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Sometime between 2010 and 2020 the last FM radio station will fall silent. The Government is keen to see us stop using the familiar analogue transmissions of the past 100 years and enter the new world of digital audio broadcasting (Dab).
Why? Well, apart from the fact that it means the FM frequencies can be used for something else, it should also eliminate the crackle, hiss and interference that plague regular broadcasting.
The trouble is, at around £500, digital radios are far too expensive, so for most of us a PC-based tuner such as the Psion Wavefinder has been our only option.
You can pick up a Wavefinder for less than £50 now, but the software is rather basic, and the process it uses to separate one station from another means that a powerful local signal can knock out a weaker national broadcaster.
The new Dab card, though, seems to have solved this problem. It is an internal PCI device, so is not as easy to install as the USB-based Wavefinder, but once you have fitted it into the case and installed the software, you need only find a suitable location for the magnetised aerial and tell the card that you live in the UK.
This last point is important, as radio is no better than mobile phones when it comes to worldwide compatibility, and what may work in Canada may not work in Britain or Germany.
America, as usual, has opted for an entirely different technology that uses the existing FM band so, if you plan on emigrating to the US in the near future, this card is not for you.
Once up and running, you will spot a number of key features. First, each radio multiplex has a name - Digital One, BBC National DAB, and so on - and each has its own tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
Clicking one displays the stations it broadcasts and, as you hover over each station, control buttons for play and record scroll out from the side.
Currently, only the BBC provides an electronic programme guide. This is free (although rather slow) to download through the Dab aerial.
Once on your system it lists around a week's worth of programmes for the World Service and Radios One to Five, with a small 'record' icon beside each one. Click the icon beside your chosen programme, and at the appointed time your PC will tune into the right station and save it to disk.
The commercial stations, which do not have a guide, rely on you manually clicking 'record' and 'stop' at the beginning and end of the programme you want to save, but it is still far easier to operate than even a simple video.
Not everyone is a fan of digital radio, though. The underlying technology is now 10 years old so, if you have a keen ear, you will probably prefer the more rounded sound of music on FM.
In that respect, it is a bit like switching from vinyl records to Minidisc. Different stations also use different levels of compression so, while a music station may be broadcast at 128Kbits/s, about the same as a lightly compressed MP3 file, talk stations use only 96Kbits/s.
The card is also very temperamental when fed a weak signal, so check that you have coverage in your area before you splash out on new kit. Entering your postcode at www.ukdigitalradio.com will give you the answer you need.
Far more versatile than a stand-alone tuner, digital radio is also cheaper than most but, if you do not want to open up your PC, look out for Videologic's £99 portable digital radio, due out around the same time as this review.
Price: £99 (inc. VAT)
Features:
- Internal tuner card
- External receiver aerial
- Easy-to-use software interface
- Electronic programme guide
- Hard drive digital recording
- Radio web services
Minimum requirements: Pentium MMX 200MHz (or equivalent); 32MB Ram (128MB for Windows XP); 33MB free hard drive space; spare PCI slot; sound card with headphones or powered speakers.
Contact: Modular Technology 01869 321323
www.modulartech.com
See also:
Modular Technology's card offers crystal-clear sound and data services too. 26 Jul 2002
All Sound Cards
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