[BC] Mono Expands on the FM Band

[nakayle@gmail.com]

  A old time engineer told me that the FCC made a major mistake in choosing
the GE/Zenith FM stereo system over the Murray Crosby system.   The Murray
Crosby system worked better and had much less hiss at low signal levels but
it was opposed by broadcasters because it interfered with 67-Khz SCA music
services which was a major revenue source for FM broadcasters at the time.
A short-sighted decision I think in retrospect.

-Nat

On 1/16/06, R J Carpenter <rcarpen at erols.com> wrote:
>
> >From the DC-area radio/TV gossip site DCRTV.COM:
> -------------------
> Mono Returns To DC's FM Band - 1/16 - Mono is making a comeback on the
> DC area's FM band. Radio engineers have long known that a mono FM
> signal has more range than a stereo one does. In fringe areas, a
> stereo signal can feature an annoying hiss. The resurrection of mono
> arrived several years ago, when Bonneville's WTOP started an FM relay
> on Warrenton's 94.3, which got moved to 107.7. The mono signal
> improved coverage into the DC metro. And since the programming was
> news and talk, the loss of stereo didn't seem to matter to listeners.
> Then, Bonneville stripped stereo from its 104.1 and 103.9, two
> edge-of-the-metro area signals that carried "modern" music-based Z104.
> It improved the coverage area, but didn't seem to do a lot for the
> station's anemic ratings. Z104 was decapitated earlier this month.
> And, now, Bonneville is running WGMS in mono on 104.1 and 103.9. Will
> classical music fans appreciate Bach and Beethoven in a more "flatter"
> sounding mono? A quick check of the DC FM band finds several other
> stations broadcasting in mono, including the new WTOP news signal on
> 103.5, WGMS's old home. Also in mono: CSPAN's wonk-talk WCSP 90.1,
> which battles closely-spaced Culpeper's Christian contemporary WPER
> 89.9 in parts of Northern Virginia, and Mega's Spanish "classica"
> music rimshots of WBZS 92.7 in Prince Frederick and WBPS 94.3 in
> Warrenton. Still talking in stereo: NPR-based WAMU 88.5 and WETA-FM
> 90.9.....
> ------------------
> ... and what does this hint about the efficacy of IBOC?
>
> bob carpenter
>
>
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