NO MORE 198LW - Digital Radio Switchover

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CRUISER12

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So the Government has quietly decided to push ahead with the unpopular digital radio switchover, to be completed between 2013 and 2015. This is to mean the end of not only FM broadcasting, but also MW and LW, meaning we will lose the ability to tune into the shipping forecast on 198LW. I presume I am not the only one who is extremely concerned about this as the range of DAB broadcasting is very short - you will receive it for a mere few miles offshore at the most, and even then, only when the transmitter is near the coast. THIS SURELY HAS HUGE SAFETY REPERCUSSIONS?? In my view FM should be preserved too - but ought the RYA not be fighting, at least, for the continued existence of LW??
 
I thought it was only FM that was being phased out. MW and LW are AM and do not impact on the VHF frequency band that they are trying to free up so they can flog more of it off to commercial organisations.
 
Originally I did too - but the coalition Government will apparently tomorrow state that the Digital Economy Act that Labour pushed through earlier this year will be followed as planned - and this clearly specifies "...the switching off of the FM and AM spectrum by 2015"...

Worse still, at some point before the signal is turned off, the BBC will be banned from broadcasting on the analogue spectrum.

I think something needs to be done about this as the "50% DAB listener" target will be reached withi n the next couple of years, triggering the move
 
The most annoying thing is that almost all car radios will become useless in the UK. And these days, they are nearly all built-in, and can't easily be changed.
 
It's worse than useless, it's expensive!
Radios:
2 on boat
1 in car
home
3 in bedrooms
1 in lounge
1 in kitchen
1 in dining room
1 in workshop
1 I take away from home

11 radios to replace :mad:
No DAB reception in my area, maybe by switchover date :rolleyes:
 
DAB is useless rubbish, everyone knows that. I think the outcry from the otherwise silent majority will save the day when they lose reception of Gardeners Question Time, Woman's Hour and The Archers. They'll go ballistic.
 
Hmmmm

Methinks there is a greate Pirate radio market about to emerge, with all the normal competition removed. Sure Radio 4 listeners are unlikely to be catered for but for the rest............

It's very silly, they should have given 10 years not 5.
 
In fairness I use navtex and the regular coastguard broadcasts while cruising for our weather. In harbour I may add wifi to the mix.

I have plumbed in DaB on board via a tidy little warfdale personal radio on the line in of the boat's stereo system. The official JVC dongle is a bit pricey as yet.

I can't remember the last time I used LW to listen to R4, I am an avid R4 fan and enjoy the crisp sound on DaB.

I know I know, DaB is lower quality apparently, but at 40 years old I can't hear the difference, I am always surprised by the number of 65+ year old fanatics who have such clarity of hearing... or at least that's what they're told they're hearing anyway :rolleyes:
 
I am not convinced the BBC has decided to axe Radio LW, but playing along with the premise for a moment... I suspect interdepartmental horse trading. The MCA will no doubt object to the demise of LW at which point the Beeb will say "ok you fund the Droitwich transmitter at £10 million per year and we will keep pumping the station out".
 
Presumably if they are abandoning all LW transmissions this means they are giving up on the BBC Overseas Service entirely?

They certainly can't reach anywhere foreign with DAB - they can't reach much of the UK either:(
 
Leighb said:
Presumably if they are abandoning all LW transmissions this means they are giving up on the BBC Overseas Service entirely?

They certainly can't reach anywhere foreign with DAB - they can't reach much of the UK either:(
Click to expand...

There's Digital Radio Mondiale, the digital replacement for AM on SW, MW and LW. And why DAB and not the superior DMB or DAB+.
 
At a time of financial austerity the changeover to DAB is a brilliant plan. In our house and cars we have, I think, 10 radios, of which one is digital. Come the digital radio revolution we will need some replacements - the shower radio will certainly go because there is no DAB reception there. Say we buy 5. That's 5 radios' worth of new business to the People's Republic of China and some nice assorted plastic and heavy metal landfill for Devon.

How many new radios will you need?

So plenty of jobs in China. That's all right then ...
 
I bet there are thousands of pirates ready to begin relaying Radio 1,2,3 and 4 on the FM band the moment they turn off the transmissions. I happen to know one such pirate personally :cool:
 
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