Comments on: Can anyone tune into Radio Four?

By: Ross Warren

Ross Warren — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:46:35 +0000

The troposphere is the problem; in fact a lot of people suffer occasional poor signals for dab and even satellite transmissions. Its almost always worse in “good” weather.
The term atmospheric ducting exactly describes the problem. Basically the signal gets bounced around in the atmosphere and less gets through resulting in poor or even non existent signals.

By: sm

sm — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:18:48 +0000

Using a freeview box for radio only , would still probably require a TV license as you would need to tune the box in and it may autotune the TV channels requiring a license.

If you use the internet for the radio, i believe you would not need a license nor for non live tv.

I suspect the BBC empire builders will be seeking new digital taxes & new revenue streams to fund itself.

Where is the Public interest having £4bn by taken by force, by a tax from the public for a service many would choose not to pay for. How about a much smaller (divide by 10) Public service broadcaster with a narrower remit.

Alternatively, the BBC should be allowed to go broke and a new public provider be setup with a much lower tax take.

With all other taxes going up significantly..PERHAPS… BBC largesse should be somewhere near the bottom. Think of the top salaries & pension funds being paid for and who is paying them. Competition is but only a worst nightmare for them , its reality for the rest for us.

Salaries need to be capped and attached to appropriate external or civil service grades in the public service. Perhaps they should be a set maximun/multiple of the median salary.

By: sm

sm — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 13:17:40 +0000

Using a freeview box for radio only , would still probably require a TV license as you would need to tune the box in and it may autotune the TV channels requiring a license.

If you use the internet for the radio, i believe you would not need a license nor for non live tv.

I suspect the BBC empire builders will be seeking new digital taxes & new revenue streams to fund itself.

Alternatively, the BBC should be allowed to go broke and a new public provider be setup with a much lower tax take.

Salaries need to be capped and attached to appropriate external or civil service grades in the public service. Perhaps they should be a set maximum of the median salary.

By: StevenL

StevenL — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:43:24 +0000

You’ll be offered a slot on the next installment of “Grumpy Old Men” going on like this John!

By: FatBigot

FatBigot — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:07:46 +0000

In London and much of the south east Radio 4 long wave programmes are also broadcast on 720 medium wave.

By: Alan Phillips

Alan Phillips — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:08:45 +0000

If you’ve a digital tv, just switch it onto 704 and the jobs done, do what I do, get some cordless headfones and you can go anywhere in the house..

By: Alan Wheatley

Alan Wheatley — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:15:46 +0000

FM coverage is not consistent throughout the country, a factor not unique to FM, and certainly not to R4. When twenty years ago I lived at Arborfield, a few miles away from Wokingham, I had difficulty reliably obtaining a good FM signal, despite having a very good aerial on the roof. It all depends on how far away you are from the transmitter and the lie of the land in between.

It also depends on atmospheric conditions, as these can affect how well the radio wave travels. Sometimes, when propagation is very good, there is an additional problem of interference from other stations. I believe, on these occasions, the transmitter power is reduced to minimise interference. While being a desirable technique overall, it can result in poorer reception for some. Such abnormal conditions do not last for long.

In my experience the BBC do provide a good service giving reception advice. You should be able to find a link on their web site, and also the means to make a complaint about poor reception if you so wish.

By: Mike Stallard

Mike Stallard — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:52:28 +0000

My FM seems OK for Radio 4.
I have just been listening to the Homophobe Conservative Pole who made a tactless remark about Gay Men round about the same time as you mimed the Welsh National Anthem.
People have such long memories for that kind of thing, don’t they?
If only they could also remember the history of the Labour Party. President Anthony Blair is to be appointed, by the Will of the British People, to be the First Citizen of the European Union. And, his Lady Wife, Cherie, to be First Lady, courtesy of Lady Kinnoch and her consort, Lord Neil who so successfully stamped out corruption for so many years in the European union.

By: no one

no one — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:18:20 +0000

Radio 4? Radio middle class more like

Listening to the today programme grates me so much, it really does take a lot of filtering to strip out the cosy middle class attitudes so prevalent, and their condescending attitudes if they happen to get anyone with a working class accent or job on the show

Just a minute can be fun, but is a pale imitation of itself since Kenneth Williams died (am I really getting this old)

I find talksport late night radio is very good

as is planet rock

Yea in the home DAB with a decent antenna is the only way to go, or listen via internet, or indeed the radio transmission via freeview is better quality than DAB (you can get a cheap freeview box and hook it up to an amplifier and speakers, you don’t need a TV)

By: Richard Holloway

Richard Holloway — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:08:32 +0000

If the Government does intend to switch off the analogue radio signal and go completely digital in 2015 have they considered the thousands of ships around the UK that rely on their radios to get the shipping forecast?

Or do they intend to broadcast DAB out into the seas? Somehow I doubt it. DAB coverage at the moment is patchy at best and to broadcast it out into the seas would be very expensive.

It seems the Government wants to ‘go digital’ just so they can seem like they’re ‘down with the kids’.