[BC] The AM bandwidth issue

[Barry Mishkind]

At 01:28 PM 11/25/2010, Jerry Mathis wrote:
>>       1. The manufacturers have done only what they needed
>>       to do to prevent millions of cars being returned for
>>       having "defective" radios. Argue all you want. Their
>>       goal is not to have "the best audio" .. it is to have the
>>       least service requests.
> 
>But weren't the NRSC modifications supposed to solve that problem? By cleaning up the splatter and monkey chatter? Wasn't that the goal?

        The manufacturers, by then, had *already* rolled back
        the bandwidth, as a protection. The original NRSC
        was not mandated. It was a "serving suggestion."

        And since the NRSC was designed to make the best
        of bad receiver bandwidth, it was only a "holding"
        place. Again, I will defer to Bob or Greg's recollection,
        as they were a major part of it. However, the 
        manufacturers had no incentive to "open up" no
        guarantee that things would ever get better.

>>       With the NRSC "truce" we have a sort of "status quo."
>>       The existing pre-emphasis curve and the car bandwidths
>>       are about as good as can be expected.
> 
>"As good as can be expected" is a FAR CRY from what was promised of the new standards. And this is the big cheat that was foisted on AM broadcasters AFTER we adhered to the NRSC standard.

        Perhaps. But in that time period, it was
        more a prevention of further deterioration.

        I do remember Bob and Greg telling
        me about their conversations with the auto
        radio crowd.   But I don't have enough clarity
        to quote them here. 

        Maybe they will share.

>>       Really, between the industry wars and the timid FCC, it is
>>       broadcasters themselves - the same bunch who
>>       decided to automate stations to save money - who
>>       have really made the mess.
> 
>This is not said in anger, but you are blaming the victims for the crime. 

        The victims were the listeners. The radio owners made
        millions of dollars (some a billion). The new victims are
        the radio people who are being laid off or pressured
        so the "debt service" can be done by the corporate HQ.

>While the trend to automation began before AM Stereo and NRSC, the trend continued because of the continued listener drain. 

        According to the NAB 92+% of the population
        listens to radio every week. No comment.

>Decent radios MAY have made a difference for many AM stations. Yes I agree, the industry did itself a lot of harm--but improved audio quality COULD have turned a lot of that around, IMHO.

        This is the area of great debate. The content was
        stripped and stripped ... and the excitement of
        radio was killed.  Remember: in the early 1980s,
        people preferred AM to FM playing the same cut.

        So ... who caused pre-emphasis? Who caused
        50 kW DAs with huge amounts of RF going
        off at +10 and +20 kHz? 

        Sort of like telling the cop that pulled you
        over for speeding that you were not happy
        the city reduced the speed limit on the
        road to cope with people who kept 
        going 50 in what is now a 25 zone.

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