OP
Deleted member 473
Just about every day my internet speed grinds to a halt. It then picks up a few minutes later. Any ideas? I don't think it is other users nearby. DNS also packs up at the same time, or shortly before. I have set leases to 21 days on my LAN. What on earth is causing this?
Black Hole
May contain traces of nut
Am I mistaken? The context of the moment was radio, was it not?
OP
Deleted member 473
A quote would have made it clearer. The preceding post was about Freeview. There are two targets: switch off FM, and switch Freeview frequencies and make us all buy new Freeview boxes. It's anybody's guess when these nutters who decide such things have in mind for the latter.
DAB has never been a serious prospect, has it? Given that manufacturers charge £750 for a very basic FM/AM/CD player for a car, who would want to replace all those?
Black Hole
May contain traces of nut
Was it? OK then. I suppose the clue was in "terrestrial", but that slipped past me.
I am a shade less of a digital skeptic with a bit more sympathy (but only a very little) that I used to be. The problem seems to be that the current FM network is reaching the end of its service life (what happened to just replacing the valves when they burn out?), so do they spend the budget on replacing the FM network or do they spend it on going digital? Tough call for the decision makers I would say.
I had a new car stereo fitted only a few weeks ago, I wanted more capability than the factory unit and it seemed foolish to fit anything without DAB for future proofing. JVC AM/FM/DAB/CD/USB/Aux(F&R) plus stalk adapter, £260 all in (including fitting and DAB aerial). I have toyed with DAB, I get no signal loss in the local motorway tunnel unlike FM, but reception is not so continuous when I travel longer distances.
OP
Deleted member 473
I thought that DAB was supposed to be the answer to all that frequency changing when you travel? You just latch onto the DAB signal and that is it? But it isn't like that, is it?
As long as I can receive Radio3, Radio4 and ClassicFM in the car and have some way of playing my own sound files I am happy. The other channels are junk.
I rarely if ever have to re-tune FM. I agree that there are better ways of transmitting than FM, but they have to be robust, and we all know from experience with Freeview that highly compressed digital channels are far from robust.As for car stereos, I am at a bit of a loss to know what goes on behind that large rectangular panel built into the dashboard. Is there just a small old-style unit hiding behind there or is the dashboard part of the radio? I have replaced cd radios myself in the past and found it easy, but have no idea what you do when the controls are part of the dashboard itself, a measure found necessary to deter thieves.
PS Daily Service on Radio4 DAB would put me off!
Black Hole
May contain traces of nut
It depends on the car. Some cars these days are so highly integrated that is would be impossible to change the stereo. In my case (Mk2a Focus) the standard Sony unit has a larger dash footprint that double-din, but mounting adapters and blanking fascias are readily available. I think car audio theft is a thing of the past, except for mega-fancy units the boy racers show off at cruises.
OP
Deleted member 473
True, the factory fitted audio is rarely stolen now, just replacement units.
What is a DAB aerial? Is that like a "digital aerial?"
OP
Deleted member 473
So those extending ones on domestic DAB radios should be extended to 11.5"?
Black Hole
May contain traces of nut
In my case it's a serpentine track on sticky plastic film that attaches at the corner of the windscreen, with an amplifier unit integrated. Nowhere near 11", and it works well.