[cma-l] Poor Reception
Ian Hickling
transplanfm at hotmail.com
Fri Feb 6 09:21:26 GMT 2015
NickWhy of all people do *you* accept that the spectrum is full?We take a pride in showing that it isn't - and on occasions Ofcom has agreed.Ian
From: office at thethread.org.uk
To: cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2015 13:04:00 +0000
Subject: [cma-l] FW: Poor Reception
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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