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25 Jul 2010
Roland Beaney
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Audio Recordings Recording The traditional way of recording audio was with an analogue tape or cassette recorder. With the introduction of digital technology came the mini disc recorder. For a while the mini disc recorder became the favourite recording format for high quality recordings but most people continued to use cassette tape recorders as you could buy the machines and tapes very cheaply. As most families now have a computer these can now be used to record radio programmes or to transfer your favourite music tracks from tapes or records to CD. With the old tapes, quality deteriorated when transferring recordings to tape but with digital recording there is little or no deterioration of quality and near perfect quality recordings can now be made. Recording audio streams. There are various types of software that you can download from the internet to turn your computer into a recorder. Real Recorder, Polderbits and Audacity can be used with most Windows systems and there are others that can be used but make sure they are compatible with your operating system. Some of these charge a fee but many are free. Once you download the software you will find a recorder on your computer screen and the buttons will look very similar to the old tape recorders showing fast forward/reverse, play, record and usually a recording level meter. The difference from the old recorders is that you have to save your recordings onto your hard drive and I would recommend that you record using CD quality and save them as an MP3 file of at least 128Kbs. If you are saving as a WAV file you should bear in mind that they will take up a lot of space on your computer but they will give you the highest quality. Streamripper for Winamp This little programme used with the Winamp player gives you the best possible recording quality for streaming radio and automatically saves your recording in its original quality as an MP3 file. If you want to record your favourite radio programme from the internet then I would recommend this. What is High Definition TV Are you are thinking about buying a new TV and wondering what High Definition is all about then the following article may help you. HD or high definition is the latest in a long line of major improvements in television technology. We've moved from black-and-white analogue to widescreen colour digital over the years and now HD brings us exceptionally clear, crisp pictures with vivid colours and up to five times more detail than standard definition. A high definition picture contains more information in digital form and has up to five times as many pixels in each picture as standard definition TV. The improvement over a standard definition picture is particularly noticeable on our modern flat-panel LCD and Plasma televisions. Televisions carry the 'HD Ready' logo when the display screen has enough pixels to be able to display a high definition picture properly. To qualify they must also be capable of displaying pictures with either 720 or 1080 horizontal lines. The logo also means they can be connected to an HD digital box through an HDMI (High Definition Media Interface) cable. The screen must also have sufficient resolution to display high definition pictures. Programmes made in HD, will provide the viewer with the best possible quality pictures on current equipment. Only a high definition television, high definition digital box and high definition broadcast used together will provide high definition viewing, so remember buying a new HD ready TV does not mean you will be watching HD TV as soon as you plug it in, you must have an HD digi box plugged into it using an HDMI lead before you can experience these stunning HD pictures. I am impressed with the pictures I have seen with a Sky digi box connected to my HD TV and the sound quality was very good too. I also found that the best viewing position was about 1 Mtr away from the picture. Some technical terms 1080p is the Standard HDTV resolution, used by Full HD and HD ready TVs such as high-end LCD, Plasma and rear projection TVs, P for progressive scanning or i is for interlaced scanning which is a technique to improving the picture quality of a video signal and to reduce flicker without consuming extra bandwidth. The Freeview HD service contains 3 HD channels and is now rolling out region by region across the UK in accordance with the digital switchover process. High Definition Television 55% of British households have spent hundreds or thousands of pounds on new high definition television sets but are missing out on watching high definition pictures because they have not purchased the right equipment to go with them. According to the British Video Association (BVA), 6.5 million people in the UK assume that they have HD programmes or films on their TV sets, when actually they have not connected equipment compatible with the advanced picture quality. Many households still have not bought a set top box, games console or Blu-ray player capable of running high definition programmes and films on their television sets, meaning that they were still watching standard definition pictures through their High Definition TVs.. "In the run-up to the World Cup even more people will be looking to invest in HD, but they need to be aware that a high definition television alone does not mean that they are watching content in high definition," said BVA spokesman Simon Heller. "You are only getting a high definition experience if you are watching content via a bolt-on high definition set-top box, a Blu-ray player or a PS3 console." If you are thinking of splashing out a lot of money on a new High Definition TV make sure you have the right equipment connected to your set. Sky TV have a lot of HD channels but you will need a new box and extra subscription to receive them, Freesat have some free HD channels but you will again need a new box and a satellite dish. Freeview currently are testing with new channels. Dormant satellite TV dishes
According to a study by Harvard International, the distributor of Grundig and Goodmans digital television equipment, around 600,000 homes currently have an inactive satellite dish. Harvard director of communications John Edwards said that these dishes can easily be re-connected to subscription-free satellite TV via the Freesat service and went on to say that it would be particularly simple for homes to enable Freesat or Freesat+ if they already have a satellite TV dish connected to their home. The digital switchover is well under way. Many regions have already had their analogue TV signal switched off. By 2012 everyone will need to access TV via digital equipment. For households that already have a satellite TV dish connected to their home, there's little reason to remain digitally dormant. However, any former satellite TV subscribers with equipment still under warranty should contact their original installer to check whether taking a new service affects their warranty terms.
Digital Cameras
Thinking of buying a new camera and wondering how many megapixels you will need or are you just wondering what it all means? then read on because megapixels rarely make a difference for the average person who only prints 6 x 4 pictures. They only really make a difference with large poster size prints and cropping. There are other specs that are more important than more megapixels such as the sensor type, zoom capability, video capability, variety of settings, performance in different lighting situations and these have more of an impact on the quality of the photo than the megapixels. When shopping for a digital camera don't rely on the manufacturer's hype, read all the reviews. You can find them just about anywhere and don't just go by numbers or star ratings. There are great 10 MP cameras and bad ones. If you are looking for something for leisure, you surely don't need more than that and could even go lower. Just do some research, go to local stores to see the cameras and try them with your own memory card.- most use SD cards, take some shots, download them when you get home and compare) and you'll have a much better idea of what is right for you than by going purely by numbers. My first digital camera was less than 3 megapixel. It has always taken very nice photos but if you want better photos, sensor size counts for a lot more. You will find that cameras with larger sensors cost more, and for good reason. They produce better photos, no matter how many megapixels you have. By the same token, lots of megapixels with a smaller sensor will not give impressive results. So remember, you can't automatically assume that more pixels will necessarily give better image quality.
