DAB switchover incites pirate radio

Talk about DAB switchover incites pirate radio transmissions. A remote village in the UK is now receiving BBC Radio 2 and Radio 4 on medium wave... loud and clear! Although very naughty, will this innovative idea spread?
If you don't have Google+ you can comment on this video via my Facebook page here... / radioworkshop

[@RobMacKendrick]

"Totally against the law, but a damn good idea." I've got a new personal slogan.

[@raysrants]

Excellent!

[@steelcity321pb6]

Ray, Although illegal, I have to agree with you, a local relay transmission in poor reception neighbourhoods is a lovely idea. I have to say, that is what I call community spirit. I wouldn’t regard myself as being slow but I wouldn’t have thought of that one - bravo to that chap and bravo to you telling us all about something wonderful. Thank you my friend. Regards, Phil.

[@g4nsj]

Hi Phil, let's hope more people set up small relay stations. Cheers, Ray.

[@neilforbes416]

If this fellow is setting up a low-power medium wave translator for BBC Radio 4, then Radio 2, surely that should shame the BBC into either setting up a "legitimate" transmitter to carry all four BBC services into that region.

[@CEGBrevival]

Good idea, Ray, to use vacant AM frequencies to relay DAB and FM signals where those are weak. Of course, that is illegal without a licence but as AM goes quiet and the coverage of DAB and FM is frustratingly patchy in hilly country this would be increasingly attractive. Possibly Ofcom (Office of Communications: UK spectrum regulator for those listening on the World Service) could ease the licensing and perhaps the technical requirements for low-power AM relays and AM community radio stations . This would be practical and effective Government aid to poorer parts of the UK which often are also remote hilly areas (Scottish and Welsh Highlands, and the moors and Pennines of Northern England). If so we would see AM go quiet in much of Southern England where the land is flatter and favours FM and DAB, but liven up in Scotland, Wales and Northern England with AM community radio, and AM relays of FM and DAB. I have enjoyed your medium wave videos, Ray.

[@g4nsj]

Chris Bright good points. Thanks.

[@asterickjones]

A great idea, people setting up their own relay transmitters for FM/AM, it's even been encouraged in the past. It would also be good if people were free to create their own low range local radio station for their community, in a village in Wales or Scotland on say allocated parts of the band.

[@g4nsj]

You never know, that might just happen!

[@jakemarshall7619]

I live in Lincolnshire and the BBC Radio Lincolnshire FM signal isn't good at my house. But I've managed to fix that problem. What I've done is set up a relay FM transmitter in the attic. I'm using a DAB radio to receive BBC Radio Lincolnshire and an FM transmitter which is plugged into the headphone socket of the DAB radio. So I can now get a perfect FM signal of BBC Radio Lincolnshire throughout my house and even next door. All I'm using is a cheap Argos Value DAB radio and an Alba FM transmitter. The signal from my Alba transmitter reaches up to about 1km with the extension attached to it. The car power adapter that came with the transmitter works as an extension to boost the transmitter. Without the extension, the transmitter would only reach up to about 200m.

[@g4nsj]

Christian White excellent, that's a brilliant idea.

[@vwestlife]

There is hope that these low-power transmitters could obtain a license to broadcast. There is a station in Waterford, Ireland called "Zenith Classic Rock" that started out as an unlicensed pirate station transmitting in C-Quam AM Stereo on 1584 kHz, and eventually they were granted licenses to transmit on MW, FM, and DAB. Their MW and FM licenses are considered "temporary" but are renewed every year.

[@g4nsj]

Hi, I have heard that some pirate stations have been granted a license so this is good news. As you say, there is hope! Cheers, Ray.

[@neilforbes416]

The Medium-Wave AM and FM bands are the way to go! Digital for radio is wasted technology, the AM & FM licences should be permanent, Analogue Radio Rules The Airwaves!

[@Sco1t19]

I like how DAB seems to have died off before they managed to switch over :)

[@jonjuliecat]

I lived in a small hill enclosed Welsh community and although Fm reception wasn't bad there you only needed to head up the valley a couple of miles to find places where there were no FM stations audible and indeed no terrestial TV. Anyway one year the local arts group received a hatful of money and I suggested a RSL as a bit of a joke tbh. In short order they had the the licence application and prevailed on me to do the spec. In no time we had the go ahead on what Ofcom said was one of the best submissions they had received up to that time. Installed the 25W TX, Antenna, stereo encoder and compressor limiter and left them to do the rest. The programmes were brilliant and inovative with probably half the population being involved in one way or another. One of the best projects I'd ever been involved with, I never said a single word on air and absolutely nobody knew I had a fully functioning SW pirate station at the end of the high street.

[@g4nsj]

That's brilliant! Thanks so much for sharing that, it's amazing. Cheers, Ray.

[@andymate2006]

I think it's a bloody stupid idea to shutdown AM and FM radio. I love listening to the old radio frequency more than the digital. I find the digital doesn't sound as good and it's not as fun to listen.

[@daviddriggers8516]

andymate2006 If you think that you Britts got it bad, here in the USA the FCC is trying to phase out analog am/fm radio in favor of HD Radio?! Boo! Not everyone can afford a new fangled HD radio. And not everyone has a computer (or can afford one) so internet radio is not necessarily the way of the future. Leave analog radio alone! Lucky for us low power FM stations like KPPC-LP and no hits radio are here to fill the void. HD radio if president Trump had his way would be as dead as a doorknob! Long live analog am/fm radio! And as long as smartphones stay affordable internet radio may be the way of the future after all! I don't know if you Britts have it in your country but here in the USA we have something called satellite radio and like DAB and HDRadio it is a joke! The sound quality is a joke and may sound worse than am/fm radio! Poor Britts.

