# Re: FM is crap, indeed it is!

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-fm-is-crap-indeed-it-is/217013>\
**Category:** GNU Radio\
**Created:** [February 19, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-fm-is-crap-indeed-it-is/217013 "2012-02-19T18:30:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![luislavena](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/0ea827/32.png) [@luislavena](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/luislavena)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-fm-is-crap-indeed-it-is/217013/1 "2012-02-19T18:30:41Z")

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Hi Marcus,

after your current discovery of the gory details, you might want to  
consider calling the station on it. better yet send them a post card!

They might not even know there is a problem, if you can provide the  
stations manager/engineer a picture of the problem. It’s usually enough  
to  
light a fire under their arse to correct the deficiency. Many stations  
are  
looking for an edge in the market, properly tuned equipment goes a long  
way  
to improving the experience and their bottom line.

Even a 1st gen USRP is worlds more advanced then the diagnostic tools  
available when most radios stations were in their construction stages.

I applaud your efforts to write a better decoder! of the little bit of  
research I have done about RDS and HD radio here in the US. Both are  
phase  
locked and cycle specific to the pilot oscillator.

If you are going to continue your efforts, I am going to ask that you  
Please also write an encoder.

who knows maybe it will lead to better station equipment!

Justin Kelly  
N2TOH

[http://www.sbrac.org/](http://www.sbrac.org/)

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**Author:** ![Justin\_Kelly](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/f1d935/32.png) [@Justin\_Kelly](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Justin_Kelly)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-fm-is-crap-indeed-it-is/217013/2 "2012-02-19T18:35:43Z")

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On 02/19/2012 12:29 PM, Justin Kelly wrote:

> line.
> 
> Even a 1st gen USRP is worlds more advanced then the diagnostic tools  
> available when most radios stations were in their construction stages.  
> Yup, that doesn’t surprise me.

I just sent a quick note to them saying “WTF guys?”.

> I applaud your efforts to write a better decoder! of the little bit of  
> research I have done about RDS and HD radio here in the US. Both are  
> phase locked and cycle specific to the pilot oscillator.

I haven’t looked into it that much yet. There _was_ a gr-rds module  
written a few years back, so maybe I’ll find it and see if I can  
integrate it.

> If you are going to continue your efforts, I am going to ask that you  
> Please also write an encoder.
> 
> who knows maybe it will lead to better station equipment!  
> Hmmm. Maybe. I know that Gnu Radio + UHD + USRP has been used in  
> Europe for production DAB/DAB+ broadcasting in the past  
> year.

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**Author:** ![Justin\_Kelly](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/f1d935/32.png) [@Justin\_Kelly](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Justin_Kelly)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/re-fm-is-crap-indeed-it-is/217013/3 "2012-02-19T18:50:02Z")

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I was playing with the gr-rds module just last week and if I’m not  
mistaken it uses USRP not UHD, so it work until someone gets around to  
updating it.