Television Development
Storing your important files I have a hard drive that is now several years old and I am wondering if it is living on borrowed time. Hard drives are mechanical devices with platters that are spinning at thousands of revolutions per minute so I suppose its not a question of if they will fail but when. Is it possible to predict when a hard drive is about to die, does it start to run warm or make funny noises? Multiple backups are so important as the average life of a hard drive is typically thought to be about 5 years. Many factors such as handling, temperature and just plain luck of the draw can result in failures at anytime. Reports state that the average age for a laptop drive is about 3 years and desktop drives about 5. External Hard Drives don’t seem to last nearly as long, perhaps users drop or mishandle them more or it it could be poor cooling, or just plugging and unplugging them incorrectly. As far as maintenance goes, other than keeping the drive defragmented and always using the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon before unplugging your drive, there doesn't seem to be much else you can do except avoiding any sudden shock to the drive, especially while it is turned on. You should treat an external hard drive very carefully and always have additional backups. Drives are much cheaper now and I think I will replace mine every few years. Be very careful if you upload your files to the internet and expect them to be there in a years time. Some sites do have problems at times and files can become corrupted. I've now had reports from people who have now lost all their favourite files on http://www.mediafire.com/ The latest news is that if you don't access your files on Mediafire for a month they disappear. I would be interested to know of any other problems like this. Also remember that data on CDs can disappear or become corrupted in time especially if you write on them with a marker pen. Perhaps we should go back to storing data on old fashioned cassettes. Apparently they are now becoming popular again and manufacturers are having difficulty in keeping up with requirements. Recently I've been given lots of old cassette recordings that were made in the 1960s and I've been transferring the recordings to CD. The quality of some of them is surprisingly good considering how long ago they were recorded. Even some old reel to reel tape recordings are now being found with decent recordings on them. Who said tapes wouldn't last very long and CDs would last forever? So much for modern technology. Wherever you store your files remember to have a backup. Printer Ink Refills I see lots of offers and adverts for printer ink refills, refill kits and cheap ink cartridges. Two years ago I bought a new printer and when the manufacturers cartridges ran out I started shopping around for replacements. I was surprised to find how expensive they were and decided to buy a cheaper set of ink cartridges for my printer. These seemed to work well for two years and then I got a message on my printer telling me that the head couldn't be cleaned. I took the printer to a servicing centre and was told that the head was damaged and it was cheaper to buy another printer than to get it repaired. The technical guy asked me if I had been using cheap ink cartridges and told me that I should have used the manufacturers cartridges designed for the printer. I've now purchased a new printer and have to decide what type of ink cartridges to use in it. I have to admit with the high relative price put on genuine manufacturers ink cartridges, it is tempting to save some cash and try and use cheap cartridges again. Refilling the cartridges is another option but many cheaper refill kits are of inferior quality compared to the original manufacturer's cartridges. Some low-quality brands can cause the print head to clog and the quality varies widely among brands. In some cases the colours can be slightly off and the ink may bleed slightly more, reducing the sharpness of text and images. Some do not offer the same 'lifetime' guarantee on printed works. Thus, they are not ideal for printing photos or archive-quality documents. Nevertheless, the quality for day to day print jobs is more than suitable. Now, I don't use refill kits but I would like to purchase cheaper cartridges and would be interested to hear from other people if they have had problems with their printer heads due to the use of non manufacturers cartridges. Some things to take note of when refilling cartridges- 1.) Most printers remember ink levels and will report an empty cartridge, even after you refill it, preventing you from printing! Thus, you may have to 'trick' the printer into resetting the ink level, which usually involves covering specific contacts on the cartridge with a piece of tape or cycling 3 or more cartridges through the printer. (You can search for specific instructions for your make/model online.) Many Canon models actually ask if you want to override the setting, making 'tricking' the printer completely unnecessary, though it will be unable to report the actual ink level if you do so. 2.) Always refill the cartridge before it becomes empty and the remaining ink in the print head, interior hardens. 3.) You will still have to replace the cartridge eventually. The print head will start to fail after extended use and most ink cartridges have an expiration date, after which the printer may refuse to use them. However, you can typically refill a cartridge 5times times before it needs replacing saving yourself lots of cash in the mean time. Of course, purchasing third-party ink cartridges eliminates those three issues, and the hassle of refilling the cartridges, but increases the cost without increasing performance and quality.
