AM decline....

[MC]

I had a car shortwave radio Becker Frankfurter or something. You could hear the radio at night if you stopped the car in some rural area. I wonder if they still make them? SW car radios

 

[davideduardo]

Missed that, gotta comment: SWR actually sounds better than FM on a good receiver. (Not an entry-level POS you'll find at retail.)

Source: My QSL card collection, incl. from some pirates

Short Wave stations, except for the very few using DRM, are AM stations on higher frequencies. Because of the nature of propagation, most stations limit bandwidth more than local Medium Wave AM stations.

So short-wave stations sound worse than medium wave stations, and much, much worse than FM stations.

That's one of the many reasons I never returned to the air a commercial SW license that came with a MW station I bought in the 60's.

 

[indieradioguy]

Missed that, gotta comment: SWR actually sounds better than FM on a good receiver. (Not an entry-level POS you'll find at retail.)

Source: My QSL card collection, incl. from some pirates

Short Wave stations, except for the very few using DRM, are AM stations on higher frequencies. Because of the nature of propagation, most stations limit bandwidth more than local Medium Wave AM stations.

So short-wave stations sound worse than medium wave stations, and much, much worse than FM stations.

That's one of the many reasons I never returned to the air a commercial SW license that came with a MW station I bought in the 60's.

True. SWR can (but not necessarily *will*) sound better than FM, depending upon the receiver AND antenna.

 

[davideduardo]

True. SWR can (but not necessarily *will*) sound better than FM, depending upon the receiver AND antenna.

But SW stations are just AM stations on higher frequencies. So what you are saying is that an AM station... let's say KOY or KFYI... could sound better than FM solely based on having a better receiver and antenna?

The defects in that argument are partly in the fact that SW stations generally limit bandwidth to compensate for propagation issues and partly due to the fact that getting an AM transmitter that has frequency response of an FM transmitter is a much more challenging matter (ignoring, in this case, the real impediment to all forms of AM reception which is, today, man-made noise).

 

[ironbear]

True. SWR can (but not necessarily *will*) sound better than FM, depending upon the receiver AND antenna.

But SW stations are just AM stations on higher frequencies. So what you are saying is that an AM station... let's say KOY or KFYI... could sound better than FM solely based on having a better receiver and antenna?

The defects in that argument are partly in the fact that SW stations generally limit bandwidth to compensate for propagation issues and partly due to the fact that getting an AM transmitter that has frequency response of an FM transmitter is a much more challenging matter (ignoring, in this case, the real impediment to all forms of AM reception which is, today, man-made noise).

It's been awhile, but I've seen the Orban and Inovonics processor spec sheets for the SW versions. The preset rolloffs are at 4.5 kHz. or 5 kHz., which also matches what the FCC demands for channel occupancy at HF frequencies. Yet, these stations can sound remarkably crisp.

DRM...that's a whole other thing, and with aac+ coding, it can sound FM-like.

 

[davideduardo]

It's been awhile, but I've seen the Orban and Inovonics processor spec sheets for the SW versions. The preset rolloffs are at 4.5 kHz. or 5 kHz., which also matches what the FCC demands for channel occupancy at HF frequencies. Yet, these stations can sound remarkably crisp.

However, SW stations on the domestic bands, particularly in the 3.3 and 5.8 mHz areas, outside the US attempt to get decent sound. But given they are counting on regional skywave for coverage, they generally didn't push the limits of fidelity when such stations were plentiful.

DRM...that's a whole other thing, and with aac+ coding, it can sound FM-like.

If there is anything less successful than iBiquity's HD Radio, it is DRM. Few transmissions and fewer radios.

 

[hm insulators]

hmmmm....didn't you mean Short Wave doesn't sound as good as AM?

My microwave oven sounds better than Short Wave!

Is this a new thread?

AM Sounds better than....

a microwave

a Gremlin at idle

a short wave

a female cat in heat

a telegraph

any Boy George song

;D ;D ;D