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Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 19th, 2016, 4:57 pm
by spotify95
We haven't got a thread about this, though I have thought about it previously and I have mentioned it on this site.

What are your experiences with picking up radio signals in trains?

This is interesting because some people may prefer to use FM radio (or DAB/AM) instead of streaming media through a mobile connection, particularly if on a limited data connection.

The question is, is it possible to listen to FM (or any type) of radio signals on a train? It may be a great idea to see how far signals can travel, but then again, some types of trains block out RF signals quite nicely...

Further, I'll be conducting a few tests in the coming days, to see how FM radio performance is on board Class 43 and Class 222 trains. Stay tuned for the tests and results!

EDIT:

Both of the videos have been uploaded, you can find them here:

British Rail Class 43: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijCu525QSZ8

British Rail Class 222: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTWVGJ8AI3M


Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 19th, 2016, 5:20 pm
by pinkteddyx64
spotify95 wrote:We haven't got a thread about this, though I have thought about it previously and I have mentioned it on this site.

What are your experiences with picking up radio signals in trains?

This is interesting because some people may prefer to use FM radio (or DAB/AM) instead of streaming media through a mobile connection, particularly if on a limited data connection.

The question is, is it possible to listen to FM (or any type) of radio signals on a train? It may be a great idea to see how far signals can travel, but then again, some types of trains block out RF signals quite nicely...

Further, I'll be conducting a few tests in the coming days, to see how FM radio performance is on board Class 43 and Class 222 trains. Stay tuned for the tests and results!

To be honest I've never actually tried it yet. :)

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 19th, 2016, 6:59 pm
by Zak
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
spotify95 wrote:We haven't got a thread about this, though I have thought about it previously and I have mentioned it on this site.

What are your experiences with picking up radio signals in trains?

This is interesting because some people may prefer to use FM radio (or DAB/AM) instead of streaming media through a mobile connection, particularly if on a limited data connection.

The question is, is it possible to listen to FM (or any type) of radio signals on a train? It may be a great idea to see how far signals can travel, but then again, some types of trains block out RF signals quite nicely...

Further, I'll be conducting a few tests in the coming days, to see how FM radio performance is on board Class 43 and Class 222 trains. Stay tuned for the tests and results!

To be honest I've never actually tried it yet. :)

Don't use em myself but surely it will be the faraday cage effect, well partially then. A metal struture with a small area of glass will be sure to null radio waves. better
off with something that's been recorded/downloaded to an MP3 player and use that to play back on your travels I would say :)

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 19th, 2016, 7:19 pm
by spotify95
Zak wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
spotify95 wrote:We haven't got a thread about this, though I have thought about it previously and I have mentioned it on this site.

What are your experiences with picking up radio signals in trains?

This is interesting because some people may prefer to use FM radio (or DAB/AM) instead of streaming media through a mobile connection, particularly if on a limited data connection.

The question is, is it possible to listen to FM (or any type) of radio signals on a train? It may be a great idea to see how far signals can travel, but then again, some types of trains block out RF signals quite nicely...

Further, I'll be conducting a few tests in the coming days, to see how FM radio performance is on board Class 43 and Class 222 trains. Stay tuned for the tests and results!

To be honest I've never actually tried it yet. :)

Don't use em myself but surely it will be the faraday cage effect, well partially then. A metal struture with a small area of glass will be sure to null radio waves. better
off with something that's been recorded/downloaded to an MP3 player and use that to play back on your travels I would say :)


The modern trains are certainly a faraday cage; they have metal film in the windows, which nicely block out pretty much any signal (including 3G and 4G!) - however, the older style trains do not have metal in the windows - so although the train is made up of a lot of metal, the signals can enter through the windows and can give me at least something to listen to.

For example, on the morning journey, I get the 07:46 train from Wellingborough, which happens to be an older style train (BR Class 43). These have nice large windows and no metal film, so I can get a continuous EE 3G signal from Wellingborough to Leicester. On the way back, the only trains that stop at Wellingborough are BR Class 222 trains, and these are full of metal windows. Trying to pick up any type of 3G is pretty much impossible unless you can actually see the mast!

