FreeLists / access-uk / [access-uk] Re: Bug radio: recording SD cards and card reliability and other Bug thoughts

["Ray's Home" <rays-home@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(Note Moderators, although I've changed the subject line, the subject is 
substantially the same.)

Thanks for your thoughts on memory cards Tristram.  I too have seen these 
advertised claims for higher priced faster cards and I shall give one of these 
a try.

My enquiry specifically concerned SD, (Secure Digital) cards, but all the 
pro-sumer and professional card audio recorders I have seen on the net have 
used Compact Flash cards.  One reviewer of the Marantz PMD670 card recorder 
reported problems with a review machine not saving recordings propperly to the 
card.  This was put down to adesign fault in the 670;  apparantly the PMD671 
does not suffer from this problem.  Then again, one article I came across on 
the web did cast some doubt on the security of CF cards themselves.  All of 
this may be worth bearing in mind when considering going this route for audio 
recording.

Back to SD cards and the Bug.  Yes Carol, the Bug does have an optical out, and 
I will, for the time being, make parallel recordings via the optical out onto 
MD or other media.

As a final thought, the Bug is not a half badradio for the price I paid, £94.00 
from a local Curry's.  The guy said the Bug isn't being made now and sold it as 
'end of line'.  I don't know the truth or whatever of this, but for the price 
I've paid it does seem a very useful gadget.  I like the instant internal pause 
radio facility;  the display is pretty clear, and of course you can angle it 
into the best position, especially good for someone with as little sight as me. 
 A pity that the unusual design hasn't caught on very much.  Pure are to be 
congratulated tfor an inovative approach to design.  I like a company that's 
prepared to go out on a limb and break out of the pack.  Pity their Sonus 
hasn't caught on so well either.  I still may buy one, and certainly would have 
done, had it had a record facility.  I should try telling them that!
Ray

Personal emails:  Email me at
mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Tristram Llewellyn 


  If there is a way to format the card in the radio, then I suggest you do 
that.  Secondly I would conjecture that the more expensive SD cards have better 
or more consistant data rates.  They may also posess better grade contacts on 
some cards.  I brought two SD cards and am partly curious myself as to how much 
difference it really makes, one of the said cards actually guaruntees a data 
throughput wheras the cheaper does not.  I have the more expensive one in a mid 
high end digital camera, the other I intend for a similar purpose to yours at 
some point.

  Regards.

  Tristram Llewellyn
  Sight and Sound Technology
  Technical Support
  www.sightandsound.co.uk

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Ray's Home 
    To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
    Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2006 12:01 AM
    Subject: [access-uk] Bug DAB radio: recording and SD cards and card 
reliability


    I recently bought a Pure Bug DAB radio, which, on the whole, I am very 
pleased with.  (I would have been tempted by the Sonus talking radio, only it 
doesn't record.)

    I won't say much about the radio as such now, but the recording feature 
seems not to be entirely reliable.  Twice the radio has indicated it's 
recording, but on pressing 'record' to stop recording, I get an error message.  
Just wonder if anyone else has experience with this type of in-built card 
recording within DAB radios, and if they've experienced this.

    Two things I can do in the next day or two:  try updating the firmware in 
the Bug;  try one of the recommended makes of cards,  though its hard to see 
why this makes a difference.  There is also the question of formatting the 
cards.  There's no indication in the manual that you (must) do that.

    Finally, I wonder if anyone has thoughts in general about the reliability 
of memory cards?  Has anyone had failures with cards?
    Ray