Cleaning up Windows I've tried cleaning up my computers with registry cleaners but do they do anything worthwhile or do they do more harm than good? I cannot say that I have tried every single one but I do wonder if our time and money would be better spent on a good antivirus software, firewall and anti-spyware program. If your registry really needs cleaning then why not simply reinstall Windows every now and then or restore Windows from a previous saved image. You might think that reinstalling Windows is too big a job, but it can be fairly easy and fast if you plan ahead for it and especially if you start with a previous clean image. In the meantime a few good tips 1. Uninstall any programs that you no longer or never use. 2. Disable any unused Internet Explorer Tool bars such as Ask, Yahoo, AOL, Google. 3. Remove temporary files. 4. Use a Spyware and malware remover. 5. Disable any unnecessary startup items using msconfig. 5. Run the Window disk defragmenter. Don't use software that does not have someone you can call if there is a problem and always call a company before loading a software program. Mobile Internet Radio - April 2009 Wi-Fi has been a big disappointment. At one time it was expected to be the new way of accessing the Internet on the move. Its widely used within the home to connect computers and Wi-Fi Radios to a broadband connection and it has expanded into public places such as airports, shopping centres, hotels and some restaurants but plans to expand it to cover towns and cities have been limited. Now that mobile phones companies are building up their 3G networks, (which is the new mobile broadband) it looks as though this will be the new way to surf the Internet when you are away from your home or office. I've been using a mobile phone 3G dongle on my computer for a few months and even though there are many places where 3G is not available, it is still a lot easier to access the internet from the Mobile phone networks than trying to find a Wi-Fi "Hot Spot" Coverage has been quite good although it can be difficult to set up your e-mail programme and the screen is very small but it was fairly easy to find web pages. One interesting aspect of this is that you can now listen to Internet radio on your mobile phone and you can tune in to your favourite radio station, even your local station can be heard if you are away from home. I tried it in the car and reception was good in areas covered by 3G but in some areas the signal dropped and I had to restart it. Remember you should not try operating a mobile phone while you are driving, get your passenger to operate it for you or stop the car. Using the earphone supplied the stereo sound from the internet was good and you can get an adaptor to connect the phone to a Hi Fi or even your car radio, I used a mini transmitter through the car radio and the sound was surprisingly good. If anyone remembers the pocket transistor radios back in the 1960s then its a bit like having one of those in your pocket again. If you have any questions about Internet radio and how to set it up please write to me at rolandbeaney@tiscali.co.uk Roland
New National DAB Radio Stations to Launch in 2009 article date: 19 January 2009 Digital One, the company licensed to broadcast DAB digital radio across Great Britain, has today launched a process that could see more national radio stations on DAB digital radio within a matter of months. The move comes after the publication of a report from the Digital Radio Working Group to the Government last month (December 2008). The report highlighted how new national radio stations could act as a key catalyst to boost the take up of DAB digital radio. The Acting Chief Executive of Digital One, Glyn Jones, commented: “We’re turning the ideas set out in the DRWG’s report into actions. That includes looking hard at how Digital One can offer lower carriage costs. In turn we’re expecting that stakeholders involved in the Working Group, and other companies with the ambition to launch new national radio stations in 2009, will step up and engage with a view to adding compelling new choice for consumers.” The process, launched with an advertisement in the national press, invites successful, established brands and innovative new stations to broadcast across Britain. Capacity is available for mainstream stations as well as more specialist channels. For example, proposals based on Plays/Books/Comedy content would be welcome as well as other speech or music formats with consumer appeal. Digital One confirmed that it is reviewing its charges for capacity. Glyn Jones commented: “We’re expecting that prices will initially be set below Digital One’s 2008 rate card. One reason for that is to help provide an incentive for people to invest in high quality services. But, over time, companies providing new services will be expected to contribute to the costs of a transmitter roll-out plan which was something also identified by the DRWG as important.” Digital One operates the national commercial multiplex with a network of over 100 transmitters providing coverage to over 90% of the population of Great Britain. Current customers include Absolute Radio, Classic FM, Planet Rock and talkSPORT.
DAB Radio Latest If you have a DAB radio then you may be in for a surprise soon because the system will eventually be replaced by DAB+. A few years ago the UK decided to use the DAB standard for its new digital radio service. The system was soon dumped for the new DAB+ standard by most other countries and the UK has now been left behind. DAB in the UK is not up to FM quality. Basically the new DAB+ allows you to get twice as many radio stations in the same amount of spectrum with the same audio quality that we got with DAB and approx 50% more stations with far better audio quality. Some new DAB receivers may support both the old and new compression standards but the old radios won't work and they are still being sold. DAB+ is based on the original DAB standard but uses a more efficient audio codec. Whereas DAB today uses MP2 technology, DAB+ uses MP4 or AAC+. This allows equivalent or better subjective audio quality to be broadcast at lower bit rates. The increased efficiency offers better spectrum efficiency with lower costs and a wider choice of stations. Many countries around the world have acknowledged the benefits of DAB+ for their individual markets. Australia, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Malta, Malaysia and China have also expressed their interest in rolling out commercial DAB+ services. Tests and trials are being carried out around the world. Manufacturers are also ensuring DAB+'s quick roll out with an increasing number of DAB+ receivers in the market. If you bought an expensive DAB radio then it will still work for a long time to come but for the future consider buying a radio that can use the new technology. To see earlier report click HERE
ProSound Radio
Microphone recordings March 2008 The tape recorder has been around for many years. First we had reel to reel recorders back in the 60's and then the cassette recorder made it possible for portable Walkmans and mini units for cars. Most tape or cassette recorder had a microphone input so that we could make a good quality voice recording. Now that these machines are becoming rare we have to look elsewhere. As digital technology has now taken over from analogue I have been looking at ways to make recordings using this new technology. Mobile phones have a voice recording option and portable voice recorders are available everywhere but they don't produce high quality recordings. They are ok if you just want to make a memo recording when you haven't got a pen or piece of paper available but they are not suitable for a good quality recording. The best options seem to be the computer which would produce a good quality recording but is not very portable and the Mini Disc recorder which is portable but has now become another piece of technology that is disappearing. When buying a Mini Disc recorder you have to make sure it has a microphone input as many of them do not have this option. I bought a Sony MD Walkman MZ-R70 from e-bay and tested it out. Some MD machines I find difficult to operate but this one has a mic. input with a recording slider control on the front. It was easy to use and produced a good quality recording for a small machine which fits neatly into your pocket. Its a shame that these machines are becoming rare now but there seem to be a lot still available on e-bay. For portability I still think the MD recorder is best and the Laptop or Notebook computer would come second but make sure your batteries are topped up before doing an important interview. Power To The People Have you ever wondered what the difference is between unregulated and regulated power supplies? Most of us have seen the label on the little mains adaptors that we buy to plug our radio's, cameras, portable games, PDA's and other electronic products into. I use some to power up a pair of speakers to save on batteries. We have to be careful because the units marked "unregulated" have a higher output voltage than stated on the rating label when there is no device or load attached. The "regulated one's have one or multiple output voltages that will stay constant irrespective of the device or load that they are powering up. I would recommend buying a "regulated" device but if you have already bought one like me that is "unregulated" I suggest that if it has a variable voltage control then you use a lower voltage than that recommended for the device that you are running with it. Always read the instructions carefully before using any device as you may cause un-repairable damage to it.