And unfortunately East Mids Trains charge for Wifi in Standard Class so that's not an option either :(

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 23rd, 2016, 9:53 pm
by spotify95
Well well wel... An update on the situation.

I have just wasted an evening's worth of time and over 2.5GB of data!

Due to a copyright claim, the video of the FM Radio Test that I was going to upload, will have to be put on hold whilst I figure out a way to get round the copyright claim system. The one track that led to the whole thing being muted, was in fact, a Taylor Swift song that aired on one of the radio stations!

And my opinion of T.S. before this was bad enough... I have just about had it!

I shall never pay Taylor Swift a single penny ever again!

As for the video, it'll be up again before you know it! Hopefully I can upload the thing at DMU as their upload connections are better than at here.

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 23rd, 2016, 10:58 pm
by pinkteddyx64
spotify95 wrote:Well well wel... An update on the situation.
I have just wasted an evening's worth of time and over 2.5GB of data!

Due to a copyright claim, the video of the FM Radio Test that I was going to upload, will have to be put on hold whilst I figure out a way to get round the copyright claim system. The one track that led to the whole thing being muted, was in fact, a Taylor Swift song that aired on one of the radio stations!

And my opinion of T.S. before this was bad enough... I have just about had it!

I shall never pay Taylor Swift a single penny ever again!

As for the video, it'll be up again before you know it! Hopefully I can upload the thing at DMU as their upload connections are better than at here.

Now you kind of know how tobiasazt feels about wasted time and data over those CTAM posts! :yep:

You haven't deleted the upload yet have you? It's just that there is a way of disputing the copyright claim by copying and pasting something into the dispute form that I'll show you later.

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 23rd, 2016, 11:43 pm
by spotify95
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
spotify95 wrote:Well well wel... An update on the situation.
I have just wasted an evening's worth of time and over 2.5GB of data!

Due to a copyright claim, the video of the FM Radio Test that I was going to upload, will have to be put on hold whilst I figure out a way to get round the copyright claim system. The one track that led to the whole thing being muted, was in fact, a Taylor Swift song that aired on one of the radio stations!

And my opinion of T.S. before this was bad enough... I have just about had it!

I shall never pay Taylor Swift a single penny ever again!

As for the video, it'll be up again before you know it! Hopefully I can upload the thing at DMU as their upload connections are better than at here.

Now you kind of know how tobiasazt feels about wasted time and data over those CTAM posts! :yep:

You haven't deleted the upload yet have you? It's just that there is a way of disputing the copyright claim by copying and pasting something into the dispute form that I'll show you later.


Yes I have! :( However, I will re-upload it :yep:

Please show me though, because if my slight video modification doesn't work (which I will not post about on the public forum), then I'll need the dispute thing. Do you have success with the dispute? Because I am concerned that it might end up in a copyright strike, and possibly a Youtube ban! (I'll have to make a new channel for this video!)

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 23rd, 2016, 11:52 pm
by pinkteddyx64
spotify95 wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
spotify95 wrote:Well well wel... An update on the situation.
I have just wasted an evening's worth of time and over 2.5GB of data!

Due to a copyright claim, the video of the FM Radio Test that I was going to upload, will have to be put on hold whilst I figure out a way to get round the copyright claim system. The one track that led to the whole thing being muted, was in fact, a Taylor Swift song that aired on one of the radio stations!

And my opinion of T.S. before this was bad enough... I have just about had it!

I shall never pay Taylor Swift a single penny ever again!

As for the video, it'll be up again before you know it! Hopefully I can upload the thing at DMU as their upload connections are better than at here.

Now you kind of know how tobiasazt feels about wasted time and data over those CTAM posts! :yep:

You haven't deleted the upload yet have you? It's just that there is a way of disputing the copyright claim by copying and pasting something into the dispute form that I'll show you later.


Yes I have! :( However, I will re-upload it :yep:

Please show me though, because if my slight video modification doesn't work (which I will not post about on the public forum), then I'll need the dispute thing. Do you have success with the dispute? Because I am concerned that it might end up in a copyright strike, and possibly a Youtube ban! (I'll have to make a new channel for this video!)

Yes I do have success with the dispute.

