As the person who sparked all of this off, I should explain that I used the word "miles" when I actually meant "kilometres".
I didn't follow up to correct my mistake because it was hardly worth the effort. However, full marks to Adrian for ferreting out that information! Robert Nelson ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dane Trethowan" <grtd...@internode.on.net> To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 6:25 AM Subject: Re: So I bought a Digital radio.. No dispute there, you're right on the ball as I've done that trip myself, I said it was about a thousand miles. On 20/04/2010, at 5:45 AM, Adrian Spratt wrote: > Hi, Dane and Bob. You've had this friendly disagreement about the distance > between Melbourne and Brisbane before. So, with the BARD debate still > raging, I thought I could at least settle this dispute once and for all. > Thanks for all your wonderful contributions to this list. Now, here's the > WikiAnswers entry describing the distance between your two fair cities: > >> From Melbourne to Brisbane by road is a distance of 1709km (1061 miles) >> and > takes about 21 hours to travel. This is without rest breaks so, ideally, > the > trip should be taken over three days. This is the quickest route, taking > you > the inland way through Seymour, West Wyalong, Parkes and Narrabri. > > The flight travel distance is 1370km (851 miles), and travel time from > Melbourne to Brisbane is around 2 hours, whilst from Brisbane to Melbourne > is closer to 2 hrs 20 mins, depending on the airline. > > -----Original Message----- > From: pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] > On Behalf Of Dane Trethowan > Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 4:04 PM > To: PC Audio Discussion List > Subject: Re: So I bought a Digital radio.. > > howdy! > > Couple of things here, Brisbane is about 1000 miles north rather than > 1500, > you're halfway to Cairns <smile>. > > Thanks for the tip about the Ccrane web site, will this aerial work on the > high frequency bands this radio receives? > > So for channel selection and here's a brief summary of what I found out > through experimenting. > > You're best to use the jog dial when selecting channels rather than the up > and down buttons and it helps to know how the stations are laid out, for > example in Melbourne stations are stored in the radio in alfabetical order > so I have an idea where everything is. If you want to go down say 5 > stations, turn the jog wheel clockwise 5 clicks and press the "select > button". If you have sight you'll see the display scroll every click of > the > jog wheel. > > You're quite right, I think the Roberts is the only set with a line-out > jack > which you can buy unless you want to buy a DAB+ audiophile tuner and that > will be my next project, either that or one DAB+ receiver which will plug > into a computer, I'm yet to see one of those. > > Thanks for clarify the different digital radio standards, they call it HD > Radio in the states and I think its based on the IBOC standard, makes a > hell > of a mess of the AM broadcast band I believe <smile>. > > In country Australia they're talking about DRM as a digital radio standard > because of the long distances, won't go into all the tech specs here but > basically you can listen to the signal on your standard AM radio, if you > have a DRM compatible receiver then the extra information carried with the > audio will be decoded and you'll get a "FM quality" audio output. > > Cheers! > > On 18/03/2010, at 6:48 AM, Robert Nelson wrote: > > I should point out that Dane's comments are only relevant for list members > living in Australia. > > The DAB system used in the USA is different because of the early adoption > of > the DAB standard in that country. DAB in the USA also seems to have strong > competition from satellite radio which can offer a greater range of > content. > > The Roberts Ecologic 4 is a radio originally designed for DAB radio in > Britain but has been modified to meet the DAB+ standard used in Australia. > > I live in Brisbane, Queensland, which is about 1500 miles north of > Melbourne > where Dane lives. In Brisbane there are more than 20 digital channels > offered by AM or FM broadcasters and an odd collection of special interest > groups (mostly non-English speaking). > > I have a Roberts Ecologic 4 and like it very much, partly because it is a > portable and partly because it has a line out that llows it to be > connected > to a hi fi system for remarkably good results. As far as I can tell, most > digital radios being sold in Australia do not have the line out feature. > > The Ecologic is a little quirky in its controls. You can't tune across the > digital channels in the conventional manner. You have to press the up or > down key then the enter key to move from one channel to another. As far as > I > can tell, you can't press the up key 3 times and then press the enter key > and hope to move up 3 channels. > > Acquiring and holding a digital signal can be a problem if you are getting > further away from the transmitters. The Ecologic 4 makes a sound > remarkably > like a bronx cheer when it is having difficulty holding a digital signal. > > However, digital radio is no different to FM in signal degradation the > further you get away from the transmitter. > > Dane, if it becomes too aggravating, look at the C Crane company web pages > because they have an excellent FM antenna for marginal areas that may > improve your reception of the digital transmissions. > > The only other complaint I have about the Ecologic 4 is that it supposedly > has 10 presets. Five are accessed using a shift key but I have yet to be > able to store a station in the shifted presets. For some reason the device > will just not store them. I wonder if it was because I wasn't holding my > mouth right <GRIN>. > > Bob Nelson > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Dane Trethowan" <grtd...@internode.on.net> > To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> > Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 7:32 PM > Subject: Re: So I bought a Digital radio.. > > All the commercial stations plus there extra channels, Buckle Country, > Radar, Koffee, ABC Grandstand, all the SBS channels which include delayed > feeds as well as a service broadcasting the BBC World Service 24/7 at the > moment etc. > > On 17/03/2010, at 8:13 PM, hank smith wrote: > > hello what would we get on one of these sets if i was going to buy one of > these units? Hank > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dane Trethowan" > <grtd...@internode.on.net> > To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <Pc-audio@pc-audio.org> > Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 8:39 PM > Subject: So I bought a Digital radio.. > > Hi everyone! > > I bought myself a Digital radio today and thought I'd tell you of my > experiences with the set thus far. > > I chose the Roberts Ecologic 4 DAB/DAB+ portable digital radio as I know > people who are using it and I wouldn't be surprised if some of those > people > are on this list so hello to you and I hope you're enjoying the rich > listening experience which Digital Radio in the capital cities of Mainland > Australia offers. > > Now I have to warn you of a couple of things here, when you initially turn > the set on it will do a scan of the DAB+ bands in Australia and DAB bands > if > you're in the U.K., so far so good. The next challenge you have is finding > what you want and I've found ways to scroll through or "seek" stations, > once > you've found what you want you can put that station into the preset memory > by holding down the button you want the station to be associated with, say > button 1 or if you want to use the presets above 5 hold down the shift key > and then old down preset 1 for preset 6, you can just press the preset > then > of the desired station you want so others may find it easier to have > someone > sighted go through the stations and that way you can nominate the one's > you > want in the preset channels. > > I live about 24 miles away from the centre of Melbourne so signal is > probably fairly week and I'll talk more about that in a few moments. > > I've noticed that in Melbourne stations are sorted in alphabetical order > which may make things easier when you're setting the presets, for example > suppose you know you're listening to ABC Local Radio 774, turn the > selector > knob once clockwise and press the select button, you'll then be on 3mp+, > turn it 2 clicks and you're on 3MP etc so perhaps a few notes taken will > be > handy here. > > Digital radios are a bit of a pest in that you have to be careful of > placement and the Roberts Ecologic 4 in my experience thus far is no > exception, I'd like to have it in the back room but the radio and my > computers just don't get on so the radio is on the top of my fridge in my > kitchen and even then! I had to adjust the aerial to exactly the right > angle, you know if you don't get a signal on the Ecologic 4 as the sound > drops out totally so I wouldn't recommend you walk around the house with > one > of these things even though the set is a good tough portable. > > the radio runs on both AC mains and battery power, its claimed in the > manual > that the Roberts Ecologic 4 radio will last up to 150 hours on a set of > alkaline batteries. > > Sound quality exceeded my expectations for such a small set, the radio has > both headphones and line output. > > Last but not least, the radio has a FM band for those times when you can't > receive a digital signal and why this radio doesn't have a standard AM > broadcast band I'll never know, do the manufacturers of digital radio sets > think we just live with a FM band even though top rating radio stations in > Melbourne and Sydney for instance are on the AM band? > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org > > __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus > signature > database 4953 (20100317) __________ > > The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > > http://www.eset.com > > > To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: > pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: pc-audio-unsubscr...@pc-audio.org
