2 ‐ Main RDS decoder display

RDS indicators

Indicator	Description
TP	Traffic Program When this flag is enabled, it generally means that the station may broadcast traffic information. In reality, this flag is often enabled by default and primarily prevent car tuners to skip the station on automatic scan search. Therefore, it is frequently used by stations whose primary purpose is not to broadcast traffic information. Some receivers tend to ignore stations that do not transmit this flag.
TA	Traffic Announcement This flag is used when a radio station is currently broadcasting traffic information. It should not be confused with TP. When this flag is enabled along with TP, car tuners configured for "Traffic Announcement" will automatically switch to that station. The TA flag has no specific effect when TP is not active.
Music	This flag indicates that the station is likely to broadcast music programs. If this flag is not active, it means that the M/S flag is configurated in "Speech" mode.
PI	Program Identification Essential 4-character code for the receivers to identify the station and distinguish it from the others. It is usually assigned by radio authorities to prevent multiple stations from using the same code, which would cause many problems for the listeners. By placing the mouse cursor over this field, the user can bring up a PI Code to Callsign converter (Designed exclusively for USA), if the PI is valid for such a conversion. When the PI field turns red, it means the decoded code is part of the factory PI codes database. Place your mouse over the value for details.
PS	Program Service Displays the station name, with a 8 characters limit. It can be dynamic (Multiple text sequences transmitted gradually).
BER	Bit Error Rate Calculates the error rate of the station's RDS decoding. The closer this level is to 0%, the better the decoding is. The indicator is green when decoding is excellent or relatively good. Orange when decoding becomes average or difficult. Red when decoding becomes poor or very poor.
RT A RT B	This function shows the two lines used by the Radiotext function, which is generally used to display the radio station's slogan, the title of the song which is currently aired, or other information about the station that may be useful to the listeners. It is limited to 64 characters per line. In addition to displaying text, RDSExpert is able to show the "invisible" codes that allow the Radiotext decoding to be interrupted before it reaches 64 characters (Example: <0D>).
PTY	Program Type Indicates the type of program broadcast by the station. (For example: Pop Music / Rock Music / Easy Listening / Oldies Music / News / …) Both RDS and RBDS values are displayed, separated by a vertical line. The value on the left is in RDS format, and the value on the right is in RBDS format.
PTYN	Has the same function as PTY, with the sole difference that it is fully customizable. This means that an engineer can specify the text/value of his choice (limited to 8 characters) via group 10A.
Long PS	Has the same function as PS, but in a much extended range. This allows to display the name of a station which is longer than 8 characters (maximum 32 characters), via group 15A. This function is generally very rarely used.
ECC	Extended Country Code A two-character code identifying the country from which the station broadcasts (Example: E1 for France). Place your mouse cursor over the ECC box to find out which country the code is assigned to. This function is rarely used.
LIC	Language Identification Code A two-character code identifying the language in which the station broadcasts its programs (Example: 0F for French). Place your mouse cursor over the LIC box to find out which language the code is assigned to. This function is rarely used.
Local CT (Clock Time)	Displays the date and time according to the time zone of the country from which the station is broadcasting. This function, transmitted via band 4A (generally every 60 seconds, at the beginning of each minute), automatically updates the clocks on listeners' car tuners. The time difference between the Local and UTC values (Local Offset) can be displayed as a tooltip by placing the mouse cursor over this box.
UTC CT (Clock Time)	Serves the same purpose as Local CT, with the only difference being that the values ​​transmitted are in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) format. By hovering your mouse cursor over this field when a value is present, you can check if the time sent via group 4A is accurate compared to your computer's clock, or if it is ahead or behind. When the RDS signal originates from a raw data recording, the comparison is performed with the recording time, if block timestamps are available.
EWS	Emergency Warning System This function provides alerts in the case of emergencies or disasters to special receivers. The decoder is only able to recognize if EWS is carried by the station through an indicator sent on group 1A. Alerts cannot be displayed. If EWS is sent through 1A, this box lights up and the 2-character ID is displayed.
PIN	Program Identification Number This function provides an easy and automatic identification of a program currently being broadcast. The decoder display shows the date and time the program began broadcasting, which some receivers can use for alarm clock functions or automatic recording scheduling. This function is very rarely used today, compared to more than 20 years ago.

RDS flags

Flag	Description
Stereo	Indicates whether the radio is in Stereo or Mono via the RDS. Note: A radio that does not have this flag enabled is not necessarily in Mono.
Artificial Head	This flag is considered as obsolete by the RDS Forum nowadays.
Compressed	Indicates that the sound is compressed during processing. This flag is considered as obsolete by the RDS Forum nowadays.
Dynamic PTY	Indicates that the PTY value is subject to change depending on the aired program.

