@AustralianAerial I was trying to message you again re the RDS List, can I make the request in this thread?
On different topic, in news to all:
@RFBurns has reported that Coast FM (2CCC) 96.3 has changed its PI code from 296A to 296C. Also CT added. 57kHz Subcarrier levels may have changed. Changes made to AUS RDS FM List.
Have weeded out some obsolete PI codes & removed stations that have closed or not resumed RDS transmission for a very long time from our Aus RDS List. These entries have been removed from Worksheets 11 & 14 only. That should improve the Engineering Search Tool results.
Having a longer look at Worksheet 14 tonight Iāve discovered some additional possible PI code switching conflicts for those vehicle tuners like that of @RFBurns.
These are in the Sydney area. They are:
a) Connect FM 100.9 with PI Code of 209C & Radio Skid Row 88.9 with PI of 289C
b) Pulse FM 89.9 with PI Code of F899 & SWR FM 99.9 with PI of 2999. Iāll flag @matt86 in this case (see earlier messages re Worksheet Engineering Tools).
Update, but not over yet, the Star 104.5 PD is happy I bought the PI code issue up with him, heās vary appreciative & wants me to thank everyone who has been involved with creating & updating the RDS worksheet, heās letting all the Nova engineering teams know about it & things weāve found.
Heās going to contact Fbi Radio & try to get them to change their PI code, Iāve suggested 294D, if he canāt get them to change heāll change the Star PI code to something else thatās free.
Heāll see if the Nova Sydney techs will change thereās to avoid conflict with Hit Newcastle too, he said one of the Sydney techs had the station change when travelling up to the Central Coast a few weeks back but wasnāt too concerned about it, he said heāll talk to the content dept, who might have a different idea about sending listeners to another station, especially the competition in SCA.
Iāll report back on how he goes, when he lets me know, if someone else doesnāt notice any changes.
Iāll contact 94.1 Todays Country & see if I can get them to change their PI code too, after I find out what FBi are doing with theirs, wouldnāt be much good if they both change & change to the same thing, itās highly unlikely Iād be able to get SCA to change 2DAY FM PI Code over the Central Coast community station.
Do you remember the details for 6TCR? Last time a I heard them the PS was 89.7FM and a blank message.
88.5 VCA is the other suburban community station I can think of. To me, it looks like they have 2 transmitters, judging by their MPX waveform. 1 with RDS, but wide and sloppy, 1 without RDS but clean and sharp.
No go for Coast FM Mandurah. Must require major equipment upgrades to make RDS happen.
Very good work @ozbark and others. The google sheet would be the closest thing the industry has to some sort of RDS standard. PI codes should really be managed by ACMA and issued in a similar way call signs are however RDS has flown under the governance radar.
For the time being, it should be up to individual stations being diligent when implementing RDS and ensuring nobody else is using a particular PI code first. Re: FBI, 2EC had their PI code first, so FBI should find something else (maybe 2FB1 ) would solve the apparent issue with Star as well.
As for SWR, RDS is temporarily off anyway. Once we put it back maybe MS can come up with a PI code, although ss far as I know there hasnāt been any issues with switching to 89.9 or anything else. (I didnāt notice 89.9 had RDS - I know some of the TCBLs did)
Technically speaking, itās still FM stereo just the same as hearing it on the VHF fm band. Infact, thatās all a composite analogue STL is, FM transmission with stereo pilot, RDS etc in the UHF band. STL receiver just passes this onto the TX. The transmitter site is essentially just a repeater site for the STL. If you have a receiver that can tune 850MHz, youāll be able to hear an analogue STL.
Thanks Matt. But letās not forget that the list is the creation of @AustralianAerial & earlier hard work. And yes itās a team effort by many.
Exactly, but anyway weāre filling that void for the moment & I felt I promptly had to do something about the frequency of rising PI code conflicts (mainly urban regions) by adding the recent tools & sheets. The list is still a work in progress.
It would. 2FB1 is a brilliant choice of PI code too
Iāll leave it too @RFBurns & the Nova Ent techs to determine which PI code they wish to suggest to FBi.
The signal from Pulse FM here isnāt the best.
I think the RDS subcarrier is sufficiently modulated, but I donāt usually get to decode anything other than the PI code from the RDS carrier due to weak signal.
Pulse FM apparently do have plans to move transmitter sites, not sure if that also involves a TX power upgrade when it happens.
Itās worthwhile gazing through the RDS list periodically for info or making additions & changes etc as noticed or made.
In other RDS List News; Iāve added last night a HOME PAGE link on the āNotesā Title of the AUS/NZ worksheets for easier navigation back to the Update/Home worksheet. I was finding the bottom worksheet tab scrolling across 16 worksheets a bit tedious.
Iāve made some further changes to the HOME / āUpdates Worksheetā that provides an expanded (and near complete) DIRECTORY for easier access to the main worksheets.
(Also a bigger promo for the Media Spy website)
There could be some consolidation to worksheets such as:
Loosing the ā1 -Exampleā worksheet
I needed to create worksheet ā14 - Last two Digitsā as an interim measure
to resolve the PI conflict problem. The goal is to eventually replace this sheet with
a dedicated āEngineering Tools Worksheetā that uses just the PI code worksheet as
a data lookup resource. The other goal on a future Engineering Worksheet is auto generate up to two tables based on either PI code or Last Two digits search criteria. That is, if either code is in use then tables are auto generated on that same worksheet that displays to the engineers where these in use PI code/ PI code 3rd & 4th digit transmitters are located.
To achieve that goal I either need to learn a lot more about Functions & Script/Code writing/programming related to Google Sheets or ask for help.
Ideally I would love to gain assistance from someone skilled in such within the group.
This would also negate the need to have & thus maintain worksheet 14, as the data was originally sourced from the PI worksheet 11.
Re updating sheets (workload). Some folk only use a mobile phone rather than have a PC & admittedly it becomes cumbersome to update, so Iām fine updating the sheets for them. Some folk donāt have the basic Google Sheets editing skills, so again Iām fine updating the sheets for them. Some folk forget to also update the Sorted PI Code sheet (where applicable), itās very important that this happens & it is important in updating the date change (column L in the AUS State pages, K in NZ, M in Pacific) when ANY change is performed. Changes to these columns are auto updated on our Updates page.
Any future feature ideas or assistance is always welcome.
Nice to see 4MMM continue to give a nod to FM104 even if only in the RDS. Mind you a lot of the songs they were playing wouldnāt have been played on 104 back in the day.
Can anyone in the Brisbane area with an RDS tuner or radio that has a clock that is set via the RDS signal please confirm with me that KIIS 97.3ās RDS CT is around 11 minutes slow or is accurate. A side by side pic for tuner RDS clock time from the KIIS tuned signal alongside a mobile phone or watch time would be awesome to prove a fault to the station.
IIRC they have doing this for a while (when it was called 'Flock Of 80ās Friday, maybe even further) Nice little throwback to the FM104 days, would be nice if they reused the old āRock In Stereoā tagline from yonks ago for its RDS text during Awesome 80ās. Still, good on them for doing it.
Just wipe it down with a microfibre cloth (similar to the ones used to clean glasses). You can use a normal damp cloth, just donāt do it too hard as you may smudge the screen.
) would solve the apparent issue with Star as well.
