Radio Data System

[kingfish]

does anyone incorporate a RDS with their FM broadcasting. and how do you do it?

[ItsMeBobO]

I do it.  But almost no one sees it or mentions it.   I can check its working on my ipod nano radio and my home stereo.  But in cars its not usually on or seen as far as I can tell.  

For each sequence you need to have a windows command set up to send the verbiage you want for that song to a file.  That file is seen and passed to the RDS capable transmitter.    You need to run the TinyRDS software and have another usb to serial/com port dongle just for this communication to the transmitter.  

 

[George Simmons]

And just to be contrary, I feel that RDS is just one more time-wasting activity that simply isn't worth the time, the angst and aggravation, or the added transmitter expense.  If someone is watching their radio instead of your lights, you've got problems that won't be overcome by your viewers knowing what song is playing. 

[ItsMeBobO]

It is mostly a useless waste of time. I agree with George.      As a newbie years ago I bought the extra feature transmitter and I bought the 1602 commercial controllers not knowing they were not needed and that money could be better spent.  Learned a little since then.  For me it is not an aggravation or trouble to set up RDS.   But there is no payback as no one ever notices it.  Sometimes I scroll the song name on a matrix board and that people notice and mention to me.   I suggest you don't do the RDS if you are not already invested in it.  If you still want to do it I will give you some pointers if you need them just to be self contradictory. 

Edited February 27, 2016 by ItsMeBobO

[dgrant]

I use it too and I do get a few comments that people see the music titles on their radios. Its a nice little wow feature but its really not needed.

[Steven]

I did it initially as a hands-on learning opportunity. Now that it's set up and working, it's no trouble to maintain it, so I keep it on.

I think I got about 1 comment in several years saying "neat" or something like that.

[Robert Burton]

Well.....yes and no.

I use this;

http://www.diyledexpress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=21&products_id=192

I do not use it to announce songs. I put text in for my website and Facebook page. I will probably put in one more line to say "Don't block neighbor's drive", but that is it. The one listed above has really nice audio. Take a look at some of the settings in the pictures on the site. It works nicely to adjust the audio so it doesn't clip. Now it does require you to use a separate radio to monitor your audio since it does take control of your audio out. That's ok. That way I can get a true read on what the audio is really sounding like.

Software is free to download. You could see what it looks like. You could scroll up to 12 lines. So yes. If your wanting to convey a message like "Keep your windows up please"... you could. I know there is someway for it to catch the song titles. I haven't bothered to look. 

[EdNetman]

I have this transmitter, it's really nice!

I use it to send show info, like the hours, our Facebook page, and any other special messages we want to convey.

Stuff like, "come back Tuesday at 7pm for our special Polar Express show, Sat at 8 is a Peanuts show. We will be selling hot cocoa for charity."

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[Greg Young]

Like Bob, Steven, and others have posted I have been running RDS for quite a while. I did it as a fun project, incorporating the hardware in my Ramsey 100B.

Wrote batch files to broadcast song information (name and performer), but I agree with the above posts no visitors comment on it.

I wasn't expecting them to, as if they were watching that rather than my display, I would be really concerned!  

I still run it, as there is no maintenance, and to be truthful I had forgotten it is still running....

if you want to incorporate it as a fun project go ahead.

If you are expecting folks to look at it you are going to be disappointed....

Greg

[Greg Young]

10 hours ago, EdNetman said:

Ed, I have a little suggestion.

Be careful when you post/say that you are "selling" something, even if for charity.

You are much safer saying donations are accepted for charity, rather than charging for something ie hot chocolate ,even if 100% of the income is subsequently donated.

There have been lots of posts on this, so I am not going to rehash it here.

Again, just a suggestion, not a criticism. Take it for what it's worth.... 

Greg

I have this transmitter, it's really nice!

 

I use it to send show info, like the hours, our Facebook page, and any other special messages we want to convey.

Stuff like, "come back Tuesday at 7pm for our special Polar Express show, Sat at 8 is a Peanuts show. We will be selling hot cocoa for charity."

 

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[EdNetman]

Good call!

Thanks for the advice.

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