# What's the story with RDS, REG and PTY AUTO???



## inline6 (Jun 1, 2003)

Drove a Z3 yesterday and the radio was showing RDS**PTY and whenever I changed stations both name and type flashed up automatically. In my '02 3'er I can only get RDS* PTY in the display and I have to press the PTY button manually to get the pty info displayed, even with PTY AUTO turned on (by holding down the button).

So what the hell does PTY AUTO do? It doesn't seem to make any difference. Has anyone got pty auto working on a '02 3'er? This is really bugging me.

Also, if you hold down the RDS button it switches b/w REG ON and REG OFF, which apparently has something to do with regional programming. Has anyone seen that do anything useful in the USA?

Finally, it is claimed that an RDS radio can automatically switch to the strongest signal for stations that broadcast on multiple frequencies. Has anyone ever seen this happen?


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## inline6 (Jun 1, 2003)

Hey guys, don't tell me you're happy that your radios don't work properly. Does anyone know why PTY AUTO doesn't work, or how to fix it?


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

http://www.radio-now.co.uk/faq1.htm

I don't know whether the feature is available in the USA or not.


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## PABS (Apr 3, 2003)

It has been well documented that these features are only sporadically available in the US.


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

My RDS* *PTY works fine, especially since some LA stations started sending RDS info.

If your radio's country code is set wrong this won't work right, either.


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## inline6 (Jun 1, 2003)

I don't think it's a question of being sporadic. It worked *perfectly* in the Z3. It seems to me that they screwed up the radios somehow. I wonder if the '04s work. Anyone?


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## PABS (Apr 3, 2003)

Sorry - I misunderstood your question.

It works fine here in Atlanta for the sations that broadcast the info. This AM for the first time I noticed that one of the stations was showing the temp.

Must be a setting in your radio.


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## ZBB 325Ci (Dec 19, 2001)

PABS said:


> *Sorry - I misunderstood your question.
> 
> It works fine here in Atlanta for the sations that broadcast the info. This AM for the first time I noticed that one of the stations was showing the temp.
> 
> Must be a setting in your radio. *


Which Atlanta station is sending the temp? I've noticed about 1/2 of the stations are sending the RDS info. B98.5 just started in the last week or so -- and I noticed they are the only station that sends out a stream of info instead of just the basic static call letters that the others do...


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## Chaaaosss (Feb 9, 2003)

It worked pretty well in Europe :eeps: but I think these things correspond to codes because I'd get a trance station that was labeled "Country."


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## PABS (Apr 3, 2003)

Just this morning I happened to glance down and see B98.5 sending the temp.

It only happened once.


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## inline6 (Jun 1, 2003)

OK, so for you guys that are seeing PTY info, is it flashing up automatically, when you change stations? For a few seconds and then it switches to the station name? Mine only shows the station name - I always have to hit PTY to see the program type. 

Does your radio display RDS**PTY or just RDS* PTY? Does it do the 'right thing' when you switch between PTY MAN and PTY AUTO (by holding the PTY button)? Ie, is it really manual in PTY MAN and is it really auto in PTY AUTO?

Maybe there's a small chance it's sporadic, but, it worked flawlessly in the Z3, all the time - so something must be wrong and I'm pretty sure it's not just my radio, but all of them. I need to test more stations though it seems...


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## LmtdSlip (May 28, 2003)

When I was in Tulsa on business most of the stations sent the RDS info and several of them even sent the song that was currently playing. It was very cool.


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## inline6 (Jun 1, 2003)

By the way, I think temperature, song title and other messages are RDS info. They are not PTY info. PTY is the station type code (ROCK, CLASSICAL, etc) so perhaps you guys that think it's working aren't actually seeing PTY after all. Except for 
Chaaaosss' COUNTRY case - that is definitely PTY - but was it automatically displayed, or did you have to press the button? Chaaaosss, what year is your car? Have you seen it work, in auto mode, in the USA?


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

PTY on mine was working before the local stations were sending other usable RDS data out. It was working, for the most part, back when I had a Pioneer RDS radio in my old car 3-4 years ago. The IDLogic part wasn't too great on stations that changed their format since the database date, though.


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## marcelgood (Jan 24, 2003)

inline6 said:


> *I don't think it's a question of being sporadic. It worked *perfectly* in the Z3. It seems to me that they screwed up the radios somehow. I wonder if the '04s work. Anyone? *


It works on my 04 Coupe, but I have Navigation. I turned on PTY AUTO. So far I can only find one or two stations in the Bay Area that actually send out the information, but whenever I change to those stations it shows the station name followed by the PTY info.


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## Chaaaosss (Feb 9, 2003)

inline6 said:


> *By the way, I think temperature, song title and other messages are RDS info. They are not PTY info. PTY is the station type code (ROCK, CLASSICAL, etc) so perhaps you guys that think it's working aren't actually seeing PTY after all. Except for
> Chaaaosss' COUNTRY case - that is definitely PTY - but was it automatically displayed, or did you have to press the button? Chaaaosss, what year is your car? Have you seen it work, in auto mode, in the USA? *


Mine is a 2004 325Ci and all that stuff happened automatically in Italy. Damn, they have amazing techno/dance stations there. Why are ours so sh!itty here?

As far as seeing it work in the US, I won't get my car for another four to six weeks, if that.


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## marcelgood (Jan 24, 2003)

inline6 said:


> *By the way, I think temperature, song title and other messages are RDS info. They are not PTY info. PTY is the station type code (ROCK, CLASSICAL, etc) so perhaps you guys that think it's working aren't actually seeing PTY after all. Except for
> Chaaaosss' COUNTRY case - that is definitely PTY - but was it automatically displayed, or did you have to press the button? Chaaaosss, what year is your car? Have you seen it work, in auto mode, in the USA? *


Mine does work. One station plays Jazz all day long and it shows JAZZ after it shows the station name. PTY AUTO was turned of on my Navigation system by default. But, now I have it turned on.


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## Chaaaosss (Feb 9, 2003)

marcelgood said:


> *Mine does work. One station plays Jazz all day long and it shows JAZZ after it shows the station name. PTY AUTO was turned of on my Navigation system by default. But, now I have it turned on. *


Leave it up to 91.1 to be on top of things, eh?


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## GaryB (Feb 2, 2003)

Well, you made me curious, so I just tried it out (I have RDS activated but hadn't activated PTY AUTO before). With PTY AUTO activated, the display remains at RDS* PTY - no second asterisk appears. When I tune to a new station, the display briefly shows the band, frequency and stereo info, then momentarily displays the PTY info (Classic Rock, Country, etc.), then displays, and keeps displaying, the RDS info (92 CITI FM, QX 104, etc.).

Hope this helps.


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## inline6 (Jun 1, 2003)

Thanks GaryB! Alrighty, so it works on the 04 non-nav radio. And it looks like the nav radios work too. If anyone has a '02 non-nav radio with working PTY AUTO I(we)'d love to hear about it 

Also, any Bay Area stations that work? Even with Nav. I get 107.7 The Bone (RDS) but the PTY info (ROCK) doesn't show up automatically.

GaryB can you confirm that PTY MAN works, ie, that in MAN mode you *do* have to press the button to get PTY info. TIA very much


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