18
CONTROLS AND EQUIPMENT
How does RDS work?
In many European countries RDS has already
been introduced by a great many radio stations.
These stations attempt to cover the widest possi-
ble area.
In addition to normal FM radio signals, a further,
inaudible ow of digitalized information is trans-
mitted to the RDS receiver. Amongst other things,
this information controls the following functions.
l Programme Identication
(PI code)
The PI code tells the radio which station is cur-
rently being received - e.g. NDR 2.
l Programme Service Name
(PS code)
The PS code contains the station name, which is
then shown in the display.
Some stations also transmit running advertising
text along with the station name. It is possible
to set whether or not this running text should be
shown or not by using the „RDS Name“ set-up
menu function - see page 9.
l Alternative Frequencies
(AF code)
Since the range of FM radio waves is quite limited,
stations broadcast from several transmitters on
various frequencies. The AF code provides the
radio with a list of frequencies on which the station
broadcasts. The radio is thus able to tune to the
frequency with the best reception.
The radio switches from once frequency to an-
other virtually inaudibly, and the station name
shown in the display remains unchanged.
A practical example:
On a trip on the Autobahn from Flensburg to Göt-
tingen you would like to listen to NDR 2. All you
have to do is tune to this station at the beginning
of your trip. The station name - „NDR 2“ - lights
up in the display.
During your entire trip, your RDS radio searches
for alternative frequencies for the selected station
and, when necessary, tunes to them automatically
and virtually inaudibly.
l Trafc programme
(TP Code)
The TP code informs the radio when a trafc news
station is being received.
l Trafc announcement
(TA Code)
The radio uses the TA code to recognize a traf-
c news announcement. If the radio is muted
or in Cd player mode, the radio automatically
switches to trafc news announcements at the
programmed volume. The unit switches to mono
at the same time.
15 - DSP knob
Sound elds
The following sound elds can be selected with
the DSP knob:
l TALK
l DRIVER
l DSP OFF
You can, with these various different elds, alter
the sound of music and spoken presentations
from the radio and CD player to suit your re-
quirements.
DSP
(Digital Sound Processor)
