[cma-l] Extending Community Radio on FM

Sun Sep 28 20:09:00 BST 2014

Tony

It is my understanding that the British specification for
the FM (then VHF) band was established before the Second World War. At the
time it was considered that only the two BBC services would be on VHF. I
believe that the specifications laid down are still current and are based on
roof top aerials, as it was considered that to receive VHF such an aerial would
be required. 

Also for some reason, we in the UK also decided to
employ  extra separation/guarding, in
order to prevent ANY possibility of  the
Home Service Bedford transmitter interfering with the Home Service Dover transmitter or Crewe Relay. In other words, we have more space between services
than any other country in Europe. In many respects we have the perfect VHF/FM
transmitter network.

Of course then, it was not expected that the reception of
radio would extend to telescopic aerials or tiny coil antenna, thereby making
the roof top aerial redundant. Nor even then, was the prospect of commercial or
community radio in the future mix. As a side issue, a few commercial stations and many
community radio station are in allocated BBC spectrum at the behest of Dear Old
Aunty. 

The mystery of so called ‘expertise’ in planning the VHF/FM
spectrum has remained in the hand of the regulators. I do remember asking my MP
sometime in the 70’s  to lodge a written
question about an available frequency to The Home Secretary, only to receive
the reply that 101 point something was ‘used to track otters” . 

I did have it confirmed that 102.2 was assigned wrongly and
should have been able to accommodate several UK allocations but apparently the
spectrum had been badly assigned at a too high a power in the East of England, (flat
terrain)  thereby rendering the space
sterile for a large part of the country. 

In summary there are many issues (and many question)
surrounding spectrum allocation and the regulator of the day always hold the
mystery ticket. The ‘beauty contest’ of selecting future licence holders
compounds the decision process. The reality is that the only policy is to
switch to DAB so any FM debate is a waste of time. 

Hope this helps

Bob

________________________________
 From: Tony Bailey <ravensound at pilgrimsound.co.uk>
To: The Community Media Association Discussion List <cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk> 
Sent: Sunday, 28 September 2014, 10:01
Subject: Re: [cma-l] Extending Community Radio on FM

If we are talking about ITU-R BS 412-9 Planning Standards for Terrestrial FM sound broadcasting at VHF, it dates from 12/1998 and incidentally, is a Recommendation.  Of course, we aren't far enough away from other countries to not follow it.  To take up an earlier point, the recent statements about VHF no-go areas clearly needs to be challenged.  For example, Central Bedfordshire which is basically Bedford county minus Luton and Bedford.  Apart from the fact that it is a very irregular area, it is some 30 km wide, well beyond the range of the 5 km standard.  From information available online, there are a number of channel groups around 15 db/uV (60-45) in Biggleswade, which is a relatively "hot" location.  One wonders what "rules" are being applied to generate these blanket exclusions.

Regards,  Tony Bailey

On 27/09/14 17:18, Ian Hickling wrote:

>Alan - I don't recognise most of the scenario you describe here as being the UK Regulation system that we're working in today.
>Protection Ratios set up by IBA and RA were adopted by the ITU 50 years ago and are unlikely to change?
>Not really indicative of any positive progress then.
>In my experience Ofcom doesn't do much on an "ad hoc" basis - quite the opposite.
>Commercial operators and indeed all licensed broadcasters are more than adequately protected in technical terms and all expect signal corruption on occasions when it's caused by unavoidable atmospheric conditions.
>Enhancement of coverage by any broadcaster is not easy - and is approached by Ofcom on a low-priority and individual merit basis - unless of course pressure is brought to bear.
>I would think we can all quote examples of that apparently happening.
>Commercial stations had power and frequency allocated in exactly the same was as is used for Community Radio - desired coverage against regional spectral occupancy.
>Standalone or mini-mux DAB is a long way off and should not be offered as an excuse for not dealing with the present and very real need for a seed-change in spectrum manipulation for best efficiency.
>There are scores of local stations out there which are ready to go on air and around half of them will be refused for what appear to be insecure and what we are told are incontestable reasons.
>This is not the form of Democracy that we should expect from a UK Government and its Agencies.
>
>
>
>________________________________
>From: alan.coote at 5digital.co.uk
>To: cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk; info at a-bc.co.uk
>Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 14:06:28 +0100
>Subject: Re: [cma-l] Community Radio on AM
>
> 
>The FM protection ratios were set up using a specs’ based on the selectivity and sensitivity of radios in the 60s. The IBA, Radio Authority and Ofcom planned licences based on their analysis of available frequencies using this spec’. It became an ITU standard so is very unlikely to change.     
> 
>Fitting new stations on an ad-hoc basis has the danger of commercial operators being disadvantaged through interference, however occasional. 
> 
>Picking up Nick’s point about Silk FM getting more power, this has happened numerous times around the UK. It’s because commercial stations are licenced to use a preallocated and cleared frequency by Ofcom. Should a licenced station make a case that either Ofcom’s analysis was wrong, or over time the area has changed, then Ofcom will need to reflect that by permitting changes to the coverage.
> 
>This is of course a totally different scenario from the way community stations start life.   
> 
>At the end of the day Ofcom is full of people whose job it is to run things by the rules. There is absolutely no advantage to them doing otherwise. 
> 
>In my view a better baton to wave is for access to DAB via standalone stations – here the rules aren’t even set.                
> 
>Kind Regards
>Alan
> 
> 
> 
>Hear Alan Every Week on Let’s Talk Business The UK’s Premier Radio Programme For Current and Future Entrepreneurs - Now Broadcast To 4.3 Million People  
> 
>Email - alan.coote at 5digital.co.uk
>Phone - 0800 949 6655
>Mobile - 07801 518858
>Twitter - @TheAlanCoote
>Web - http://www.5digital.co.uk
> 
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