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DAB Archives Last Update: November 21st, 2002 |
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The stories on this page previously appeared on the Latest Updates page. Please send information and observations to: carey@wohnort.org 2000 December 19th: The South China Morning Post has reported that the Hong Kong Government has decided to adopt the DVB-T standard for digital television broadcasting in the SAR. Between three and six licences are proposed to be awarded as early as 2002. However the Government does not recommend the introduction of regular digital radio broadcasts, citing the high cost of receivers and what it calls a "limited business potential". A test DAB ensemble is being broadcast in the SAR and test transmissions have recently been conducted of the competing Japanese ISDB-T system. (Currently, only Japan has adopted ISDB-T.) December 18th: BBC GMR has appeared on the Greater Manchester local ensemble. BBC Radio WM has appeared on the West Midlands local ensemble. December 18th: The UK Radio Authority has awarded the North East England regional franchise to MXR Ltd. MXR proposes to commence broadcasting by June 2001, initially using five transmission sites at Bilsdale, Burnhope, Fenham, Haining and Alnwick. The ensemble will use Block 12C. No capacity is reserved for BBC services on this ensemble. BBC Radio Newcastle and BBC Radio Cleveland are reserved capacity on the local ensembles for Tyne & Wear and Teesside respectively. December 18th: In November, the UK Radio Authority provisionally awarded the Humberside local franchise to Emap Digital Radio Ltd, subject to resolution of certain transmitter concerns. The Radio Authority has now confirmed the licence award. Emap proposes to commence its service with three transmitters at High Hunsley, Bridlington and Grimsby. It has been agreed that once household penetration of digital receivers reaches 31%, an additional transmitter at Trent View Flats in Scunthorpe will be considered. The ensemble will use Block 11B. December 14th: In Belgium, the Service Label for international VRT service "RVI" has been modified to "RVi" December 14th: In Belgium, the services "Prg FM1" and "Prg FM21" have disappeared from the RTBF ensemble. These test services used to rebroadcast FM transmitters. This move is a likely prelude to the appearance of commercial services on the ensemble. December 14th: A draft standard for the system proposed for digital radio broadcasting in Japan, ISDB-T, is available for download from DiBEG, the Digital Broadcast Experts Group. December 14th: The UK Radio Authority received three applications for the West Midlands regional digital franchise. The Digital Radio Group, MXR and West Midlands Digital Radio will be competing to run the ensemble (Block 12A). The Authority expects to announce the winner early in the New Year. The BBC Asian Network has capacity reserved for it on the ensemble. December 11th: The BBC is running a test EPG service, "BBC Test Guide", on its national UK ensemble. December 11th: Score Digital is running a test EPG service on its local ensemble in Glasgow. December 11th: The snapshot format is being modified to represent Transmission Mode and Service Protection Levels where this is known. December 9th: The local UK ensemble for Tyne and Wear went on air this week. Six services are being broadcast from the Burnhope and Fenham transmitters. BBC Radio Newcastle is allocated capacity on this ensemble, but this is not currently active. December 6th: In Belgium, the VRT classical music service, Radio 3, was renamed "Klara" (abbr. Klassieke Radio) on December 2nd. December 5th: Snapshot for Hong Kong added. November 26th: The UK Digital One ensemble is now transmitted from the Ridge Hill transmitter, extending or improving coverage to 829,000 people. Digital One is now available in Hereford, Ross-on-Wye, parts of Gloucester, Monmouthshire, the whole of the M50 corridor and parts of the M5. November 26th: United Kingdom TII table updated. Transmitters added. November 24th: The new edition of UK computer magazine "Computer Shopper", dated "January 2001", contains a survey of DAB receivers, including various car radios, hi-fi tuners, antennae and the PC adaptor from Psion, "Wavefinder". The reviews note that the Arcam tuner is one of the more sensitive receivers of the units reviewed. There is plenty of useful information there, and links to manufacturers' web sites. Take care if ordering antennae, however. The captions and photos seem to have gotten mixed up. I do like the idea of trying to fit an 8 foot Yagi to a car rooftop! Conversely anyone wanting the Yagi would be equally disappointed when the car aerial arrived! November 24th: Observations for Paris updated. The data service "LoCoMoTV", inaugurated for the "Mondial de l'automobile", is still being broadcast on the Block LI ensemble which previously broadcast NRJ, Cherie FM, etc. The services "Autoroute FM" and "Independants" were not seen on the Block LE ensemble on this occasion. November 23rd: The data services BBC Vision Radio and BBC Travel are reported to have been dropped