BANDSCAN THREAD

SWR meter

Now fm dublin have audio problems on fm signal. noticed low sounding audio yesterday then today its loud and breaking up

TallGlass

SWR meter wrote: »

Now fm dublin have audio problems on fm signal. noticed low sounding audio yesterday then today its loud and breaking up

I'm actually starting to wonder if HOT and NOW are from the same site or something, they both seem to have bad audio/reception problems at the same time.

Sunnyboy10

TallGlass wrote: »

I'm actually starting to wonder if HOT and NOW are from the same site or something, they both seem to have bad audio/reception problems at the same time.

The majority of those so called dance pirates have no concept of what is a proper radio signal and audio. An embarrassment that’s all I can say.

Max Power 2010

Sunnyboy10 wrote: »

The majority of those so called dance pirates have no concept of what is a proper radio signal and audio. An embarrassment that’s all I can say.

Agreed, i believe both stations are using versions or Breakaway BreakwayOne or Stereo Tool which if set up correctly can sound pretty good.

Now seem to be trying to sound loud and wide, appears there is alot of tweaking going on and wrong, perhaps stick to the presets for the moment, or use a low power tx at home to tweak.

Hot have been very succesful in introducing a washing machine into the mpx out, pack it up lads, or lad to be more precise.

SWR meter

Max Power 2010 wrote: »

Agreed, i believe both stations are using versions or Breakaway BreakwayOne or Stereo Tool which if set up correctly can sound pretty good.

Now seem to be trying to sound loud and wide, appears there is alot of tweaking going on and wrong, perhaps stick to the presets for the moment, or use a low power tx at home to tweak.

Hot have been very succesful in introducing a washing machine into the mpx out, pack it up lads, or lad to be more precise.

Now fm audio on fm is pushed hard and too wide it sounds hollow and is not an easy listen,

Hot fm were using trial versions as I heard the breakaway advert a few times. When they are live its very poor quality link or just crap mp3 downloads

I know Now fm use crap mp3 downloads because track information says www my free mp3 net

Neither have processing on internet streams which is a problem when they are trying to push for online listeners, Volume output is up and down like a yo yo

Problems for new comers are ok. Its when stations been on for 6 or 7 months or longer they should accept feedback and look to improve

end of the road

SWR meter wrote: »

Now fm audio on fm is pushed hard and too wide it sounds hollow and is not an easy listen,

Hot fm were using trial versions as I heard the breakaway advert a few times. When they are live its very poor quality link or just crap mp3 downloads

I know for sure Now fm use crap mp3 downloads because track information says www my free mp3 net

Neither have no processing on internet streams which is a problem when they are trying to push for online listeners. Volume output is up and down like a yo yo.

Problems for new comers are ok. Problems for stations been on for 6 or 7 months or longer is not acceptable and they should accept feedback and fix it

on now fm's stream, if you see track names and www my free mp3 net etc then that means the server is broadcasting their online auto dj as the stream from the studio has gone down for whatever reason. auto dj is software offered by server hosts where songs can be uploaded to it an the software can play them. some even offer scheduling etc.

Apologies if this is in the wrong thread. I'm looking to find a station which plays indie/ classic hits music during the weekday - something along the lines of the John Creedon Show, with a bit of BBC Radio 2, perhaps. A broad but tasteful variety of music, some familiar, some new.

What kind of Irish station should I tune into?

dxhound2005

Would Sunshine fit the bill?

https://onlineradiobox.com/ie/sunshine/playlist/

Declan A Walsh

After my self-imposed silence on Boards, I thought I should mention some band scans that I did recently!

Firstly, on the evening of Saturday 16th February, I picked up dance pirate RetroNow on 105.7 travelling on the M50 driving southbound near Blanchardstown. The reception was very strong in the area. I don’t believe I had ever actually heard it firsthand before. It cannot be picked up on the southside. Speaking of which….

On the evening of Wednesday 20th February (yesterday), I managed to come upon Phever around Leopardstown and with live programming. I presume it was on 94.3 – could not see the frequency at the time. It’s a long time since I heard live programming on that station, or indeed any music – often picked up silence!

Also yesterday, I picked up TheBeach on 105.7 – the same frequency for RetroNow in west Dublin. The signal was very strong between Leopardstown and Sandyford Hall, near Stepaside. I could still pick it up somewhat weaker when I drove over to Ballinteer Road near the M50. Interestingly, when I went over towards Ballinteer itself, the signal practically dropped completely. This was a station I first heard last new year’s eve and last heard (before this date) on January 1st of this year – I referred to it on this thread during those dates. I don’t know if it had been on since. I don’t believe it has been on much if at all as it would have got some mention here at some stage. Incidentally, the music being played initially was kind of a cross between chilled out jazz music and dance music. Later, it was a bit more pop-oriented.

