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Monday, April 24, 2006

 

Digital HD Radio-More interference and aggrivation then value.

Building penetration tended to be poor, especially at distances greater than 20 miles from the radio station’s antenna.
My initial burst of enthusiasm had quickly tempered to confusion. Could I be doing something wrong? How could I not pick up these stations? After all, I live about 16 miles as the crow flies from the Empire State Building .
Technical Difficulties
I went to the Ibiquity Web site to find that there were at least 13 stations broadcasting in HD in New York . One by one I tried to tune them in, and one by one I was met with frustration. Constant fiddling with the antenna yielded part-time successes. I managed to get Z100’s second channel for about three seconds, then three seconds of dead air, then on, then off. This gave new meaning to the term picket-fencing. Digital is unforgiving. It’s either on or it’s off.
I took the radio upstairs to the bedroom. This time I had some success. WPLJ, WNEW, WAXQ, and several others sounded beautiful in HD. But mind you, every time I changed the channel, I’d need to go fiddle and reposition the antenna. Sometimes, as the digital signal faded in and out, a phasing sound would occur. On the AM side, continuous play with the antenna yielded a promising digital WNYC AM, but WOR’s digital signal amounted to a great big hum.
The hotly advertised second channels were still mostly nowhere to be found. Intermittent signals were achieved for WNYC, WAXQ, and WLTW. Twice the radio froze up altogether and I had to unplug it to “reboot” it. After considerable tinkering, I was finally able to listen to Z100’s new music channel at length. And the 32 kbps stream had plenty of kick and dynamic range.
But clearly, something was wrong. This whole thing was just not working as advertised.
Terrestrial radio might be hyping a technology that isn’t quite ready for prime time. If broadcasters are attempting an apples-to-apples comparison with satellite radio, right now they’ll lose.
HERE IS THE LINK TO THE FULL STORY:
http://www.fmqb.com//article.asp?id=184531

Saturday, April 22, 2006

 

Broadcasters PAY FOR PLAY "PAYOLA"-FEDERAL INVESTIGATION CONTINUES.

FCC Launches Payola Probes of 4 Radio Giants
Documents are sought from Clear Channel, CBS, Entercom and Citadel, sources say. The agency's step comes after settlement talks stall.

Other FCC insiders said this new stage of investigation could put broadcasters more at risk of previously undiscovered evidence of wrongdoing being found. The investigation could give the FCC access to millions of previously unexamined documents. It could also expand to include stations and radio executives across the nation.
HERE IS THE LINK:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fcc20apr20,0,4714012,print.story?coll=la-home-headlines

 

HD Radio-Commentary: Has Anyone Thought This Through?

Economic and Political Considerations Can Trump Technical Ones at the FCC.
But while AM IBOC's appropriation of five channels is outrageous, FM IBOC's use of half of each adjoining, or "first-adjacent," channel is hardly innocuous.
Since Philadelphia lost its full-time classical station, I'd like to be able to hear WQXR (96.3) from New York. Until recently, that might have been possible.
But what good would the best possible tuner and antenna be when Beasley's CHR Rhythmic WRDW(FM) 96.5 in Philadelphia is running IBOC, with its lower side channel effectively jamming the upper half of WQXR(FM)'s weak 96.3 analog signal from New York?
And that's not the only problem with "HD FM." When two second-adjacent stations both use IBOC, each taking up half of the channel between them, they become in effect first-adjacents, at least with respect to their digital signals.
Want concrete examples?
WSTW(FM) 93.7 in Wilmington, Del., is a second-adjacent to both WMMR(FM) 93.3 and WYSP(FM) 94.1 in Philadelphia, both of which are running IBOC. IBOC signals from WSTW wreak havoc on those two Philadelphia stations' IBOC signals south of the city. And what about WPST(FM) 94.5 in Trenton, N.J.? That one would interfere with WYSP's IBOC north of Philadelphia, too. There are dozens of such situations around the country.
If nobody's noticed the problem yet, that's only because IBOC receivers automatically default to analog whenever the digital signal is too weak for adequate reception, provided there is an analog signal. Of course, once the stations pull the plug on analog to add more digital program streams - or switch their analog service to mono to extend their useable coverage area, as per Walt's suggestion - the problem will become immediately obvious.
HERE IS THE LINK TO JACK HANNOLD'S EXELLENT ARTICLE:
http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/iboc/2006.04.20-06_rwrf_april_20_part_3.shtml

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

 

HD Radio=SMELL-O-RADIO THAT WILL MAKE YOU DEAF!

Here is the link that will download the new ad campaign by the HD Radio Cartel. IT STINKS!
Who needs a radio to hear this and become deaf?
http://www.areyoudefyet.com/agree/getfile.php?file=../spots/MP3s/07-CSG-HD-Fart.mp3

Monday, April 17, 2006

 

HD Radio Survey-76% say HD Radio is worth NOTHING!