[@jakemarshall7619]

I would hate for FM and AM to shutdown.

[@neilforbes416]

I agree! AM and FM(to a lesser degree) transmission is far more efficient than digital for radio broadcasting. A 1.5Kw FM transmitter can cover(topography permitting) over100 kilometres from its transmitter site. A community radio station I once belonged to at Port Stephens and I had listeners at Lake MacQuarie and as far away as Cessnock(you'll probably need to look these up on Google Map if you're outside Australia). Digital, on the other hand, probably wouldn't even get any further from its transmitter than 25-30 kilometres, and that's with a 50Kw signal...Nah, forget digital! It ain't worth the grief.

[@timothybrown7792]

andy you have actually hit the nail on the head with regards to digital radio. DAB stations are actually worse quality than a strong analogue FM station, and thats largely because the Uk uses an obsolete DAB standard. many stations also use a very narrow bandwidth, which further depletes the sound quality. the only reason people might think DAB is better is because there is little or no background noise compared to analogue. but if you have a strong FM signal the sound quality is actually better. the public have just been brainwashed about DAB for years into thinking its better when it isnt. digital stations are cheaper to run than their analogue counterparts, which is the real reason why analogue TV was switched off. digital Nicam sound was used on analogue TV as far back as the 1980's so its certainly nothing new anyway. I think it was also a mistake switching off analogue TV too, because analogue signals are more robust than digital, being less affected by hilly terrain and obstructions. analogue didnt freeze either. although you may have sometimes got a little noise with the picture, it rarely broke up or froze like a digital TV signal. newer technology is not always better where some things are concerned, and this is one of them.......or two if you include TV. some digital radio stations are now using the newer DAB plus standard, but there are very few because most existing DAB radios are not compatible with DAB+ stations, which is why the Government are reluctant to switch the standard service off. most new digital radios are compatible with the exception of very cheap models, but untill the majority have DAB+ radios the old standard is going nowhere very soon. but even DAB+ is old, because its been used in Europe for years!

[@neilforbes416]

+Timothy Brown, Analogue TV signals are more robust but this depends on how high up the VHF band you went. Stations broadcasting on low-end frequencies will be plagued with electrical interference from lightning, electric motors and such. Here in Australia a number of stations(ATV-Melbourne and TVQ-Brisbane being two of them) operated on 45-52 Mhz(VHF Ch.0 in Australia's old analogue system) until moved to 208-215 Mhz(VHF Ch.10) in 1980. The channel change benefitted the stations greatly as they were no longer plagued with the electrical interference problems. UHF transmission solved a lot of those problems too but UHF wasn't utilised as well as it could've been here is Australia. Aside from this, analogue broadcasting was and is far more efficient as the signal can travel further for a given signal strength, this is important for radio as a radio station may need to serve areas up to 100 kilometres(60+ miles) out from the town or city it's meant to serve. Analogue FM does this readily and with ease. DAB or DAB+ the signal at 50 Kilowatts would be stretched to get more than 20 kms out from the transmitter tower. Digital TV was rammed down our throats here in Australia but HANDS OFF ANALOGUE RADIO!, So I'm with you Timothy!

[@CEGBrevival]

MW AM would help in the present COVID crisis (25th March 2020). Elderly people in remote rural areas may not have broadband internet, DAB or FM radio, or even TV. As a consequence they may feel lonely and isolated. MW AM may be their only source of news, radio, and entertainment. Maybe it is worth keeping AM local radio as a means of emergency communication to aid community resilience.

[@g4nsj]

Chris Bright A great idea. Medium wave should never be buried.

[@BitsofSkin]

Love you little updates, Ray. I used to to something quite similar. I was very much into my CB back in the day, so I have all kinda of antennas up. One particular one was a wire dipole which allowed me to receive BBC World. I used to repeat that to an "empty" frequency on the FM dial for the guys around my little remote village to listen into lol

[@g4nsj]

Sounds like a good idea. Nice to hear from you.

[@ASCIITerminal]

Somethings just don't need improving. Analogue radio is one of them. You can drive from Lands End to John O'Groats without retuning your car radio, analogue only fades slightly in low strength areas and with modern signal processing the power consumed at the transmitter end is nothing like it used to be. Where is the advantage of DAB? I read a while ago that the BBC Radio 4 longwave transmitter is on its last set of valves - so instead of installing a solid state transmitter, they are going to close the service. This all has much more to do with politics than technology!

[@g4nsj]

+ASCIITerminal Hear hear!

[@neilforbes416]

Analogue will only be affected if topography(mountains, tall buildings & such) gets in between the transmitter and receiver. A good strong analogue FM signal may get around the problem but with analogue you can drive a great distance and the signal will just degrade but with DAB, the signal vanishes entirely at a short distance out from the transmitter(about a fifth to a quarter the distance reached by analogue FM). And with analogue FM you can cover a good-sized region on just 1 to 1.5 Kw, try doing that on DAB, ay?

[@dvidclapperton]

There's no way back to an all analogue only TV and Radio system. Let's face it. Keep FM. A DAB/FM set is far better than an FM/AM or an FM/AM//LW set because there's far more choice on DAB than there is on AM or AM and LW combined. The likes of Forth 2 and Clyde 2 around here sound far sharper at 128kbps on DAB than they do on AM, and they are both in stereo on DAB opposed to mono on AM. Plus there's annoying constant high pitch background noise on both Forth 2 and Clyde on AM, but not on DAB.