Service indicators

Indicator	Description
ODA	Open Data Application When the indicator lights up, it means that an Open Data Application has been detected on Group 3A. Place your mouse cursor over the indicator to find out the application type and the group used for transmission.
RT+	Radiotext+ When the indicator lights up, it means that the station sends Radiotext+ tags. These tags allow Radiotext elements to be displayed separately under a specific label on compatible receivers. Most stations use this feature to clearly separate the artist name from the song title. Go to the Radiotext+ section further down in the interface to see which tags are being sent and their content.
EON	Enhanced Other Networks When the indicator lights up, it means an EON list is being sent. EON lists typically contain the PI codes, PS codes, and frequencies of other stations operated by a same broadcast group. Go to the EON section further down in the interface for details about this list.
TMC	Traffic Message Channel When the indicator lights up, it means that the station sends traffic information on Group 8A. This data is used to indicate nearby traffic events and their locations on GPS-compatible car tuners. Go to the TMC section further down in the interface to analyze the content being sent.
IH	In-House Applications When the indicator lights up (after an intended 3 seconds delay to prevent false detections), it means that such data is being sent on group 6A or 6B. The user can click on the indicator, when it is lit, to display the decoded data. This feature allows data to be transmitted for specific internal purposes. These applications are, logically, not intended for station listeners.
TDC	Transparent Data Channels When the indicator lights up (after an intended 3 seconds delay to prevent false detections), it means that such data is being sent on group 5A or 5B. The user can click on the indicator, when it is lit, to display the decoded data. As its name explicitly indicates, this function allows transparent data transmission. The broadcaster defines the type of data sent. The content is usually text. An example of use: In Catalonia, Catalunya Radio and 3CatInfo transmitters carry TDC to display traffic information on public display panels in railway stations.
RP	Radio Paging When the indicator lights up (after an intended 3 seconds delay to prevent false detections), it means that such data is being sent on group 7A. The user can click on the indicator, when it is lit, to display the decoded data. This feature, which is relatively little used today compared to the previous years, provides a paging service via RDS. The decoder displays messages intended for subscribers' pagers tuned to the RDS station frequency. It intelligently detects the type of message received (numeric, alphanumeric, etc.) and adapts the decoding logic depending on the type of message transmitted.
eRT	Enhanced Radiotext When the indicator lights up (Detection subject to sending the ODA indicator dedicated for this purpose on group 3A), it means that such data is being sent on group 7A. The user can click on the indicator, when it is lit, to display the decoded data. This feature allows the display of "advanced" Radiotext messages, including characters that are not supported by standard Radiotext, such as non-Latin characters (Arabic or Greek letters), for example. The eRT decoder is also capable of displaying eRT+ (Enhanced Radiotext+) tags in the message history.

Clickable buttons

Button	Function
▶ Raw Data	Allows the user to play any raw RDS recording in ASCII format. This includes recordings made with RDSExpert (using the "Record Raw Data" function) as well as recordings from RDS Spy, among others. You can choose either "Normal Playback" (Decoding at the same speed as real time) or "Instant Playback" (Which allows you to view all the data immediately). It is also possible to drag and drop a file directly from your file explorer. The function will then ask you what type of playback you want to use.
Record Raw Data	Allows raw recordings of decoded RDS data, in ASCII format. These recordings can then be played back at any time on RDSExpert, or on any RDS decoder that supports ASCII recordings. You can record multiple stations in one session. Simply activate this function, then scan. At the end, you will obtain a ZIP file containing all the detected RDS, in separate .rdse files.
Reset Data	Allows you to manually force a reset of the RDS data being displayed on the screen.
Underscores OFF	The state of this button changes when clicked: Progressive underscores on RT: The Radiotext is displayed progressively with a base of underscores. This makes it easy to identify the position of the real-time RT decoding. Underscores on PS & RT: Allows spaces to be clearly displayed as underscores, both on the PS and Radiotext. Underscores on PS only: Allows spaces to be clearly displayed as underscores on the PS only. This makes it easier to identify the PS disposal. Underscores on RT only: Allows spaces to be clearly displayed as underscores on the Radiotext only.
PS / PTY / PTYN History	Provides a history of PS, PTY, and PTYN data decoded from the station's RDS.
Radiotext History	Provides a history of all decoded messages on lines A and B of the Radiotext.
Export Data	Allows to export all data from the currently decoded RDS, in PDF and TXT format. Check this section for more details.
Record Bandscan	Allows to save all RDS information decoded during a bandscan on a webserver, in PDF and TXT format. Check this section for more details.