Wi-Fi Radio Have you ever tried to listen to Radio from the Internet with your computer? The first Internet "radio station", Internet Talk Radio, was developed by Carl Malamud as long ago as1993 and WXYC (89.3 FM Chapel Hill, USA) was the first radio station to announce broadcasting on the Internet on November 7, 1994. Its only recently that this form of "broadcasting" has really taken off using MP3 and AAC PLUS technology. Many Radio Stations now put out their programmes on the Internet and you can listen to them around the world. Go to the stations website and you can usually find a 'listen' button to connect you to the station. Until recently the internet was an unreliable way to listen to your favourite station but with modern 'streaming' technology it has become more reliable and quality has improved greatly with good quality stereo now being used widely. Sometimes the stream will "buffer" and you will notice short breaks in reception but they don't usually last for long. Now, If you have a Wi-Fi Modem you can listen without even having to turn on your computer. Wi-Fi radios are now available in the shops. You just enter the WEP or WPA Key number from your Wi-Fi router into the radio when prompted and thousands of stations are available to you. Press the select/menu button on the Radio and you can choose your station by genre, location and country. Scroll through and you will find stations from all over the world. You can also register the radio on the internet and chose your own stream and you can even play the music from your own computer. The simple plug and play device links to any Wi-Fi network (requires only broadband internet connection with wireless router) to stream both live and listen again internet radio content. Channels are listed alphabetically and the easy to use multi-function control knob makes choosing a station simpler than an FM radio! The AE Wi-Fi radio brings all the benefits of internet radio to the kitchen, bedroom or even the garden and can also play music stored on your PC.
Other more expensive models are available. The Acoustic Energy Wi-Fi radio costs £159.96 and is available through the www.radiocaroline.co.uk website with a 20 per cent discount. It is the world’s first radio capable of accessing over 99% of internet radio stations broadcast anywhere in the world. Compatibility with all three major streaming formats gives the AE Wi-Fi radio unrivalled choice of content from London’s BBC Radio1 to Sao Paolo’s Radio Calypso! Wi-Fi enabled PC in the home. Radio will never be the same again
Connected Essentials I have been testing a wireless Stereo Speaker System by Connected Essentials, code CES10. being sold on http://www.radiocarolineinnovations.co.uk/ According to their website this system is specifically designed for use anywhere inside the home or office and especially for anyone looking for a low cost alternative without compromising on performance. Don't get in a tangle with piles of wires - get crystal clear sound from these great looking cordless speakers.They are great for use with surround sound TV and audio systems, iPod, MP3 and other portable music players. Also ideal for hook up to your PC, both in the home and office. This pair of UHF cordless speakers gives you all the features and performance you'd expect from top quality wired speakers. The official specifications is as follows. ● The Wireless Speakers have a range of up to 100 metres in ideal conditions. However this can be reduced by things such as walls. ● Power: 3W RMS x 2 ● Band-width: 13-20000 Hz ● S/N ratio: < 50 dB ● Distortion: < 1.5% ● Speakers measure 20.1 x 15.6 x 6.7cm The package arrived a week after ordering from the website. All the items were well packed and came with an instruction leaflet clearly explaining how to set them up. The speakers looked smart with a modern black face. They were flat with a swivel stand so that they could be placed on a shelf. They can also be fixed onto a wall. There was a transmitter and 3 AC adaptors to plug each speaker and the transmitter into the mains supply. Although the speakers have a battery compartment that take 6 x AA batteries for short term use it would be better to site the units near electrical points to avoid having to keep changing or charging the batteries. There was also a 6.3mm stereo adaptor and 3.5mm left/right RCA phono plugs. I put the transmitter unit upstairs and plugged the transmitter into a Worldspace satellite radio. and fitted the speakers to a wall downstairs. I then turned on the system. After pressing the scan button on each speaker they burst into life. The sound was good and steady with no interference. Pressing the base boost button produced a good base response. The power/stereo LED lights on the front were supposed to change from red to green when a signal was received but one of the lights refused to go green although this doesn't make any difference to the sound. Compared to my old Ross wireless speakers these have a longer range, unlike the old Ross speakers there is no charging facility for the batteries. Also the controls on the side of the speakers are difficult to access especially the on/off switch. Also when you switch off the speaker the speaker volume and balance has to be re-adjusted when you turn them back on again. In summing up the speakers looked smart and produced a good sound from various sources including my computer, my radio, my MP3 players and my mini disc player. The system was easy to set up and use and the sound was steady when I walked around the house with the speakers. The cost £49.99 with a 10 per cent on line saving.
