Radio Data System (RDS)

A fracas in the 1990s and still no different today. Yes @dxnerd, 98.5 Bailingup another prime example.

No SFN on 100.5, atleast a 15 second delay between the 2. Bridgetown IDing as a Hit Southwest station, Narrogin Hit Wheatbelt.

Also on 100.5, I recall Coast FM Mandurah testing on 100.5. A short lived test as too much ABSW5 interference was reported, in comparison to the eventual 97.3 frequency.

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Currently on my way to Canberra. Have noted the following RDS changes.

The big one first - Highland FM Bowral now has RDS! Though it is Dynamic PS and its a shocker

107.1
Highland
FM Heart
of the
High
lands

At Gosford, 5OPlus is now 93.3FM

And Bankstownā€™s 100.9 looks to be back to CONNECT

SWR 99.9 and Rhema 94.9 Gosford currently without RDS.

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Oh no! But why am I not surprisedā€¦ :man_facepalming:

Iā€™m surprised it displayed the PS as it has a leading zero PI code. PI = 0001

Thatā€™s new. :+1:

I too noted SWR without RDS this morning, it was operational yesterday. Maybe some maintenance by Matt?

Iā€™ve no idea how long Rhemaā€™s RDS has been inactive for.

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I think itā€™s been 1-2 weeks since it was last working.

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BTW @Radiohead is Goulburnā€™s RAM FM 103.3 still static PS?
It was dynamic at one point in time.

SWR is back with RDS now. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I think RAM FM is static (thank goodness!). Iā€™ll double check on the way back home.

I have no idea why community radio seems to go overboard with Dynamic PSā€¦ Commercial radio thankfully rarely does that.

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I can also confirm that Triple J Canberra and Goulburn are using the same PI code, as when I tuned to 101.5 south of Goulburn TRIPLE-J displayed initially before changing to triple j. I didnā€™t check if AF was set up.

I also made a slight correction to Highland FMs RDS above.

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Interesting, but good that RDS retained for Triple J Goulburn. Noting however the RDS for Triple J Illawara still off; maybe still be some unresolved problem(s)?

Thanks for the Highlands FM correction. I was wondering about the 2nd line. :slightly_smiling_face:

I think one of the reasons why community stations choose the dynamic PS is a belief that many of their older listeners still have older tuners or receivers that only have the 8 character displays on their tuners/radios.

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Surely just HIGHLAND would suffice.

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My thoughts are more of the not qualified/lack of knowledge techs that set up the RDS for community stations. If youā€™ve ever setup/looked how to setup an RDS encoder, they kinda suggest to the inexperienced that you need to/should run Dynamic PS.

Download Magic RDS 4 & go through the settings to see whatā€™s there & how itā€™s done if you donā€™t know, https://pira.cz/rds/show.asp?id=magic_rds_4
All RDS encoders are very similar in the settings & how itā€™s done. Some are more basic than others, but still kinda hint you need to use Dynamic PS to get your message across instead of RT.
Pic is of one of the more basic ones Iā€™ve used.

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I see what you mean. Thanks for sharing the pic @RFBurns :+1:

100% agree. :+1:
Another bit of evidence towards this is the fact that, as Iā€™ve just determined this morning, is that Highlands FM have implemented PTYN with Group Code 10A, but no text defined. No RT or PTY either. Interesting that PTYN appears directly after the Dynamic PS box on your screen shot.

And theyā€™re also outputing Group code 2A, which is used for RT, but looking with RDS Spy this morning, with poor reception, thereā€™s no RT used. :man_facepalming:

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@matt86 and I have been quite busy with SWRā€™s studio renovations, part of which was moving our RDS Encoder from our temporary studio setup back to our main control room to its final home. Weā€™ve also been having some power supply issues with said RDS Encoderā€¦

Will have to share some pics once the renoā€™s are done :slight_smile:

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I must forgetten about this post, as the RDS on 100.3 caught me by surprise when I went down for a drive along the Kings Hwy and back to Canberra today. Good to see though!

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The RDS has been on and off. Havenā€™t checked it recently. 88.5 Captains Flat was off air recently too but has switched back on again.

Should have taken that drive in the morning when I was on air! I would have let you in the studio for a tour.

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Itā€™s a nice driveā€¦ except for all the rotten roadworks! I think I had to stop 4 times. It probably added 10-15 minutes from Bungendore.

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Well if you had listened to my show this morning, I warned people of ā€˜a slow run on the Kings Highway, adding around 10 minutes to your run into Canberraā€™ :smiley:

The roadworks are needed as the Kings Highway was cut to ribbons after all the rain in spring. The high volumes of traffic (including trucks) donā€™t help. The road is woefully inadequate for the amount of traffic it serves these daysā€¦should be four lanes all the way to Batemans Bay but it will never happen.

Checking LiveTraffic is required around here unfortunately, as are my traffic reports. Iā€™m currently allowing 45-50 minutes for the trip into Braidwood from Bungendore (usually 35 mins if no roadworks).

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I checked this morning on the way back home and alas, itā€™s back to Dynamic PS as I think it was before

RAM FM
the
voice of
Goulburn

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RhemaCC RDS issue is because they recently moved studio to a new location & studio build.
Iā€™ve been asked by the Hope 103.2 tech who assists Rhema to help investigate some issues they have including the No RDS, deviation is well over 100kHz too.

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I know this topic was raised recently by @Informer re loss of RT on 99.3 Triple J Perth. I can report that RT (Group 2A) has been re-instated.
That said, now 92.9 Triple J Hobart has lost its RT.
I wonder what BAI/ABC are up to across the country?

BAI/ABC also seem to be having a lot of issues with maintaining accurate RDS Clock Time (CT) on many of their RDS outlets in recent times with huge CT slippages. Not sure either why they canā€™t sync their RDS to an internet time source or turn CT off. Is there a dwindling expertise problem within BAI or some technical issues that are being given low priorities? :man_shrugging:

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Sky Sports Radio RDS has been switched on today throughout the NSW network where equipment is RDS capable using the same PI as my QLD equiped stations.

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