RI set to get new radio technology

JAKARTA (JP): You haven't heard of Radio Data System (RDS)!

Don't feel disheartened because the latest development in radio technology is not only new to Indonesia but also to most Asia-Pacific countries.

The seminar on RDS at Sonora radio this week revealed that RDS was first introduced to the Asia-Pacific region in 1995. It is now applied by a small number of radio stations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Hong Kong is the biggest RDS user in the region, with seven stations using the system.

"Every taxi driver there is familiar with the word RDS. Still, they don't have any idea about it. They only know that it is some kind of car radio," said Ron Jones at the seminar. He is the president of Circuit Research Labs Inc., a radio technology company based in Arizona, United States.

Sonora is the only radio station in Indonesia to operate RDS. It has done so since March 1995.

"We have approached some other radio stations to use the system. So far, they are still reluctant, saying the receivers are not yet available here, which is actually wrong," said Ronny Gozali, director of PT Catur Mitra Adhikara; a company which sells audio visual equipment including RDS transmitters.

According to Jones, RDS was first developed and used by the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) in 1983. Three years ago the United States started using the system, although it is known there as the Radio Broadcasting Data System.

The system originally aimed to provide radio listeners with an easier method of choosing programs and receiving information through their FM receivers.

So far, the system has been developed to provide about 30 services.

One service tried by Sonora is to interrupt CD/Cassette players with "urgent news". If the service is activated, CD/Cassette players will stop and radio news will be heard for several seconds. Once the news is over, the CD/Cassette player will resume operation.

Some receivers can only receive news in display format, called "radio-text". Others, including the Grundig receiver, can receive both text format and sound.

"It's not meant to annoy radio listeners. If radio listeners don't want their CD/Cassette players interrupted, they can push a button to deactivate the service," said Septianus Ting, Grundig car audio manager, who demonstrated an RDS receiver at the seminar.

Another service Sonora will start is "radio paging". The station will erect giant-screen pagers at certain roads, including tollgates, where motorists can read about traffic conditions on the road. The information is sent by an RDS transmitter.

Another attractive service is called "program type". RDS receivers are equipped to search for a specific program. The programs include rock, pop, jazz, classics, religion and culture. Listeners need not tune their radios to certain frequencies because they can simply push a button that will search for one of their program choices from any station.

However, since only Sonora uses the system in Indonesia it is practically useless here. (jsk)