Will RDS ever catch on with US FM radio stations? Much support for it by you?

[LordJezo]

What RDS is.

My new radio has RDS and I must admit, the few stations that actually support it are quite impressive. Only problem is that only a handful of FM stations actually do transmit any data.

It's a shame.. from what I hear it is quite popular in Europe.

I am living in the NYC area so its all I know for now when it comes to RDS support.. is it better elsewhere in the country?

 

[StageLeft]

So you can have the name of a song show up for instance? It seems like a good idea to me. I was wondering the other day if anything will replace FM as the medium of choice. I think RDS sounds just swell!

 

[rh71]

What's RDS ? I use RDS as a remote development service.

 

[LordJezo]

Yeah.. one of the stations I found this morning gave you the ability to scroll through the name of the station, its frequency, the number to dial up the station.

Still havent found one that will show the name of the song though..

As for replacing FM, well, its more of an upgrade then a replacement as it works along side current FM stations

 

[bunker]

I've got RDS in my truck as well. I think there's about 6 or 7 stations here in Atlanta that support it.

Not much use for it unless you're in an unfamiliar area. I think the best feature, which I haven't seen in use anywhere, is the part where it can alert you to traffic/emergency situations up ahead.

 

[Nemesis77]

The main benefit of RDS (IMO) is that in here, you have nationwide radio-stations, but their frequancy can change as you go through the country. With regural FM that would mean that the reception would get poorer and poorer, untill you re-tune the radio to pick the channel up on a stronger frequency. With RDS you don't have to do that, it does it automatically.

 

[slackerinabox]

My denon micro-stereo system has RDS but I think only 3 station in NYC support it.. It's a nice feature but not terribly useful in my opinion..... The good thing is that satellite radio has similar features for every station.. Just hope it catches on...

 

[B00ne]

RDS does more than just transmit Data, it also searches tzhe frequencies and changes them dynamically so that u always get the best perception for the station you are hearing

Or it can automatically Program your Radio to the stations available in the Area

It aslo works together with Navigation systems for traffic jam information, so that your navigation can calculate a route around it before you are caught in it
and dunno what else

So you guys didnt have that? I thaught RDS is like quite old >10yrs (the basic stuff anyway - like radio station name and song titles and so)

 

[LordJezo]

Originally posted by: B00ne
So you guys didnt have that? I thaught RDS is like quite old >10yrs (the basic stuff anyway - like radio station name and song titles and so)

Nope. I know it's been in Europe for quite some time, like you mentioned, but it is just being made available here in the US.

 

[B00ne]

Then dont worry, since all radios have it soon Radio stations will have it too. especially once they realize that RDS keeps u tuned to a specific station no matter of the freq they are broadcasting on ( off course only applies to big (nationwide) stations)

 

My parents' Jeep Liberty has an RDS stereo in it. At first I was really into it, but since they're total gadget-phobes, it obviously hasn't been of much use to any of us.

 

[B00ne]

I wouldnt call it a gadget, you dont really notice it and it wont revolutionize your life, it works in the background and u dont have to do, understand or adjust anything, it just makes driving easier and keeps you concentrated on the road instead of your radio

 

Originally posted by: B00ne
I wouldnt call it a gadget, you dont really notice it and it wont revolutionize your life, it works in the background and u dont have to do, understand or adjust anything, it just makes driving easier and keeps you concentrated on the road instead of your radio

Yeah, but I've tried explaining to them how it works, but they don't care. My dad only listens to AM radio (WJR 760) and my mom doesn't listen to music in the car.

 

[jhu]

i sure don't want respiratory distress syndrome from my radio.