We all have radio equipment at home, hi fi music systems etc, and mostly
listen to our radios tuned into the FM (VHS) radio band, with a few stations
on the Medium Wave AM band. And we have been happy :) however those in
control tell us we will be happier if we switch to DAB radio.
Apart from those in control standing to make more money out of this,
using less radio space with more channels... And apart from having to scrap
our present radio equipment... I have to agree that the present DAB radio is
cool :)- and would highly recommend it.
Digital Audio Broadcast
The DAB radio transmission is almost completely free of the problem of hiss
and fade that you my have experienced on analogue radio transmissions. DAB
signals are also far less likely to be affected by adverse weather
conditions or local sources of interference.
Radio space
DAB technology allows broadcasters to transmit far more radio stations
within the same comparable amount of radio spectrum compared to FM. The
flexible nature of the national DAB radio mutliplex means that companies can
create secondary services, allowing them to offer Long Wave content in
digital clarity.
On Screen Display
As well as transmitting the music, DAB transmissions also contain data
information. A DAB radio will now display in its screen, the name of the
song, the singer, what tracks next, the name of the station and its
frequency or channel number and much more.
Who invented DAB
Digital Audio Broadcasting has been developed by a consortium of
manufacturers and broadcasters. The BBC pioneered DAB digital radio and was
the first broadcaster in the UK to build a transmission network and start
broadcasting DAB in 1995.
How does it work
DAB radio works by using both MPEG and COFDM (Coded Orthogonal Frequency
Division Multiplex) technology which converts the music or speech from
analogue signal into digital (binary) code. This vastly reduces the
potential for the broadcast to be corrupted during transmission by weather
conditions, and other problems that can degrade the quality of reception.
Check to see if you can receive DAB radio in your location (UK only)