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 24th, 2016, 11:11 am
by spotify95
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
spotify95 wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
spotify95 wrote:Well well wel... An update on the situation.
I have just wasted an evening's worth of time and over 2.5GB of data!

Due to a copyright claim, the video of the FM Radio Test that I was going to upload, will have to be put on hold whilst I figure out a way to get round the copyright claim system. The one track that led to the whole thing being muted, was in fact, a Taylor Swift song that aired on one of the radio stations!

And my opinion of T.S. before this was bad enough... I have just about had it!

I shall never pay Taylor Swift a single penny ever again!

As for the video, it'll be up again before you know it! Hopefully I can upload the thing at DMU as their upload connections are better than at here.

Now you kind of know how tobiasazt feels about wasted time and data over those CTAM posts! :yep:

You haven't deleted the upload yet have you? It's just that there is a way of disputing the copyright claim by copying and pasting something into the dispute form that I'll show you later.


Yes I have! :( However, I will re-upload it :yep:

Please show me though, because if my slight video modification doesn't work (which I will not post about on the public forum), then I'll need the dispute thing. Do you have success with the dispute? Because I am concerned that it might end up in a copyright strike, and possibly a Youtube ban! (I'll have to make a new channel for this video!)

Yes I do have success with the dispute.

Ok, in which case please can you let me know how to dispute it then? Make it in a different thread in the private area :yep:

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 24th, 2016, 2:32 pm
by lucozadesp0rt
spotify95 wrote:Well well wel... An update on the situation.

I have just wasted an evening's worth of time and over 2.5GB of data!

Due to a copyright claim, the video of the FM Radio Test that I was going to upload, will have to be put on hold whilst I figure out a way to get round the copyright claim system. The one track that led to the whole thing being muted, was in fact, a Taylor Swift song that aired on one of the radio stations!

And my opinion of T.S. before this was bad enough... I have just about had it!

I shall never pay Taylor Swift a single penny ever again!

As for the video, it'll be up again before you know it! Hopefully I can upload the thing at DMU as their upload connections are better than at here.

Have you tried a pitch shift? You can sometimes get away with copyright if you just tune the whole audio up or down a bit, usually by a few cents/semioctaves

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 24th, 2016, 3:02 pm
by spotify95
coleslaw wrote:
spotify95 wrote:Well well wel... An update on the situation.

I have just wasted an evening's worth of time and over 2.5GB of data!

Due to a copyright claim, the video of the FM Radio Test that I was going to upload, will have to be put on hold whilst I figure out a way to get round the copyright claim system. The one track that led to the whole thing being muted, was in fact, a Taylor Swift song that aired on one of the radio stations!

And my opinion of T.S. before this was bad enough... I have just about had it!

I shall never pay Taylor Swift a single penny ever again!

As for the video, it'll be up again before you know it! Hopefully I can upload the thing at DMU as their upload connections are better than at here.

Have you tried a pitch shift? You can sometimes get away with copyright if you just tune the whole audio up or down a bit, usually by a few cents/semioctaves

I've had a look and that's what I'm going to do. Slightly alter the pitch for all songs (including the TS one), so that no content id matches appear and thus the audio is not muted.

I don't really care if other people want to put advertisements on my videos, and if they block it in Germany or Switzerland (the two countries that have the most blocks on them - I mean, you'll be surprised by just how many songs are blocked in Germany), then tough luck - however, I will not tolerate people muting my whole video because about a minute of the song aired on a radio station that I was trying to pick up on the train (Taylor, I'm pointing my finger at you!).

I'll let you know when I can finally get my video fully uploaded, complete with sound.

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 24th, 2016, 4:02 pm
by pinkteddyx64
coleslaw wrote:
spotify95 wrote:Well well wel... An update on the situation.

I have just wasted an evening's worth of time and over 2.5GB of data!

Due to a copyright claim, the video of the FM Radio Test that I was going to upload, will have to be put on hold whilst I figure out a way to get round the copyright claim system. The one track that led to the whole thing being muted, was in fact, a Taylor Swift song that aired on one of the radio stations!

And my opinion of T.S. before this was bad enough... I have just about had it!

