It's been a little while since I've conducted any serious activity on the bands - mainly because I believed I had a faulty rig.

It turns out the fault was mine, caused by me trying to use an Icom hand microphone with the Yaesu FT-450. The pin differences mean it simply doesn't work and put my rig into continuous scan mode. Once I realised my mistake, everything reverted to normal.

So now I'm back on-air, I've obtained the NoV to vary my callsign in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. I will therefore be operating as MQ0GKY until 10 June 2012.

Android Community reported yesterday of a situation with T-Mobile USA who have been pushing advertisements to subscriber's Android handsets which show in the notification bar - independent of any active app. The adverts are apparently a result of the T-Mobile App which allows users to query their account details.

If there ever was an argument for abandoning purchasing smartphones on-contract, it's this. With operator subsidised handsets, these apps may be impossible to remove without rooting the device - assuming that's even possible for the handset in question. This means that unless some sort of opt-out option is available, users have no choice but to be subjected to the behaviour of the supplied apps.

Purchasing handsets independently of the network operators may be an hefty one-off payment, but it brings great advantages. No longer does the user have to be subjected to the app bloat supplied by networks, they are no longer a slave to an upgrade cycle - and potentially monthly payments are cheaper (or terms shorter) on SIM only contracts.

It's not clear whether T-Mobile in the UK will be doing the same thing - and if they do, well fortunately for me I'm no longer with that network. However, I won't subject my handset to the control of my service provider regardless of who it is.

It's no big secret that HMV is a struggling retailer. It's suffering from the double-whammy of a declining high street caused by the economic situation and a declining market for music on physical media.

HMV is for many towns, the last place the consumers can visit in the high street to buy music. The other big names have gone - Our Price, Virgin (later Zavvi), Woolworths - and independents stores are in decline leaving many towns with none. Sadly I wonder if in five or ten years time this last bastion will also loose its physical presence.

Despite the obvious impact that the above points must be making on the business, I wonder though if HMV are doing themselves any favours. It seems that with each passing year, the amount of space given to the humble CD is declining, being taken over firstly by DVDs, Blurays and Games and most recently by technology. Not only that, the stock on offer has some very interesting pricing options.

The trouble with the pricing is that it's impossible to go in to the store with a budget and a list of albums. Each disc being priced differently (ranging from £7 to £15 or more - excluding sales) makes it impossible to know beforehand exactly how much will be spent. Indeed, it encourages price checking - if I see a disc that I want on offer at, say £12, I will be checking Amazon to see if it can be had for significantly less. Looking at a DVD set of the television series 'Black Books' today, I saw it available in store for £30. Amazon will sell me the same for £17.99! Much as I enjoy browsing a shop, I'm not putting myself out of pocket by an additional £12.

Of course, the price only comes in to play if what the customer wants is available. So often I go into the store with a list of albums in mind only to find that not one of them is stocked. Sometimes I can check a few stores if I'm traveling around but I find the situation the same everywhere. Although a physical store cannot stock everything, the problem is exacerbated by the diminishing range of CDs and although the sale of physical albums has fallen significantly thanks to downloading, it is by no means dead yet.

As for technology, whilst I understand HMV branching out into this area and in particular digital music players, headphones etc., I find it bizarre that they also see fit to stock tablet computers of various makes and models. The technology corner is starting to look like a section of Comet more than a music store and HMV certainly isn't the first place I'd think of to buy such equipment. If their opinion is to sell these devices because they can play music, well I wouldn't be surprised to see full computers making an appearance and perhaps a range of mobile phones too!

I understand the need for the business to diversify but I think it may be going too far. I find that as a music customer the store is not catering for my needs and there are plenty of times when I walk out empty handed. I think they should re-think the deminishing stock of CD albums, better focus the technology section, and bring in standardised pricing. All of this would encourage me to visit the store more often, spending my hard-earned cash which as a business is surely the most important thing.

With the launch of the on-demand video streaming service Netflix in the UK and the offer of one month's free trial, I decided to give the service a quick test.

More than the selection of programmes and films available on the service though, I was curious to see if instant streaming would work on my Linux computers. In short, it does not.

I tested the service in both Firefox and Chromium, with default and altered user-agents without success. I was mildly optimistic that whilst it wouldn't work straight away, that perhaps by faking the user agent it could be forced to work but unfortunately it was not that simple.

My optimism came about because Netflix should work on a Chromebook (running Google's Linux-based cloud OS Chrome OS). Unfortunately though, it seems from the error page that Google's system has some software specifically to allow it to use the software. Unless this software is available outside of Chrome OS then it seems that general Linux usage is futile.

The only alternative would be to resort solely to streaming using an XBox or Android phone but for me, the latter has a screen size much too small and the former is a hassle to use thanks to the TV only having one HDMI socket which is generally occupied by my Sky box.

