Radio 1 / BBC R1

On my trip to the post office this morning to raid daddy's pension I noticed that Radio One has changed back to "BBC R1" on it's RDS info.

Is this the same everywhere?

One a related note, is any other radio station as blithering incompetent with the traffic opts as Radio Scotland?

Yes... BBC Essex enjoy forgetting to switch the RDS off so you are treated to 10 minutes of talk about local garden fairs instead of putting you back to the groove on Radio 1.

oh Newcastle do that. however Scotland's actual opt consists of

radio one - stutter - back to r1 - stutter - r1 - stutter - radio scotland traffic news - stutter - r1 - stutter - r1

my left hand however has developed a reflex where upon hearing the first stutter it shoots out and presses TP to stop it from triggering at all.

From my experience, the system the BBC uses to switch the travel flag on/off is a bit flakey.

The system uses tones which are at a frequency above the level of human hearing. These are played in via a button on the mixing desk, or are recorded over the travel in/out jingles.

When I was at Radio Leeds many years ago, engineers were baffled as to why the RDS would switch itself off just seconds after switching on. It turned out, so the theory went, that one of the instruments in the orchestral jingle momentarily replicated the frequency of the 'TA off' tone - enough to switch it off. Resampling the jingle at 32k sorted it in the end.

Of course most stations use a remote switcher unit in the studio that can be fired manually or via a computer playout system to raise the TA flag at the transmitter site via simple contact closures. Though many still use the classic DTMF tones that the RDS unit at the transmitter can listen out for to raise the TA flag. (Hence the Radio Leeds situation of it being turned off by a sequence at the same frequency of the tones.)

In terms of the BBC - I'd heard that digital compression means the use of the tones is a little more restrictive. But I'm not sure if they're using a remote switcher to fire their TA / EON flag.

But I was surprised to learn many commercial stations still use the DTMF tones despite having a serial remote switcher (usually needed for Sky / IRN / charts etc) - but apparently many opt to use the serial link to use radio text instead.

I don't know why, but that expression has really tickled me! You have a way with words.

If it's BBC.R1 then that usually denotes that RDS has fallen back to a back-up system generated at the local transmitter site rather than data coming from the studio. Similarly BBC R2 becomes BBC.R2 etc with a dot inserted

I always wondered why Radio Nottingham used to (might still do, never listen) used to play something that sounded like a phone dialing before traffic reports.

Forth One in Edinburgh (probably Forth 2 and other former SRH stations) still use them. 'Boogie', the breakfast presenter, is always pretty cheeky after the travel's been read and tries to talk up some big competition or gimmick coming up, then repeats the station name before the 'closing' signals are played out, presumably to try and coax a few listeners over from whatever else they might have been listening to. Tut-tut.

The DTMF isn't used on Drivetime. It's occasionally used for 'Jambusters' but it depends on the presenter.

He doesn't always talk after Jill's travel. It really just depends on timing etc. I don't think its fully because he wants to advertise. The beep, as far as I know, is built into the jingle.

Well yes BBC.R1 used to be displayed during the Wales opt on a Thursday evening [not heard it for a while since it moved mind you].

Radio Cornwall and Pirate FM both seem quite competant at not keeping the TA flag set while waffling about whatever's on after the travel.

I wonder if Atlantic FM will be the same.

(6 posts! not bad for someone who's been around a while (longer than a year anyway)