I shall never pay Taylor Swift a single penny ever again!

As for the video, it'll be up again before you know it! Hopefully I can upload the thing at DMU as their upload connections are better than at here.

Have you tried a pitch shift? You can sometimes get away with copyright if you just tune the whole audio up or down a bit, usually by a few cents/semioctaves

Or even speeding the song up slightly worked for me.

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 24th, 2016, 4:09 pm
by spotify95
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
coleslaw wrote:
spotify95 wrote:Well well wel... An update on the situation.

I have just wasted an evening's worth of time and over 2.5GB of data!

Due to a copyright claim, the video of the FM Radio Test that I was going to upload, will have to be put on hold whilst I figure out a way to get round the copyright claim system. The one track that led to the whole thing being muted, was in fact, a Taylor Swift song that aired on one of the radio stations!

And my opinion of T.S. before this was bad enough... I have just about had it!

I shall never pay Taylor Swift a single penny ever again!

As for the video, it'll be up again before you know it! Hopefully I can upload the thing at DMU as their upload connections are better than at here.

Have you tried a pitch shift? You can sometimes get away with copyright if you just tune the whole audio up or down a bit, usually by a few cents/semioctaves

Or even speeding the song up slightly worked for me.

Speeding up the song would require speeding up the whole video, as the music is linked to the point at which a signal can be received.

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 24th, 2016, 4:24 pm
by pinkteddyx64
spotify95 wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
coleslaw wrote:
spotify95 wrote:Well well wel... An update on the situation.

I have just wasted an evening's worth of time and over 2.5GB of data!

Due to a copyright claim, the video of the FM Radio Test that I was going to upload, will have to be put on hold whilst I figure out a way to get round the copyright claim system. The one track that led to the whole thing being muted, was in fact, a Taylor Swift song that aired on one of the radio stations!

And my opinion of T.S. before this was bad enough... I have just about had it!

I shall never pay Taylor Swift a single penny ever again!

As for the video, it'll be up again before you know it! Hopefully I can upload the thing at DMU as their upload connections are better than at here.

Have you tried a pitch shift? You can sometimes get away with copyright if you just tune the whole audio up or down a bit, usually by a few cents/semioctaves

Or even speeding the song up slightly worked for me.

Speeding up the song would require speeding up the whole video, as the music is linked to the point at which a signal can be received.
Oh yeah, didn't think of that! :doh2:

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 24th, 2016, 6:09 pm
by spotify95
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
spotify95 wrote:
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
coleslaw wrote:
spotify95 wrote:Well well wel... An update on the situation.

I have just wasted an evening's worth of time and over 2.5GB of data!

Due to a copyright claim, the video of the FM Radio Test that I was going to upload, will have to be put on hold whilst I figure out a way to get round the copyright claim system. The one track that led to the whole thing being muted, was in fact, a Taylor Swift song that aired on one of the radio stations!

And my opinion of T.S. before this was bad enough... I have just about had it!

I shall never pay Taylor Swift a single penny ever again!

As for the video, it'll be up again before you know it! Hopefully I can upload the thing at DMU as their upload connections are better than at here.

Have you tried a pitch shift? You can sometimes get away with copyright if you just tune the whole audio up or down a bit, usually by a few cents/semioctaves

Or even speeding the song up slightly worked for me.

Speeding up the song would require speeding up the whole video, as the music is linked to the point at which a signal can be received.
Oh yeah, didn't think of that! :doh2:


Thankfully (and this'll have to happen another day) I can open the MP3 file in Audacity and change the pitch on it. I've got more important things to do soon, such as get my laptop dual booted, sort out that HPS thing that I linked to previously, and run the same test for the BR Class 43 trains. :) Hopefully it won't pick up any Taylor Swift audio when I do that one!

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 25th, 2016, 5:44 pm
by spotify95
Well, I'm using the part first, part standard class coaches now!

Sitting in standard class but enjoying the nice free Wi-Fi! Tunein works quite nicely. :yep:

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 25th, 2016, 5:49 pm
by pinkteddyx64
spotify95 wrote:Well, I'm using the part first, part standard class coaches now!