DAB Radio
My new DAB/FM radio works well and my wife seems to be pleased with it. It has replaced her FM radio in the kitchen and surprisingly picks up a stronger signal than the FM radio ever did. She finds it easy to operate and uses it regularly. I purchased it for under £30 and I thought it was a bargain especially for a stereo model. It has a clock and a date on the front. It also has an alarm facility to turn it into a clock radio for the bedroom. It has a scrolling text facility and press buttons to store your favourite stations. You can also get the FM band. With the new broadcasting standard starting I wonder if I will get as many years service out of it as I have with my old FM radios, one of them a cassette radio purchased in the early 70's and still working well. Jungle TV Look under the TV in most houses today and you will see a large selection of boxes all connected up to the TV with lots of cables and wires making it all look very untidy. Many years ago I was told by a TV engineer that soon everything will be combined in one unit. This has not happened and in fact the mess is getting worse. I have just spent a considerable amount of time trying to connect up a Video recorder, a DVD player and a Freeview box to a TV with only one scart socket and at the same time trying to make it all look reasonably tidy. There are so many options today that it would be very difficult to get everything combined in one box. I recently received an e-mail from a reader who asks, "I am about to sort out my lounge and am sick of all the different TV boxes. I have found a DVD & VCR combi box with Freeview, the downside is it can't get top up TV. Do you know of a box that does this or am I ahead of the technology?" Personally I would rather have separate boxes and if one part of my system goes wrong then I won't lose the whole system while it goes in for repair. Recently a friends TV had to go away for repair because the DVD player built into it wouldn't work. If they had a separate DVD player then they would have been able to continue using the TV. With a combined DVD and VCR box you would lose both if a tape got stuck in the VCR section. Many TVs now come with a DVD player and a Freeview box including Top Up TV built into them. You would then just have the VCR to connect up separately. Unfortunately if your existing TV is working ok you won't want to change it. Why not consider one of those new PVR boxes, Sky recently revealed that over 2 million of its customers now have its personal video recorder, Sky+. which is a Sky box and a hard drive recorder combined. You can also get a similar system with a Freeview box. This is an ideal way of making a temporary recording of your favourite TV programme, the picture is better than a VCR recording ever produced. You will still need a separate DVD player at the moment though. Everyone has different requirements and a box with everything will be expensive to produce. With careful planning we can cut back on the amount of separate boxes but we will still need them so make sure that when you buy a new TV it has more than one scart socket.
Bluetooth Devices
Mention Bluetooth to many people today and they will tell you its an earpiece that you stick into your ear to connect you to your mobile phone so that you can talk on the phone while you are driving. I am not too sure whether it is any safer to use while driving but that is what most people use it for. Actually it has many more uses and it is also capable of not only transmitting voice but also data quite fast. It can transfer data from your computer to many other devices up to a distance of 32 feet or 10 meters without the use of cables. It is also very secure so you don't have to worry about anyone else picking up your transmissions. With its encryption system and pin number technology interference from other sources is highly unlikely. All products with the Bluetooth logo interoperate with products from other manufacturers otherwise they will not be able to use the Bluetooth logo. It has a tremendous potential especially in the office and you can even connect your mouse and keyboard to the computer wirelessly with it. You can transfer your pictures from the camera, unlock your garage, turn your lights on and transfer e-mails and messages between your computer and your mobile phone. Although a decision is still pending whether you can use it on a plane you can still write your e-mails on the laptop and as soon as you arrive at your destination and turn on your mobile phone they are sent automatically. Coming soon, I look forward to playing all the tunes from my MP3 player through my hi fi system without a cable and perhaps I will soon be able to turn the kettle on and operate the central heating all with Bluetooth technology.
MP3 and MP4's What's the difference between MP3 and MP4? MP3 is a digital music format that allows you to squeeze more music into a smaller space without a substantial loss of quality. You don't have to make a decision what tracks to carry with you to the gym as you can carry a lot more music around with you wherever you go. An mp3 with a memory of 128 Mb can store up to 32 tracks. 256 Mb stores 64 tracks. 1Gb can store 256 tracks and 2 Gb up to 500 tracks. A 4 Gb player can store 1,000 tracks which means that you can take your entire music collection with you. Now MP4 technology can provide many of the audio benefits of MP3 technology but with the added attraction on Video images. You can now store hours of video footage on a small portable player. MP4 is short for MPEG-4 which is a technology developed to provide DVD quality video and sound in a very small file. You can now take everything from video clips, films or TV shows with you to watch on the bus or the train as well as your favourite music. Some players can even record from the TV, Satellite box or video player. 1Gb can usually store 4 hours of video, 30 Gb can store up to 130 hours of video while 40 Gb can store an amazing 160 hours of video entertainment. Can anyone say they are bored now? Years ago Johnny Walker invited all the girls to take their transistor radio to bed with them to listen to his show under the covers, now you can take your MP4 player to bed and watch your favourite personality under the bed cover.
Once upon a time when we went to a shop to
buy a battery it was an easy choice. Now there are so many different
types of batteries available. Whether you choose AA, AAA, PP3, C and
D types you have to decide between alkaline, Lithium, Nickel-Cadmium,
Nickel-Metal Hydride and Hybrid NI-MH. Do you know the difference between
that lot? Remember, if you buy the wrong type of battery you could be
wasting your money. Now when you go shopping for a battery look carefully
at the details on the side of it before deciding what type to get. Many
manufacturers put the capacity of the battery on the side especially
for rechargeables and you will see there is a large difference in how
long they will last or how long they need charging for. In general the
cheapest disposables will only be suitable for remote controls or similar
low consumption equipment. For high drain or high usage items you can
go for Lithium disposals or even rechargeable batteries. Disposable Batteries:- Alkaline Lithium
Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd) Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) Hybrid Ni-MH (Hybrio)
MP3 Explained MP3 players are the new "Must have" for the younger generation and also for many older folks as well. You can download tunes from the internet or transfer your CD collection onto a player to listen to on your way to work or while in the gym. There are a wide range of MP3 players and IPods on sale in the shops or on the Internet. This is a guide to some of the terms you might find. What is an MP3?
MP3 stands for MPEG-1 Audio Layer
III and is a music compression format that reduces the amount of
space needed to store songs digitally.
