The end of analogue radio - your chance to petition the government.

[A.S.]

The British Government have an intention to terminate analogue radio broadcasting. They will reallocate the radio spectrum to more spectrum-friendly digital radio, probably cramming as many channels into a multiplexed (multi-station) digital signal.

The petitioners say "The proposed analogue radio switch off disadvantages everyone. It forces you to scrap all your existing radios - and buy DAB sets instead. Car radios, kitchen radios, bedside radios, stereo tuners, all become scrap. And the liberated bandwidth is used for extra services no-one wants - witness the DAB station failures - polluted with advertising, and never again the chance to hear a foreign station by accident. This is not a future I want."

For an example of just how bad digital can be, look no further than the Freeview digital TV service on which the picture quality is truly dreadful compared with analogue TV. Can you believe that the consumer will take a compressed Feeeview MPEG-2 moving image of only 760 x 520 pixels and then stretch it over a 42" flat screen TV? They do. In absolute quality terms that would be analogous to a hi-fi enthusiast playing cassettes over his system. Interesting how different rules apply to audio and video quality thresholds.

Needless to say, audio quality of abandoning analogue and switching to digital has been ignored. So too has the travelling motorist who will have great difficulty receiving a digital signal on the move and will, of course, need a completely new radio set in his car - and at home.

If like me you feel strongly you may wish (as I have) to complete the on-line petition here.

[Teuton]

Needless to say, audio quality of abandoning analogue and switching to digital has been ignored. So too has the travelling motorist who will have great difficulty receiving a digital signal on the move and will, of course, need a completely new radio set in his car - and at home.

If like me you feel strongly you may wish (as I have) to complete the on-line petition here.

Luckily the government does not have a monopoly over vinyl.

In Canada a similar thing is happening. They have switched analogue TV to straight Digital. Those who cannot afford cable can no longer achieve 'peasant vision' with their humble radio antennas--they now have to buy a digital cable box.

[Pencey]

Don't want to see the end of analogue radio reception in my life. The suggestion alone would send thousands of furious Yanks to protest at the headquarters of Federal Communications Commission. Look at: fm info.org to see the interest in analogue radio here in the states.

[Pencey]

Corrected website address:

www.fmtunerinfo.com/