I have heard Fresh FM recently on 99.4, sometimes identifying itself as Dance One. What I noticed both yesterday and this evening was the changing RDS displays such as SUMMER…FOR…BIG…BOOST. The reception has been very strong around Leopardstown, Ballinteer and Dundrum.

Finally, this evening I heard Retro FM briefly around the Ballinteer and Marley area on 92.0. The signal was fairly strong. It was the first time in a while that I heard it without it being part of a joint broadcast with other stations and frequencies.

Infoanon

Now and Phever off air this morning

SWR meter

Infoanon wrote: »

Now and Phever off air this morning

Phever back

SWR meter

SWR meter wrote: »

Phever back

Now back but very bad distortion again

Infoanon

SWR meter wrote: »

SWR meter wrote: »

Phever back

Now back but very bad distortion again

The distortion is possibly due to poor reception - I tuned in to Now and while the audio is loud it is not distorted.

SWR meter

Infoanon wrote: »

The distortion is possibly due to poor reception - I tuned in to Now and while the audio is loud it is not distorted.

Listened in a friends car earlier and it was not as bad but still had distortion on lower frequencies, seems worse on some songs i guess depending on how loud the song is when it gets to transmission side

Maybe some radios handle the loudness and wide stereo better than others

No other station impacted tonight from what I could hear so my radio is not bust

TallGlass

To anyone who cares at either Now FM or Hot FM ... Good place to start, for less than 2k.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/ORBAN-OPTIMOD-FM-8200/382781538900?hash=item591f8ec254:g:I7oAAOSwkCZcYcTy:rk:4:pf:0

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Orban-Optimod-2200-FM-Audio-Broadcast-On-Air-Digital-Processor-Stereo-Generator/264200183406?hash=item3d838ede6e:g:K5gAAOSwi6dcWeXY:rk:5:pf:0

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Orban-Optimod-8200-V3-FM-Sound-Processor-Broadcast-Processor/143133371825?hash=item215369edb1:g:40oAAOSw8MZbye6-:rk:6:pf:0

https://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=orban+optimod&_sacat=0

turbocab

TallGlass wrote: »

To anyone who cares at either Now FM or Hot FM ... Good place to start, for less than 2k.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/ORBAN-OPTIMOD-FM-8200/382781538900?hash=item591f8ec254:g:I7oAAOSwkCZcYcTy:rk:4:pf:0

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Orban-Optimod-2200-FM-Audio-Broadcast-On-Air-Digital-Processor-Stereo-Generator/264200183406?hash=item3d838ede6e:g:K5gAAOSwi6dcWeXY:rk:5:pf:0

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Orban-Optimod-8200-V3-FM-Sound-Processor-Broadcast-Processor/143133371825?hash=item215369edb1:g:40oAAOSw8MZbye6-:rk:6:pf:0

https://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=orban+optimod&_sacat=0

I agree Tall glass ,a stand alone optimod is the best way to do your audio processing,

Infoanon

TallGlass wrote: »

To anyone who cares at either Now FM or Hot FM ... Good place to start, for less than 2k.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/ORBAN-OPTIMOD-FM-8200/382781538900?hash=item591f8ec254:g:I7oAAOSwkCZcYcTy:rk:4:pf:0

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Orban-Optimod-2200-FM-Audio-Broadcast-On-Air-Digital-Processor-Stereo-Generator/264200183406?hash=item3d838ede6e:g:K5gAAOSwi6dcWeXY:rk:5:pf:0

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Orban-Optimod-8200-V3-FM-Sound-Processor-Broadcast-Processor/143133371825?hash=item215369edb1:g:40oAAOSw8MZbye6-:rk:6:pf:0

https://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=orban+optimod&_sacat=0

No pirate is going to invest in an optimod in these days - 1)raids and lose of equipment & 2 ) software eg breakaway gives results that the average listener could not differentiate from an optimod

Trax has excellent audio ,Easy when sourcing from good bit rates sound excellent, even Retro / Chill who have very little processing have good quality audio - as an aside community stations don't have optimods so it's a big ask for a pirate to have one

TallGlass

Infoanon wrote: »

No pirate is going to invest in an optimod in these days - 1)raids and lose of equipment & 2 ) software eg breakaway gives results that the average listener could not differentiate from an optimod

Trax has excellent audio ,Easy when sourcing from good bit rates sound excellent, even Retro / Chill who have very little processing have good quality audio - as an aside community stations don't have optimods so it's a big ask for a pirate to have one

I liked this.

However, while I agree. I think if your investing in a TX that's going to cost about (hopefully) 1k in setup and then rent per month for a site. That at minimum you'll consider your audio solution in the same content of the TX.

Consider this, (and I have) from this location of mine put out a fairly decent TX signal with bad audio (in my hast as youngster I was all about the TX and its range, to hell with good audio!). If I was to do it again? What would I do you ask, I would split firstly my budget between TX equipment and Audio 50/50, secondly I would use other audio solutions like breakaway in the background, along with a hell of alot of manual interaction with the 'files' themselves that are going to output.