MP3 files can either be downloaded from the internet at a fraction of the cost of purchasing a CD, or you can convert your current CD collection into MP3 files via a PC. The music is compressed by removing frequencies that are beyond a humans hearing; also the frequency spectrum is sampled at 128kbps not 44,100 as used on a CD. Although this leads to a slight loss in quality, the human ear is very forgiving and using a number of other mathematical tricks, the sound quality is more or less the same.
What is a
WAV file?
WAV files store digital music
data in a lossless format, meaning the file will be digitally identical
to its source. However, the result is a very large, uncompressed
file and not suitable for an MP3 player. You must convert your WAV
files to MP3 before transferring them onto your player.
What is an MP4?
This is a compressed video version of MP3, designed, so that you can play movie/video files on your player. New players are increasingly coming onto the market that play movie/video files, its like MTV on the move.
What is DRM?
Digital Rights Management
Copyright protection is used on many authorised downloading
sites to prevent unauthorised users from freely distributing
content. It helps to ensure the publishers of electronic media
will receive the appropriate revenue for their products and
to make sure that their digital content is only used by those
who have paid for it.
The record company's usually insist on this protection before allowing tunes to be downloaded. How many songs can I play on my MP3 player?
RDS Digital Radio, DAB Digital Radio and DRM Digital Radio. RDS stands for Radio Data System. It's a digital technology developed 25 years ago for traditional Analogue FM radio so that you don't have to retune car radios when driving between different transmitters on different frequencies. It also allows broadcasters to supply some text information alongside the audio, display the name of the radio station you're listening to, and has applications for broadcasting travel news. Like Teletext and Nicam stereo for television, RDS was a pioneer in using digital technology for broadcasting. These technologies are becoming out of date now but they were early examples of the use of digital technology for broadcasting. DAB digital radio was developed using all the experience gained from RDS. Everything about it is digital, not analogue. It uses technologies including COFDM and MPEG audio coding to allow listeners to hear more stations, and all in digital sound quality. Alongside those benefits, DAB digital radio opens up a huge range of new possibilities in terms of the text information that can be carried. Unfortunately in the UK the sound quality has been compromised to allow more stations to use the spectrum so that the old FM signal is still better quality. Even so, the new DAB digital radio's still produces interference free sound with a good selection of stations. Shortly DRM digital radio's will be entering the shops. This is a very interesting development which puts digital radio onto the AM bands. Shortly you will be able to listen to stereo digital radio on the old Medium Wave and Short Wave bands. DAB only uses the FM band. As AM signals travel further we should soon have many more stations and this is a development I am looking forward to. I have had the opportunity to listen to a DRM broadcast on short wave and it sounded excellent but when the signal faded there were gaps or dropouts. This shouldn't affect MW as much. I would be pleased to hear from you if you have any questions. Write to rolandbeaney@tiscali.co.uk
Luxembourg Memories If you were a teenager in the 50s and the 60s then you would have fond memories of Radio Luxembourg. The “station of the stars” as they used to call themselves broadcast on 208 meters from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and for a long time in the 50s and the early 60s it was the UK's only pop music station. The BBC had a very restricted offering of pop music, usually amounting to a few hours of Saturday Club or the Chart show on the Light Programme. At that time the BBC provided us with such great offerings as Workers Playtime or Music While you Work. Until the pirate stations started in 1964 Radio Luxembourg stood alone in broadcasting pop music with English DJs playing the top chart tunes. It had its problems though; because the transmitter was situated in Luxembourg the signal across the UK was not very good even though they used one of the most powerful transmitters in Europe. The signal faded badly and sometimes disappeared completely. It was also only a night time service so we were still stuck with the BBC's music while you work as a day time offering which was a collection of classic tunes played by the BBC's own orchestra. At the time the BBC couldn’t play much chart music per day due to the “needle time” restrictions that was imposed upon them. Many of Radio Luxembourg’s programmes were sponsored by record companies. Much of the music played was controlled by these companies and some smaller artists couldn’t get their music played at all. Also many of the programmes were 15 minutes long and this meant some of the records were badly chopped and we were lucky if we heard half of the tune. It was still a much loved station though and I have many great memories of it. My interest in radio stations made me take a detour to Luxembourg during a holiday in Europe in the late 60s. We decided to try to visit the studio. After asking for directions we were directed into a park and we thought we had been sent the wrong way. Eventually we found the studio and there was a mean looking man guarding the main entrance. “No you can’t come in today” was his stern reply. We walked away feeling very disappointed. Then one of my friends decided to have another go. He returned to the entrance and tried a bit of persuasion. “Look sir, we have come all the way from the UK to visit the studios and we are big fans of the station”, “Ok, you can go in but keep out of the way.” We were allowed to find our own way into the studio and a guy told us to sit down and be quiet because they were doing a live interview. This was my first visit to a radio station to see how it was done and we really enjoyed it. We asked for a request to be played for our friends back home and were surprised to find how difficult it was to pick up the station back in the car. Yes, you could get better reception back in the UK than you could in Luxembourg. The station broadcast for a time on the Astra Satellite but with the amount of radio stations increasing all the time over the UK found it difficult to get the sponsorship to continue. Eventually the English service closed and although there have been attempts to start it up again they have failed. Perhaps one day the sounds of Radio Luxembourg, or Luxy as it was called at different times will grace our airwaves again but for now we have the memories. Now Online! Listen To Radio Luxembourg
Internet Radio
