1ton

I am the proud new owner of a black on black SC430. It is a 2002 model. I just joined the forum and wanted to ask about the radio feature.

The RDS? feature? It is supposed to track the stations and display the song names. How can I activate it with my preset stations? For example, if station 101.9 has that feature, how come on my preset it doesn't display the song?

JCtx

Welcome to the club. RDS DOESN'T display song names; for that, you need to upgrade to XM satellite radio. RDS displays station name, which also contains a category (eg country, classic, talk, etc.), so you can listen to stations in only that category. In addition, it's supposed to broadcast accident and emergency information, if the stations support it.
I don't use it, because if the feature is ON, the antenna will stay up, even on CD. Besides, I only use the radio to listen to a couple of talk radio stations in the morning. To deactivate, you need to press the RDS button for about 2 seconds, until it beeps. I assume it's the same to turn it on. Read the owner's manual for more specifics. If absent, you can order it from a dealer or directly from the publisher, but I don't have info on the latter.

JC

1ton

Thanks for the information, but on my radio stations it DOES display the song name and artist. I read the manual about the RDS stations but it does not say much about it.

I would love to hear from anyone who is using this feature and knows more about it.

THANKS!

BTW - Weather here in FL is GREAT for the top down!

tfischer

The above post is correct -- the station can display the song title and artist if it wants to.

I have seen this in action a time or two, but I generally don't have it turned on, because I prefer to have the antenna down when not using the radio, especially when on the road when I'm using the CD and tape far more than the radio.

The absence of this information has not bothered me a bit, but I tend not to listen to very much music on the radio.

What would be nice is if the system could play a CD with MP3s on it, like an IPOD. Then the digital readout could really be put to good use.

1NICESC430

>What would be nice is if the system could play a CD with MP3s on it, like an IPOD<
I second that, Tim.

I just purchased some old-time radio shows on CDs in MP3 format. Not being a teenager, I didn't know a fig about MP3 players, so I went searching for a player I could plug into my cigarette lighter and just rest the unit on the passenger seat of either of my cars when I'm on a trip. Did I ever get an education - I could not find anything like that. Apparently all portable MP3 players are intended to fit in a kid's pocket and make a semi-permanent connection to his ear with some sort of minuscule headphone.

I suppose I could buy a 512MB player, download the MP3s to it, and wear the headphones, but I don't think I'd like to drive with my ears covered. Or my eyes, for that matter.

I decided to spend a few bucks on CD-Rs and burn the MP3s to them in CDA format. It may take 10 CDA CDs to copy one MP3 CD, but they'll do the job. Besides, I can make copies for some of my friends and relatives.

JCtx

I stand corrected then. I've had RDS on several of my cars and none displayed any song (neither does traffic) info, so I guess it's my crappy town <he he>. Manual doesn't say anything about the subject; weird. Again, I only listen to talk radio every once in a while; radio music sounds like crap. Audio system is on CD most of the time.

Take care guys.

MarsB007

if your MP3 player has the really tiny outlet (2.5mm), there are adaptors to the 3.5mm jacks which you can find at Radio Shack. Then after you have the adapter you can use a tape adapter so you can get your MP3 player sound to your Levinson system.