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HD Radio-BUZZING DIGITAL DEATH WAIL

HD Radio promises much, but delivers little. Mostly, much more radio interference to both AM and FM listening.
The coverage area is about half of analog radio and it jams more stations then the few new digital streams it creates. HD Radio, iBiquity, IBOC, is the most over-hyped "pet rock" of the new millennium. A total consumer rip off.
iBUZZ is a flawed system that should not be given FCC final approval.
If broadcasters really had all this wonderful new music and information they claim is coming to HD Radio, why wouldn't they just put it on their analog channels where there are actually listeners?
Instead they play the same few dozen tunes "suggested" by large record companies, over and over. Why would HD Radio make a difference?
HD Radio fidelity is about the same as a webstream, artifacts and all.
AM and FM broadcast radio is dieing from the new competition of other media, as well as lack of entertainment value and useful information. The slow death wail of radio broadcasting is iBUZZ.
-WORLDSUPERCASTER

Sunday, April 16, 2006

 

HD RADIO INTERFERENCE MUCH WORSE-CLEAR CHANNEL SENIOR ENGINEER

Clear Channel senior engineer admits AM HD Radio IBOC interference is much worse then previously calculated.
(FM HD Radio interference is also much worse then measured on a spectrum analyer for the same reasons).
Not -27.8 db for AM but effectively -13.2 db. (Which is the hiss we are all hearing on our radios).
He shows why the spectrum analyzer method is misleading as to the actual effects interference, and calculates the difference, and states Barry McLarnon's calculations of much greater interference are correct. Mr. McLarnon published a series of technical articles published in "Radio Guide" and submitted engineering proofs to the FCC as a reply to HD Radio Docket MM 99-325.
I think this confession by Clear Channel's Senior Vice President of Engineering effectively guts the "all knowledgeable" HD Radio advocates who have been claiming as "fact" IBOC HD Radio causes minimal or no interference.
Of course we knew this all along, just by hearing the hiss on our radios. Never underestimate the human ear as the final test instrument for what humans actually hear.
Spectrum analyzers hear differently with eyballs then humans with ears! Those are the real life "facts."
If radio sounds bad to the ear, no one will listen, regardless of what you see on a spectrum analyzer.
HERE IS THE LINK TO THE FULL REPORT:
http://www.am-dx.com/iboc_power.htm

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

 

HD RADIO CAUSES INTERFERENCE ON AM AND FM BANDS

MULTIPATH INTERACTION AND CANCELLATION BETWEEN HD DIGITAL AND ANALOG FM SIGNALS DESTROYING FM COVERAGE!
The multipath signal cancellation between digital and analog FM signals not only jams adjacent channel staions but causes additional multipath signal loss to the digital host stations analog signal, and produces digital noise in the analog stereo signal.
In particular, it causes neighboring FM stations to disappear if they are lower-powered or further away (a common experience when listening in the car). For example, when 107.7 in San Francisco turned on IBOC, it made 107.5 from Santa Cruz (the famous KPIG) disappear from the south bay.
In my experience, it also degrades the analog FM signal (of the IBOC broadcaster) with additional multipath.
Here is the link:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/02/187238
HD RADIO-IBOC-Ibiquity should NOT get final FCC approval!
HD RADIO IS A DEFECTIVE, DESTRUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY.
There is no need to approve a defective digital AM or FM system.
Here is a link to a truly compatible FM digital system that dosn't cause jamming and is fully approved RIGHT NOW!
http://www.dreinc.com/

Saturday, April 01, 2006

 

RADIO STATION OWNERS NEGOTIATE PAYOLA SETTLEMENT!

PAYOLA MAY RUIN PLANS FOR FCC FINAL APPROVAL AND PROGRAMMING OF HD RADIO FOR SOME LARGE BROADCASTERS. NO PAY FOR PLAY ALLOWED.
The nation's biggest radio broadcasters are in discussions with the Federal Communications Commission to resolve accusations that station programmers accepted improper payments from record companies in exchange for playing specific songs, officials involved in the talks said last night.
But the talks have stalled on questions about how much money the companies — Clear Channel Communications, CBS Radio, Entercom Communications and the Citadel Broadcasting Corporation — might have to pay to settle the case, said these officials, who insisted on anonymity because the talks are at a delicate stage.
Clear Channel, which operates about 1,200 stations and is the industry's biggest player, has been pressing for the agency to agree to a range that would place its financial penalty at $1.5 million to $3 million, according to a person involved in the talks. F.C.C. officials had balked at its earlier offers of $500,000 and $1 million, the officials said.
If the two sides do not come to an accord, the agency is expected to start a broad investigation into the payments and request internal documents and e-mail messages from the radio chains.
The companies are trying to avoid the expense — and potential embarrassment — that could arise from an investigation.
The potential stalemate in the settlement talks comes as the F.C.C. has been criticized by the New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, for failing to police the radio stations. Mr. Spitzer's office has been conducting an extensive investigation of improper payments — known as payola — in the music industry, and has publicly released reams of internal documents from both record and radio companies illustrating the payments made in exchange for airplay.
Kevin J. Martin, the head of the commission, has said its enforcement bureau would thoroughly investigate accusations of payola.
Links to stories:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/01/business/media/01payola.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/31/AR2006033101622_pf.html
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-fi-payforplay1apr01,0,5789491,print.story?coll=la-home-entertainment

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