So less than 30 minutes after starting my trial, I have canceled my membership. It's no great loss - I watch more than enough TV via Sky - but I think it's a shame that a service which obviously technically can run on a Linux system (proven as it's on Chrome OS) is not widely available for any Linux system.

Just after Christmas I decided to buy myself a portable DAB radio. I'd been meaning to buy one for a while and having been browsing in John Lewis, I stumbled across this tiny little radio that was, for such a product, relatively inexpensive.

The radio in question is a Sansui DB-100 DAB/DAB+/FM receiver. It's a tiny device measuring just 125x73x23mm containing a single speaker and a small number of controls. This is a pocket set but it's features make it useful in a wide range of situations.

Tuner Specifications and Digital Standards

As a tuner, it is well specified. It will (of course) happily receive DAB transmissions used in the UK but is also compatible with the superior DAB+ format. As a point of interest, this is actually stated on the box. Unlike many other sets that are capable of receiving the newer format, the feature is not hidden away in small print, technical documentation or website specifications. It does not need a firmware upgrade to do this - out-of-the-box it is DAB+ compatible.

Why do I make such a big thing about this feature? DAB+ isn't used in the UK but I hold out hope that perhaps one day it will be. I know a full scale switchover is very unlikely but perhaps a new multiplex will be launched containing DAB+ services. Perhaps it's wishful thinking but at least I know my radio is future proof.

Not only that though, having the additional digital standard aboard means that it has some compatibility with digital services around the world. The tuner will receive signals in Band III blocks 5A (174.928MHz) to 13F (239.200MHz) depending on settings (the UK only uses a small subset of this band for DAB transmissions).

Bedside Radio

So, thanks to it's size, the radio is suitable as a pocket radio and a travel radio. The unit also features a sleep timer and alarm clock. Here's it's third use - as a bedside radio! There's only one alarm that can be set and no breakdown by days (so you have to remember to switch it off for the weekends). The option is also only available after a couple of clicks through the menu so it's obviously not it's primary intention but for me it fulfills the requirement.

Interface, Controls and the Aerial

In terms of the radio's interface, it's fairly straightforward. A button on the right serves as power on/off (by holding for a few seconds) or as a mode changer (a quick press). A large scroll wheel on the front panel allows users to move up and down through stations or menus which can be selected with a button in it's centre. A back button is found at the top of the unit. Volume is controlled by a smaller wheel embedded in the top right corner and works in the traditional way although it is a digital control moving in steps. Two other switches are available, one which mutes the internal speaker and another that locks the controls.

A socket is found on the right of the unit which accepts headphones which double-up as the aerial in the usual method of pocket radios, Walkmen and mobile phones. If you're not using headphones, a short wire aerial is provided. Whilst this works, because it has no rigidity it can be difficult to position.

Other Features

This little unit doesn't just stop at being a receiver of analogue and digital radio. At the base of the unit is a flap that when removed reveals not only a micro USB port, but also a slot to accept a micro SD card - this unit can record!

Actually, for short recordings that SD card isn't needed. There's a small amount of onboard memory (around 128MB) that can be used for short clips. However, using a card will allow larger recordings to be made. DAB stations are recorded in the MP2 format indicating that this is a straight copy of the de-muxed digital signal without being re-encoded.

In addition, the unit can playback those recordings and also any MP3 files found on the card. That makes the Sansui DB-100 a basic MP3 player as well!

Files can be transferred to a computer via USB using the aforementioned socket. Memory appears as a computer drive so there's no issue with installing drivers on modern machines. Linux enthusiasts can rest easy.

Summary

This is clearly a radio thats primary purpose is for slipping into a coat pocket and using when out-and-about. Thanks to its feature set though, it can be so much more. It works as a desk or kitchen radio thanks to the built-in speaker, or as a bedside radio thanks to the alarm and sleep features. I've even jerry-rigged it to use with the hi-fi using a roof-top aerial or a 'rabbit ears' aerial configuration (but I'll write more about that in another post).

The only issue I've noticed (that may be a DAB issue more than a radio issue but I've not been able to check) is a slight glitch on the audio from time-to-time that can only be described like a skip - like the audio has fallen behind schedule and it needs to catch up. It could be very brief forms of interference but without having had the opportunity to test it, I think it's worth noting here.

Other than that, for the few weeks I've had it this has been a great little radio.

The Sansui DB-100 is available from John Lewis for £59.95 (at the time of writing).

Specifications Summary

Dimensions: 125x73x23mm
Weight: 167g

Battery: Built-in, non-changeable 1250mAh Li-polymer
Battery life: 10Hrs (DAB)
Charging Time: 5Hrs (via USB)

Standards: DAB/DAB+/FM (RDS)
Frequency Bands: VHF Band II (87.5MHz - 108MHz) / VHF Band III (5A - 13F)
Presets: 30

Recording: MP2 (DAB), AAC (DAB+)
Playback: MP3, MP2 (recorded), AAC (recorded)

Speaker: 2W
Headphone/Aerial socket: 3.5mm stereo jack