from the UK national BBC ensemble. This has not been confirmed. Nor is it known whether this change is permanent. November 23rd: The UK Radio Authority has advertised the third Greater London local digital franchise. The frequency will be Block 11B (centre-frequency 218.640 MHz). Closing date for applications is 30 April, 2001. November 19th: The sections for Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen have been updated. November 16th: The sections for Berlin and Brandenburg have been updated using data from the site of the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Rundfunkversorgung mbH (GARV). The "Semi-Snapshots" which have been added have been inferred from this data rather than being actual observations. November 16th: The following changes have been noted on the UK Digital One ensemble: Bit rate for Classic FM reduced to 160 kbits/s. talkMONEY is now Bloomberg Radio. New Snapshot added. November 16th: Two applications were received by the UK Radio Authority for the Severn Estuary digital franchise. The Digital Radio Group will compete with MXR Ltd. DRg proposes to commence broadcasting all of its services in September 2001, using ten transmission sites (at Mendip, Wenvoe, Dundry East, Kilvey Hill, Pontypool, Mynnyd Machen, Llanelli, Bath, Aberdare and Ebbw Vale). MXR proposes to commence broadcasting its services by July 2001, using ten transmission sites (at Mendip, Dundry East, Christchurch, Wenvoe, Bath, Abergavenny, Ebbw Vale, Aberdare, Kilvey Hill and Carmel), coming on air between July and November 2001. November 14th: Closing date for the UK Severn Estuary digital franchise was today. November 14th: BBC Parliament is no longer being broadcast on DAB. November 14th: The UK Edinburgh local ensemble is now in official programme service. BBC Radio Scotland is not yet on the ensemble. November 5th: The UK Radio Authority has awarded the Humberside local digital franchise to Emap Digital Radio, subject to resolution of some technical coverage matters. November 4th: Observations and Snapshots of the South Yorkshire and Birmingham ensembles added. November 1st: The Capital Digital ensemble for Cardiff and Newport has gone on air. November 1st: The "Travel Now" announcements loop running on the Greater London 2 (Switch) ensemble now says a full service will begin in January. The loop is reported to be refreshed each Saturday. October 29th: During the midday Shipping Forecast, the BBC configuration becomes one which is not normally encountered at other times. This "snapshot" had been added to the listings. October 26th: Test transmissions of the South Yorkshire local ensemble continue. Six services are currently labelled "3G Service 1", "3G Service 2" etc. October 26th: Test transmissions of the Edinburgh local ensemble continue. The service "THE STORM" now carries test announcements and music. BBC Radio Scotland, which has capacity reserved for it, has appeared on the ensemble, but this is only a test transmission and not yet an official service. October 26th: Sections referring to the German Länder have been updated to include plans for the rollout and extension of DAB coverage where these are known. Links have been added to coverage prediction maps which exist on the Digitalradio Info site. October 25th: Links added to Transmitter Lists and Coverage Maps of the Swedish DAB Transmitter operator Teracom. October 25th: The Mode IV L-band tests in Karlsruhe in September were abandoned early because of technical difficulties. A shorter test transmission was undertaken in Mannheim on September 25th and 26th. It has been established that certain DAB receivers, particularly those distributed during the Pilot Project Baden-Württemberg, did not support Mode IV. Receivers falling into this category can receive a firmware upgrade from the DAB Pilotprojekt October 25th: TII information added for VRT in Flemish-speaking Belgium, courtesy of DAB Belgique. October 24th: Emap Digital Radio are reported to have begun testing the South Yorkshire local ensemble on Block 11C. Official programme service is scheduled to begin October 31st. October 24th: Score Digital have begun testing the Edinburgh local ensemble on Block 12D. All services carry programme material except "THE STORM" which is radiating tone. On-air announcements identify the "Saga Radio" service as "PrimeTime Radio" and when observed, the programme was a stereo version of the mono "PrimeTime Radio" service on the Digital One national commercial ensemble. Ensemble "snapshot" added. Where the Glasgow and Edinburgh service areas overlap, an average of 30 digital radio services are now available. This impressive total will increase still further when the Central Scotland regional ensemble is activated next year. October 24th: Score Digital have added a new service, "Saga Radio", to the Glasgow local ensemble. On-air announcements identify the service as "PrimeTime Radio" and when observed, the programme was a stereo version of the mono "PrimeTime Radio" service on the Digital One national commercial ensemble. Ensemble "snapshot" updated. October 24th: The UK national commercial operator, Digital One, have added