"No on the typo. I think it was $12,500 or so for their 2500 watt TX that has RDS build in. The TX is EXCELLENT but the built in RDS unit is junk. It does not do much of anything other than display static text (no artist or song title)." Heck, I couldn't even get my Nautel NV2.5 to display the RDS even though it's turned on. I have a very early version of the firmware so maybe updating it will fix the problem... I'm without a backup in that market so I'm pretty reluctant to mess with something currently spitting out audio and RF if you know what I mean. I have one of the Pira modulation analyzers. I've been very pleased with it. Mine is one of the older ones with the serial connector on it. I'd recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone on a budget needing to get real close to accurate mod readings. For the price it cannot be beat. I've compared against a friends calibrate Microgen (cal'ed with the Bezzel Null) and my unit is very close, erring to read 73khz dev when the real dev is 75. Close enough I'd say.
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WHICH RDS ENCODER TO BUY?
- Thread starter ABQRADIO
- Start date
Our Nautel 3kw unit is Canadian built. Maybe a knock off "Naustel" would be made in Europe or China. 
Fancy RDS scrolling of song titles is great but I find a lot of radios dont handle dynamic PS text well. I dont know if specific encoders have an enfluence or not. Of the several radios I have with RDS only 1 model handles PS scrolling properly. My Grundig G3 RDS readout tends to freeze on Clear Channel stations which I beleive mainly use Audemat encoders. My Sangean PR-D5 scrolls for about 30 seconds, then Freezes the first 8 characters of the last PS message received, and wont update until you change stations. My Kenwood deck in my truck scrolls perfectly and updates the PS stream in real time. Its also a IBOC tuner as well. The stations I help out at just show the moniker in the PS stream, scrolling song titles is in the works when we upgrade one of the stations from A to C3, and move into new studios next year. Few of the other stations receivable around us even use RDS.
Fieldtech1 said:
Really, I have never found one that didn't do PS Text great. The problem is when people scroll it... The best way is to give pulses of 8 characters. That is more readable and far easier.
The public station in town (Active Rock) scrolls. You would have a wreck trying to see there RDS. I get many positive comments on ours. We do 8 character pulses at 3 second intervals FYI...
Chris
B
Board Editor
Guest
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Chuck said:
Chuck I think you were the one that told me about the Pira.
The Pira can be set to either scroll or display the entire word. I've found that scrolling is a bit hard to read while you are driving, so having that option is a nice feature.
I've never seen two different American car radios that handled the script exactly the same. It seems there is little standardazation, at least in the USA. When visiting Europe, you'd be hard pressed to find a car radio that does not include RDS. It seems to work well. Maybe we are doing something wrong....
I've never seen two different American car radios that handled the script exactly the same. It seems there is little standardazation, at least in the USA. When visiting Europe, you'd be hard pressed to find a car radio that does not include RDS. It seems to work well. Maybe we are doing something wrong....
OKCRadioGuy said:
Bill, I see where you called support in June on this and Terry called back, but got no response to his voicemail. If it's still an issue (apparently so), drop me a line and I'd be happy to help you get it resolved - I want to say I'd heard something at some point to do with RDS, but I can't for the life of me remember what or when. Once I'm in the office in the morning, I'll start digging.
On the quoted text, OKCRadioGuy, we don't make an NV2.5, so it would have to be either a VS2.5 or an NV3.5... either way, static display of the RDS shouldn't be an issue - if you can grab a screenshot of the preset configuration (log into the AUI, click Menu, Preset and either open up the RDS dropdown, or click the RDS tab, depending on which transmitter), email that to me - I'll see what comes to mind.
Best,
Jeff
RockNuts! said:
Really....what do you expect for that kind of money? Lots of people make "bare bones" RDS units. If you really want full feature, get an Audemat FMB 80. (Or I guess the Pira - people in this thread seem to like them.)
But don't complain because your 13 thousand dollar transmitter doesn't have every last bell and whistle. People pay money for that stuff. And RDS that's built in to the exciter is going to be the minimum. Be glad you have RDS at all for that kind of money.
C
Charlie
Guest
Here in the UK, OFCOM don't like dynamic/scrolling PS as it can be a distraction when driving. It's typically used by pirate stations who flash up their mobile number for sending SMS text requests.
greg.hahn said:
Greg, the point is, if it has RDS, it should not be the minimum. Who buys that and who wants that? If RDS is a feature, especially from Nautel, who has a great reputation, I expected full features and once I called support, was told that full features were coming as they developed their RDS feature. To me, it's kind of like Microsoft releasing an OS that crashes all of the time. I would have rather seen NO RDS feature, than a promise of it coming later in a Firmware update, than to say there is RDS and then it does next to nothing. Very frustrating for the customer, and misleading. But with that said, I still love my Nautel!
Jeff Welton said:
Jeff I am not sure I ever received a call from support. I talked to my sales rep who told me, via support, that features were coming as you developed the built-in RDS. We need more features such as scrolling artist & song titles. When will that feature be added?
RockNuts! said:
You are wishing for a different world than the one we live in.
People do want it and do buy it- Inovonics 703 for example.
Some people can't get an internet connection at their transmitter sites to do song title and artist on RDS. And then there is the monthly cost of that connection.
For those people, about $400 for basic RDS with their call letters and format type makes them very happy.
greg.hahn said:
I respect that. But for me, I either do it with all of the bells and whistles, or I just don't do it. To each his own. Why have an RDS that reads "88.9 WMWX". It's obvious they already know what dial position they are on? What they want to know, in our case, is what song and artist is playing on the air, because we play so many bands the people are not familiar with. In addition, full text capabilities allow us the option to put up amber alerts, weather information in emergencies, etc. That's the value that I see in RDS and that's what I am searching for.
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.
Hi Jeff. It's a VS 2.5. It's in a remote market so I'll have to do that when I'm down there. I am running a very early version of the firmware. I'd have to guess that might have something to do with it. The version I am still using has a ton of bugs in it that I have been told have been fixed by the newer version. I have one of the very first that rolled off the assembly line... You know how that goes LOL! On my car radio it's as if there is no RDS at all even though it's enabled. I have VNC on the site so we could certainly go though it's GUI and see...
RockNuts! said:
That's you. What if you're a News-Talk station and all you care about are the call letters, and having the "News" PTY code set? Then you don't need all the bells and whistles, nor do you want to pay for them.
You don't think your $12,500 transmitter will still be that price if they add a full blown RDS encoder, do you?
Their RDS encoder does what the ones in the Harris and BE exciters do. Basic RDS is all you get in an exciter.
By your logic, Maytag wouldn't make a basic refrigerator- they'd only make the one model- that had an ice maker, filtered water, and humidity control. After all who would want a refrigerator without those things? And why would Maytag put their name on a fridge that didn't have all that?
FYI, Maytag is no longer the Maytag we all knew and loved, it was bought and reworked by Whirlpool with disasterous results, many longtime Maytag dealers have bailed. I bought a Maytag top end stove with convection oven which turned out to be poorly designed and cheaply built and a bit troublesome. The other three appliances I bought were GE which were well designed and built with zero problems. GE convection oven was out of stock....I should have waited.
Also they make those fire breathing Kitchen Aide dishwashers
Also they make those fire breathing Kitchen Aide dishwashers
chrish said:
I remodeled my Kitchen 6 months ago and bought all Maytag stuff. I have been really impressed. Especially with the dishwasher, it is the quietest I have owned in all of my 38 years.
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