informative article here: http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/radios/article/digital-radio-switchover-explained

Ok, well you're better informed than me about this, but I read the Telegraph article (posted above) and it didn't seem "sensationalist" to me.

Edit: Anyway, whether it happens this year or in 3 years or 5, sooner or later it's going to happen.

Edited April 14, 2017 by blackrose