Many people ask me why I am called the Anorak Man. It is a name for someone with a passionate interest in radio and It was given to me by Chris the web master of Woodley Net because I wrote articles about radio on his web site. Today the term is used for anyone with a passionate interest in anything and not just radio. I have been a radio anorak since my early days when I found an old crystal set in my gran's cupboard and rigged up an aerial on the washing line. These sets had been redundant for many years but the joy I had when I rigged it up and suddenly I could hear music coming from it. I could only get two stations, the BBC Home service and the BBC Light programme but to me then that was wonderful. I soon had wire all over the house, up the side of the house connected to the gutter, up the line pole and up the garden to my shed. My parents weren't too pleased because they kept tripping over the cables, even the cat got tied up in the cable, have you ever heard the noise an angry cat makes? Soon I had electricity in the shed and I was given a very large valve radio to play with. I found myself listening to stations from all over the world on short wave. From Start Point to Berlin and beyond the stations and strange noises kept coming from my shed at the top of my garden. Soon it was Radio Sweden, Athlone, and then Radio Canada and I found a station from Australia on short wave. It all came to an end though when I connected up a wire to something I should not have connected it to. There was a loud bang from inside the house and the look on my mothers face running up the garden told me that I was in serious trouble. I had blown all the fuses in the house and the fuse board had a strange smell coming from it. I then realized the dangers of electricity and after that I was given a battery transistor radio which was a lot safer and I continued my hobby in safety. Today we have so much more on our radio's to listen to. It was a sad day when the police messages left the FM band but they were replaced by many more stations. The fun of being an anorak though is not listening to the local station but finding a station from further afield. This is why I have started listening to Internet radio. There is an endless list of stations from around the world. If you live away from your home town then you could try to find your home town station. Try the stations web site and there should be a link there somewhere.. You may have to download a player but that is not too difficult. Media Player, Real Player and Winamp all work well and you adjust the controls on your monitor screen just like an ordinary radio but with a mouse. If you have a big memory on your computer then download all of them because some work better with different stations. There is no cost unless you want the premium services. I was listening to a station in Edmonton Canada recently and it came in really well. Sometimes you get gaps called buffering but that is due to the speed of your connection or Internet conditions. If you have broadband then you can go for high quality stereo but for an ordinary dial up service go for the basic audio. i.e. 25 - 40 Kbps. I think its as good as AM quality and you will get less buffering. You could try listening to the commentary of your favourite football club but most clubs make a charge for this now. Try www.live365.com or an Internet search engine for a list of stations and you could become an anorak yourself. Things have certainly changed since the days of the crystal set.
TV Around The House Do you like watching TV wherever you are in your house or do you have kids or other members of the family that want to watch MTV in the bedroom while you sit down to enjoy Eastenders? With all the equipment involved with the reception of TV, distribution of the signals around the house is becoming big business. You may want to watch the portable in the bedroom, conservatory or kitchen and the set top aerial does not produce an acceptable picture or you may want to distribute the signal from the Digi, video recorder or DVD boxes around the house. You could erect another aerial in the loft or you could split the cable but unless you are close to the TV transmitter you would have a marked loss of signal on both sets. You could also use the second outlet provided on some Digi boxes but this does not solve the problem of distributing the signals from the other equipment. This can be done with a distribution box or a video transmitter/sender. The distribution box. - These boxes are freely available from your local DIY shop and they contain a UHF input and multi UHF outlets. They cost between £20 and £40 depending how many TV sets you want to distribute the signal to. These are fairly easy to connect up but you will have to fit a coax cable from the outlet to the second or third set and this could involve drilling through a wall especially if you want to run a cable upstairs. A good drill long enough to go through your cavity wall would be necessary and it is normally not too difficult to drill through these walls but you must be careful of water pipes and electricity cables in the wall and you must make sure that all electricity to the boxes is turned off to avoid getting a shock. A wire coat hanger opened up will guide the coax cable through the hole in the wall. Run the lead neatly up or around the outside of the house and drill another hole into the room where you have your second set. Always make a loop with the cable outside so that the water drips off the cable and not into the hole. Normally the UHF cables would be connected as follows - Outside aerial to Digi box, (Sky, Freeview etc), Digi box to Video Recorder, Video Recorder to input of distributor box. Output 1 from distributor box to main TV set, output 2 to a portable in bedroom and so on. You will have to buy a remote control extender with this system if you want to change channels from the bedroom and these can be purchased from TV outlets or from Sky. Video sender/transmitter - This is the best option if you do not want to drill holes through the walls. The latest models can be bought for as little as £89.95 and are now legal in the UK. These units plug into the DVD, VCR, Digi box or cable box and convert the signals to radio frequency 2.4 GHz and send the signal to another room where another box converts the signal back to their original format for connection to a TV. These units also allow you to control your viewing from the remote location using your existing remote control. The new systems have a far superior performance than the original illegal video senders and transmit the signals up to 20 metres around the home. Now you can go and settle down with your candy floss and popcorn and watch a good movie on the main set while Gran and the kids watch MTV in the spare room. If you have any questions about fitting or buying these systems then e-mail me at rolandbeaney@hotmail.com
Digital TV FAQ's
Digital is a new way of transmitting television or radio signals so that more information can be compressed into the broadcasting band. This means more channels, better pictures and CD quality sound. There are channels dedicated to sport, films, music, documentaries, news, comedy and lots more. There are three systems to choose from, Sky Digital, Freeview and Digital cable. Two of the systems have email and interactive services through your TV (Not terrestrial Digital). Cable have internet deals and a special phone deal. Cable and Sky Digital systems allow you to order such things as Pizzas and play games. Sky digital have an amazing selection of radio stations and music channels to choose from and have lots of TV channels.
Sky Digital - advantages,
Lots of channels and available nearly everywhere.