[@CEGBrevival]

Medium wave is a great way of gaining electrical skills and teaching people some basic principles of radio. You are never too old so recently I built a resonant loop antenna tuned with a variable capacitor. This demonstrates the principles of resonance, directionality, and tapping an inductor. Sadly the decline of AM radio means it will not be so easy or simple to demonstrate these principles or learn from them. Good daytime AM captures were Radio Caroline, and Spirit Radio. Radio Caroline is over 100 miles away broadcasting (legally) using the old BBC World Service frequency, 648 kHz, and site at Orford Ness, Suffolk. Spirit Radio broadcasts on 549 kHz from the Irish Republic, over 200 miles away. So those two stations show that AM may still have a future. Each is just audible using a Matsui WR220D radio, but tuning the antenna and turning it for best reception means I have to turn down the volume. The antenna coil has 16 turns of wire around a cardboard box about 0.42 m square. The coil was tapped at 2, 5, and 11 turns, those tappings not being determined by science, but by the engineering compromise of the lengths of spare wire that I had and which were connected together. The variable capacitor was 500 pF. It is impressive how such a simple piece of equipment can yield such an improvement in performance.

[@g4nsj]

Great stuff, Chris. Thanks.

[@SpectreOZ]

A nice story thanks Ray, perhaps the BBC should have a "remote affiliate" program?

[@asterickjones]

Brilliant, be good if he occasionally used it also for local opt out programmes for the village, eg a local news report, a local band interview and then it could go back to Radio 2/Radio 4!

[@mikepeirson1150]

Love your radio stories Ray, that's how it should be, so interesting to a 73 year old radio nut. You remind me of my dad when I was a kid, always fiddling with radios and aerials and giving my mum the hump with all the tuning noises, especially when he had forgotten that the volume was right up listening for a weak signal and a strong signal came up and blew our heads off. Lovely days.

[@g4nsj]

Hi Mike, I loved the days of short wave listening, it was great fun. My wife gets fed up with wires everywhere. Wires running down the garden path, aerials in the air... Cheers, Ray.

[@TheBunkerRat]

I think that's a great idea. I've been thinking about doing this myself for a while, just working on the ethical dilemmas of breaking the law, a tiny bit. Though, if people are planning on doing similar things in their town/neighborhood, please be very careful not to interfer with licensed broadcasters and other services, then they will come knocking. And as Ray said it is strictly illegal in most countries to operate on these bands without a license, but so it also was in the 60s and 70s, the golden days of pirate radio. When the DAB switchover eventually happens I think we will see a new return of pirate radio stations, probably mostly on the FM band as it is the most recent broadcasting technology, but most likely also on the MW and LW bands. How long this return will last I don't know, but if some unlicensed broadcasters starts to step on the wrong toes it may turn out to be a swift phenomenon. Who's up for hijacking MV Ross Revenge? hurr hurr

[@g4nsj]

It will be interesting to see what happens as time passes. Cheers, Ray.

[@christopherhulse8385]

I've been able to provide a local MW service of RTE radio 1 to irish ex pats, many of them elderly who cannot receive it very well on LW, especially after dark, i drag it off Sky channel 0160 and they love it!

[@g4nsj]

Excellent!

[@bristolpirates]

Relays have been going on for years on FM (Brighton, Taunton, Bath, Caldicot - all have had relays from the internet or from Satellite over the years and others pop up from time to time in different places), this is the first I've heard of anybody doing it on MW. Not many MW pirates left in the UK, although Laser Hot Hits have started using it alongside their two SW frequencies, and there are one or two out East doing the occasional broadcast. Nowadays of course, all the FM pirates in London are just relays of internet streams as it's an easier way to link studio to rig than microwave and it's introduced a loophole of sorts.

[@seanzappulla71]

I live in Australia and we have DAB+ on VHF Band 3 here in Brisbane Queensland Australia. The transmitter is about 50KW and i have picked up the signal on the Gold Coast in Surfers Paradise on a portable pocket DAB+ radio with 3 bars on the signal meter. You need a band 3 TV antenna to pickup a DAB+ signal. Here in Australia we have the MP4 version of DAB radio.

[@paulhicks9399]

+Sean Zappulla Yep you Aussies are lucky to have adopted DAB+. Unfortunate in the UK, DAB broadcasts began a long time ago and the old MP2 codec was only available at the time.

[@seanzappulla71]

We have started to having digital TV 2nd stage in switching over to DVB-T2 on one of the TV networks to start with in HD and the rest will follow the standed on VHF band 3 and UHF band 4. We don't have TV licences here in Australia. WE have to all of this so more areas in Australia can get DAB+ radio on band 3.

[@wisteela]

That really is great. I think when the DAB switchover happens, a lot of pirate radio stations will pop up on the freed up space. I'm wondering when DAB will be on phones too. Would be rather handy. No data used.

[@fatcat2939]

Hopefully, but for most of the UK, FM/AM was never really crowded. The shites in office will always demand a license, no matter what.

[@dvidclapperton]

It's free music on FM or DAB for you to listen to at home and in the shops in stereo.

[@g0fvt]

I used to live not far from London so DAB was usable, however I now live in Norfolk and have a "do everything" car radio. DAB is simply unusable as I drive around, rather than a graceful reduction in signal to noise ratio it simply suddenly mutes as the bit error rate reaches a threshold. The low bit rates they tend to use are ok for Talksport or whatever but music often sounds a bit nasty. People quickly forget how good FM radio can sound, I am a radio engineer by trade and perhaps should embrace this new technology but I really don't like it. The much vaunted "Digital switchover" is clearly not going to happen when they claim it will. You can still buy cars that have no DAB radio fitted, most broadcast radio listening is done in cars... The great master plan was to switch everyone over to Band 3 DAB, then clear out Band 2 then reallocate Band 2 to DAB.. Needless to say that my car radio can't do DAB on Band 2... just Band 3 and some 1.7Ghz band. This ill conceived plan is a complete disaster..... and the DSP needed is very battery hungry... we have 3 DAB radios and we don't use any of them...

