Bose RDS Radio But Not XM

[OynxSTS]

Boy is the Owners manual ever confusing. Could someone out there help me out... The PTY button.... This ONLY works with XM... Right?

My car has the top of the line Bose stereo but does not have XM...

The owners manual describes the PTY button under its own heading after XM, before Cassettes... You could get the idea that it works with FM or XM

In any event my PTY button is dead..

[Bill K]

Some radio stations broadcast a signal that describes their music/talk format. (rock, easy listening, hillb.. mean Country) Someone could program the radio to select these typs of stations in the RDS mode useing the PTY settings.

Now, as I told my nephew when he got his 00STS & we were going through the many controles ect. , "Dont ever push that button!"

I have my doubts that even bobonski (or whatever his name is) can describe or find anyone who can describe, so that a normal person can understand it, how to use this feature.

My advise...just forget it's there.

[RonW]

Ihave used the RDS mode, but there isnt enough RDS channels to make it worth while. I got 2 or 3

[iowaboy77]

It does work with FM on my 01 sts, although I consider it to be more of a novelty than a tool. I play with it while i'm on long trips. Some stations list the artist, song, and even whats up next. Thats kind of fun. I'm the first to agree though, its not exactly intuitive.

I just set the PTY to "ANY", then use the seek button to see what it finds. You can preset the station buttons to find specific genre's, but there are so few stations around that its kind of pointless, as RonW said.

Might as well play with it, what have you got to lose?

[Logan]

RDS basic information:

RDS functions are provided in the FM broadcast band only.

RDS functions will only work with FM broadcast stations that are broadcasting RDS data.

Not all FM Broadcast stations broadcast RDS data or offer all of the RDS services.

RDS functions may not work properly when reception is weak, reception is of poor quality, or RDS is not implemented properly by the FM Broadcaster.

In some cases, a radio station broadcasting incorrect information may cause the RDS features of the radio to appear to work improperly.

Broadcast RDS information can be used in a variety of ways by the receiver and listener, but basically falls into two categories: Display and Control.

Displaying Program Information

RDS displays textual information such as:

The name of the station.

The type of program.

General information such as artist and song title, call in phone numbers, etc.

Turning RDS On

The RDS select button is located in the lower right hand corner of the radio face. Press the RDS select button to use the alternate RDS functions on the six preset buttons. After pressing the RDS select button, press the RDS (preset 1) button to turn RDS on or off. When tuned to a non-RDS station, your radio will display frequency information as you would normally expect. When tuned to an RDS station, your radio will change from displaying the frequency of the FM station to displaying the call letters of the station or display the nickname of the station. This feature is known as the Program Service Name.

Using the RDS Traffic Feature

Some RDS broadcasters may carry traffic information programming to inform you of current traffic conditions in your listening area and is indicated by the TP icon in the radio display. RDS enables the broadcaster to get this information to you even when you are listening to a tape or compact disc. This feature can be enabled or disabled by the listener. Press the RDS select button, followed by the TA (preset 2) button to find a station that claims to carry traffic information. You may do this even when playing a cassette tape or compact disc. This action will operate in the background without interrupting the current playback. If the radio is not currently tuned to an RDS traffic station, the radio will immediately SEEK an RDS traffic station. If the radio finds an RDS traffic station, the TP icon will appear in the radio display. If the radio cannot find an RDS traffic station after searching through the entire FM band, the radio will display "NONE FOUND".

Viewing Messages

When MSG appears on the radio display, a new message is available for viewing. These messages are from the RDS broadcaster and may be general information such as artist and song title. To view the text message, press the RDS select button, followed by the MSG (preset 3) button. If the whole message does not appear on the display, parts of the message will appear every three seconds until the message is completed. To view the message faster, press the MSG button again.

Using Program Type Presets

The radio has the ability to use RDS data to find stations according to program type (PTY). When in PTY mode the preset buttons are now PTY presets instead of frequency presets. To turn PTY mode on or off, press the RDS SELECT button, followed by the PTY (Preset 4) button.

Selecting a PTY

The preset 5 & 6 buttons can be used to scroll through the list of available program types (PTY) that can be used to find RDS broadcasts. Press the RDS SELECT button, followed by the preset 5 or 6 button to scroll through the available program types. The radio will show the PTY icon to indicate that it is in PTY mode. When the desired PTY is shown on the display, press the TUNE/SEEK button. The radio will search for an RDS broadcaster that is carrying the PTY you selected. If the TA icon is displayed while performing a PTY search, the radio will look for an RDS broadcaster of both the selected PTY and traffic information. If the radio cannot find the desired PTY, the radio will display NONE FOUND and return to the station you were last listening to.