| Antenna |
the big poles on the library roof that puts the RF out to the world. There’s one for FM and one for DAB. Actually, there’s a tiny third one too, for the GPS system used for DAB frequency and timing synchronisation. |
| Clocking |
in this context, it’s about keeping the two DAB transmitters in the SFN in sync, so if you sit between them and pick up signals from both, your receiver can still decode it, and it’s not a garbled mess. (Normally in URY, clocking refers to sampling audio to turn it digital (i.e. with Dante), and keeping the different devices sampling at exactly the same rate, instead of all drifting slightly off 48kHz, which causes clicking and audio dropouts) |
| Feeders |
the cables connecting the transmitters and the antennas |
| Multiplex |
All the stations on York SSDAB send their audio to the multiplexer (a server hosted by MuxNet), where they all get combined into one digital signal to be transmitted together. When it is received, it gets demultiplexed, so you can listen to any of the stations. |
| MuxNet |
the company who installed the DAB equipment, and manage the multiplex technically |
| RDS (Radio Data System) |
Digital data broadcast alongside the audio feed on FM |
| RF |
Radio Frequency, the zappy zappy radio waves that your radio picks up |
| SFN |
Single Frequency Network, using multiple transmitters on the same frequency to broadcast to a wider area (like we do with York SSDAB, we have one transmitter, the other is at the hospital) |
| SSDAB |
Small Scale DAB (what we’re part of, covers the city). The next level up is regional, such as North Yorkshire (which is where BBC Radio York is carried), and then there are three national DAB multiplexes, where BBC Radio 1, 2, etc. are found. |
| Transmitters |
the equipment in the library cupboard that produce the RF |