[@markrobinson8539]

We had a BBC relay station on 247m in Plymouth in the 70's. It may still be going. I think it was a 1Kw station and we had good interference free night time reception which wasn't the case in Portsmouth where we had to pick up signals from the Brookman's Park transmitter, North of London

[@g4nsj]

Mark Robinson 247 metres, I remember it well!

[@radioarchives101]

Radio 4 Medium Wave is still available as of 19/02/21 in some locations: London 720 khz Plymouth 774 Khz Hayle (Cornwall) 756 Khz Newcastle 603 Khz Carlisle 1495 Khz Aberdeen 1449 khz Enniskillen 774 Khz Derry 720 khz Glasgow 720 Khz

[@w.e.s.]

If your the type to turn in pirate radio stations then go sit back on fb. I'm all for pirate stations

[@davidchadwick1892]

Outrageous! But very, very funny and shows the British thumbing their noses at "them". Oh what Fun! Dave G0SKK

[@g4nsj]

+David Chadwick Fun indeed, Dave! Cheers, Ray./

[@CEGBrevival]

There was a good report on BBC 1 news recently about how local radio is serving communities during the Covid Crisis. People are turning to local radio to organise help, or simply for company. The report featured BBC Radio Sussex, which has FM but does not have a MW AM service. So it might be worthwhile keeping MW AM to serve hilly areas where FM and DAB cannot reach. In some places, it may be a lifeline where there is no internet and mobile phone coverage is patchy.

[@g4nsj]

Definitely worth keeping Long and Medium wave. You're right there Chris!

[@CEGBrevival]

@@g4nsj thanks, Ray. Here is another article about how radio is helping through the covid-crisis.

[@Paul-gz5dp]

I agree it is stupid shutting them down when people are actually listening to them.

[@JonnyInfinite]

6 years later still no switch off 😏

[@francevideoteca]

UK pirate relays According to the Brighton's The Argus newspaper, a Brighton resident re-broadcast FIP for nearly ten years on two frequencies (91.0 and 98.5 MHz) in the FM band.[3][4][5] The two signals, which were relays of FIP from satellite could be heard in many parts of Brighton. The two transmitters were operated to serve different parts of the city, one of them allegedly being in the Bohemian Hanover area of the city. The station had proved very popular. The two signals operated on frequencies originally used by FIP at Lille and Metz, which were unused in the Brighton area and caused no interference to existing national or local stations. Technical quality was very high and the Radio Data System (RDS) identification was F_I_P with the two signals linked to ensure best reception on an RDS car radio. The Program Identification codes of the RDS appeared to be the same as those used on the real French transmitters. The rebroadcasts broke UK broadcast rules enforced by UK telecom and radio, TV regulator Ofcom. Although it is believed that Ofcom officials visited the address of the station operator and confiscated the equipment, thus taking the pirate broadcasts off the air, the station can still be heard on one of the original frequencies, 91.0 MHz, throughout the city. The pirate station was one of the UK's longest running land-based unlicensed stations, running almost continuously for 10 years. An appreciation society for fans of FIP, Vive la FIP, meets regularly in Brighton; some members even visited the Paris studios of FIP and were featured in an article in the French listings magazine Telerama in February 2007.

[@RGC198]

Back around 1997, we had several self-help (as they called them) analogue TV stations, relaying major stations and running in various remote areas of Australia. These were legal transmissions, as far as I know with ACMA approval. I remember while travellng through north east Gippsland Vic, seeing self-help TV transmissions in two separate areas at the time. It was interesting being able to receive them, while passing the various locations. These days, I believe that there are some self-help FM stations operating here in Australia, with quite a number of them in remote areas of Queensland. Incidentally, while in Ballina NSW in 2014, I heard an FM transmission on 107.5MHz of Double J, which was more likely relayed from the DVB/T transmissions from a digital TV, as Ballina has no DAB yet. The FM signal could be received quite well in the main shopping area of Ballina at the time and a recording is even included on my KZbin channel. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKbZkoaFhbNrb6c

[@g4nsj]

Thanks

[@nobbystyles4807]

for years there was a french station you could pick up on the south coast called radio fip. a music station playing light soul, jazz etc. but the signal was weak so a guy on the coast did the same thing. it became more and more popular over time to the point where radio fip djs would come over to brighton and do gigs. i never went to one but it was a great little station and occaisionally you would see posterrs and flyers for radio fip events in brighton. my interest in radio though started in greece when i worked in crete as a young lad in the ckubs djing. there was an old us army base there which had its own radio station and the station carried on broadcasting after the base was decomissioned. which interesting to me as it played a lot of soul and mowtown that you didnt get on mainstream uk channels.

[@g4nsj]

Interesting, thanks.

[@fatcat2939]

Going back about 17 years, the northern counties of IR had repeaters transmitting UK tv channels. Don't know how, but they even sold ad time.

[@rogercarter8768]

Great video John,like the story about the mini MW radio relay stations.I hope they don't close down the FM stations,my daughter bought me a DAB radio a few years back and i wasn't impressed at all.Whereas with MW and sometimes FM station that are weak can still be listened to.However with digital it's either there or it's not. The Dab set has no battery facility and no external speaker,headphone skt & two internal speakers placed 4" apart (doh) .keep up the good work Roger G8WSW

[@g4nsj]

+roger carter Hi Roger, thanks for your comments. I have heard that batteries in DAB radios don'rt last five minutes. What a disaster the whole thing is!

