Futility of Owning an FM Tuner in India With So Few FM Radio Stations

[wlg]

Hi
In mumbai we have plenty of FM stations, 107.1 is great for western music, good RJ's expecially Vinod Advani, or try our local 90.8 from Pali Hill.

 

[Sanjay Khanna]

During the years I was based in London, I had a wonderful experience of listening to FM Radio in the morning and all day long each day. There were so many good Radio Stations and a great variety of music to choose from: Classical, Jazz, Rock...great RJs....no nonsense. I had a Sony tuner connected to my Marantz amp and Tannoy speakers....and faultless stereo music all day long. On my Aiwa cassette deck I could record any tarcks that I liked and build a decent collection of music.

Sadly nothing like that in India....

True ...but now there is.I do exactly the same thing, but use an Internet Radio Adapter,connected to the System.I have steadily built up my collection of music via Sony TC 161 and Onkyo cassette decks.All Analogue .... don't trust digital.Cheers.

 

[baijuxavior]

True ...but now there is.I do exactly the same thing, but use an Internet Radio Adapter,connected to the System.I have steadily built up my collection of music via Sony TC 161 and Onkyo cassette decks.All Analogue .... don't trust digital.Cheers.

Are you recording from Internet radio channels and still saying don't trust digital?

 

[gobble]

Are you recording from Internet radio channels and still saying don't trust digital?

All Radio stations have a PC with a substandard DAC somewhere in the chain - converting to analog before pushing it on the Air hyeah:

--G0bble

 

[issigonis]

Some perspectives before horses aspire to get higher and tempers flare:

FM radio is now in the same stage of development and maturity as TV was in the late 80s.

Every FM station plays bollywood (or whatever 'wood is the flavour in that particular geography). So they are all "GECs" in a sense. There are rare exceptions - I can think of Chennai Live 104.8 (as mentioned by Capt Rajesh) who play only English-language music and their jocks also talk only in English. Another one used to be Meow 104.8 (now re-christened Oye) who were a talk show station. I guess it didn't work out for them so they are now playing music like any other FM station. Film music is king in India. Other genres like various flavours of classical, non-Filmy popular songs, etc are very, very niche and don't get airplay, unless it is being pushed by a big label with money to burn. Ask yourself when was the last time a non-filmy album released in your language?

There is one reason, and only one reason, why there are a limited number of FM stations in India - the policy of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. They have limited the number of FM licenses as per category of city (the four A+ metros are 8 or 9 stations, A are typically 5-6, etc). But seeing how poorly FM stations are performing in terms of commercial success and viability, it is probably a good thing that not too many licenses were issued per city. Will the recently announced Phase III of FM radio licensing change things for the listener? Not really, IMHO, because the only concession in Phase III is allowing one broadcaster to own two channels in the same city, provided the ownership of this broadcaster is below 40% of total number of broadcasters in that city. That rules out all B, C and D cities and leaves only A and A+ cities. Will a broadcaster owning two stations in a metro start diversifying content? I don't know and only time will tell.

FM licenses clearly state that the signal will be unencrypted and free to air, so the broadcaster has to get his sustenance from commercials. So expecting ad-free broadcast on commercial FM radio in India is asking for too much. A broadcaster has to make money, too.

Is the content on Indian FM stations, especially the radio jockey talks, pure and unadulterated crap as some members like to think? Well, that's something each listener has to decide for themselves and I will refrain from raking up more muck in an already messy field.

>>>

Josh,

How do you do?

Please consider my infantile (and stupid) questions :

1. Earlier we could catch not only our local radio station but also (if you were living in a small town in North India say), Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi, Radio Ceylon, Calcutta, Gauhati, BBC, VOA, and quite a few other international stations such as Dacca, Karachi, Germany and so on. Why not now?

2. Are there any radio stations/channels which broadcast the following genres of music : Hindustani Classical ( both vocal & instrumental), Carnatic, Western Classical, Jazz? If so can you please name them?

3. If your answer to Q#2 is encouraging, then what kind of radio receiver should I consider? I am sick of seeing those puny FM players advertised in Croma and other websites. Don't we have proper radios with both AM, MW & FM anymore? What if I want to tune into BBC or AIR Delhi or Baroda or Calcutta?

Thank you.

issigonis

P.S : Sanjay Raut is still holding on to my Philips turntable, trying to source the component from wherever he can find it, to make it work perfectly. Hope to see you soon!

 

[jls001]

>>>

Josh,

How do you do?

Please consider my infantile (and stupid) questions :

1. Earlier we could catch not only our local radio station but also (if you were living in a small town in North India say), Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi, Radio Ceylon, Calcutta, Gauhati, BBC, VOA, and quite a few other international stations such as Dacca, Karachi, Germany and so on. Why not now?

2. Are there any radio stations/channels which broadcast the following genres of music : Hindustani Classical ( both vocal & instrumental), Carnatic, Western Classical, Jazz? If so can you please name them?

3. If your answer to Q#2 is encouraging, then what kind of radio receiver should I consider? I am sick of seeing those puny FM players advertised in Croma and other websites. Don't we have proper radios with both AM, MW & FM anymore? What if I want to tune into BBC or AIR Delhi or Baroda or Calcutta?

Thank you.

issigonis

P.S : Sanjay Raut is still holding on to my Philips turntable, trying to source the component from wherever he can find it, to make it work perfectly. Hope to see you soon!

Long time no hear! Hope all's well.

1. Those stations you used to listen to are AM (amplitude modulation) stations with transmitter powers running into megawatts. You would get them on MW or one of the SW bands. The principle of AM radio transmission is very different from FM radio transmission. AM uses the tropospheric layer of the atmosphere which is charged with ions to reflect the transmitted signal back to earth. The earth's surface reflects it back, and so on, and the radio wave can travel really long distances. So one could hear Radio Moscow, or Voice of America from Washington DC (BTW, I used to tune to Billboard Top 20 on Saturday mornings at 6:20 AM when I was a kid), or Radio Ceylon. The caveat is that AM radio doesn't use much bandwidth and therefore its quality is inherently low. And it is hardly immune to interferences from atmospheric disturbances.

In contrast, FM frequency stretches from 88 to 108 MHz, and travels only as far as line of sight can carry it. It won't get reflected off the troposphere. If there is a tall hill between a tuner and the transmitting station, there is no way of getting a reception. This is same as terrestrial TV transmission. A typical distance for a 50 kW transmitter in the four major metros is 60 kms radius. That's the highest power allowed for FM transmission in India. I know for a fact that Delhi FM stations can be heard to 150 kms, owing to the plain topography surrounding it. The advantage of FM is that the audio quality is designed from the ground up to be CD grade, or near-CD quality. That most stations manage to make it sound bad is another story.

2. I don't know about Radio Ceylon and other foreign stations, but AIR and Vividh Bharti continue to broadcast a well-variegated program on AM, excluding western classical or Jazz, but definitely including light Indian classical, hardcore Indian (Hindustani/Carnatic) classical. And Prasar Bharati has been issuing back catalogs from their archives.

3. I am not aware of any new, audiophile tuners in the market. But you can't really go wrong with 70s and 80s era tuners you can easily pick up from Chor Bazar. Do test it, though.

With Sanjay Raut not treating you well, it is time to upgrade to that SME TT!

 

[issigonis]

Josh,

Thank you.
Just got back after a long assignment.
Have kept the SME on the back burner because of the high total cost.
Am considering Scheu.

Also I think Roberts is a World radio manufacturer which I am trying to explore.

Let's meet soon. Sprucegoose is our mutual friend.
Regards

 

[TheSeeker]

For me simply Vividh Bharati is worth it. All new radio channels have RJs that screech into the microphone with a sense of unrest in their rotten cores.

--G0bble

My horse is higher than yours. Get used to it hyeah:

What I hear is what I believe the RJ to be. It takes a broken record to sound like a broken record. I have no use for your analysis about what they are really like in person. If you compare the respectful quiet and measured quality of dialogue one hears on AIR to what these monkeys sound like on the air, you will know intrinsically without any need for further argument. There is no point claiming they are compelled to talk like that.

Your experience in real life with these people has nothing to do with my opinion as a listener of the voice that comes over the radio waves. It is implicit from the post that the poster is conveying his subjective impression of what he "sees" and hears on the radio waves, not a psychometric analysis of all RJs in this country. If you want to put on aggrieved tone and play offended its your time wasted not mine.

Perhaps your post needs to be moderated more than mine?

--G0bble

old posts for sure, but nonetheless, a breather ! i always wondered whether its only me who feels this repulsion, but, nein

 

[anuragn]

NAD tuners are supposed to be one of the best in terms of reception. You may try ebay for getting a vintage NAD tuner.

 

[Rabepobemababe]

The news item that appeared in today's English Dailies:

The government expects to generate Rs.500 crore from the first tranche of the Phase-III auction of FM radio frequencies, slated to be completed by the end of the year, a top official said Tuesday.

"They (ministry of finance) have given us the estimates for the first phase, which is at Rs.500 crore," Information and Broadcasting Secretary Uday Kumar Verma told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

"We will complete the first phase by the end of this year."

According to Verma, the total revenue generation expected out of the three phases stand at Rs.1,500 crore.

Up to May 31, 2011, the government had generated around Rs.1,733 crore through the auctions of phase I and II, which included one time entry fee, migration fee and annual fee.

The phase III auctions would extend FM radio station services to 227 new cities, resulting in coverage of all cities that have a population of around one lakh or above.

Currently, phase I and II auctions cover 86 cities.

The government has proposed to raise non-tax revenue of around Rs.1,600 crore from the auction of FM phase III in the union budget presented in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on March 16 last.

So, we can expect more FM stations in the near future, and hopefully better content.

 

[gobble]

>>>


3. If your answer to Q#2 is encouraging, then what kind of radio receiver should I consider? I am sick of seeing those puny FM players advertised in Croma and other websites. Don't we have proper radios with both AM, MW & FM anymore?

How does this one perform?

Denon TU-1510AE tuner. I am tempted to get one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3xTZheA_YU

Denon TU-1510AE AM/FM Tuner

--G0bble

 

[audio_passionate]

Is there any Utility of Owning an FM Tuner in India With So Few FM Radio Staions?

With so few FM Radio Stations catering to most Indian cities, except may be the Metroes where there might be 4 to 5 each, is it worthwhile to invest in a Tuner? It must be futile to buy one.

Views from those who own one and even those who do not welcome.

Dear Audio Slave
You may be right as per your thinking and some other reasons. But I personally feel that in India, I m not talking of Mertro's only , if radio has become popular again its all due to better quality of F.M. Stations. And medium and small cities have now F. M. staions. I live in a small city Karnal ( Haryana)and there are 2 local private F.M. Stations and with the help of a antenna at some height wirh a good signal cable, I receive appx 8 FM stations of Delhi which is 125 km from my place and 5 to 8 stations from other cities. And you know why I m so interested in this and telling you because I have a Sansui Vintage tuner TU-317 and with the help of a good stereo integrated amp and a pair of Florestanding speakers I enjoy the almost C.D . like quality. this is all due to uncompressed transmission. So it depends upon you whether you like to listen this kind of music or just mp3, internet radio. And after 3rd phase of FM radio expansion, many other small cities of India will have private fm stations. At last it is great utility for me owning a serious standalone FM tuner. Cheers !
Thanks
Ashutosh Kumar

 

[ranjeetrain]

Is there any Utility of Owning an FM Tuner in India With So Few FM Radio Staions?

With so few FM Radio Stations catering to most Indian cities, except may be the Metroes where there might be 4 to 5 each, is it worthwhile to invest in a Tuner? It must be futile to buy one.

Views from those who own one and even those who do not welcome.

If you ask me, YES, there is. FM stations are increasing day-by-day. You may be surprised to know that India is a country with one of the maximum penetration of radio stations. Call it the "Raj" effect, but many Asian countries simply don't know about it.

About the programming: It's a capitalist world. You will see the traces of commercialization everywhere. That doesn't mean there is an absolute lack of good programming on radio. Radio still the ability to connect to people in a better way the than the content played at home.

Think of having a DJ at your home who senses your pulse and plays the tunes that your heart and soul will appreciate without you having to move a finger! A good RJ is that person. He connects with his audience in a invisible way, just by the means of electromagnetic waves. And that is a very powerful connection.

Listening to a good program on radio is 10 folds better than selecting and cueing your music yourself.

 

[anuragn]

Listening to a good program on radio is 10 folds better than selecting and cueing your music yourself.

+1
The charm of radio is the surprise element which you can never achieve in playing your own collection.
When you play your own music, the realisation that you have the power to change the song (i.e. rewind, fast forward or change a track) spoils the fun. Just like getting to know the end of a suspense movie beforehand.

