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Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio

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Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio

#61

Post by el_benhameen »

msh wrote: post #56

I know I am properly a outlier but how many people on HN actually listens to radio over FM/DAB/Other non IP systems? I dont remember when I last listened to radio. Even in the car the entertainment is one or more of the following from the connected phone: - Streaming or locally stored music - Podcasts (which may include shows produced by radio stations). - Audiobooks. At home its the same, either played directly on t…

I listen to pretty much only broadcast NPR when driving. It still has better ease of use than anything else. Nothing to set up or plug in to delay my departure (just press the power button and it's on), I don't have to choose an episode, the content is generally interesting, and there are no obtrusive ads. I have a short commute so I don't run into the problem of hearing repeat newscasts. If I spent more time in the car I might bring my own media (and I do when I go on road trips), but I quite like it for the 30-45 minutes a day that I'm in the car.

Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio

#62

Post by niftich »

msh wrote: post #56

I know I am properly a outlier but how many people on HN actually listens to radio over FM/DAB/Other non IP systems? I dont remember when I last listened to radio. Even in the car the entertainment is one or more of the following from the connected phone: - Streaming or locally stored music - Podcasts (which may include shows produced by radio stations). - Audiobooks. At home its the same, either played directly on t…

You're gonna get self-selecting responses to this, but I listen to FM a good amount -- maybe not every day, but several times a week, mostly in the car. For me, it's a way to attune to mainstream music or a particular station format and briefly escape my otherwise carefully curated playlists, and available at no cost to me, unlike some smartphone streaming service.

In truth, to me the method of delivery is not relevant: it could be IP or OTA Digital or Analog. Rather, I sometimes enjoy the unattended, externally curated format of radio, vs. having to select the next playing item myself.

Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio

#63

Post by _0w8t »

timonoko wrote: post #23

FM radio in Norway sucked so much because of mountains. Every fjord had its own tiny repeater, but only if there was at least one inhabitant, otherwise you heard nothing. The cell-phone digital network is much more advanced, the antennas are on mountain tops and there is always coverage within few hundred meters.

Add to that tunnels. In western Norway one drives up to 10% of time in tunnels and only very few channels and only in longer tunnels have coverage. Mobile networks work reliably most of the time.

Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio

#64

Post by gravypod »

timonoko wrote: post #23

FM radio in Norway sucked so much because of mountains. Every fjord had its own tiny repeater, but only if there was at least one inhabitant, otherwise you heard nothing. The cell-phone digital network is much more advanced, the antennas are on mountain tops and there is always coverage within few hundred meters.

What is a fjord?

Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio

#65

Post by kfk »

kagamine wrote: post #57
anexprogrammer wrote: post #5

Over 60% against ... but "more channels". OK solely money driven then. I have somewhere around 12 FM radios, ranging in price from £10 to £lots and 40 years old or newer. They all still work and often give LW and SW too. In the UK at least DAB is mp2 and an excuse to put out thousands of channels at horrible bit rates. Like down to 64k streams. OK for a noisy car, terrble for at home or headphones. They all work and…

I also believe this is primarily driven by money, but also a section of Norwegian society seems to believe that anything new and shiny simply must be bought and right away. In a country in which environmental concerns are marketed as paramount by the government and media there are some obvious dichotomies emerging. For one, the electric car market markets itself as green and while they are running on renewable energy…

I lived in DK, it's similar there (+ car tax is higher there). I think this new shiny culture is great in some regards: almost cashless society, very good tech in schools and Universities, very good IT in all companies, etc.. However, they also have the biggest contradictions I have seen so far: super old car fleet - but everybody in DK is an environmentalist; immigrants "ghetto" all over - but everybody in DK is supposed to be nice and welcoming; 80% of what they eat is junk cheap food from fast foods, but everybody in DK only buys bio products at the supermarkets.

I think you just have to accept the fact that many people don't see those contradictions, our brains are made for patterns, they have a bit of a loser concept of internal coherency.

Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio

#66

Post by [deleted] »

Reason077 wrote: post #54
martinald wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most newish cars in the UK come with DAB as standard now.

DAB service in the UK is a significantly better experience than FM when driving. However, receivers vary wildly. I rent cars frequently and while all new cars have DAB, the quality of implementation is not consistent. There's a huge difference between the crappy ones that constantly drop the signal and the good ones that almost never do, even in really remote (and hilly) areas.

[deleted]

Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio

#67

Post by snom380 »

gravypod wrote: post #64
timonoko wrote: post #23

FM radio in Norway sucked so much because of mountains. Every fjord had its own tiny repeater, but only if there was at least one inhabitant, otherwise you heard nothing. The cell-phone digital network is much more advanced, the antennas are on mountain tops and there is always coverage within few hundred meters.

What is a fjord?

https://www.google.no/search?q=fjord&tbm=isch

Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio

#68

Post by gravypod »

Well congrats to the hams in this country. They're going to get a huge bandwidth that others would be envious enough.

They could also explain to people that just switching modes isn't going to make reception better. If you're having propagation issues then you'd be much better off working on getting repeaters setup on high mountains.

Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio

#69

Post by dx034 »

gravypod wrote: post #64
timonoko wrote: post #23

FM radio in Norway sucked so much because of mountains. Every fjord had its own tiny repeater, but only if there was at least one inhabitant, otherwise you heard nothing. The cell-phone digital network is much more advanced, the antennas are on mountain tops and there is always coverage within few hundred meters.

What is a fjord?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fjord

Re: Norway to become first country to switch off FM radio

#70

Post by whiskers »

gravypod wrote: post #64
timonoko wrote: post #23

FM radio in Norway sucked so much because of mountains. Every fjord had its own tiny repeater, but only if there was at least one inhabitant, otherwise you heard nothing. The cell-phone digital network is much more advanced, the antennas are on mountain tops and there is always coverage within few hundred meters.

What is a fjord?

It's a steep-sided inlet. They're award winning you know. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fjord
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