[@stevedoubleu99B]

I love DAB, it tests ones ability to get the radio and aerial in just the right spot for perfect reception.......till you walk away........then back to square one again!! Hours of fun.

[@g4nsj]

Haha, love it! :[)

[@gripper021164]

Brilliant story, and like you say a bloody good idea.....I Really enjoy listening to you and watching your vids....I hope analogue radio doesn't eventually die off....Thanks for making me laugh Ray.....73

[@g4nsj]

+gripper021164 Glad you like the video. I'm working on more so watch this space. Cheers, Ray.

[@RadioGuy-wt1vr]

Actually the fellow you speak of is doing the BBC a favor in getting their signal to listeners they otherwise wouldn't reach. As long as he isn't interferring with another station, I don't see the harm. He's providing a public servce. I've got three, count 'em, 3 Private International Shortwave Broadcasters within 50 miles of me. WWCR in Nashville, WWTW in Lebanon, and WWRB in Manchester, Tennessee, USA. 4 or 5 100kw+ transmitters each.

[@chrishenniker5944]

RadioGuy1000 But the copyright belongs to the BBC, which he can be sued for because he's not got the permission to relay it.

[@brucekives2403]

In America, he could apply for a Translator station licence. You can broadcast at 250 watts on FM. There is a maximum amount original content (30 seconds) that you can locally broadcast per day. "Translators outside of a primary station's service contour cannot be owned by the primary station, nor can they receive any financial support from the primary station. " en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_relay_station#United_States

[@g4nsj]

Hi Bruce, that's excellent, thanks for the info. Cheers, Ray.

[@roberthansen2008]

Very brilliant I think it's a great idea

[@jamste1977]

Lovely stuff but DAB has been a god send for me at work. I work at an electronics company that make things for the military so as you can imagine we're not allowed smartphones on the shop floor. When I had a a pocket FM radio with earphones every time I put my head to the microscope to do some work the stations would cut out half of the time and some of the machines would interfere with radio 4 making it impossible to listen to the Archers. But with DAB no problems what so ever, so in some situations DAB is good albeit a small minority. Your video made me smile tho

[@g4nsj]

***** Argh! Health & Safety!

[@jamste1977]

We are only allowed 1 earphone in for fire alarm reasons. But yes there are many pointless stations and when I do loose the signal it sounds awful.

[@toppledgod]

We should be careful not to correlate illegal with unlawful.

[@g4nsj]

Ah yes, good point.

[@oldelephantstew]

I don't expect that the medium wave will ever be empty; if the BBC and official radio stations vacate, unofficial ones will move in; it's too great an asset to waste. I recall listening live as Radio Caroline was forcibly shut down in 1989; we may see the return of the pirates if more space appears on MW; I'd welcome them back.

[@g4nsj]

I was also listening... It was a sad day. However, as you say, medium wave won't go to waste. There are plenty of dedicated people out there who will happily occupy the vacant frequencies. You never know this could be the beginning the return of real radio. Cheers, Ray.

[@AntiqueRadioandTV]

What a story Ray! That is a wonderful idea to do this in remote villages where the elderly are usually high-tech challenged. My mom for instance, bought a laptop several years ago and still can not figure out how to open the DVD tray. But everyone knows how to use a radio! Of course, I must say that I would never condone to such illegal activity such as this. {;-) .... .. .... .. Have a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year to you and your family! from; Tom and his family

[@g4nsj]

Hi Tom, nice to hear from you. happy Christmas to you and your family. Let's hope more people set up relay stations. All the best,. Ray.

[@rockradio928]

We don't want it. When the DAB signal gets low its objectionable and I'm forced to switch off, whereas a weak signal on FM is perfectly ok. You cant have multiple radio's on around the house with DAB as the digital signal processing/buffering is different for each radio and the sound is out of sync. DAB radio's use 20 times the power of an FM radio. We have a fantastic FM network. Why break what aint broke.

[@g4nsj]

+rockradio928 Very good points!

[@MirlitronOne]

I'm lucky enough to live just outside London and FM coverage is not only pretty good, but entirely superior to DAB. In fact, my local station (Radio Jackie, a former pirate!) has a good technical page explaining why they will never support the changeover to DAB (if it ever comes). Previous governments and Scottish Chancellors rubbed their hands together with glee at the thought of selling off radio bandwidth, but who the hell would want the medium wave band? It's too narrow to be useful, and chock full of European stations who are clearly not about to give up on AM. In fact, the one benefit of closing down MW transmissions in the UK would be to improve the reception of European DX no end! Give me AM. Give me fading! Give me nostalgia!

[@g4nsj]

+MirlitronOne Excellent! Well said!

[@eazystreet5507]

Helping old people?! Its off to the Tower for him! Or Whales which ever one isn't full.

[@BartlettTFD]

Wonderful story👍

[@raysrants]

Thanks!

[@BartlettTFD]

As a retired Broadcast Engineer, I could certainly appreciate everything about it. DAB can be a great broadcast solution, but poor engineering always produces subpar results!

[@sammiejansen981]

Hello Ray! Good story about the relay stations on medium wave! But I do really think that there's another opportunity for pirates on DAB to prevent that they are get caught by the DTI too easily. The DAB is based on a "Single Frequency Network". What means; a lot of synchronised transmitters, putting out the same data signal at the same time at the same frequency. Just imagine.... Three or maybe 4 pirates in a small town (pirate radio is a small world) are starting a MUX together, all 4 of them are broadcasting on the same frequency, same MUX, same synchronisation... Then you've got four transmitters on different locations... They overlap each other, what's a benefit for a DAB signal, but the signal is coming from four different directions. With so many stations at one frequency, I can imagine that it is a really tough job for the DTI guys to localise them! Standalone pirates, with a single frequency transmitter can build up a MUX with multiples of there own broadcast! They can put there selves in the list of stations for 5 times, high quality, or maybe 10 times, one station in high quality, the others in low quality BUT they are on the list of stations, for 10 times! Greats from the Netherlands!

