WHICH RDS ENCODER TO BUY?

[chrish]

Sorry about the last post, they may have cleaned up their act out of necessity.

 

[Fieldtech1]

Again, I don't think it was wise for Nautel to include that feature on their TX until it was fully developed because their good name is attached to it and I would expect the best from them.

I guess I can sorta see your point. When i went to a car show in Houston a few years back, and sat in a Lamborghini Murcielago, what stuck with me most was how anemic the stock stereo sounded. You spend over 300K for a car, it should atleast have a decent stereo. But to others points as well, no one buys a Lambo for the stereos performance.

BTW The stock Lambo stereo didn't have RDS as I recall.

 

[RF_Warrior]

You don't think your $12,500 transmitter will still be that price if they add a full blown RDS encoder, do you?

<snippage>

Their RDS encoder does what the ones in the Harris and BE exciters do. Basic RDS is all you get in an exciter.

Actually, not quite accurate. As designed, the RDS encoder in the VS series _should_ be pretty full featured - it has the ability to take UECP2 data via ASCII (serial) connection or IP and provide scrolling text. That said, there were bugs in earlier software revisions - I'm not where I can check our bug reporting system to confirm those have been totally ironed out or not, but I sure will. Since we're only talking software here, putting a full-blown RDS generator (along with USB audio backup, rudimentary playlist system, spectrum analyzer, etc. and so on) had very little impact on the price of the unit - it was just a matter of ensuring enough DSP horsepower was provided in the design stage.

Anybody who's having RDS (or any other issues) can certainly feel free to contact me directly - off list or on, although since I only check sporadically, a direct email/phone call would probably get faster results... if I don't know the answer off the top of my head (happens more often, as my tech support days recede farther into the past), I can sure track down the folks who do!

Best,

Jeff

 

[greg.hahn]

You don't think your $12,500 transmitter will still be that price if they add a full blown RDS encoder, do you?

<snippage>

Their RDS encoder does what the ones in the Harris and BE exciters do. Basic RDS is all you get in an exciter.

Actually, not quite accurate. As designed, the RDS encoder in the VS series _should_ be pretty full featured - it has the ability to take UECP2 data via ASCII (serial) connection or IP and provide scrolling text. That said, there were bugs in earlier software revisions - I'm not where I can check our bug reporting system to confirm those have been totally ironed out or not, but I sure will. Since we're only talking software here, putting a full-blown RDS generator (along with USB audio backup, rudimentary playlist system, spectrum analyzer, etc. and so on) had very little impact on the price of the unit - it was just a matter of ensuring enough DSP horsepower was provided in the design stage.

Anybody who's having RDS (or any other issues) can certainly feel free to contact me directly - off list or on, although since I only check sporadically, a direct email/phone call would probably get faster results... if I don't know the answer off the top of my head (happens more often, as my tech support days recede farther into the past), I can sure track down the folks who do!

Best,

Jeff

Very cool, Jeff. Congratulations on stepping up with what sounds like a great product that delivers a lot of bang for the buck.

Kudos to Nautel for breaking the "basic RDS barrier" in an exciter. You guys deserve praise for that.