[cma-l] FW: Poor Reception

[Canalside's The Thread]

The deed is done             sorry guys, another war and peace, but it has
to be said. The bottom bit more important to me than the first bit.

 

Nick

 

  _____  

From: Canalside's The Thread [mailto:office at thethread.org.uk] 
Sent: 05 February 2015 12:19
To: 'Canalside's The Thread'
Subject: RE: [cma-l] Poor Reception

 

Ian and all

 

Are we being serious here ?  or is someone avin' a giraffe ?

 

Let me deal with the gobbledy gook first .....with the best will in the
World going round to listener and dealing with ALL of them on a one to one
would be near impossible (certainly for us)    we have had more people
making this observation to us over the past 7 years than you can SHAKE A
STICK AT !      another one of the Industries Circuses and debacles. Ian and
I have spoken at lengths about this and I for one could write a book on it.
I reckon we are 30% down on our listenership basically because folk can't
listen who WANT TO listen. This is not democracy, it is unfair and totally
unacceptable. I'm not playing the sympathy card here, I am merely making a
statement and stating a fact.

 

I will state again on this matter that the restrictions are a red herring
and always have been ... If everyone in the area decided that they like what
we do and all switched over to our Station, the restrictions account for
nothing. We do try to sound good, of course we do, and even though the
chances are slim, it is always possible ....then what ?

 

If you read Ians trail it basically sums the whole thing up.

 

Now where it gets interesting is when the discussion moves onto
'trouble-shooting' and fixing the problem.

 

The responses I seem to see all the time are :-

 

1)       ''No''

2)       ''No''

3)       ''Ah but, if you do this''              ''it is possible you know''
''it's still ''No''

4)       ''No''

5)       ''Not possible''    ''yes it is''     ''no it isn't''

6)       No

7)       Why do you need to do that?

8)       Because people can't hear us         ''AND ????''
and so on and so on

 

The frustrating thing is this :- I accept fully that the spectrum is full,
and in a way we are honoured / lucky / privileged  (call it what you will)
to even have a frequency, and as Ofcom say, there isn't a lot of room for
manoeuvre ... however, this is not the issue .. What I am saying is that if
there are remedies they ought to be at least tried. If that remedy is giving
someone 1 watt extra or moving the transmitter 10 feet then fine . if it
makes things a little better and doesn't cause a problem to any other
Station then it ought to be permitted.

Also, instead of going through long drawn out bureaucratic processes, let
the Station do the Donkey work and submit the findings. If it doesn't work
and does cause a problem then the Station has wasted its time and not
Ofcoms. A Station is going to do its homework thoroughly as it will not want
to have wasted its time.

 

Please refer back to my previous e-mails     re:- our signal

 

To summarise it :- owing to the original restrictions we were only allowed
to officially have North Macclesfield on our licence. The rules have now
changed and the goalposts have gone walk abouts again. I didn't change the
rules nor did Canalside . Ofcom changed the rules on behalf of the local ILR
... so, we would like to go back to the original request an discussion to
have ALL of Macclesfield on our licence. If this is done, then we can apply
for a little move of the transmitter nearer to our '''core'' area. However,
the process is back to front as we are being told to apply for the move
(which I have to say doesn't look good reading and hearing rhetoric)   but
alas we still then leave ourselves wide open when we say the signal in
Macclesfield (certain areas) is NOT good and many a folk cannot pick us up
in the House, in nursing homes, in the Hospital etc etc              we then
get the question    ''Why do you need Macclesfield ?  it ain't on your
licence''  ?

 

More hair gets torn out of the proverbial head, the a-fore mentioned head
bangs against the brick wall and round and round the merry-go-round we go
again.

 

I am not making this stuff up and seeing as it has been mentioned I will
always chuck my three-pennith in. I give praise where praise is due, but I
will criticise where problems occur.

This is an ongoing problem along with the restrictions, along with PRS/PPL
and other irritations that affect our ability to get on with the proper job
in hand.

Back in 2003 I was led to believe that Community Radio was what it says on
the can, I was not aware that it was bureaucracy, barmy rules and most
importantly discussing and arguing about the same things in 2015.

