WHO will be the first to get digital radio in Orange, the commercial stations or community station FM107.5?
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Metropolitan community stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth all have digital radio transmissions and the bush will be next.
The federal government has spectrum planning under way for regional digital radio but its introduction seems a long way off.
Sydney people have been listening to commercial digital radio for more than four years and several community stations for 12 months or so but there still could be a long wait before it’s available in the bush.
Sydney has a string of digital stations including 2GB, 2CH, 2UE, 2DAY, Triple M, Sky Sports Radio, WSFM, MIX 106.5, 2SM, Nova, Classic Rock, Radar, the Main Stage, Barry, NovaNation, Koffee, the Edge, WSFM Plus, Classic Hits Live, the Crack, Gorilla, Zoo Super Digi, Sky Sports Radio Digital, ABC, SBS and several community stations.
Community radio stations like Orange’s FM107.5 will eventually get digital radio, which does not replace existing analogue services but offers another choice, although the station can be heard streaming on computers.
Orange people can also listen to the Sydney digital stations on their computers or smart phones.
Digital radio receivers can be bought at shops like Dick Smith or Big W for reasonable prices ranging from around $60.
The radios are known as DAB+ receivers, which stands for digital audio broadcasting. DAB+ is the digital radio technology standard for Australia.
Digital radio has a far better sound quality than traditional AM and FM radio and also has interference-free, digital-quality sound and crystal clear reception.
Listeners do not have to remember a station's frequency because you can tune the radio by touching the station name on a small screen just like a digital camera.
Some of the digital radio receivers can store the program people were listening to, which will let them pause it and then rewind and listen later.
It’s also possible to store a program for later listening on a memory card.
Digital radio provides more details on screen via scrolling text about news, weather and sports, plus logos, photos and animation on digital radios with screens.
Models include clock radios with iPod docks, WiFi and DAB+ combinations, Hi Fi components, micro and mini systems, portable players, handheld MP3 and MP4 players, USBs and set-top boxes.