Norway Ends National FM Broadcasting

Norway has stopped transmitting national radio networks on the FM broadcast band

The three state controlled stations NRK P1-P3 and commercial stations P4 and Radio Norge have ceased broadcasting in the FM band and transmit DAB+ instead. Local stations are still broadcasting on FM.

Only 49% of motorists are able to listen to DAB/DAB+ in their cars, according to DRN figures.

A study cited by local media suggests the number of Norwegians who listen to the radio on a daily basis has dropped by 10% in a year, and the state controlled broadcaster NRK has lost 21% of its audience.

Media Story - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/13/norway-becomes-first-country-to-end-national-radio-broadcasts-on-fm

Sun Dimming as Solar Minimum Approaches

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, SpaceX launched a new sensor to the International Space Station named 'TSIS-1'

Its mission: to measure the dimming of the sun. As the sunspot cycle plunges toward its 11-year minimum, NASA satellites are tracking a slight but significant decline in total solar irradiance (TSI). TSIS-1 will monitor this dimming with better precision than previous satellites as Solar Minimum approaches in the years ahead.

Solar Maximum & Minimum Chart - http://www.auroraborealispage.net/solarmax.html

UK Police Radio Delays to cost $400m

Police chiefs fear they will be hit with a £400 million bill for a disastrous Government project to replace their crucial radio systems. Senior officers have been privately warned that further delays to the overdue scheme could cost them the equivalent of the annual pay and training costs for 8,000 constables.

The £4 billion upgrade to emergency services communications is already years behind schedule, and there are growing concerns that critical elements of it cannot work.
Incredibly, the technology does not even exist to operate the new generation of radios in police helicopters, while hundreds of extra phone masts must be built before the network can be used in rural areas. 

Police leaders fear these unresolved problems will push the start date for the Emergency Services Network (ESN) back again, leaving them with a huge bill for keeping the existing Airwave radio system switched on as they pay for the development of its replacement.

The idea behind ESN is to give police and firefighters the ability to share photos and videos of incidents on new digital handsets. But the scale of the plan, and the fact it has never been tried anywhere in the world, means its introduction has already been pushed back repeatedly

Media Story - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4959474/Delays-police-radio-cost-salaries-8-000-PCs.html