[@g4nsj]

Wow, I think we'd better start building the equipment!

[@RGC198]

Hi Ray, just curious, but has anyone attempted to transmit a pirate DAB station? I haven't heard of any digital pirate broadcasts so far. Maybe it is a lot more difficult than analogue. Incidentally, there was a guy in the US some years ago set up a pirate FM radio station, received it in his car, then raided himself!!! Now that is one for the books!! LOL. All the very best. Rob.

[@g4nsj]

Hi Rob, I think it’s more difficult, as you said. I’ve not heard of anyone pirating on DAB… yet! All the best, Ray.

[@francevideoteca]

I was told by a Brighton resident that some years ago some clever Francophile chap decided to relay on a "vacant" frequency of the British FM band the programs of French station broadcasting in northern France. I don't know how he did but for sure it was a popular idea for French speaking people in that area of Britain.

[@phil4350]

Cool, good idea

[@steeviebops]

If I were doing this I'd probably source from satellite rather than streaming it.

[@jessikaentwistle3145]

hi ray again i know this is an old vid but another cross banding tip i only learned 3 weeks ago if you have a kenwood ts-2000. you may want to tell viewers because people with ts 2000s dont know it has the facility. you can go to vfo1 and select menu 61a then set vfo 2 to whatever and crossband using your ts 2000 as a repeater. As an example i have a biofeng fm only i can tune vfo a on tge 2000 to even 20 meters sideband that relays to vfo b so transmits on say 431.000 fm and i can talk back to the station. we dont even have to be on the same mode the kenwood 2000 does it all. cheers M3ZEG Gez...

[@g4nsj]

Hi Gez, OK all noted. Very interesting. I'm sure people will take this up. Cheers, Ray.

[@MrBrian8749]

I love old fashion radio. If it's on the internet, it's not radio! Someone recently who visited me saw my communications receivers and said "Oh are those internet radios?" It made my blood boil it did! So I attempted to explain what they were.... It was way beyond there attention span. Anyway mate, Love your videos 73's

[@g4nsj]

You're right, internet radio isn't radio! Thanks for posting. Cheers, Ray.

[@nigelwilliams5156]

Hello Ray Great video..I love your videos Thanks...local fm was great,am...i,am lucky i,am on high ground here 500ft plus ABSL..anyway Dab should have been named SAD lol...I,am ham radio opt for years...i try Sad radio again but give us back the old system asap.Nigel...Ray top guy............

[@g4nsj]

+Nigel williams Hi Nigel, thanks for your kind comments. SAD, I like it! Glad you like the videos. Cheers, Ray.

[@RGC198]

Hi Ray, interesting video. The Radio 4 relay reminds me of the self-help stations that we have in remote areas here in Australia. Many of them are not listed anywhere, but are mostly overlooked by the authorities, especially if the area has poor reception from anything else outside. I have often wondered if anyone has tried to transmit pirate TV on our Band 1 since the analogue TV switched off in 2013. I haven't heard of anything, but with Band 1 one not being used here, there is always a possibility that someone may try one day. Anyway, all the best. Robert.

[@raysrants]

Hi Robert, band 1 here is now the 6 metre amateur band. Now heard of pirate TV anywhere here but it's an interesting idea. Cheers, Ray.

[@RGC198]

@@raysrants The only signal I have heard in recent years has been an occasional analogue vision carrier on my scanner matching our old channel 9. However, I have never had it strong enough to resolve any picture on a TV receiver.

[@raysrants]

That’s interesting. Thanks.

[@P00katube]

And Now Radio 4 Will Explode.

[@gcljohn]

This is a typical example of the non-responsiveness of Government, unfortunately. I live in an area where the coverage by DAB is reasonable, and there are lots of the London DAB stations that can be heard, yet the BBC local station for this area, which has good coverage on FM, just is not there on DAB. The Government have declared they want to go digital, yet seem to have ignored the conversion of existing AM and FM frequencies to digital using the DRM and DRM+ standards which are catching on elsewhere in the world. All the time they continue with this policy of digital using short range 220MHz DAB and DAB+ they will continue to have these problems.

[@g4nsj]

gcljohn I couldn't agree more. Thanks for commenting. Cheers, Ray.

[@fatcat2939]

Are DAB signals easy to jam. If so Dave's clan might have other motives.

[@g4nsj]

fatcat2939 I'm not sure, probably!

[@derpinbird1180]

So many transmitters these days like wifi sticks you buy of ebay don't comply with radio laws. They are often many times louder than allowed. I think as long as your signal doesn't polute other frequencies, isn't on a dangerous frequency and isn't outragously loud then you would be fine. You can already buy home/car transmitters for that band, with a decent antenna you might be able to set up something very low power.

[@CEGBrevival]

Pirates may transmit on MW but would anyone be listening? Nowadays, pirates would face far too much competition from legal radio, especially now that DAB offers so much more choice in most part of the UK. There is also plenty of TV, You Tube videos, gaming, and the internet in general. Back in the heyday of MW pirates, the only competition was Third, Home, Light, Radio Luxembourg, and two black-and-white TV channels which at the weekends transmitted horse racing, old films, or the test card and music.

[@eric-janvandenbogaard9415]

i don't think they leave the FM band unused :) so it should be kept free for it's new purpose...

[@AndrewKerensky]

Fantastic input Ray as always.