a new transmitter to their SFN. The Naish Hill transmitter, operated by NTL and located just outside of Melksham, went on-air last week (October 12) serving the towns of Devizes, Calne, and Chippenham, as well as Melksham itself, and parts of Trowbridge, Malmesbury and Bradford on Avon. The transmitter allows a total of 408,000 people in West Wiltshire to receive the Digital One services. October 24th: UK TII codes amended and updated. October 23rd: Links added to transmitter lists for Baden-Württemberg. October 22nd: BBC GMR has still not appeared on the local ensemble for Greater Manchester. October 20th: An interactive digital radio service has been announced for the Isle of Man. A joint venture, involving Virgin Radio, Manx Telecom and Crown Castle has begun discussions with the Isle of Man Communications Commission which licenses and regulates broadcasting on the Island, and the UK Radiocommunications Agency. The service, named "Manx Choice", proposes to allow listeners to select playout using 3rd-generation mobile technology. This would be the Isle of Man's first digital radio service. Further info October 17th: BBC data services added to ensemble "snapshot". October 17th: The UK Radio Authority has received 3 applications to run the North East England regional franchise. October 17th: Audio coding information added to Nordrhein-Westfalen listing. October 16th: The UK Radio Authority has advertised the Aberdeen local digital franchise. Closing date is February 13th, 2001. October 12th: TII information for Switzerland added. October 12th: Information for Italy updated. October 12th: Information for Switzerland updated. October 12th: Information for Belgium updated. October 12th: The UK Radio Authority has awarded the digital franchise for Northern Ireland to Score Digital. Score also hold the franchises for the Glasgow and Edinburgh ensembles. October 12th: The UK Radio Authority has awarded the digital franchise for Central Scoland to Switch Digital. Switch currently operate the London 2 ensemble. October 5th: The BBC has begun a public consultation exercise with the announcement of new digital radio services. Three completely new digital services are proposed: * A black music and news-based station aimed at young people * A station that draws on the BBC's unique archive of musical performances, concerts and interviews focussing on the music that shaped popular culture over the last thirty years * A speech service built on BBC Radio's tradition of offering stimulating drama, comedy and readings for all the family, including children's programming, it will mix original programming with classics from the BBC's archive. The BBC Asian Network is to be added to DAB. This service, based in Leicester, is already available on FM transmitters in several British cities and has been broadcast on Digital Satellite since last November. The announcement also proposes two other services which, in fact, have been present in the BBC DAB ensemble for some time: BBC World Service and BBC Radio 5Live Sports+. Not announced is whether these new services would use new capacity or share existing. Their incorporation into the one BBC DAB ensemble would likely mean a reduction in the bitrates of the network services already there. Full details are on BBC Online. October 5th: Two new transmitters have been added to the Digital One network, the UK's national commercial DAB franchise holder. Crabwood Farm transmitter, 2 km west of Winchester, went into service last month covering Winchester City Centre, parts of Eastleigh, Chandler's Ford, Romsey, north Southampton and the Test Valley. On October 3rd, the transmitter at Toot Hill, off the M27 near Romsey, also began transmissions. Parts of Bournemouth and Portsmouth will also be served for the first time by digital radio.This extension to the network brings Digital One to parts of England where the BBC DAB services are not yet available. October 2nd: Information for Niedersachsen updated. October 2nd: "Travel Now" is now broadcasting travel and traffic announcements on the Switch ensemble in London. October 1st: The Dutch DAB ensemble went off the air during the course of today. The Netherlands is now the only country in Western Europe without DAB transmissions. September 30th: There have been changes to the local ensembles in London. "Travel Now" has appeared on the Switch Digital ensemble and "Century London" has been added to the CE Digital line-up. "Switch Test" has gone. September 29th: Paris observations updated. A new service, "Autoroute FM" was observed on the ensemble on Block LE. This service has been granted a temporary licence by the CSA to coincide with the "Mondial de l'automobile", taking place in the French capital September 30th to October 15th. The services previously listed on Block LI - Cherie FM, NRJ and Rire & Chansons - were not found on this occasion. In their place, occupying the same Block, an ensemble whose entire data space is taken up by just one service, "LoCoMoTV". It is possible that this is also a special transmission to coincide with the "Mondial de l'automobile". Any information about "LoCoMoTV" would be welcome! September 