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Digital radio: All you need to know

By Randolph Ramsay and Ty Pendlebury on 06 August 2009

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  RickMoranis commented on 10/06/2009 10:15 Report abuse

  skepticus, you are spot on. Government should have asked (legislated) manufacturers to build the technology into products by a set date, then release the signal and the consumer would have the means to capture it and reap the rewards.
  what would be wrong with a radio that has AM/FM/DAB switch?
  paulc4you are in denial, B&W to color transition, is the same signal and a B&W TV set still picks up the signal color sets can utilise.

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  RickMoranis commented on 09/06/2009 23:22 Report abuse

  skepticus, you are spot on. Government should have asked (legislated) manufacturers to build the technology into products by a set date, then release the signal and the consumer would have the means to capture it and reap the rewards.
  what would be wrong with a radio that has AM/FM/DAB switch?
  paulc4you are in denial, B&W to color transition, is the same signal and a B&W TV set still picks up the signal color sets can utilise.

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  paulc4 commented on 09/06/2009 21:41 Report abuse

  Not sure what Skepticus is suggesting instead. It's a new way to broadcast so it needs new equipment. Once we all had B/W TVs, not any more.
  
  But as Charley says the real problem is the lack of choice. Its an expensive way to get better AM. This should be the way to get a much wider range of radio instead of the bland, homogeneous drivel that is FM.
  
  On my digital TV set-top box Seven get 5 channels and just rebroadcast their normal free-to-air on all of them. Why? And even with all the channels allocated to the existing broadcasters, there is plenty of room for more, but where are they?
  
  Will digital radio be any better?

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  Skepitcus commented on 09/06/2009 21:13 Report abuse

  Q. where do most people listen to the radio?
  A. in the car.
  So who is going to pay to have a new headset put in their car?
  Considering most commercial radio stations "pump the airwaves with their stars" at times when people ar in their cars. No one is going to benefit from this digital blunder.
  Just like HDTV (freeview) the digital joke continues in this country at the expense of the consumer who will be asked to fork out for expensive add-ons and DAB(plus) unit which will be obsolete in 2 years when the next model comes out.
  HiFi buffs are one who have noticed that none of the big players in AV equipment are yet to provide any products that include the DAB tuners. So unless the major electronics manufactureres (who are in finacial diabolicus at the moment) start making product why would the consumers bother looking for some way to listen to something they can already get for free with their existing tuners.
  The only drawback is that AM radio is suffering from signal degredation due to modulation interference of more buildings going up in our major cities.
  
  This is just another balls up from our regulators and implementation authorities.

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  Deadly commented on 04/06/2009 21:08 Report abuse

  To answer all your questions
  
  RE: Peterhotpies
  My set top box gives me 2 ABC and 2 SBS digital radio stations but not any of the new ones announced. None of the many articles describe why. A quick google has not helped
  
  The digital radio annonced CANT be found on a set top box because all the new channels are in DAB+ requiring a different tuner than what is built in which is DAB the old technology. ABC and SBS were suckers and brought their equipment earlier and the standard got changed half way between trials and implementation
  
  RE:Demon Rob
  Can any mobile phones receive digital radio? Or are planned to?
  
  It is in planning for apple corp due to DAB+ being the same main codec as the ipods (AAC)

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  peterhotpies commented on 02/06/2009 22:33 Report abuse

  There is digital radio and there is digital radio. My set top box gives me 2 ABC and 2 SBS digital radio stations but not any of the new ones announced. None of the many articles describe why. A quick google has not helped

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  Demon Rob commented on 02/06/2009 15:50 Report abuse

  Can any mobile phones receive digital radio? Or are planned to?

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  Roger the Dodger the sod commented on 01/06/2009 23:53 Report abuse

  Hi Anna log. Relax, your digital watch will still work in Sydney and Brisbane and all points in between but there will still be the Brisbane problem with fading curtains during daylight saving time and the fact that there will be a need to adjust your watch when you transverse the border between states.
  Does Queensland have Digital TV stations yet?

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  Charley commented on 31/05/2009 00:26 Report abuse

  Digital radio may be a technical advance but in Australia' its a smokescreen by the industry in concert with the federal government, to stop more commercial FM stations going to air. Apart from the ABC, broadcasting in Australia is one of the most restricted in the world. Sydney with a handful of commercial FM stations compared with Auckland - 17 at last count, and look at the difference in population. Australian radio is so restricted and so far behind the times, despite DAB, the pirates that freed up the airwaves in Britain and New Zealand 40 years ago, should set sail and show what they're missing out. DAB+ and Freeview? It's a joke.

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  Uncle Cam commented on 29/05/2009 16:37 Report abuse

  What will I do with my old "analogue" radios?