[@g4nsj]

Thanks, Andrew. Glad you liked the video.

[@BeatboxNorwich]

I've set up a low power relay in my area that's blasting out Radio X at 0.2W FM in mono. It gets out a pretty decent distance considering it's only a rubber ducky on top.

[@ShortFoxyMan]

DAB it is only to Handle the Radio Stations and the Listeners!!!! ALL FOR MONEY!!!! MONEY TO SEE, MONEY TO HEAR, MONEY TO SMELL, MONEY TO EAT, MONEY TO MOVE, MONEY TO THINK, MONEY TO BREATH, MONEY TO .....LIVE.!!!!!

[@dvidclapperton]

DAB is not a subscription platform. You will never be charged ￡x per month to listen to your favourite stations on digital radio.

[@dxer22000]

listeners could also invest in a decent antenna for their radio rather than resorting to illegal pirate broadcasts

[@annatrip]

DAB is nothing but a money making scam.First it was DAB then next thing it is DAB+ which rendered thousands of DAB sets useless. There is nothing wrong with FM or AM MW. DAB leaves me cold.

[@g4nsj]

Amanda Jane I couldn't agree more. DAB is a total waste of time and money.

[@grahamrdyer6322]

Nice one Ray

[@g4nsj]

Thanks, Graham.

[@billybonewhacker]

Great story ray.now if we could use that type of savvy towards youtubes comennt section we would be in buissines

[@g4nsj]

Indeed we would.

[@mrjohhhnnnyyy5797]

I kinda do the same, but I have an FM transmitter with very short range to transmit internet radio across the garden to my shed where my workbench is. That way my phone is free to browse internet for datasheets and such.

[@g4nsj]

That's excellent. Also, it's good to free up your phone. Cheers, Ray.

[@mrjohhhnnnyyy5797]

Love your stories, sir! Especially the one about ghostly girl voice that I watched at midnight :) It's so cool that you answer comments even on old videos.

[@g4nsj]

Thanks, glad you like the videos. I've created a new channel specifically for ghost stories here... kzbin.info/door/Xk2zDw9LnFx4rjDo8hQCiQ

[@mikedennington8856]

great video.

[@royphillips4758]

Just seen your video of thought it was a cracking video LG I've got a phone with dab on reception is useless on it and you can't listen to the radio for the speaker phone without the headphones plugged in

[@g4nsj]

Excellent!

[@grantgrove6800]

For Radio 4, if MW was OK, surely LW should have been receivable? (Excuse my ignorance).

[@g4nsj]

Medium and long wave are both fine.

[@arainadiaz9219]

Radio does not cost data usage.

[@jayrogers8255]

Could the Welsh guy get licenses to use 2 of the local frequencies (145, 1584, 1602) or isn't OFCOM accepting new license applications? 73 de N1WVQ.

[@g4nsj]

That's a thought!

[@jayrogers8255]

Ray Heffer Meant 1485.

[@CCmachine]

Relaying commercial radio stations is still copyright infringement. He would have to get permission from the BBC, etc.

[@seanzappulla71]

CCmachine The BBC is not likely to say no but they would let you relay there broardcast on FM once the township got a transmitter licence once the UK broardcasting athority lets them know what frequency the transmitter is set to and it would be unlikely it would be AM (MW). They do it here in Australia in very small towns but mainly FM with a microwave link or the internet or a sattalite link.

[@g4nsj]

Sounds good, Sean. I'd love to set up a relay station.

[@Madness832]

Do I take it that the UK doesn't have an equivalent to the US FCC Part 15 rules? So here, one can legally operate an unlicensed AM transmitter as long as the output power doesn't exceed 100mW. One can also operate an FM transmitter, but the maximum output eludes me (@ the moment).

[@g4nsj]

As far as I know we don't have an equivalent rule here. I'll look into it and get back to you. Cheers, Ray.

[@welshtom101]

I live on a mountain and DAB is a pile of crap, If you ask me FM is better and I noticed that if you listen to the same stations on 2 different frequency FM and DAB I noticed that DAB is about 2 or 3 seconds behind unlike FM

[@daviddriggers8516]

thomas moore the same thing is true about hd radio. Some stations are the same when it comes to transition time but the sound quality is poor at best. Don't fuck with analog radio or we pirates will come out in droves! This is not a threat it's a promise! Say hello to my little pirate friends!

[@Alpha1545]

Dear Ray, Don't get mad at me but I am going to transmit analog television. I almost have my amp done and already have the antenna up. The antenna is a 3 element design and is horizontal. wish me luck!!!

[@g4nsj]

Wow,. good luck!

[@Alpha1545]

Old movies Live commentary. Light hearted stuff. No political Radio stuff tech stuff etc.

[@MauriatOttolink]

Ray... You've found the secret of easy viewing! I feel like I've known you for years.... 73 G3NBY By the way, me mum says "Do you want annuvva bread puddin'?"

[@g4nsj]

Thanks for that, it's nice to get positive feedback. Cheers, Ray.

[@radioman1170]

Not really noticed a surge in the years since you posted this video nor has there been much development of DAB to excite the average listener. More the opposite with local commercial stations all being swallowed up by big groups to make one boring music juke box network of same-ness.

[@g4nsj]

You’re right, no noticeable surge.

[@georgefiddler1742]

The government are very thoughtless! I will have I build an FM transmitter... I have a Roberts DAB radio... I bought it new last year it was £150.... So not a cheap model! An it's rubbish! It just cuts out and doesn't tune in at all! I only use it to listen to a station in London called LBC....

