Shaker radio's!! I was thinking that Ford had cut yet another corner with our beloved Stang and left out the RDS feature (that most OEM radios now come standard with) and even my 98 Explorer has!!

I searched the OM and no luck.....then tonight I held down the "Menu" button for several seconds and there it was - the RDS On/Off selection!! Limited in scope it only allows for station name or music type - but it is better than the top half of the radio display being blank!!!

 

I'm like you, when I got the car and I didn't see an easy way to turn on RDS I thought they had left it off. I did find it in the OM on how to turn it on.

 

I have mine on and the top have is still blank.

 

I use mine and it is listed in the OM,although fairly hidden unless you really look..nice feature

 

Yeah - a few of the radio stations have a consistant RDS readout - I've found that most have it sometimes and some don't have it yet.

 

excuse my ignorance but what is RDS

 

This technology allows stations to transmit additional types of information via encoded digital signals that can be received and displayed by the user's Radio. For instance: an RDS-capable Radio can display the title and artist or current song playing, local traffic information, an advertiser's phone number while a commercial is playing, etc.

 

From howstuffworks.com

If you have one of those car radios that show FM station call signs right on the display panel, then you have the Radio Data System feature. It was developed by Swedish Telecom in 1976 as a method of sending data to radio pagers. In the early 1980s, the European Broadcasting Union changed it to the Radio Data System (RDS). The U.S. National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) adopted a standard for it in 1993. British Broadcasting System (BBC) is also a user of the system.

The Radio Data System (RDS) is available in many U.S. cities.

In the United States, FM radio stations are allocated 200 KHz of bandwidth. (In Europe, it is 100 KHz.) The station does not fill all of this bandwidth with music. RDS is a completely separate radio signal that fits within the station's frequency allocation. It carries digital information at a frequency of 57 KHz, with a data rate is 1187.5 bits per second (see this nice diagram of the FM signal for details). RDS transmits data simultaneously with a standard FM stereo (or monophonic) radio broadcast. Possible uses include transmitting song titles, station call signs, and signaling when traffic or weather reports are being broadcast.

RDS was mentioned in this BBC article that describes how a "pirate" radio station was able to send out a signal that "took over" many radios. On some car radios, there is no easy way to disable RDS -- the only way to make the problem go away was to drive out of range of the offending signal.

 

Sahhhh Weeeet!!!!!!!

I love hidden treasures!!!

 

Thanks for the tip, I love that feature!

 

Check out pg. 24 in the OM and see if this is what you're looking for. I'm reading it in the Adobe file but I think the Adobe and OM are pretty much the same.

Ron

 

Check out pg. 24 in the OM and see if this is what you're looking for. I'm reading it in the Adobe file but I think the Adobe and OM are pretty much the same.

Ron
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Thanks Ron - I was able to find it after Subzero mentioned he had found it! Must have burned through that area pretty quickly and just missed it.

 

SOOO cool. The stations were giving me the artist/band, song title, the name of the DJ's show, and Radio station name. Still waiting to see what commercial info looks like. Only got to drive for a few minutes last night.

 

I think this feature only applies to the Shaker 1000. I've got the 500 and can't find it on my menu. If anybody else with a S-500 has it please let me know.

 

I have the Shaker 500 and it is on mine. I just held down the MENU button as mentioned. Neat tip.

 

I have the Shaker 500 and it is on mine. I just held down the MENU button as mentioned. Neat tip.
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Right on the money!! You have to hold down the menu button for several seconds to get to the RDS - if you don't hold long enough - you will get the usual Menu choices.

 

Bradley's Nephew----->

 

LOL I've been told he takes after his uncle too

 

 

That a nice easter egg.