21st Jul 2014, 9:06 am | #101 |
Heptode
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
I agree with you, Aub...
Once again it has been bad for weeks. It's frustrating when the same fault regularly re-appears and there seems to be no-one on the inside who notices it. I also looked for the threads concerning it and had the impression from one that it is no longer seen as something that we should be discussing here on the forum. The suggestion was given that we could discuss it on another radio forum, but I personally don't want to have to join that forum just to report the R4 sibilance on a regular basis. I remember that there was someone who posted in one of these threads who had some involvement in the Droitwich transmitter and obviously could get the ball rolling themselves. Rather than keep badgering them every time it happens, and in order to stop the now regular postings on this subject can someone give us a good list of concrete steps to take to report this problem to the best person who can put it right? It could even be a sticky... |
21st Jul 2014, 9:15 am | #102 |
Octode
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
Noticeable as we speak, on both sets I currently use every day, a Philips valve set and a Ferguson transistor set.
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21st Jul 2014, 10:03 am | #103 |
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
This post gives a phone number on which faults can be reported:-
https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...23&postcount=7
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21st Jul 2014, 4:39 pm | #104 |
Nonode
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
Also, member Martin G7MRV has contacts.
Cheers Aub
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21st Jul 2014, 4:52 pm | #105 |
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
I was listening in the car this afternoon, and it was truly dreadful, the worst R4LW quality I've ever heard.
Given the number of previous threads on this subject, it seems to be caused by a fault in the distribution circuit which has never been permanently fixed. I wish the various contracted companies involved would just stop vacillating and sort this out. Nobody benefits from this and the licence paying listener suffers. I could organize a 256kb AAC feed from BH to Droitwich from scratch in a day using public services, off the shelf hardware and free open source software. And I'm not even a broadcast engineer. Of course there's an internet stream of the LW programming already there which could be used. |
21st Jul 2014, 4:59 pm | #106 | |
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
Quote:
I can't give a waterfall picture now (see older threads on this subject) as I removed the old coax before the summer waiting for warm weather to make the new coax softer, forgot that SHMBOs garden will be in full bloom just when I want to run the new stuff. |
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21st Jul 2014, 5:09 pm | #107 |
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
How about:
1. Buy internet radio (about £150). 2. Tune to R4LW stream. 3. Plug line out into transmitter patch panel. I could certainly do that in a day including travel time from Oxford, though I'd need help with the patching arrangements onsite. |
21st Jul 2014, 5:23 pm | #108 |
Octode
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
Yes and note that this is whilst the Droitwich Transmitter has been under 'extensive maintenance', just think how good it's going to be when they've finished
The MF/LF networks of the BBC seem to be just becoming moribund; I listen to R5L from Droitwich 693KHz, which fades, because the Moorside Edge ( which I'm only about 15 miles from) 909KHz is so distorted. It's been like it for ages. There's no excuse, although I've heard some 'good ones' in the past from BBC spokespersons - the Magic 828 transmitter is hi-fi in comparison. |
21st Jul 2014, 5:46 pm | #109 |
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
I had the shipping forecast on last night (before 1AM) tuned to Droitwich, sadly I paid no attention to the quality!
I will have another go tonight whilst paying attention to the quality. Has anyone on here been hearing strange clicking sounds on 198KHZ? It happened a few nights back when the country experienced rather large storms, the clicks/pops were not as loud as the usual lightning noise heard through AM, I'd like to know what I was hearing, it has never been heard before. |
21st Jul 2014, 7:25 pm | #110 | |
Pentode
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
Quote:
Otherwise horrendous echos over a huge area especially at night Analogue satellite would have been simple and ideal to feed all the R4 LW/MW transmitters with perfectly synched audio - if it still existed. |
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21st Jul 2014, 7:27 pm | #111 |
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
You'll get strange clicks and pops when there are lots of thunderstorms about, that's just how LF AM radio works.