[@g4nsj]

I listening to LBC on the Internet. I might transmit it on medium wave once the other stations leave the band. Now, there's a thought,

[@alanreader4815]

Its highly illegal. Anybody caught doing it is going to be hunted down by Ray and waterboarded then slung in jail for 30 years just for running a relay. So remember people dont do it unless you want ray to get you for doing something that everyone else would think its a brilliant idea. But please remember its illegal and Ray does'nt like it. Even if its hurting no one, you must not do it because it will wind Ray up. Even if your neighbours find it useful, Dont do it because Ray will come round and moan at you for nothing. Because big brother and god thinks its sinful and dirty and a big no no. Even if you think chemical weapons testing is highly immoral Ray will get annoyed if you put up a medium wave relay. Even if it means you get a clearer signal on the relay, dont do it because it will piss off Ray no end and you wont hear the last of it. So dont do it Ray say so, So you've been told. Naughty naughy smacky bottom. LMAO

[@g4nsj]

+Alan Reader Naughty boys! Do not transmit illegally! Haha!

[@BeatboxNorwich]

I'm TXing Radio X (DAB nationwide, FM in London and Manchester) from a 200mw mono rig (rubber ducky ant.) up in the loft with audio fed from an old Sky box. It gets out (listenable) about 3/4 mile. I tried it with a DAB as the source but the signal went as soon as I connected the audio lead which must've been noise coming down the line.

[@TheSonnyfaiz]

DAB, huh! It's no wonder we are dying of cancer. Too many airwaves like mobile phones and Wi-Fi. AM AND SW is the best medium. I wish they could scrap it and go back to the way it was

[@johnwmacdonald994]

Thanks for sharing that, Ray. I hadn't heard about this DAB thing prior to this. Are you saying they are shutting down FM and AM around the UK? Here in the US we have very active FM stations in various parts of the US. Many are part of the National Public Radio network of locally run stations. atb

[@g4nsj]

+John W MacDonald Hi John, it's medium wave that will shut down... eventually. I think FM also but that's years away. All very sad, really. Cheers, Ray.

[@johnwmacdonald994]

+Radio Workshop They are probably grabbing frequencies to use for mobile phones and internet, I suppose. Threats of that here in the US, mostly with AM and TV frequencies, I think. Don't think they can touch regular FM radio. Very clever about the local guys doing pirate stations to please the neighbors.

[@g4nsj]

Hi John, I think you're right about grabbing frequencies. Shame really.

[@NR3HGV]

...and before you even consider pirate radio, this whole idea of DAB switchover could yet prove to be the elephant in the room, with unprecedented consequences, both good and bad. The BBC (i.e. licence fee payers) could, for example, face footing the bill for the switchover, and overnight losing half of it's audience on the back of it. Some people currently listening to BBC radio on Analogue might stop listening entirely; others, like myself, would simply tune into any number of smaller local stations (pirate or otherwise) that will inevitably spring up on the newly vacated FM and MW spectrums. Yes, the idea that FM and MW will somehow be "switched off" isn't just a delusion - it's a LIE. Such a move would be ILLEGAL - violates EU law and possibly even international law. The BBC and Government want the switchover, the former as they think they would be better off not having to pay dual transmission costs and the latter because they know how many £££££££££ have already been invested in DAB technology. They surely also know that DAB WOULD NOT SURVIVE ON THE MARKET WITHOUT HEAVY GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES.

[@willpacker3922]

As of today Thursday 13 may 2021 BBC have turned off (not yet but they broadcasting a loop saying to turn to FM or smart speaker) the only way to listen to our local BBC radio station which was by medium wave as we have no listenable FM stations and dab radio is about as useful as a chocolate teapot, So I may or may not be doing something like this in the future as I'm one of two people who lives on a hill so probably with a external FM Airel i should be able to get it on FM and relay over medium wave for the area

[@g4nsj]

Hi Will, I think that's all you can do. Relay the signals over medium wave from FM.

[@wadehicks9270]

Awesome 👍👍

[@Battl3field]

lol nice vid

[@KIRBZVIDS]

Its 2018 and no.switch over yet

[@g4nsj]

Good point! What's going on?

[@nigelwilliams5156]

Hello Ray again Well I think DAB should be for Mp`s only.Goverment A** ***** that mild.just like Freeview I bet theres loads of OAP don`t understand,whats going on...we all happy with FM,am has it was...has a ham opt I love world service,R4...I,am the one that called it SAD I,am right I think!!!! MP,Goverment waste of time,money...Nigel....73s...

[@g4nsj]

+Nigel williams Nice to hear from you again, Nigel. All comments noted, thanks. Cheers, Ray.

[@francevideoteca]

Further to my postings FIP French station broadcasting in the Brighton area here is the Internet link of VIVE LA FIP: lovefip.wordpress.com/

[@abhudson14]

how can you get Radio2 on MW its only on FM

[@g4nsj]

+andrew hudson It is only on FM these days.

[@abhudson14]

+Radio Workshop ok ive been listening to Radio2 over the last 15 to 20 years

[@dvidclapperton]

And quite right too. You never heard it all (the music that is) when it was on medium wave. 5 live should switch to FM 24/7 as well and shut down 909 and 693kHZ in the process.

[@CEGBrevival]

See "Medium Wave News": mediumwave.info/news.html

[@g4nsj]

Thanks Chris.

[@iqraiqra9172]

Do by any chance build FM pll rigs n link boxes?

[@g4nsj]

numero umero Sorry, I can't help with that.

[@iqraiqra9172]

Do you know anyone

[@iqraiqra9172]

Thanks

[@g4nsj]

numero umero I'm afraid not.

[@iqraiqra9172]

NP thanks

[@arainadiaz9219]

Why repeat gov propaganda when they can make their own content. Lol