Town & Country Broadcasting are undertaking major planned work on site this evening, as such there will be interruptions to their services on DAB from 7pm. Radio Pembrokeshire & Radio Carmarthenshire in particular are expected to be affected.
As you may have noticed if you have DAB and are in the area, we have some test transmissions going out – these are on four channels from two transmitters: Kilvey Hill and Carmel.
We are currently on track to launch at 0001 on Friday 30th August with the seven planned services which will include our third transmitter at Preseli. The formal launch is next Friday (6th Sept).
Launch services are as follows:
Ofcom have issued a consultation about our Hereford and Worcester multiplex.
It’s been triggered as we’ve asked for a frequency change to 12A. This is a small part of industry-wide talks to improve reception. By moving to 12A there will be less interference and coverage should be improved.
You can read more about it here.
Ofcom published an interesting report today, based on a technical trial it has carried out, about the opportunity of operating small, single-site, low powered digital radio multiplexes.
An Ofcom associate from its Spectrum Planning Group used off-the-shelf technology and open-source software to assemble and broadcast a multiplex to cover part of Brighton. According to the report the tests went very well and open up the option of mini-muxes, covering similar areas to small ILRs or community stations.
It’s still quite a way away from being deployed in the wild, as there would need to be significant frequency planning into likely availability and discussions about where it fits from a regulatory-basis.
The multiplexes that we broadcast are quite different to the one trialed in Brighton – we cover much larger areas (the size of the local BBC and main ILR stations) – broadcasting from many different transmitter sites at higher signal strengths. We think this works well as it means more people can hear a service if it broadcasts over a larger area and also supports listeners as they drive across an area listening in-car.
However, for some smaller operators who want a digital berth, particularly for fixed in-home listening, but don’t want to (or aren’t able) to be on a county-wide multiplex, we think this concept sounds like a good idea.
We think it’s important that as we approach a digital switchover, that lots of stations have the chance to be on DAB – this seems an interesting route for some to start their journey.
We’re pleased to say that we have signed the contract with our transmission subcontractor, and can announce that the planned launch of the MuxCo Surrey multiplex will be in December 2013.
Find out more about this multiplex here.
We’re adding Gaydio to the Wrexham, Chester and Liverpool multiplex for the Summer.
It’s on-air to coincide with Gaydio being media partners with Liverpool Pride, a festival which celebrates Liverpool’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) culture. This year’s festival is on August 3rd will see a mix of emerging artists, established artists as well as a super hero theme.
The station will be on-air from the 29th July for 6 weeks.
Adding Gaydio is hopefully one of many new services (full time and temporary) that we’ll add to this and out other multiplexes. We think one of the benefits of digital radio is the ability to be fleet of foot and reflect what’s happening locally. We’re always keen to hear from other operators who want to broadcast either short term or long term. You can find out more here.
I’m posting this just after attending a Parliamentary Reception for digital radio. The BBC, commercial radio and Government spoke about digital radio’s successes which included:
On the last point, you might have seen that Nicky’s just posted status updates for the Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire and Mid and West Wales multiplexes in the blog. We’re pleased with the progress that we’re making with these, even if we have to jump through some new hoops that BT have put in our way.
Geting multiplexes on-air involves many different people and organisations including Ofcom, service providers and transmitters contractors but also site owners and the people that own all the different fibre and copper between stations and transmitters. And if you’ve had trouble changing broadband providers, you know what dealing with different telecoms companies is like. A multiplex launch is a bit like doing 20 of those simultaneously.
We are excited about taking our multiplex network from 1 to 4 by September – it’s a busy time, but we’re looking forward to bringing more digital radio to people across the country. We should have some Surrey news in the coming weeks and then later on further information about our other areas. The launch of four networks this year puts us ahead of what Ofcom asked us to launch as part of the MoU discussions and we continue to work on ways to develop sustainable businesses for all of our licence areas.
Work is underway on this multiplex which is expected to go live in September 2013.
For both Ridge Hill and Malvern TX the transmitters are expected to be delivered this week (8th July). Electrical installation is scheduled from 12th August with antenna work on the 19th. Commissioning is scheduled for 26th August and we anticipate these transmitters will be operational in early September. Bromsgrove will be commissioned from 2nd September, so anticipated operational from mid-September .
Our transmission subcontractor has been undertaking the design work for the contribution network. Current delays relating to the BT distribution network may affect telecom delivery and so may impact on launch dates.
We are currently looking at an end-August launch although BT main spine distribution delays could impact on this.
The multiplexing software/hardware is scheduled to be commissioned on the 12th August, and the transmission hardware & electrical installation at transmitter sites scheduled for dates in August for all three launch transmitters (Preseli, Carmel & Kilvey Hill). Service provider connectivity is scheduled for early August.
The largest obstacle at the moment is that currently all distribution work by BT is on hold because of serious BT issues with ducts. Work is planned for the 17th July which may rectify this. This affects new feeds to the transmitters and in some instances to services too, and although our transmission subcontractor has arranged that commissioning can be undertaken regardless, until this is resolved we won’t have a firm launch date.
We are currently looking at an end July/mid-August launch for this multiplex although BT main spine distribution delays could impact on this.
The multiplexing software/hardware is built, and the hardware & electrical installation at transmitter sites is largely in place for our launch transmitters at Churchdown Hill and Stockend Wood. Connectivity to the multiplex is also largely in place.
The biggest obstacle at the moment is that currently all distribution work by BT is on hold because of serious BT issues with ducts. Work is planned for the 17th July which may rectify this. This affects feeds to the transmitters and although our transmission subcontractor has arranged that commissioning can be undertaken regardless, until this is resolved we won’t have a firm launch date.
Some pictures of the equipment are below:
