I'm looking for either a PC card radio receiver or an external FM
receiver which can be connected to the computer in order to process
the RDS data, specially the station ID.

I'm involved in a project for automatic detection of propagation
conditions on the VHF bands and what I need is a receiver that can be
fully controlled by the computer, scanning continuosly, identifying
the stations received, and logging them in a database for later
analysis.

I'm a software developer, so I'll make any required programming in the
PC, but the problem is I can't find any reference to a receiver which
fits my needs (interface with PC and RDS compatible). Can someone help
me?

Thanks. Gabriel.

www.vhfdx.net

One partial solution is the "RDS Manager" sold by the German electronics
(etc) retailer Conrad. They also are mail-order - but refuse to sell in the
USA or Canada. The "RDS Manager" can easily be modified to output to your
computer. There's free software on the Web to interpret the output string.
The unit cost around $25 plus wall-wart power supply. The unit has an LCD
as its normal output.

It obtained input from the normal audio output of your radio. Enough RDS
signal leaks out of the audio output to allow the RDS Manager to work. No
receiver mods required in most cases.

Now the down side. It is no longer available. Apparently so many European
radios incorporate RDS that the market dried up.

I suspect that a dozen or more units were privately imported into the USA. I
personally know of two, and have heard of a third.

As for the radio itself, you could do worse than buying the ICOM. I forget
whether the WinRadio covers VHF.

You didn't say whether you are in North America or Europe. RDS is
widespread in Europe, but rare in the USA. There is, however, renewed
interest in R(B)DS on the part of US broadcasters.

73 de bob w3otc


"Gabriel" wrote in message
om...
I'm looking for either a PC card radio receiver or an external FM
receiver which can be connected to the computer in order to process
the RDS data, specially the station ID.

I'm involved in a project for automatic detection of propagation
conditions on the VHF bands and what I need is a receiver that can be
fully controlled by the computer, scanning continuosly, identifying
the stations received, and logging them in a database for later
analysis.

That`s it.
http://www.rds.org.uk/rdsfnews13.html
http://www.rds.org.uk/rdsfnews16.html
By the way: do You have 800 $ ;-)

"Gabriel" wrote in message
om...
I'm looking for either a PC card radio receiver or an external FM
receiver which can be connected to the computer in order to process
the RDS data, specially the station ID.

I'm involved in a project for automatic detection of propagation
conditions on the VHF bands and what I need is a receiver that can be
fully controlled by the computer, scanning continuosly, identifying
the stations received, and logging them in a database for later
analysis.

I'm a software developer, so I'll make any required programming in the
PC, but the problem is I can't find any reference to a receiver which
fits my needs (interface with PC and RDS compatible). Can someone help
me?

Thanks. Gabriel.

www.vhfdx.net

R J Carpenter wrote:
One partial solution is the "RDS Manager" sold by the German electronics
(etc) retailer Conrad. They also are mail-order - but refuse to sell in the
...
I suspect that a dozen or more units were privately imported into the USA. I
personally know of two, and have heard of a third.

I have one.

You didn't say whether you are in North America or Europe. RDS is
widespread in Europe, but rare in the USA. There is, however, renewed
interest in R(B)DS on the part of US broadcasters.

This is an important point. Of 30 stations strong enough to deliver RDS
at my location, only six actually have the encoder.

====

You're going to have to go with a communications receiver for the radio;
I don't know of any consumer FM radios that are PC-controllable.

If you're comfortable with hardware modification you could provide
external contact closures to tune a consumer radio up & down the band
one step at a time.
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com

Thanks for the help,

It seems that I will have to look for a second hand Conrad RDS
manager, o build some RDS decoder myself. I expected something
already available comercially so that I could concentrate my efforts
on the analysis software. I have some experience controlling Yaesu,
Icom and Kenwood radios via CAT (RS-232) interface, so I expected to
find some receiver that also could deliver the RDS data in a similar
way.

The only device I have found that fits my requirements is a
professional receiver that can be controlled via USB, but its price
(999 GBP) is too high for my amateur budget. Just for your
information, in case you want to have a look to it, the URL is
http://tinyurl.com/3x5el

By the way, I'm in Balearic Islands.

73. Gabriel - EA6VQ
www.vhfdx.net





Doug Smith W9WI wrote in message ...
R J Carpenter wrote:
One partial solution is the "RDS Manager" sold by the German electronics
(etc) retailer Conrad. They also are mail-order - but refuse to sell in the
...
I suspect that a dozen or more units were privately imported into the USA. I
personally know of two, and have heard of a third.

I have one.

You didn't say whether you are in North America or Europe. RDS is
widespread in Europe, but rare in the USA. There is, however, renewed
interest in R(B)DS on the part of US broadcasters.

This is an important point. Of 30 stations strong enough to deliver RDS
at my location, only six actually have the encoder.

====

You're going to have to go with a communications receiver for the radio;
I don't know of any consumer FM radios that are PC-controllable.

If you're comfortable with hardware modification you could provide
external contact closures to tune a consumer radio up & down the band
one step at a time.

On 8 Jun 2004 03:13:38 -0700, (Gabriel) wrote:


By the way, I'm in Balearic Islands.


LOL, Gabriel!

I would have killed for a contact with you in '90 or '91, when I
was actively DXing. I don't think I even *heard* a station from the
Balearics back then, much less worked one.

I don't suppose I'd get much mileage from a Usenet contact with an
EA6 - just isn't the same. But just in case it counts some day,
here's...

EA6VQ DE AB9B 5NN SEATTLE SEATTLE TU 73 dit dit g

Good luck with your RDS project. I know little about the subject,
but I've been following your thread with great interest.

Very 73,

Tom