Radio Data System (RDS)

MMM SYD
MMM GOS
MMM NEW

Maybe a good idea??
Well that would be my suggestion if I was a SCA tech :wink:

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If your already listening to the Triple M of your choice you wouldn’t be flicking around.

I think people are thinking too much into this.

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Make all stations the same outside of breakfast with a decent rock playlist and AF the lot. No more retuning! :joy:

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Sydney and Newcastle probably won’t change theirs, but my guess is that the Central Coast will be either

MMM CC (based on what Port Macquarie uses)
107.7MMM (based on what Orange uses)

I’d be very surprised if it’s similar to the TRIPLE M or Triple M that Sydney and Newcastle uses.

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Triple M Bendigo is “MMM BGO” I think.

It can be received with RDS into Melbourne in some areas which is where I’ve seen this.

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I was recently looking at the RDS list & noted a new RDS entry for a station in Adelaide calling itself Blade 94.5

There is a website too:
https://www.bladefm.com.au

I can’t find any ACMA entry for this station.
Was it a TCBL or temp narrowcast licenced station?

It’s not streaming @ the moment.

RDS info from the Google Sheets page is:

Adelaide’s non-stop music mix [ARTIST] - [TITLE]
Weather: Currently XXo max XXo min XXo [CLOUDS/CLEAR]
Adelaide’s non-stop music mix.
[PRESENTER NAME] on Adelaide’s Blade94.5

PS: Blade945
PI: 10F9
PTY: Pop Music

Looks like the website could have been established in late August 2019.

Does anyone know anymore about this station? Did it get to air or yet to?

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Can you ask the list creator what data they have on who contributed?

Away from a computer today but I’ll do some digging.

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No, first I’ve heard of it.

Can only assume it’s a modestly powered suburban station not operating from Mt Lofty, where it would otherwise have to contend with the imminent arrival of 5MU on 94.3 for the Foothills

5MU on 94.3 will cover the Adelaide Hills, not the Foothills.

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Oh yes, of course, thanks

No Google hits for “Blade 945” + Adelaide or “Blade 94.5” + Adelaide. “Blade FM”+ Adelaide returns only the website listed above.

I didn’t see a temporary licence listed in the latest ACMA transmitter data so I wonder if this is a pirate station. A very sophisticated one if they’re using RDS; the London pirates use RDS ,though.

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I was wondering the same thing when writing my post.
Was hoping someone from Adelaide might be able to enlighten us all…

Indeed. They’ve gone to a lot of trouble with the RDS & establishing a website.
If indeed they have been on air & RDS info real.
I assume no LAP for 94.5 FM in ADL?

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Was in the north-west today.

Here’s a RDS capture of: Hawksbury Gold 89.9 FM

Just a couple of small RDS changes noted.

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I messed with a Raspberry Pi based FM transmitter a while back - RDS was extremely simple to set up and get working. I think I used this software - but there’s a lot out there that does similar things.

So I wouldn’t necessarily chalk up RDS as a sign of a more professional operation.

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It does make a station look more professional though - a bit like a shopfront with nice signage vs one that has no signage at all.

Given how cheap and easy it seems to be to set up, it surprises me that more stations aren’t using it. I can only think that there are hardware compatibility issues with older/higher power transmitters that are used,

Was an anonymous edit on September 15, can’t find any more than that. All signs suggesting a pirate, or someone wandering out of the If you could create the perfect radio station... - #72 by Tuco_Salamanca thread

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Looking at the publicly available information, the website is registered to a William Lawes with an ABN registered only on 26 September 2019.

Nothing’s listed on 94.5 MHz on the ACMA’s Radcom database within 100km of Adelaide CBD on 94.5 MHz, so if it’s been on-air, I assume it’s unlicensed.

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When I was driving around in Europe, I found that almost every station seemed to have RDS and with extensive use of AF as well. I guess RDS is particularly useful in Europe as they have a lot more networked stations (with lower-powered transmitters). Particularly useful for DXing, especially as in some areas you can receive stations from several countries at the same time.

That’s not to say there weren’t any issues though – I remember a religious station had the TA (traffic announcement) flag permanently on so the radio would keep switching to that station. Some radio networks had a few seconds’ delay between different transmitters, so it wasn’t a smooth listening experience when the AF switched between different transmitters. Another station had scrolling song names in the PS, which would result in that one word from a song name being stored as the programme name in the station list.

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Nice looking software!

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