WPLM-FM goes RDS (finally!)

[Peter Q. George (K1XRB)]

Yes it's true!  This morning I checked the band as usual and, lo and behold, I see "EASY 99.1" showing up on my Boston Acoustics display.  It looked like it was somewhat intermittent (they were probably checking out the SCA injection levels at the time).  I believe it now only leaves WATD (95.9) to go RDS, in the Boston market.  I'm sure that WATD is hesitant to do so due to the protection of their Talking Information Center SCA at 67 kHz.  I believe that 'ATD once did use RDS in the past, but decided not to continue it for that reason.  I guess it's a valid point to them.  Cheers!

[Eli Polonsky]

I believe it now only leaves WATD (95.9) to go RDS, in the Boston market. 

Some of the non-comm college stations don't have it, including WMBR, WZBC and WMFO.

[Peter Q. George (K1XRB)]

True, but there are some non-comm's that do, namely....

88.9 WERS Boston
91.3 WSHL-FM Easton, MA
91.5 WBIM-FM Bridgewater, MA
100.1 WBRS Waltham, MA
97.5 WNRC-LP Dudley, MA
and 95.1 WXRB-FM Dudley, MA

I'm kinda surprised that the Techie's at MIT have not put it on 'MBR.

I'm curious of how many other non-comm's (non-NPR) also have it?  Just curious

73,
Peter Q. George (K1XRB)
Whitman, Massachusetts

[Eli Polonsky]

I'm kinda surprised that the Techie's at MIT have not put it on 'MBR.

People assume that because WMBR is at MIT, that there must be all kinds of techie students there doing techie stuff. That was decades ago.

To today's MIT student, FM radio technology is about like what an Edison crank-up record player was to our generation, and it's tough to find students interested in it nowadays. WMBR is maintained mainly by just a few volunteer alums, students and grad students who are into it, and they can get burned out just keeping up on maintenance and repair issues without installing frills like RDS. There are much more important studio maintenance and upgrade issues pending to be done at WMBR than installing RDS.

[pioneer765]

we WATD  got RDS back in the 1990s and its been on a shelf not in use.

Cant really see a use for it.  At night and weekends we play real records and cds so I cant see how any info would work about the songs played at those times.  It could work week days.  But maybe just display WATD the south shores radio station.  Again we got one and have never set the thing up.

[jlehmann]

The RDS has been on WPLM for a week or two now.  The only problem is that it's transmitting the PI code that translates to the callsign WLDA. This shows up on the Sangean HDT-1X, the Kenwood KTC-HR200...

[JoshuaC]

Props to WPLM for getting that up and running (do they have Song Title/Artist, or just a PS or RT Message?) 

That being said... Arghh.... RDS has been a pebble in my shoe since I first tried to get one up and running.  Too few people make the boxes that Xmt the RDS signal, too few people actually have the radios that it shows up on (although it's always the station manager who does have one and complains incessantly when it fails)... blasted expensive as hell too. 

Assuming HD Radio eventually takes off, I'm looking forward to this technology no longer being necessary.

RDS annoys me in that - to me at least - it seems just another excuse to have a computer do something a Jock could (read:  should) be doing. 

[JIBGUY]

WHY would stations want to display titles and artists of songs so people can buy them, when the RIAA is trying to get stations to pay immense fees to them?   A decent service to the listeners, but unfortunately, it benefits the record companies more.  Ironic, since the RIAA says that radio is not so significant in record sales. That's what they've been telling congress, in their effort to disqualify the equitable trade radio and RIAA has had for many decades (RIAA member record companies make tons of money on radio-play and some stations make tons of money playing the songs, free of any payments to the record companies [but not free from the song-writers]).