Sitting in standard class but enjoying the nice free Wi-Fi! Tunein works quite nicely. :yep:

I bet on DS you'd be classed as a scrounging scumbag for that! :rolleyes:

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 25th, 2016, 7:32 pm
by spotify95
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
spotify95 wrote:Well, I'm using the part first, part standard class coaches now!

Sitting in standard class but enjoying the nice free Wi-Fi! Tunein works quite nicely. :yep:

I bet on DS you'd be classed as a scrounging scumbag for that! :rolleyes:

Believe it or not, using the EMT Wi-fi was rather reliable - in fact, more reliable than EE's 3G/4G on the Class 222 trains (though that's probably because of the metalized windows). The only issues I had were in Kettering Station, where I had about 0.05Mbps - not enough to stream Tunein Radio! However, this was probably because the EMT Wi-fi was using the old crappy O2 mast for Kettering, rather than EE's upgraded 3G/4G!

EE can provide 60Mbps on 4G in Kettering!

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 28th, 2016, 8:30 am
by spotify95
And... Class 43 test complete! Stay tuned for the results and a detailed comparison!

► Show Spoiler

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: January 28th, 2016, 11:30 pm
by spotify95
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
spotify95 wrote:Well, I'm using the part first, part standard class coaches now!

Sitting in standard class but enjoying the nice free Wi-Fi! Tunein works quite nicely. :yep:

I bet on DS you'd be classed as a scrounging scumbag for that! :rolleyes:

You said?

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showpost ... stcount=14

(This was not me who posted this.)

Btw, I will be definitely using the university internet connection to upload my video, because I got an amazing speed test result - 395 down and 685 up! :eek:

FM Radio Test - BR Class 222

Posted: February 4th, 2016, 9:27 pm
by spotify95
Well, the time has arrived!

The BR Class 222 test video has been uploaded earlier today (thanks to DMU's super fast upload speeds!) and is now live. How long it will remain live for, is another matter.

Here's the video (complete with free speed-up and pitch-up): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTWVGJ8AI3M

Let me know what you think about the video, and radio reception on board a Class 222 train!

Re: FM Radio Test - BR Class 222

Posted: February 5th, 2016, 9:32 am
by pinkteddyx64
spotify95 wrote:Well, the time has arrived!

The BR Class 222 test video has been uploaded earlier today (thanks to DMU's super fast upload speeds!) and is now live. How long it will remain live for, is another matter.

Here's the video (complete with free speed-up and pitch-up): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTWVGJ8AI3M

Let me know what you think about the video, and radio reception on board a Class 222 train!

Not bad at all........ :H

Re: FM Radio Test - BR Class 222

Posted: February 5th, 2016, 10:51 am
by spotify95
pinkteddyx64 wrote:
spotify95 wrote:Well, the time has arrived!

The BR Class 222 test video has been uploaded earlier today (thanks to DMU's super fast upload speeds!) and is now live. How long it will remain live for, is another matter.

Here's the video (complete with free speed-up and pitch-up): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTWVGJ8AI3M

Let me know what you think about the video, and radio reception on board a Class 222 train!

Not bad at all........ :H

Thanks! :)

Unfortunately, the FM Radio reception on board the Class 222 train is rather lousy, to say the least! :(

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: February 6th, 2016, 1:29 pm
by spotify95
Yikes!

The video is unavailable at the moment because some daft sod has put a copyright claim on my video. Guess who? :rolleyes:

I've sent in a dispute, citing "fair use" as the reason. If that doesn't do it, I'll either have to use a different site (know of any good video uploading hosts?), or (as a last resort) redo the whole test again.

Who thinks I should have to redo the whole test again? :mad:

Re: Radio reception on trains

Posted: February 6th, 2016, 3:11 pm
by pinkteddyx64
spotify95 wrote:Yikes!

The video is unavailable at the moment because some daft sod has put a copyright claim on my video. Guess who? :rolleyes:

I've sent in a dispute, citing "fair use" as the reason. If that doesn't do it, I'll either have to use a different site (know of any good video uploading hosts?), or (as a last resort) redo the whole test again.

Who thinks I should have to redo the whole test again? :mad:

Sue her. :yep: