About time, I told them 18 months or more ago to fix it.
Time to pop the champagne corks!
Maybe thereās hope yet for Radio Blue Mountains whom Iāve asked several times over past 12 months to change their PI from 002B to a number not commencing with a leading zero (given the RDS display issue @Radiohead & others experience) & with suggestions based on the CRA PI code draft guidelines.
Really think there should be technical representations made to the CBAA on how their member stations should correctly implement RDS and to avoid these common or unique issues by the many community broadcasters with badly implemented RDS:-
- Numero Uno would be to avoid dynamic PS.
- Avoid PI codes commencing with zero (and avoid using same PI code as other broadcasters )
- If using CT sync it or just avoid using CT
- Avoid setting TP, TA flags if you donāt use it.
In case this interests someone.
Noted that both 2DAY & Triple M Sydney are now both sending out RDS Groups 11A & 12A once a minute.
UPDATE: At least one group is being used for RT+ (Artist/Title) for both stations.
Oh one thing Iāve been meaning to postā¦
A pet hate of mine when stations do thisā¦ have noted whilst in Port Macquarie, but Hit FM on 105.1 also has RDS text of Hit102.3ā¦ If they canāt have separate RDS for each of 102.3 and 105.1, then make them both Hit FM (as they ID on air).
And someone did ask about AF, canāt remember who, and I checked today, yes, both Hit and Triple M still use AF on 102.3/105.1 and 100.7/106.7/90.3 respectively.
95.3 Smooth FM is using RT+ (Song Title & Artist) via RDS Group 3A & 11A.
CENTRAL COAST - NSW
Hit 101.3 & Triple M 107.7 both using RT+ with title & artist info.
The RDS Google Spreadsheet has 104.5 Star FM as RT+, but itās definitely not RT+
tonight. Star 104.5 has programmed their enhanced PTY (PTYN) as: STAR1045
Interesting!
Will check these out when I get home tomorrow.
Does anything appear to be different on a standard RDS enabled radio when using RT+?
Wonder if thereāll be any RDS receivers that are not compatible, or able to decode it?
Also found this article on it.
Probably depends upon the radio receiver.
RT+ format provides a separate field/line for the eg. Artist & title info vs standard RT that stations usually output the artist & song title all on the same RT line.
All the stations that Iāve found with RT+ both transmit standard RT & RT+ info.
What I have noted is that the groups that send the RT+ info arenāt transmitting the RT+ very often, so in areas with poor RDS reception (high BER (Bit Error Rate)) standard RT is going to be far more reliable.
The RT+ format is useful for smartphones or the old mobile phones & MP3 players/apps or some car radios where there might be limited space for long RT on a line or where presentation & less screen clutter is preferred for easier, better reading & in keeping more with MP3 app formats for Artist/Title presentations etc I suspect.
Later receivers or higher end more fully featured receivers may be able to decode it.
Not all receivers use all the features RDS has to offer, even though itās old tech.
I was just playing with RDS Spy software which displays all this stuff & learning a bit more in the process
Wow, thatās poor form indeed.
Who is the NSW tech for SCA with oversight of this?
Calm your farm. Fixed.
Hah, thanks @mcpaton, are you looking after NSW in addition to Qld now?
Thanks, though when I left Port Macquarie at 9am today, 105.1 still had Hit102.3 as the station name.
What did you change it to?
hit105.1
We have just moved all our RDS management nationally into a central server so thereās likely some changes across the board.
@mcpaton can I suggest SCA engineering review some of the PI codes they are using across your Hit & Triple M netwoks in some regions.
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Thereās a known problem with some tuners not displaying RDS where the PI code commences with a leading zero. The 93.7 Hit transmitter at Mt. Broughton, Yea is one example.
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Thereās identical PI codes used on different SCA networks (Hit & Triple M) Eg1. PI code of 4035 used for Hit 103.5 Cairns & also Triple M Maryborough, Qld.
Eg 2. 104.9 Triple M Sydney with PI code of 2049 shared with Hit 104.9 Albury.
Thereās also some identical PI codes used by SCA in Qld & Grant Broadcasters in Qld in different regions. This is mainly an issue for dxers or where SpE or strong ducting might cause a local reception issue.
The draft CRA RDS PI code proposal might be helpful for you guys.
This one tricked my car radio briefly when I was in the Riverina a couple of weeks ago, though it did correct to right RDS name after a minute or so.
New installations follow the CRA guidelines but there were existing installations that havenāt been changed.
A duplication between Sydney and Albury or Cairns and Maryborough is unlikely to affect many people so itās not a high priority to change these. It will probably cause more frustration with people who have presets saved that get unhappy with a change of PI code.
Good.
Understand it wouldnāt be a high priority. But there are regular drivers like transport operators regularly driving these routes weekly.
No more so that doing a re-scan after a vehicle battery failure or vehicle service with loss of memory to car tuner etc or power surge etc. And no more bothersome like a regular DAB+ rescan or TV tuner re-scan after new channels added etc.
Anywayā¦ thanks for replying.
That seems to be less of an issue with modern cars whereby memory storage isnāt reliant on a continued power supply source.
So true. Anyway I tried
You done good.
Dynamic PS and non conforming PI codes are pet hates of mine too.
Hopefully ALL broadcasters follow the CRA guidelines.
Super Radio Network is another one that Iād like to see follow suit for the ones they DO have AND get some more stations with RDS active.