[BC] Sangean HD component tuner & HDradio

[James Somich]

It has been less than 2 weeks living with this tuner and I haven't had the
time to seriously listen to each station. But I can say this...NOTHING
STANDS OUT! I heard very annoying artifacts on my XM Radio before dropping
the service. I don't think there are any artifacts here that will be evident
to the average listener. I may change my opinion on this as I listen more
but that is how I feel right now.

HD stations should revert to analog only mode and drop the analog delay
during sports broadcasts. I can't think of any other "solution."

I am using the stock radio in my 2002 Jeep Liberty to listen to analog AM
stations that have gone to HD. This seems to be a fairly decent AM
radio...probably average to slightly above average. It is used in a lot of
Chrysler products also.

The "HD whine" is much more evident on WJR than WTAM. Both are 50Kw ND
stations.
I can still hear it on WTAM, but I can ignore it a lot easier. What I DO
notice on WTAM is a lot of glitches and noise...sounds like multipath
distortion. This was never there before HD and doesn't exist on non HD AM
stations. Some of this could be receiver-generated, but it is still a big
annoyance to me.

OK "relatively cheap" is a relative term. We all know how much it costs, and
each station will have to decide if the expenditure is worth it for them.
The license fees are too high (IMHO) and receivers are overpriced. We all
know that. But prices will come down. They always do. If they do not, the
system will fail.

I am betting that, over the long haul, prices will gradually moderate. They
are doing this already in the receiver world. We are so impatient today.
This is going to take years and years...this kind of change always has.

I like the HD-2 channels, and the display of program information is
something you get used to really fast.

The quality improvement on AM is impressive.

I am old enough to remember when FM was a throwaway. We never worried if the
FM was off the air in the late 50s early 60s. After all "no one was
listening anyway." When FMs started signing on after WW-II, many thought
that it was the next big thing. Television took the spotlight and FM
languished. I worked for a big station that thought FM would be the next big
thing and tv was just a novelty so they never applied for a tv license and
went whole hog into fm. Enough said.

I believe that stations should have the conversion to HD on their plate.
They can make the move on a schedule that makes financial sense. This is
pure chicken and egg. The broadcasters must have it on the air before people
will buy receivers. And the quality must be good or better and it can be!

If the broadcasters don't embrace this, it will never happen and be
relegated to the scrap heap. Terrestrial radio needs digital and this is its
big chance. Yes, its an imperfect system, but so is the GE-Zenith fm stereo
system we now use. Look what it did to the signal-to-noise ratio.

Getting rid of the pre-emphasis curve is a solid improvement with all
formats.

This is progress and it is slow and painful. Sometimes I think we are too
close to this thing to be totally objective. IMHO the iPod is a fad and
satellite radio has peaked. We have much more to be worried about from
internet radio once broadband becomes mobile.

But what do I know?



On 12/20/06, WFIFeng at aol.com <WFIFeng at aol.com> wrote:
>
> In a message dated 12/20/2006 6:59:56 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> jsomich at gmail.com writes:
>
> >  I don't go in for these little
> >  table radios with the micro speakers. The Sangean lets me hear
> "everything."
> >  And I don't hear a lot of digital artifacts on anybody's station.
>
> Does this mean that you are, in fact, hearing *some* digital artifacts...
> just not "a lot"? Please be a little more specific.
>
> >  But why does WTAM drop the analog delay during a football game without
> >  turning off the HD? This pleases no one!  The HD listener in a car is
> >  annoyed during the blends and the HD listener at home, watching tv is
> out
> of
> >  sync.
>
> It seems that this out-of-sync problem exists with or without HD, and not
> just with football.
>
> >  Just came back from Detroit area today. WJR (Disney) STILL sounds
> horrible
> >  in analog with the HD on. They have super major problems. The HD
> actually
> >  puts a loud whine behind all programming. This is absolutely
> unlistenable,
> >  even in the car at 70mph!
>
> They're not the only ones. Any AM receiver with an NRSC-compatible receive
> bandwidth is going to present an unlistenable analog signal in the
> presence of
> HD, regardless. That high-pitched noise is because the HD signal, itself,
> is
> within the receivers' bandpass. Thus, the station is generating
> self-interference... let alone what it's doing to its neighbors'
> frequencies.
>
> >  Hey, the world is NOT going to rush out and buy an HD
> radio...especially at
> >  today's prices. The lack of portables or pocket radios is another
> negative.
>
> We have strong agreement on all of the above. :)
>
> >  But read Chris Scherer's editorial in BE Radio this month about the
> adoption
> >  of HD. I think it makes a lot of sense.
>
> Hmmm... I'll have to look for that.
>
> >  HD is relatively cheap to implement
>
> 'scuse me, while I get up from the floor... "relatively cheap"?! Perhaps
> to
> large corporations with very deep pockets! When you're talking high
> 5-digit to
> low 6-digit figues *per station* to implement this thing, that is *not*
> "relatively cheap" for the significant majority of medium-to-small
> broadcasters out
> there. (Add-in the additional ongoing licensing fees Ibiquity demands...)
>
> Now, by contrast, FMeXtra is "relatively cheap"... a $9,000 box and a few
> minutes of Engineering time to set it up... *that* is relatively cheap.
>
> >  and the public will gradually be buying
> >  radios that have HD capability. I don't think it is going away, but
> it's
> not
> >  going to be a revolution either.
>
> Based on what I'm reading here, and in conversations with "average folks",
> these radios are barely moving. It seems that 90% of those sales are to
> broadcasters or those with some kind of broadcast-connections.
>
> >
> >  It has some warts, but it really isn't a bad system. And I was a
> skeptic.
>
> Some warts?? While I do admit that the FM system has some potential, the
> AM
> system is an absolute nightmare. I started-off being optimistic about this
> thing... back when it was all on paper. Once reality set-in, I changed my
> outlook
> from "partly sunny" to "Hurricane warning", where I remain to this day.
>
> That's my 3c worth.
>
> Willie...
> (Just an Engineer)
> _______________________________________________
>
> The BROADCAST [BC] list is sponsored by SystemsStore On-Line Sales
> Cable-Connectors-Blocks-Racks-Wire Management-Test Gear-Tools and More!
> www.SystemsStore.com       Tel: 407-656-3719    Sales at SystemsStore.com
>
>