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The NICAM Codec replacement project

bbc.co.uk

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Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#4

Post by jacquesm »

Very nice work. What is the rationale behind doing a bespoke design rather than sharing the development cost with all the European broadcasters, is NICAM unique to the UK? What do other broadcasters use for similar services?

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#5

Post by comboy »

darkr wrote: post #3

> In addition, the signalling information for switching Economy 7 electricity meters is carried on Radio 4 LW. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_teleswitch Fascinating stuff.

Indeed

     to allow electricity suppliers to switch large numbers of electricity meters between different tariffs by broadcasting an embedded signal in broadcast radio signals
I kind of heavily doubt these are signed broadcasts that cannot be replayed..

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#6

Post by linker3000 »

That's some decent BBC engineering from a team that works away quietly in the background and just makes things happen, or keep happening. I don't work in that field, but like many people in my profession (Systems and networking), I also tend to be invisible until something breaks, and then I am the fall guy if it's not fixed within a heartbeat.

/I was half expecting the article to outline how a box full of 80s technology had been replaced with a Raspberry Pi!

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#7

Post by mrweasel »

jacquesm wrote: post #4

Very nice work. What is the rationale behind doing a bespoke design rather than sharing the development cost with all the European broadcasters, is NICAM unique to the UK? What do other broadcasters use for similar services?

Cool to see that there are still companies that can and will make devices like this in-house, but yes it just seems like something that a radio station would normally just do with an off the shelf solution.

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#8

Post by king_magic »

This is one of the most interesting things I've read on HN in weeks. Awesome to see this kind of success story, and it's super fascinating to get insight into how radio works behind the scenes.

I'll be honest, I had no idea all of this goes into radio. I thought there were just, err, towers?, that broadcast... radio waves, and that was kind of it? I mean, I knew on some level it had to be a tad bit more complex than that, but you never see or hear about it.

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#9

Post by zimpenfish »

jacquesm wrote: post #4

Very nice work. What is the rationale behind doing a bespoke design rather than sharing the development cost with all the European broadcasters, is NICAM unique to the UK? What do other broadcasters use for similar services?

I assume because "it's a lot easier to bang something like that out with a small tightly focused team in a single location".

Re: The NICAM Codec replacement project

#10

Post by Piskvorrr »

king_magic wrote: post #8

This is one of the most interesting things I've read on HN in weeks. Awesome to see this kind of success story, and it's super fascinating to get insight into how radio works behind the scenes. I'll be honest, I had no idea all of this goes into radio. I thought there were just, err, towers?, that broadcast... radio waves, and that was kind of it? I mean, I knew on some level it had to be a tad bit more complex than…

Well, I'd assume that the reason for radio silence (ahem) on broadcasting tech would be various NDAs.
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