Disadvantages, must have a dish fitted. Digital Cable - Advantages, Lots of channels and special deals on the phone, no aerials or dishes. Disadvantages,
Not available in some areas. Free Channels on Sky Digital? I have been asked by people that have bought or are thinking of buying Sky digital systems without a Sky subscription if they can get Sky channels on it. The answer is that you can get quite a few free to air channels especially news, shopping, all the BBC channels, and lots of Radio stations but most of the Sky channels will be scrambled and you will need a Sky viewing card. It is possible to get pirate viewing cards but this is illegal and you could get prosecuted or have your card cut off at any time. If you are considering buying a system then buy it with the Sky subsidy and take out a minimum subscription for one year then cancel the subscription and the system will be yours for less than the price of buying one without the subscription. Sky will probably give you some special offers too, like extra channels free. And Finally....
You have to decide which system suits your requirements best. I will try to answer your questions if you email me at my contact address at the top of this page.. Digital TV is here to stay and you should take advantage of all it has to offer.
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Figures
released recently by the TV Licensing Authority to mark the 40th anniversary
of the start of colour television revealed that there are still 28,000
households in the UK using old black and white TVs. Colour programs
started officially on November 15th 1969 with a Petula Clark concert
broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall in London at midnight although
there had been test transmissions for a while. Dixon of Dock Green,
the Harry Secombe Show and Match of the Day were broadcast in Colour.
By the end of 1969, 200,000 colour TV sets were in use across the UK.
and in 1976 colour sets began to outnumber black and white. There have
been many milestones of television over the years, the Coronation of
Queen Elizabeth in 1952 when the few that had televisions invited their
neighbours in to their houses to watch it with them as there were very
few TVs in use. The start of commercial TV in 1955 when adverts started
to split programs into several parts, the first satellite broadcast
across the Atlantic in 1962, the start of BBC2 in 1964 when there was
a power cut in the studio ruining most of the first nights programs
and the introduction of video cassette recorders in 1974. It was a few
years before they were mass marketed and then video rental shops opened
up on almost every high street renting the latest horror movie. The
majority of them have closed now. In 1982 Channel 4 was launched and
soon after in 1983 breakfast TV started. Back in the early days of TV,
daytime programs were very limited, Listen with Mother and a housewife's
program were just about the only offering from the BBC. Some sad people
watched the test card and listened to the music that came with it. Gradually
the daytime hours were increased, mainly with sport at first. Yes, we
could watch sport and the test card during the day but very little else.
Eventually the start of breakfast TV completed the full day and at last
we could watch TV in bed in the mornings. Sky was launched in 1989 with
the start of multi channel viewing and Channel 5 in 1997 became the
last terrestrial channel when many of us had to have our sets adjusted
because the channel used the same frequency as our video recorders.
Now we have the start of High Definition services and the big analogue
turn off has started as we go all digital. Do you remember your first
colour TV set? or you are one of the few people still watching in black
and white please let me know. I would love to know if you manage to
get it repaired when it breaks down. Tell me your memories and send
your pictures to-.
If
you are bored with listening to Radio stations on your car radio you
can now buy a mini transmitter to attach to your MP3 player or IPod
and play your own selection of music through your car stereo. Just find
a spare frequency on the dial and then tune your mini transmitter into
it and you can play what you want to hear through your radio and not
what someone else wants you to hear. These mini transmitters now produce
a much better sound and are easily tuneable to any frequency on the
dial. I've been testing a 1 GB ProSound MP3 player bought from Maplins
for under £30. It has been designed for a car but can also be used to
play through any radio. It has a built in rechargeable battery plays
for over 5 hours on one charge using the FM Transmitter, it supports
MP3 and WMA files and also records through an internal mic saved in
WAV format. Connect it up to your computer and you can charge it and
store approx 700 songs onto it. It also has 6 equaliser modes, multi
play modes and a fast data transfer speed to transfer your tracks from
the computer using drag and drop. It can also be used with stereo earphones
as a normal MP3 player and you can also use an audio lead to plug it
directly into an amplifier. I found the quality was quite good with
the internal transmitter through the car stereo and the aerial also
adjusts to improve signal quality. 
The
model I tested was a Tevion (pictured) it cost £64.99 from Aldi and
was the cheapest that I have found for an Internet radio. Once set up,
the radio played well. The radio came with detailed setting up instructions
but it can be a bit difficult for the beginner. You must have a Wi-Fi
router/modem. Unfortunately this set does not have batteries so you
need to set the clock every time you switch it off. It worked well in
all parts of the house but it does take a few minutes to initialise
again after switching it off. It was also in stereo. The Reciva web
site used to add new stations or streams was easy to negotiate and adding
streams was easy. The radio updates its list of stations regularly and
you can add your own. Sound quality was ok for the cost and size of
the set and there is an output plug to connect to separate speakers.
The radio also comes with an FM tuner. 
I
recently bought my first DAB radio. I had resisted the temptation up
to now because I have lots of FM radios around the house. I also have
Digital TV a Worldspace satellite radio and a computer where I can get
thousands of radio stations from all over the world. This gives me the
opportunity to spend hours finding obscure radio stations but unfortunately
my wife doesn't share my enthusiasm and complains bitterly about the
strange noises coming out of my radios. Digital Audio Broadcasting or
DAB is supposed to provide me with near FM quality reception to a whole
host of local and national radio stations. I repeat near FM quality
because they have decided to reduce the quality to give us many more
stations. DAB has been under development since the early eighties and
has been adopted by around 20 countries worldwide. It is based around
the MP2 audio codec. DAB receivers are selling well especially as the
cost of them has tumbled recently. An announcement was made in November
2006 that DAB would be adopting the HE-AACv2 audio codec. which is also
known as AAC+. Also being adopted are the MPEG Surround format, and
stronger error correction coding. The update has been named DAB+. and
receivers that support the new DAB standard were to be released during
2007. Unfortunately this means that all the DAB radios that have been
sold up to now will not be able to receive the new AAC+ transmissions
and presumably the original DAB broadcasts will not last forever making
these radios redundant. 