Posts by werdsmith

iOS or iPadOS is not really as enabled as MacOS, for instance, it doesn’t really support native coding/compilation.

Re: winking dots

The thrill about watching the ISS passing overhead is to know that there are people on board.

But Venus in the western sky is also making my heart swell at the moment. Such a presence, if these were medieval times then people would surely link it to our current circumstances.

Watching a procession of 60 LEO objects is also a reminder of the ingenuity of people, but I feel that an earthbound technology could be found to advance broadband everywhere, that would leave these 260kg birds scrambling for a purpose in just a few years. And we can’t just de-rack them.

Re: Re Cycle Wheels

Lycra definitely not mandatory.

Every morning I am out in jeans and if it's chilly a casual jacket from Matalan.

The same lycra clad moron is sweating along the road dodging 40 tonners on his Pinarello whilst I sail past him on my ancient 1980 built Halfords bike on the adjacent cycle path. Us cyclists truly are a brotherhood of utter morons.

I say "brotherhood" because female cyclists don't usually exhibit the same moronic behaviour.

Re: @ the AC, re: wireless headphones.

Do you mean a car without speakers?

Steering wheel is a silly analogy, because it’s essential for the primary purpose of the car.

Apple supply earphones in the box. Some folk prefer aftermarket audio kit. For phones and for cars.

Re: Even if an iPhone . . .

Apple is for people with money to spare. Us plebs buy $99 android phones and $400 laptops, some of the laptops run Linux.

This pleb doesn't have money to spare for phones so i buy ised iPhones for not very much money.

To avoid Android.

Re: And another thing

Of course you can. There's an RF front end and an audio amp to consider.

Re: Bah

Excellent. Mine is 5W QRP.

Re: And another thing

DAB dev board

I'm a licensed Amateur and I like building QRP radios, antenna designs and filters etc. But if I wanted to do DAB then there are little black box components that do the DSP, you can go cheaper than this too, and attach them to a Raspberry Pi. It's the way the hobby development world is now.

And then there is SDR.

Re: They need to stop

And using the internet instead of RF broadcast will always mean that there is somebody watching you.

Just like using the web as I am now, no anonymity.

Re: And another thing

Why are all DAB radios weird, ugly, wooden boxes?

If you put DAB radio into an Amazon search, very few of the results have that woody effect.

and the receivers use HUGE amounts of power compared to an FM radio

About twice as much and improving. I wouldn't invest in a three phase supply just yet.

Re: Ofcom not thinking - as usual

Yes, the Tin-Niks are DAB/FM receivers with earphones that are smaller than 5cm. Still quite expensive and a full charge will last twice as long on FM as on DAB. Though I suspect nobody would test that using those awful headphones.

But way back, a radio could be made for pennies with a cat's whisker and used zero power apart from what it could extract from the RF it was receiving. Is heterodyning and amplification progress over that?

Of course it is.

Re: AM >FM > DAB > ?

My old car had a radio that would drop the volume on FM when the signal got weak to save you from that awful racket.

Re: Needs a big rethink

bin DAB, bring in DCB. Yes digital citizens band radio can now succeed where the analogue original failed in what was then still a rather socially reserved country

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AM CB in the UK absolutely boomed when it was illegal. As soon as we got legal FM around 10 metres it died a death. Of course, if you want digital CB then just get on of the network radios already available by companies like Inrico. No license required. WiFi or cell network SIM.

Licensed Amateurs have digital modes, basically DMR as the independent and then a whole load of practically incompatible manufacturer ones. Like Yaesu Fusion and ICOM D-Star. You can connect a tiny handheld to a "hotspot" on your broadband, and talk to the entire world, using RF at mW power over a distance of a few metres. It's very busy at the moment with people discussing lock downs in their various countries.

Re: Bah

Works perfectly well with CW on the 40m amateur band, I can tell you.

Re: Why National for a station called "London Live"

London Live gets out a very long way beyond London, if you have an antenna pointed at the Crystal Palace transmitter then beyond Cambridge.

Re: Many problems

* battery life - you can run portabale FM radio ages on set of batteries, try that with DAB...

I have a little Roberts Gemini 49. It has rechargeable AA batteries which recharge in situ. Then it will play DAB for 24 hours continuously. It's very old, 2006 I think. I'm sure newer ones are better.

Of course a charge would work for longer on FM only (it can do this because it has FM), but I really don't need it to. I can't remember the last time I plugged it in to charge. It has a 3 inch speaker, so I'm not bothered about highs and lows and mid ranges. It's DAB advantage is simplicity and not having to know a frequency to get an RDS name for a station. That's it.

Re: DAB is terrible quality due to low bitrates

I listen to BBC R4 and there is no need for audiophile perfection.

Same in the car, even with music. Striving for perfect audio quality against the sound of engines, tyres and A-pillar wind noise is just a little bit daft.

Re: London Live

On London Live I have been watching old films that I wouldn't get anywhere else. Most of them I've enjoyed, but now I've seen all of them they are still being repeated, about 12 films.

There is also a London Boroughs thing where a local talks about the history of an area, quite interesting.

Re: A couple of points to note

I recently drove around some cliff areas on the south of the Isle of Wight (St.Boniface Down I think). I lost the FM signal from the local IWRadio, but was able to listen to a perfect signal from a French station.

Re: Nope.

We won't be moving unless Ofcom can overcome the laws of physics.

They should put a local transmitter / repeater up to cover your shadow.

Re: But........

DAB disappears on the A1 between Peterborough and Grantham. For about 5 miles.

Probably because my car has a little sharkfin antenna.

Faecebook users. What does anyone expect?

There are even some pseudo scientific ideas going around about the effect of mmWave transmissions on the immune system. They forget to mention that no infrastructure or phones using this part of the spectrum have been rolled out.

Re: Unions

So they should be. Judging by these responses I am 100% right.

Re: Unions

Unions might be a good idea if they worked as they are ideally needed, but unfortunately human nature takes over.

So, I wouldn’t go anywhere near a Union.

Re: Head office?

Have you not heard of the “Silicon Roundabout”?

London has a major tech hub.

My Gemini has been faultless, and very close to my ideal portable. It only needs decent sunlight visible screen to be ideal. I didn’t get the Cosmo, too much trying to be a daily phone, whereas the Gemini is a portable computer first, phone second, it could not compete with real phones. So, for my needs, the Gemini is the better device than the Cosmo, and better than the slide thing which is even more a phone attempt.

Re: Marmite

It is as a lube.

Except in public schools, where it is de rigeur.

They need to go with a chipset that is already well supported. But these are more expensive than MediaTek.

Re: Slip sliding away...

Yes, they exist. But it just doesn't work as well.

Re: Head office?

No, it's rented office space. 38.1 Sq.m of it. With staff in. Rateable value: £22,750.

There are Youtube videos of them being interviewed in the office and you can clearly see Sloane Square through the windows. I presume this prestige address offers them some value in credibility terms or access to brain power. Because they would save a fortune by going into a provincial office suite where people are desperate to fill them.

Re: CEO Dr Janko Mrsic-Flogel

The Cosmo was a move towards more phone functionality, where the Gemini was PDA with connectivity.

Re: Ha

Chris Evans? Do the BBC pay salaries of Virgin Radio UK presenters?