Yes it might result in lower power, but that is something that can be expanded on down the line, bad audio at 1k or 100k is bad audio. No one will listen to it.

Wanted to add a bit more..

I love what Trax are doing, someone has a lot of patience there and it's showing in the audio quality.

The community radio guys are doing, they really are on the edge of it all, so hats off to them.

radioguru02

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

After my self-imposed silence on Boards, I thought I should mention some band scans that I did recently!

Firstly, on the evening of Saturday 16th February, I picked up dance pirate RetroNow on 105.7 travelling on the M50 driving southbound near Blanchardstown. The reception was very strong in the area. I don’t believe I had ever actually heard it firsthand before. It cannot be picked up on the southside. Speaking of which….

On the evening of Wednesday 20th February (yesterday), I managed to come upon Phever around Leopardstown and with live programming. I presume it was on 94.3 – could not see the frequency at the time. It’s a long time since I heard live programming on that station, or indeed any music – often picked up silence!

Also yesterday, I picked up TheBeach on 105.7 – the same frequency for RetroNow in west Dublin. The signal was very strong between Leopardstown and Sandyford Hall, near Stepaside. I could still pick it up somewhat weaker when I drove over to Ballinteer Road near the M50. Interestingly, when I went over towards Ballinteer itself, the signal practically dropped completely. This was a station I first heard last new year’s eve and last heard (before this date) on January 1st of this year – I referred to it on this thread during those dates. I don’t know if it had been on since. I don’t believe it has been on much if at all as it would have got some mention here at some stage. Incidentally, the music being played initially was kind of a cross between chilled out jazz music and dance music. Later, it was a bit more pop-oriented.

I have heard Fresh FM recently on 99.4, sometimes identifying itself as Dance One. What I noticed both yesterday and this evening was the changing RDS displays such as SUMMER…FOR…BIG…BOOST. The reception has been very strong around Leopardstown, Ballinteer and Dundrum.

Finally, this evening I heard Retro FM briefly around the Ballinteer and Marley area on 92.0. The signal was fairly strong. It was the first time in a while that I heard it without it being part of a joint broadcast with other stations and frequencies.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Phever on 88.1?

end of the road

pirateradiohed wrote: »

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Phever on 88.1?

they are on 94.3 now and have been for the past couple of months. they moved to there i think around the time christmas fm came on air as 88.1 was used for their kildare frequency i believe.

JDxtra

Here is a bandscan and some recordings from earlier today done in Leixlip. I matched up the stream and the FM recordings exactly for easy comparison.

The FM recordings were done on a Sony tuner (ST-SB920QS) connected to an external FM folded dipole (it's omni directional). The stream recordings were raw dumps to avoid format conversion issues.

FM scan:

1) 87.6 - Chill FM - 29dB
2) 88.1 - Now FM - 43dB
3) 91.0 - Hot FM - 48dB
4) 93.2 - Easy - 41dB
5) 94.3 - Phever - 34dB
6) 107.1 - Trax - 44dB

Streams details:

1) Chill FM - 128kbps MP3
2) Now FM - 192kbps MP3
3) Hot FM - 128kbps MP3
4) Easy - 192kbps MP3
5) Phever - 128kbps MP3
6) Trax - 128kbps MP3

All recordings are available in uncompressed WAV and MP3 formats from here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/z6bqp9mbhe6si2q/AABQJhyGQYklGyLMtccGwNV2a?dl=0&fbclid=IwAR21ZkRNzQ05Rm2wXGh6MV9nIgk0-11Spa8vSMoCDEeab-hqWc3pQtCX1T4

I could not get good clear recordings of Fresh (99.4), The Cube (101.2) or Retro (92.0).

castle2012

In Dublin this afternoon Phever was off air

radioguru02

Stream off ATM anyways

SWR meter

Youtube feed is up but fm and tunein stream are not on

radioguru02

What’s the story with 99.4/5? Are there still 2 stations? Is Fresh still relaying DanceOne?

hustlergraham

Trax off air the last few hours. Stream is still up and running.

Infoanon

hustlergraham wrote: »

Trax off air the last few hours. Stream is still up and running.

Trax has been off air sInce early morning, Phever is also off air.

All others on - Dance One aka Fresh have a rotating text testing for the summer

hustlergraham

Infoanon wrote: »

Trax has been off air sInce early morning, Phever is also off air.

All others on - Dance One aka Fresh have a rotating text testing for the summer

Really? I only noticed earlier this evening as I went to tune in. Must be for a good reason so.

Mr Snow

what radio stations can you get on sunday around blanchardstown shopping centre?

Infoanon

A lot off stations off air this weekend with technical issues.

Retro, Easy,Phever, The Cube and Trax are all off. Easy and Retro off for Antenna work and technical issues respectively.

Chill,Now, Hot and Dance One (aka Fresh ) remain on for the moment.