 

[reubensm]

We have 6 FM stations in Trivandrum and I receive 2 additional FM stations with great quality from Nagercoil (these are based out of Tirunelvelli). So that's a total of 8. Additionally, I also pick up 3 stations from the Srilanka Broadcasting Corporation (very weak). All this with a 1 metre piece of wire connected to my NAD 402 tuner. Am going to do a bit of experimentation with external antennae once I move to my new house (and can find the time). Btw, I could have received 2 more stations from Tirunelvelli, however unfortunatebly they use the same frequency as Red FM and Big FM, hence I can only listen to these once the local ones switch off transmission for the day, after about 2am in the morning.

 

[Rabepobemababe]

In my humble opinion, the sound quality of AIR FM Rainbow is consistently good compared to all other FM stations. Their RJs, particularly the ones who do the western music shows, have always been highly knowledgeble, and seem do it for the love of it than anything else. I have been following AIR's FM programme content from the time I was a student during the 1980s.

RJ Subhadra has cult following amongst the lovers of rock music, and has inspired rock bands in the mofussil towns of India. Her show on rock music ("Live Wire") is extremely popular. Another RJ, Meenakshi Rani, who is a Supreme Court lawyer, humour columinist, tarot card reader etc., can hold the audience enthralled during her Western Classical Music and Jazz ("All That Jazz") shows. Other ones, like RJ Satan, RJ Danish, RJ Sunaina, RJ Rashmi (now got married and left) have also been great entertainers, and are very good at what they do. AIR FM Rainbow has a whacky midnight western music show that runs till the early hours called, "The Wicked Hour". Though it enjoys lesser number of audience than the 10 p.m. slot due to its odd timing, it features uniterrupted western music in high quality sound. If you are having one of those late night shifts in your work place, "The Wicket Hour" is your true companion. It is also a good time to test the fidelity of your FM tuner / receiver.

I also like the Hindi programme content on AIR FM Rainbow and Vividh Bharti compared to the private FM stations, but feel that the quality has gone down over the years.

I wrote several times to the bosses at AIR FM Rainbow to have web-pages on their site with their programme-schedules, and the biodata of their RJs. But they are hardly bothered. Unlike the private FM stations whose RJs interact online with their audience, babu-log of AIR FM Rainbow hardly seem to bother about their RJs. Despite all these odds, AIR FM Rainbow RJs still manage to put up a good show.

 

[Boomslang]

Don't you guys feel radio is a dying medium anyway?

 

[jls001]

I heard this song on FM (Radio One, Mumbai) on the way to work this morning, and was flooded with old memories:

Billy Idol - "Rebel Yell" - YouTube

And I heard this last Sunday on the same channel around midnight:

Motley Crue- Girls Girls Girls (Official Music Video) - YouTube

Radio is alive and well. There is quite a bit of competition amongst private FM stations, and that is a good thing for the listener. But it will be a better thing if they stopped playing exactly the same type of music and also stop running the same type of shows.

 

[sumeshj]

Having been an avid radio listener since my school days, I have always been searching for a good way to listen to good radio music since a long time. FM showed a lot of promise when it came along 15 years ago, but the content that gets served on it today caters mostly to the rickshaw-wala crowd and rarely does one get to hear something good on it.

Over the past year or so I have completely switched over from listening FM to listening to Internet Radio. Agreed you need to get new hardware to set it up, but now with the flood of smartphones in the market it has become really easy for everyone to get on to Internet Radio. And 3G plans have become reasonably cheap that you can use it in the car too.

At home I have an Android tablet (with USB host capability) that I have connected to a USB DAC and I get awesome music on this setup. Android (and iPhone as well) has some very good radio apps (TuneIn Radio, Sky.FM, Saavn) and Pandora also if you can manage to make it work here in India. On the go I play the same apps on my phone and listen to it using Bluetooth on my car stereo.

For anyone wanting to listen to quality radio music I would highly recommend giving Internet Radio a try. I am sure you wouldn't turn back to FM, there are literally thousands of stations to choose from, covering any and every genre! While it may seem a bit geeky to set up, its very easy actually, especially if you have a laptop or an Android or Apple smartphone.

 

[gobble]

Don't you guys feel radio is a dying medium anyway?

Internet radio would typically be 128kbps stream correct? Which Internet radio channel exists for Carnatic music?

--G0bble