29th: Observations in Saarbrücken added. "Radio Melodie", whose previous listing on this page was drawn from World DAB Forum documentation, was not observed to be on the ensemble. September 26th: In France, the CSA has advertised the franchise, to last five years, to run a DAB ensemble in Ile-de-France. Closing date is December 1st. Journal Officiel September 25th: DAB broadcasting in the Netherlands will cease on October 1st. In a Press Release, the Dutch DAB Foundation, which has been running pilot transmissions since 1995, expressed frustration with the lack of a clear Dutch Government policy on digital radio. When the DAB transmissions end, The Netherlands will be the only country in Western Europe without DAB broadcasts. Press Release This development was the lead story in the Radio Nederland programme "Media Network" of September 21st. The programme is available for download in RealAudio and mp3 formats from the Radio Nederland web site. September 23rd: The UK Radio Authority has advertised the North West England regional franchise. Closing date is January 16th, 2001. September 15th: Digital Radio Südwest GmbH, the operator of DAB services in Baden Württemberg and Rheinland-Pfalz, will conduct test transmissions in Karlsruhe in L-band using Mode IV on September 18th and 19th. September 14th: The DAB ensembles in Switzerland carry TII codes for Transmitter Identification. Such details as have been observed have been added. September 14th: Some of the DAB ensembles in Germany carry TII codes for Transmitter Identification. Others do not. It is not known yet whether the TII codes have been organised on a Federal or a Länder level. Such details as have been observed have been added. September 14th: The UK Radio Authority has received one application for the Humberside local franchise from Emap Digital Radio. September 12th: The UK Radio Authority has awarded the Central Lancashire local franchise to the sole applicant, Emap Digital Radio. September 11th: Observations in Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart added. August 27th: United Kingdom Transmitter Identification codes updated. August 23rd: United Kingdom Transmitter Identification codes updated. August 22nd: United Kingdom Transmitter Identification codes added. August 21st: Paris ensemble observations updated. August 18th: The UK Radio Authority has received one application, from Switch Digital (Scotland), to run the Central Scotland regional ensemble. August 18th: The UK Radio Authority has advertised the franchise to run the West Midlands regional ensemble. August 15th: Information on French ensembles in Lyon and Marseille added. There is an ensemble operating to cover Autoroute 10 between Poitiers and Tours. Details added. August 15th: Graphics added for Toulouse ensembles. Sites info added. August 15th: Information about Austria revised. August 14th: Greater London 2, Switch Digital entry corrected. August 11th: The Score Digital local ensemble in Glasgow is now carrying BBC Radio Scotland programmes. At the moment, this is officially considered to be a test transmission. August 10th: The service label for BBC Radio Scotland has finally appeared on the Score Digital local ensemble in Glasgow. The service is currently radiating tone. August 4th: It has been learned that alterations will be made to the UK Digital One national ensemble on August 7th. The new configuration, described as a "temporary fix", is expected to ameliorate difficulties which certain DAB tuners, notably the Arcam, were experiencing. August 1st: ITN News is the new Rolling News service on the UK Digital One ensemble which was launched today. July 30th: Information about the Switch Digital ensemble in London added. It appears that some of the services on the ensemble may have two labels associated with them - a generic title as well as the official service name. July 30th: VRT graphic for Belgium revised. July 30th: Information about Italy updated. July 27th: Observations of the Greater London CE Digital ensemble added. July 27th: ITN News has begun testing on the UK Digital One national ensemble. July 27th: A tropospheric lift last week provided evidence that DX reception of DAB can occur. During the period of enhanced propagation in Band III, it was possible, at a location in the Netherlands, to receive additionally the UK Digital One ensemble, the NRW K12 ensemble from Nordrhein-Westfalen and the Belgian RTBF ensemble. Normally only the Dutch and VRT ensembles are receiveable at that location. July 26th: The UK Radio Authority has received one application, from Score Digital, for the local Northern Ireland ensemble. July 25th: The UK Radio Authority has advertised the regional ensemble for South Wales and the Severn Estuary. July 25th: The first Spanish DAB ensembles entered official programme service today. According to an announcement by Radio Nacional de España, an ensemble operating on Block 9D in Madrid carries two RNE services, Radio 1 and Radio 5. A second ensemble, service Barcelona on Block10A carries RNE Radio 1 and RNE Radio 4. Both ensembles carry other services from COPE, Grupo Recoletos, El Mundo and