I do a lot of traveling with my work and family being spread out all over the continent. I spend the whole trip scanning across the dial looking for a station in the two genres I prefer. Conservative news talk and mellow rock and roll. Life would be improved for the traveler if he knew where to find his preferred radio station on the dial wherever he or she is. Suppose on the am side all news talk stations were found on the low end of the dial. Next you would find PBS and other religious shows next you would find Spanish speaking stations, then blue grass and country stations. So on and so on. All stations would still be able to air so there is no governmental censorship but the listener would be able to find them easier. The same would apply to the fm side but since fm is dominated by music, arrange the broadcast signals by music's genres. Starting with classical on the low end, then the odd stuff like yodeling and foriegn music then blue grass, and country, and soft rock, then love songs and harder rock, then metal, then pop, etc., etc.,
-- I808, Jun 15 2005

RDS EON http://dspace.dial....rogtech/eonrds.html
[angel, Jun 15 2005]

RDS The Radio Data System http://www.rds.org.uk/rds98/rdsbooks.htm
[angel, Jun 15 2005]

RDS/RBDS Datastream http://www.continen...mports.com/rds.html
'The following "features" may be sent in the RBDS/RDS data stream. Not all stations will broadcast all of the functions' [half, Jun 15 2005]

RDS Forum - RDS in Europe/RBDS in the USA http://www.rds.org.uk/rdsfrdsrbds.html
"What are the differences and how can receivers cope with both systems?" [half, Jun 16 2005]

Doesn't RDS pretty much do this already?
-- angel, Jun 15 2005


Yes but that is a subscription service. I'm referring to free air radio.
-- I808, Jun 15 2005


RDS isn't subscription, it's a function of an RDS-equipped radio (eg pretty much all car radios and high-ish spec components).
-- angel, Jun 15 2005


I thought you were referring to a satelite radio service. So what is RDS?
-- I808, Jun 15 2005


Radio Data System. It's a signal that stations transmit along with the content. It identifies the station by name and content type, and permits a receiver to re-tune automagically to another transmitter of the same station. Also, when about to broadcast traffic announcements, the presenter can activate a signal that switches any RDS-equipped radio in range to that station, if it has the 'TA' option selected.
-- angel, Jun 15 2005


I have a brand new Dodge 1500 pickup with basic package and it doesn't have RDS. Neither do any of the personal radios I use. So I haven't had the pleasure of being introduced to RDS. Is this equipment available for personal radios?
-- I808, Jun 15 2005


Maybe it's not as common in US as it is here. Actually, a quick check on Goooogle seems to indicate that it's not used there at all.
-- angel, Jun 15 2005


Well then, I let my halfbake stand.
-- I808, Jun 15 2005


The first pickup truck I ever owned had belonged to a farmer for it's first twenty years. It had a ten foot antenna. It would only pick up country no matter where you were.
-- normzone, Jun 15 2005


lol, Did you learn to love it, or did you consider a haunted truck or radio or whatever?
-- I808, Jun 15 2005


[normzone]: Both kindsa music, huh?
-- angel, Jun 15 2005


I'm in the US and the stereo in my new car is equipped to receive and display text data transmitted by the radio station. Don't know if it's officially "RDS" but it sounds like the same thing.

There's no option to select a station by that information as far as I know.
-- half, Jun 15 2005


Don't think so, [half]. RDS doesn't actually transmit text.
See linky for a bit of background.
-- angel, Jun 15 2005


Doesn't transmit text? How about a digital representation of characters that can be displayed as text? No? Okay, it must be a different thing then.

At a glance, it looks as though RDS is the Euro counterpart to the US RBDS.

It looks like the RDS/RBDS datastream specification does support text data. And all that other stuff you mentioned. (link)

So, though I never knew all of the details before, it sure looks like a properly equipped receiver could use the RDS data to implement this. Providing of course that the stations all broadcast the right bits of data.
-- half, Jun 15 2005


//How about a digital representation of characters that can be displayed as text?//
Well yes, inasmuch as the receiver can display the station name and genre, but the station doesn't transmit messages on the fly. My Sony CDX-601 is a fairly typical implementation.
-- angel, Jun 15 2005



random, halfbakery