• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Some Mazdas In Seattle Are STUCK on KUOW 94.9

Theater of My Mind said:
“Between 1/24-1/31, a radio station in the Seattle area sent image files with no extension, which caused an issue on some 2014-2017 Mazda vehicles with older software,” the Mazda statement said. “Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) has distributed service alerts advising dealers of the issue.”
Click to expand...
Well that explains it. Or, I would've thought that KUOW left their EAS switch on, and such cars automatically tune to the NPR signal when the EAS is on?
 
ZantennaG1 said:
Well that explains it. Or, I would've thought that KUOW left their EAS switch on, and such cars automatically tune to the NPR signal when the EAS is on?
Click to expand...


Uh no. There's no switch to leave on cuse if you leave that on itll seize your audio chain and broadcast nothing but that....... but if that does happen, you just unplug the danged machine
 
If the image file explanation is true then there are a few takeaways from that.
  1. That's some sloppy work by some KUOW staffer to leave out the image file extension.
  2. It's also some poor coding by whoever wrote Mazda's infotainment software.
  3. It shows how problematic it can be to have a vehicle full of software-based tech but no frequent or automatic updates for it.
  4. It's another embarrassment for HD Radio which after so many years on the market is still full of bugs.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
If the image file explanation is true then there are a few takeaways from that.
  1. That's some sloppy work by some KUOW staffer to leave out the image file extension.
  2. It's also some poor coding by whoever wrote Mazda's infotainment software.
  3. It shows how problematic it can be to have a vehicle full of software-based tech but no frequent or automatic updates for it.
  4. It's another embarrassment for HD Radio which after so many years on the market is still full of bugs.
Click to expand...
The radio in my car may only be able to pick up regular AM and FM, but that has kept it free of any glitches. Clearly technology will always evolve, but this scenario showcases what can go wrong.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
It doesn't.

“Between 1/24-1/31, a radio station in the Seattle area sent image files with no extension, which caused an issue on some 2014-2017 Mazda vehicles with older software,” the Mazda statement said. “Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) has distributed service alerts advising dealers of the issue.”
Click to expand...
Wait what?? Some PAD information (usually album cover art or logo) caused the radio to get stuck on 94.9? I don't even see how that's possible. Need to do some more research on this one to see if it's legit.
 
ZantennaG1 said:
Well that explains it. Or, I would've thought that KUOW left their EAS switch on, and such cars automatically tune to the NPR signal when the EAS is on?
Click to expand...
I believe you're thinking of an RDS feature that force-tunes a radio to a particular station, known as a "PI code". It's commonly used in Asia and Europe, but the use isn't permitted in the U.S. They've talked about having stations activate it for EAS purposes, but since several LP EAS stations in the States are AM, the feature wouldn't be consistent.
To your point though, if KUOW sent that RDS data string to force tune radios that had that feature turned on, that would do it. One would imagine it would be happening to more than just Mazda radios too. If this is the scenario, RDS also has nothing to do with HD Radio.
 
Kelly A said:
I believe you're thinking of an RDS feature that force-tunes a radio to a particular station, known as a "PI code".
Click to expand...
Yes, thank you, that's the one I was thinking of.
Kelly A said:
It's commonly used in Asia and Europe, but the use isn't permitted in the U.S. They've talked about having stations activate it for EAS purposes, but since several LP EAS stations in the States are AM, the feature wouldn't be consistent.
To your point though, if KUOW sent that RDS data string to force tune radios that had that feature turned on, that would do it. One would imagine it would be happening to more than just Mazda radios too. If this is the scenario, RDS also has nothing to do with HD Radio.
Click to expand...
I see.
 
This is one of the strangest stories I've ever seen! I just read the linked story, and from what I can gather, this isn't an issue with KUOW force tuning radios, as it sounds like the radios were voluntarily switched to KUO
W and now can't be switched to other stations, as well as causing other problems with the car's systems.
 
I thought this was an isolated issue with my HD radio, but before roughly 2019, KUOW had the Emergency Alert (EAS) feature enabled. When I'd go to Seattle or Ryegrass Summit to receive KUOW-HD, when the signal would lock in, the receiver would ring for a Weekly Test. Then sometimes, it would become stuck on 94.9. My only option would be to turn off the receiver and replace the batteries. After doing that, it would go back to normal. After they turned off the EAS feature, I didn't really notice anything when I'd lock in KUOW's HD.
 
dx_sphere said:
I thought this was an isolated issue with my HD radio, but before roughly 2019, KUOW had the Emergency Alert (EAS) feature enabled. When I'd go to Seattle or Ryegrass Summit to receive KUOW-HD, when the signal would lock in, the receiver would ring for a Weekly Test. Then sometimes, it would become stuck on 94.9. My only option would be to turn off the receiver and replace the batteries. After doing that, it would go back to normal. After they turned off the EAS feature, I didn't really notice anything when I'd lock in KUOW's HD.
Click to expand...
That Sangean HDR-14 of yours has that feature, right? It would make a ring sound effect two times in a row, and then the computer voice would say "There is (this is) an emergency alert" And then it would lock on with scrolling EAS text.
 
ZantennaG1 said:
That Sangean HDR-14 of yours has that feature, right? It would make a ring sound effect two times in a row, and then the computer voice would say "There is (this is) an emergency alert" And then it would lock on with scrolling EAS text.
Click to expand...
This was on my SPARC SHD-TX2. My HDR14 never had the issue. What would happen is that when I would lock in KUOW-HD, there would be a ring sound effect two times in a row, followed by a computer voice saying "Test Alert, Test Alert". I'd ignore it, and it would navigate me back to tuning. It was that point where it was locked on the channel - not allowing me to tune down or up. No other EAS enabled HD station had this issue except for KUOW.
 
I was thinking this was a PI Code "Flag" issue as well -- I may or may not have had a cheap RDS encoder that had this on by default (or the box may or may not have been checked)... the idea is that you can set the "flag" to fire when you have a traffic report or breaking news etc... obviously we did not have this set up, so the "flag" was set on at all times... had 2-3 listeners over the next 24 hours say their radio was locked to us -- all Marantz units in home theaters surprisingly... Easy box to untick -- but that's the first thing that came to mind when I saw this lol
 
ssndradio said:
I was thinking this was a PI Code "Flag" issue as well -- I may or may not have had a cheap RDS encoder that had this on by default (or the box may or may not have been checked)... the idea is that you can set the "flag" to fire when you have a traffic report or breaking news etc... obviously we did not have this set up, so the "flag" was set on at all times... had 2-3 listeners over the next 24 hours say their radio was locked to us -- all Marantz units in home theaters surprisingly... Easy box to untick -- but that's the first thing that came to mind when I saw this lol
Click to expand...
It's been a while, but I believe the Audemat (now Worldcast) RDS generators have it as a check box to turn PI/TA on. The default setting is always off, so someone would have been in the setup menu and unintentionally checked that box. You're right, unless some sort of GPI is set to active the PI, it would be on all the time.
 
Kelly A said:
It's been a while, but I believe the Audemat (now Worldcast) RDS generators have it as a check box to turn PI/TA on. The default setting is always off, so someone would have been in the setup menu and unintentionally checked that box. You're right, unless some sort of GPI is set to active the PI, it would be on all the time.
Click to expand...
This wouldn't involve RDS. The would be HD PAD data which would come from the HD importer/exporter system. Either way, I don't think Mazda is going to do a massive software update for an odd glitch to cars that are 5-8 years old.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.
Back
Top Bottom