 

We make rules, we make recommendations, we set conditions ... what ought
then to happen is we review them and listen to peoples concerns .. We seem
to just have talking shops and no action. Lots of people keep pointing out
the same issues and no one listens, well they do but do nothing.

Sorry to appear as if I am a constant moaner, I am merely relaying the facts
as I see them and from our experiences.

 

By the way, I about to start filling our PPL report in . owing to my lack of
maths skills, which by the way is far worse than my English (and that isn't
good) so you can see how bad it is, I should get it finished by Valentines
Day. More time spent doing what I am not supposed to be doing as opposed to
doing what I am supposed to be doing.

There should be no reporting at all as there is nothing to report. PRS/PPL
do not understand the true description of 'net'     net is what you are left
with after the deductions from the gross. Al of us technically at the end of
the year have a net of zero ... if we don't we are doing something wrong. Of
course I am not saying that people leave themselves broke and there must
always be a float .. But someone please tell these doughnuts that the float
is NOT profit.

 

The only thing we should report is the fact that we are currently playing 8
songs an hour average or 10 or whatever. A fee ought to be negotiated
between them and the CMA and we all pay at the beginning of the year or by
S/O of course. I'm reporting on something that I actually have nothing to
report on.

The fact that the local Newsagent gives us a few Newspapers and we
philanthropically thank them has no bearing on the PPL/PRS .. What the hell
has it got to do with them ??       barter agreements / ceded air-time /
contra deals / sponsorship / adverts ... IT DOESN'T MATTER !        the end
result is the money is spent on the project and the '''Net''' is nothing !

 

Have I seriously missed something here ?  because I do not think I have. We
fill a Tax form in as self employed because at the end of it we get a Net
figure, we are then taxed on the Net figure after claims / expenses / costs
are taken out. Our electric meter / gas meter requires figures on how much
we have used .. I don't have to then fill a form in telling them that I
earned a few quid here and was paid that from there etc            the only
figure relevant for PRS/PPL is   ''How many tracks of theirs are we using?''
the rest is NONE of their business as the end result is zero as stated in
Law and in the Rules.

 

It is just another licensed money making racket. Here comes the disobedience
stuff again. We should pay our dues and send all the forms back blank.
Everyone.

 

Nick

 

  _____  

From: cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk
[mailto:cma-l-bounces at mailman.commedia.org.uk] On Behalf Of Ian Hickling
Sent: 05 February 2015 08:25
To: cma-l
Subject: [cma-l] Poor Reception

 

The MD of a new and as yet unlaunched CR station called me yesterday to say
that he'd had a few complaints from people in the town - not a mile from his
brand new transmitter - that they could  hear the test transmissions well in
the car - but couldn't get the station indoors.

 

I looked around for a positive way of counteracting this - and as I couldn't
find anything suitable, I've written this for him:

 

"We can hear you fine on the car - but not in the house. 

Why's that?"

 

How often have you heard that?

 

How do you respond?
Have you got a feasible answer?

 

Modern car radios are particularly good at dealing with small signals and
are very selective to reduce interference from unwanted stations.

Unfortunately, small portable domestic radios - aren't!

 

Listeners aren't going to want a long technical explanation - and certainly
not a moan about Ofcom not giving you enough power.

 

The important point here is that they do actually want  to listen to you -
but are finding it difficult.

 

So what's the answer?

 

Turn what looks like a problem into a benefit.

 

The logical procedure therefore is:

 

.         Make it a personal approach to the listener

.         Arrange a visit if you possibly can

.         Explain very briefly that you're doing all you can on your part to
help with limited resources.

.         Is the radio a very simple cheap one? - Suggest an upgrade as it's
probably old as well

.         Is the antenna raised properly? - Move it around a bit and move
the radio too.

.         Is the radio obviously in a bad position for reception? - lots of
walls or metal objects between it and the transmitter - can it be relocated?

.         If the radio is never moved - suggest a better mains-powered one.

.         If it's near a widow or vent - suggest a small external aerial.

.         Have some details and prices of suitable ones - maybe some
examples.

.         Have an arrangement with local friendly aerial fitters and radio
retailers.

.         Publicise on air that you're doing this.

.         Broadcast endorsements from listeners you've helped.



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