Intereconomía. It is not clear whether this announcement contradicts an earlier announcement which is still on the RNE Web Site and which states: "In and around Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and San Sebastian, Retevision S.A have a network of five transmitters (Torrespaña, Navacerrada, Collserola, Picayo, Jaizkibel) operating on channel 11B." This ensemble was identified as a test ensemble and may no longer be in service. More likely, it is still operating as a test ensemble. During observations in June, an Arcam DRT10 revealed ensembles receivable in Barcelona on Blocks 11A, 11B and 11D. Any further information and observations would be gratefully received! July 25th: In order better to distinguish between UK Regional and UK Local ensembles, the two groups are now listed separately. July 25th: Information on Sachsen-Anhalt added. July 22nd: The Dutch ensemble on 12C will be changed in September and will become the NOS ensemble with wider coverage:- Radio 1 news, sport & info Radio 2 light music Radio 3FM popmusic Radio 4NL classical music Radio 5 education & culture Concertzender classical music & jazz July 21st: The BBC local radio service for London, BBC London Live has appeared on the Switch Digital multiplex, using capacity reserved for it. July 21st: talkMONEY is a new financial service from Bloomberg on the UK Digital One national ensemble. July 20th: There is little information to hand about the structure of individual ensembles. Where this is known, the configuration is now represented graphically. July 19th: L-band ensembles are reported to be operating in four Dutch cities: Amsterdam, Breda, Eindhoven and Helmond using six transmitters in total. Broadcasters on the air are Salto Anderstalig, Salto Informatief, Radio Amsterdam, Amstel Radio, New Dance Radio, City FM and World Radio Network. July 18th: UK Digital One national ensemble updated. July 12th: UK Greater Manchester local ensemble updated. July 12th: The Band III DRAFFT Project test transmissions in London from Croydon have moved from Block 12A to 11B. There is now also a test transmission in L-band on Block LP from Crystal Palace. July 12th: The service X F M has been added to the Glasgow local ensemble. July 11th: Information for Niedersachsen added. July 11th: The UK Radio Authority has awarded the Coventry local ensemble to Now Digital Ltd. July 8th: UK National Ensembles operated by the BBC and Digital One updated. July 8th: Following the end of Euro2000, 927live has disappeared from the VRTN Ensemble serving the Flemish community in Belgium. July 4th: Entries have been added for Korea, Luxemburg and Malaysia. July 4th: Singapore entry updated. June 30th: Transmitter sites added to Israel listing. Seven stereo services are being transmitted. June 30th: Australia information revised. June 30th: Service names added to Finland listing. June 29th: The UK DRAFFT Project is running test transmissions on Channel 12A in Greater London. Info added. June 29th: UK Bristol and Bath entry revised. June 26th: Observations of Barcelona and Toulouse added. June 21st: The UK North East England regional ensemble has been advertised. June 21st: One application has been received for the UK Central Lancashire local ensemble. June 13th: The UK London 2 local ensemble is understood to have begun tests. June 11th: Bit-rates for 927live (Flanders) added. June 11th: The UK Radio Authority has awarded the local digital franchise for Bristol & Bath to Now Digital. June 10th: A new service has appeared on the Flanders ensemble in Belgium. It is expected that 927live will carry coverage of Euro2000. Web site: http://www.927live.be/ June 7th: General Revision. Bit rates added to many entries. June 7th: Information about Saarland added. June 7th: BBC Radio 4 LW is the "long-wave" version of Radio 4 that carries live cricket commentary on the national BBC ensemble. June 7th: KISS Glasgow added to UK Glasgow local ensemble. June 5th: Observations of the UK Greater Manchester local ensemble added. May 31st: Test transmissions of the UK Greater Manchester DAB ensemble are understood to be taking place as follows: KEY MAGIC BIG XFM KISS LOUNGE May 31st: Test transmissions of the UK Birmingham DAB ensemble are understood to be taking place as follows: BRMB HF Tone only Capital Gold Normal Programmes KISS Normal Programmes Magic Normal Programmes XFM Normal Programmes Radio XL Normal Programmes May 26th: UK Radio Authority advertises digital multiplex covering Humberside. May 19th: Transmitter sites and bit rates added to Landesensemble in Bayern May 18th: Test transmissions of the UK Greater Manchester local ensemble are understood to be taking place. May 18th: Future Swiss services added. May 18th: Norwegian bit-rates added. May 18th: UK Radio Authority's timetable for future franchises added. May 17th: Results of Paris observations added. May 17th: Nordrhein-Westfalen information updated. May 9th: Bit rates added to Austrian information. May 7th: United States information added. This site first appeared in the Spring of 2000. There aren't any archives earlier than this! |
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