If you were listening to R4LW as it was this afternoon, you wouldn't need golden ears to hear the sibilance and distortion. There have been a couple of posts about my suggestions for 'easy fixes'. These weren't serious proposals for permanent broadcast quality fixes, just an illustration that it isn't a major technical challenge to sort things out. I don't think any of the networked AM transmitters are phase locked now, and haven't been for a long time. There is a big mush zone between Droitwich and Westerglen covering most of Cumbria and Northumberland and there are some MW infill transmitters to partially compensate. |
21st Jul 2014, 8:15 pm | #112 | |
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
Quote:
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21st Jul 2014, 11:24 pm | #113 |
Octode
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
Seems that the best thing to do is complain to the BBC.
To paraphrase the old saying: "Complain early and complain often." If no one complains they'll assume (and perhaps hope?) that no one is listening to AM. A few years ago when the transmission on LW became very distorted during a test match I emailed TMS and got a prompt response from someone in the 'back room'. This time I have received neither response or acknowledgement. |
22nd Jul 2014, 12:37 am | #114 |
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
The BBC is the only official point of contact regarding transmission faults, but unfortunately they haven't owned the distribution or transmission systems themselves for many years so can't actually do anything. If you are lucky your complaint will be seen by a competent transmission engineer and referred to the appropriate contracted company, but in most cases complaints seem to be dismissed as reception problems which are the fault of the complainer.
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22nd Jul 2014, 9:26 am | #115 |
Hexode
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
It's bad this morning (Tuesday 22 July).
In engineering terms this should not be happening, so one can only conclude that it's deliberate. Maybe I'm being cynical, but I still think that this might be a calculated act as part of a 'plan' to drive people away from AM. 'They' can then shut it all down and save a lot of expense with more profit for the transmission contractors and/or less cost to the BBC. Perhaps the time has come for a strongly worded letter to the likes of the Times and the Telegraph pointing out the problem and a dark suggestion given as to why this is happening. Bad publicity is the only thing that works in this kind of situation. Perhaps a word with the BBC's own Watchdog expose programme might be in order! The problem will be that any responses will be tech free - you won't hear the technical truth, just PR waffle. Lots of people have tried to be 'nice' about this but here we are again. Getting radical as I get older, but you can 'argue with the Town Hall' if you play the game right. Best regards, Paul M |
22nd Jul 2014, 10:08 am | #116 |
Pentode
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
Does anyone know if Droitwich is now producing splatter outside its 9 kHz channel? If it is, a complaint to Ofcom might be in order.
Paul |
22nd Jul 2014, 10:16 am | #117 |
Heptode
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
Im not back in until tomorrow, but i'll give the bod on the appropriate desk a prod then,
The trouble is that the feeds are neither the BBCs nor ours (Arqiva), and the third parties responsible have their own ways of responding to our faults (Im being exceptionally polite there!) As for the oft heard rumour that its a deliberate ploy to get people off of LW - If that were the case, we wouldnt have just spent nearly £3m on replacing the T antenna and refurbishing the masts at Droitwich.
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22nd Jul 2014, 10:35 am | #118 |
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
That's why the persistence of this fault is so bizarre. £3m is spent on aerial upgrades, lots of money must be being spent just paying the electricity bill, and yet the whole service is spoilt because somebody isn't doing the job they're being paid to do. I suppose it hasn't been addressed properly by the BBC (who should be going absolutely spare over this) because it doesn't actually take the service off air.
To be fair, I suspect that the BBC will be paying rather more attention at present, given the jump in LW listener numbers when the cricket is on and the corresponding increasing complaints and perhaps media attention. It must also be said that there will undoubtedly be a faction within the BBC and Ofcom who will see this as an opportunity to promote the 'better quality' of R5 Sports Extra on DAB. |
22nd Jul 2014, 11:00 am | #119 |
Dekatron
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
Interestingly, there was an item on last evening's R4 "PM" program about 17:30ish, where someone had complained that the 'pips' sounded different to usual.
A person from the BBC was interviewed and admitted that there was something causing distortion, and that they were working on it. |
22nd Jul 2014, 11:04 am | #120 | |
Hexode
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Re: R4 Longwave sibilance again.
Quote:
For all we know the aerial update is about selling off the LW facility to another broadcaster? We just don't know and probably never will without a time machine to the future or a fly on the wall of the corridors of power. Cynical, moi? Oh yes, studying history formally teaches you that! Politics and commerce trash engineering every time. Sad, but true . . . Best regards, Paul M |
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