Week Six In Which I Have Been Suggested A Keen Promo Vagen

Picture this if you will You are at a show, say the Norfolk County Show, or maybe the monster CLA Game Fair, or any of a number of big events that draw thousands of people. And in the wake of these crowds, like bluefin tuna following the hake nets up to the factory trawlers, are the mobile ‘OB’ (Outside Broadcast’) vans for local radio stations to broadcast from. In other cases, shopping malls are invaded and relentlessly cheerful and often horribly amateurish local radio junior broadcaster types encourage kids to ‘Sing for the listeners&;!’ But the point is, in the Summer, local radio, be it BBC or independent, likes to get out there and meet their audience. And there is also the monster hugemungerous BBC Radio One Roadshow&;
What better opportunity than then to show off the new crop of digital radio stuff to listeners? A well known installer, who has done a great many corporate jobs for turning VW vans and big 4x4s into promotional vehicles, with custom electronics and beautifully handcrafted fabrications to house the equipment, has made a suggestion.
How about a digital radio demonstration vehicle? And I do NOT mean a car with a digital radio in it. I mean a VAN, with all three options installed up front. That is in-dash, on-dash adapter and even a seamless hideaway install, all separate and fully switchable to show them off. Hell, you can even have a PURE Highway on the window. (On a custom drilled-through tungsten woven cable for theft protection, mind) Then, in the payload area, you have a bit of a mocked-up home HiFi in the forward portion of the load area- fully functioning, within a ‘system’ and a sofa then the rearmost part will have a little bedroom, with D-Love drifting off to sleep to the bedside DAB on his bedside tableagain nailed down, of course. But EACH would be working and could be set to a different station!
Fact is, it’d make a really cool demo to show off all the different varieties of digital radio and that there is a perfect DAB unit for everyone, no matter what application is the one that’s right for you. The chaps who suggested it are so keen, they had a tame graphicist produce a mock-up to show how it might look to the punters&;.
Mind you, it could just as easily have DJ decks and kicking system inside! With a FEED to the radio broadcast vans of this world!
What do you think?
At the test bench, I just had a go on a Kenwood KDC-7057U. A single DIN CD tuner for £89.99 (which will be factually-actually sold at a slice less, I would warrant) and which has front USB and Aux in on 3.5mm jack under a sweet smoked clear plastic slidey -slopey cover. It’s bloody brilliant! I played with it for Mobile Electronics News but will fettle it for your sight as well&;
Must get on&;.
Adam Rayner
On Line Editor