turkeytop wrote:

Online streaming is no more like real radio than intravenous feeding is like fine dining.

Not so - online streaming on its own simply places stations online. Different delivery truck, for the most part.

Maybe the term 'Radio' is done like dinner or soon will be, but online venues are already massively increasing our choices. I like live 'Audio' content, but even non-live podcasts have strengths other than spontaneity, like depth, or imagination, which are also valuable. There is something magic about turning on a radio and casting one's net to see what comes in. But that's hardly the only magic. Creativity rules!

Saul wrote:

turkeytop wrote:

Online streaming is no more like real radio than intravenous feeding is like fine dining.

Not so - online streaming on its own simply places stations online. Different delivery truck, for the most part.

Maybe the term 'Radio' is done like dinner or soon will be, but online venues are already massively increasing our choices. I like live 'Audio' content, but even non-live podcasts have strengths other than spontaneity, like depth, or imagination, which are also valuable. There is something magic about turning on a radio and casting one's net to see what comes in. But that's hardly the only magic. Creativity rules!

That's like saying intravenous feeding is just another way of delivering the same nourishment.

I'm a radio purist. Online streaming will never be a substitute.
 

Last edited by turkeytop (April 17, 2021 12:01 am)

Streaming will never replace radio. Radio is cheap, It's portable, it doesn't require any special skills to operate and it's free. No subscription required.

That's why radio needs to publicize their apps and make them better.  Radio Player Canada is more buggy with fewer features than any other music app.  There's no rewind function, you can't record, you can't "favorite" songs, you can't access shows on demand, you can't listen to podcasts and you can't build custom playlists.  It's 2021 not 2005.  Let's get with the times.

I have five radios in my apartment and all my listening is done through Tune-in via my Sonos box.

I bought an HD Radio for just this reason - I can get the FM HD signals for 1010 and 680 in my apartment, while the AM band flooded with noise. Ironically, HD Radio also killed WBFO reception when 88.9 decided to put on 4 HD sub-channels!

mojo55 wrote:

Very few young people still listen to radio.  This does not bode well for its future.  Apartment dwellers like myself
cannot receive adequate reception of AM stations, so streaming is the only option.  In Toronto we cannot receive
NPR over the air so streaming is the only option.  Other than Classical 96 and rarely CBC One there is nothing on
local FM that appeals to me, so streaming is the only option.  In the car I listen to Sirius XM all the time. Therefore
I strongly feel that as the years go by, radio’s days are numbered.  My kids aged in their 40s do not have a radio
at home and my grandkids use their phones for music.  
 

I guess I'm old fashioned. I just ordered a new radio off of Amazon and it will be here in the coming days. My old multi-band Sony finally signed off for good a few weeks ago and I've been looking for a replacement ever since. As you can guess by this board's main subject matter, I consume a ton of radio, hours and hours a day, mostly while I'm doing other things, but it does help fill in the gaps. 

I even take one with me when I walk the dog, because, while I love him, frankly, he's not a very good conversationalist. (Although don't get him started on the subject of treats, because he'll never stop!) My new radio is the Sangean ATS-405 multiband model, and while it will never replace the one I just lost, it was the best alternative for my needs. 

The one thing I will never understand about these things is why they insist on having separate memory presets for separate bands. If I want 30 AMs and 3 FMs, I should be able to do that. But no, for some reason I can't figure out, they restrict you to X number on the AM band and X number on FM, and you can't mix and match the presets. Drives me crazy and I know it's possible, because I've owned radios that can do it. They mostly just don't make them anymore. 

By the way, one that does is my portable go-to, and I've bought dozens of them over the years. The Sangean DT-200X (below) not only fits in your pocket, but it's absolutely fantastic on AM DX for something that small. What a great radio if you're looking for a mostly headphones-device that you can take with you anywhere. It's under 70 bucks at most sites.

This place in Toronto has a very good range of products, depending on what you're looking for, and sells it both out of their store and online. Unfortunately, with COVID-induced shortages, there's a lot of stuff out of stock at the moment. Fun to browse through, though.

Radio World

It was a Sony called the ICF-SW7600GR, a pic of which is below. It lasted me about 20 years, but one day - as I was listening to it - the AM band on it suddenly went out. All I could get was what sounded like soft mute. Even local stations couldn't be heard. Nothing. FM was fine, except I rarely listen to FM. 

I took it into the official place that repairs Sony stuff, but was told the motherboard was gone and they don't make them anymore. So its day was very sadly done. I was sorry to see it go. An earlier model, called the ICF-7600D, which I bought on Boxing Day 1980, still works. It's just not as reliable as it used to be and the volume control is a bit wonky. So I wanted to get something new with all the bands - including SW - available. 

I checked eBay for anyone selling the one that quit but people were asking ridiculous prices - one wanted as much as $900! No way was I paying that, especially for a radio I couldn't test out for myself and it's not worth that much in any event. Anyway, I will miss the Sony, but it was great while it lasted. 

They went out of business a few years ago. I used to buy a few things from them and was sorry to see them go, but they said competition from Amazon and the Internet was too much for a small operation and they decided it wasn't worth continuing. Too bad. I miss that place. 

Yes, their prices aren't too bad. It's their current stock that's the problem. Not their fault - the pandemic has slowed orders to a trickle. I tried to buy my new radio from them and I gave them two months(!) to try and get what I wanted. They couldn't. I wanted to buy locally, instead of from Amazon, but I couldn't wait any longer. 

Turns out, Amazon cost me $50 more. But at least they had it in stock and it's coming this week.

I don't hold it against Radio World and I would buy from them again if the need arises. 

There's also this:  https://worldradiomap.com/

 

Radiowiz wrote:

There's also this:  https://worldradiomap.com/

 

Cool that all the HD stations are available. Interesting when I checked out Toronto, WJR was listed. While the station is "listenable" in the GTA with a really superb quality radio, to the average listener... um no.

That Tor Star schedule shows 1490 CKCY which was a Sault Ste Marie AM broadcaster.    Could that be a typo?    No one in Toronto caught a signal from the Sault in '58 (or since).

However the signal of 1490 CKCR Kitchener-Waterloo could be reached (not well) in Toronto and K-W people did subscribe to the Toronto Star in '58/59.   I delivered them daily (no Sunday paper then) and collected monthly.

Last edited by geo (April 19, 2021 10:18 am)