ABC Classic & triple j stations in Sydney & Melbourne
have had recent changes to their RDS RT feeds. They
now only have song title & artist info on their RT. Other
RT messages have gone. Maybe something to do with
the recent DAB+ changes in Sydney & Melbourne.
triple j & ABC Classic Brisbane provide other RT information.
In the Australian RDS List thereās now further information
pertaining to:
Clock Time (CT) accuracy. Green tick in the NOTES field denotes the station
transmits with accurate CT. Nice to know if setting vehicle clock from
a RDS station. Inaccurate station CT errors provided where known.
The RDS standard indicates RDS stations using CT should only implement
it if they provide a synced time source. There sure is a huge number
of FM RDS stations in Australia that donāt heed to that specification standard.
New in the NOTES field are indications to the frequency of changed RT messages.
Have noted variations from a ridiculous rapid 10 seconds to slow rate of 10 minutes.
Good to see that Grant Broadcasters have made a couple of changes to their PI
codes in Townsville for their FM RDS stations. Now at least 100.7 FM PI code wonāt
be confused between Toowoomba & Townsville.
Back to CT for the Hit & Triple M networks. CT always seems to be accurate for the Hit network stations.
As for Triple M; CT is always inaccurate, but inaccuracy usually held to within 1 minute. I note a 2-3 second slip each day. I suspect third party RDS TMC equipment might be responsible for the CT inaccuracy.
89.9 Hawkesbury Radio (NSW) has made some recent changes to their RDS.
They are now including weather details & COVID safe message in their RT feeds.
Most of their RT messages have changed. Now:-
The ORIGINAL Hawkesbury Radio 89.9FM
Hotline - 45 899 899
Textline - 0427 899 899
Tops of [weather details] Hawkesbury today. Stay safe!
DI changed to 13
Also (oddly) in their RDS feed, thereās AF details that now show frequencies of: 92.4, 100.4 & still 87.6MHz.
3 stations with RDS to add.
Lancelin, 88.0FM, PS - Vision
Carnarvon, 88.0FM, PS - Faith FM, RT - Call 1800FAITHFM
Albany City 106.5FM, PS - Hit95.3, RT -
Get That Feeling
(Title) - (Artist)
Just played (Title) - (Artist)
Download the LISTNR app and listen to us live
Albany: (temperature / forecast)
Hit Mt Barker 95.3FM has the same PS and RT as Hit Albany 106.5FM.
And 3 community stations previously broadcasting RDS, currently not.
88.5 VCA Ellenbrook
89.7FM Joondalup.
93.7 Vision Mt Barker
Accurate time and date data also noted on -
95.7 Hit Bunbury
91.7 The Wave Mandurah
Thanks @Informer
Iāve updated list for the owner & members.
Also I note that 91.5 Smooth FM - Melbourne now has RT+
Does anyone know if Nova100 has RT+ ?
I donāt think the RT+ group codes get sent very often based on 91.5 reception.
101.7 WSFM has now added Clock Time (CT), which is accurate.
Theyāve made some RT format changes & also added group 3A,
not sure what the ODA usage is, or will be.
KIIS 106.5 now has accurate clock time CT.
Theyāve also added group 3A, not sure what the ODA usage is, or will be.
No sign of a return of Group 8A (TMC) (yet?)
ARN replaced the RDS encoders at Artarmon last week, not sure if Gore Hill has been done yet?
This is all part of the faults & changes I mentioned previously here, I canāt give any more info as Iām not at work ATM.
That was the case last year as @RFBurns stated that they only had primary access to Artarmon (or something like that), but this time around its because ARN have had RDS issues at Gore Hill. SCA seem to have a preference for Artarmon.
c) KIIS have also added a third RT message for Song Title/Artist info
92.9 ABC Classic FM:
a) PTY has been changed from āSerious Classicā (PTY 14) to āOther Musicā (PTY 15)
Why?
In Australia we use the European PTY codes, not the American.
PTY 15 (American) is: Classical
That said all the other ABC Classic RDS stations across Australia have their
PTY programmed as āOther Musicā (PTY 15)
b) Thereās also been some RT changes in addition to song info RT with
new Program/Announcer info with next program time, but message isnāt trimmed
unlike eg. ABC Classic Brisbane.
Regarding ARN, I canāt answer, but our guy at Artarmon told me this morning ARN are transmitting from Gore Hill at the moment, & have been for about the last 4 days after fixing/replacing their RDS equipment. I wonder if Artarmon & Gore Hill RDS settings are different ATM for reasons unknown, but maybe they havenāt set them up properly yet, or have they really changed things?
Hi @RFBurns RDS has definitely changed from Gore Hill then. WS & KIIS never had RT+ previously. New RT formats & messages too. New Group 3A which started 4 days ago. I think clock time Group 4A & ODA group 12A (required for RT+) changes happened on Sunday or Sat night.
Remains to be seen if CT gets to be implemented again & what other changes might be in the pipeline at both sites. Iām interested to know if KIIS will reinstate TMC on their RDS.
Would be interesting comparing the RDS differences between Gore Hill & Artarmon sites for both WS FM & KIIS. Do they plan to have same equipment & RDS output at both sites? Many questions.
Anyway Iām sure thereās many driver/listeners now happy having RDS RT+ from WSFM & KIIS.
RDS encoders at both sites will be, or are identical at both sites (Iām yet to physically see what they are though), thereās 4 separate RDS encoders, 1 for each station (WS & KIIS) at each transmitter site (2 per site).
Whilst they would likely get their input information from the same place at the studios, the actual encoders might have different settings ATM at each site, so Gore Hill would give different RDS from Artarmon, I canāt confirm that ATM.
They replaced the RDS gear at Artarmon first, then Gore Hill, they may have changed the setup at Gore Hill & have now gone back to make Artarmon the same, or they might be trialling different settings at each site until they come to the best setup, I donāt know?
If TMC information is on WS, then itās no point having it on KIIS also, I think historically KIIS was the original station to carry it, but doesnāt need to now if itās on another station. Itās probably better having it on WS anyway as they have the 2 translators out West, whereas KIIS doesnāt, (better coverage).
KIIS until recent months carried the āSunaā traffic TMC data on their RDS.
Triple M have also been carrying āSunaā traffic TMC data for as long as I can recall.
Iām not sure how both Triple M & KIIS carrying āSunaā TMC traffic worked in practice.
Is (was) it a TMC load sharing arrangement for āSunaā traffic across two FM stations or a redundancy configuration arrangement with both carrying the exact same data?
Iāve no idea, but I have often wondered about this.
NB 2DAY-FM also carries TMC data, but from another provider (not Suna).
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