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AM Stereo

W

wnmb

I read with interest, and with some amusement, the posts regarding an earlier article about my station's conversion to AM Stereo recently. One, in particular, caught my attention as the poster referred to "electrical noise" in stereo.
Some of you may not be aware, but there are more AM Stereo receivers than you might first imagine. In particular, Ford and Chrysler have continued to include AM Stereo in premium sound systems all these years. Ford has several models by Visteon and Audiophile which are AM Stereo and they sound awesome.
I decided to do the AM Stereo for two reasons.
First, IBOC is miles down the road and there appears to be much inequity between it for AM and FM. Then, there's the matter of the fees. Pretty heavy for us small market broadcasters, even for those who "think big". Another factor is the interference which can be created by IBOC to the existig analog signals out there. It's the last thing AM Radio needs. And what AM broadcaster would really believe that taking his AM analog signal down in bandwidth is a good idea?
On the positive side, AM Stereo exists. It sounds great. The separation is truly fantastic. There are existing receivers now. Plus, for any station willing to promote a little bit, there are brand new receivers available from Sony right now. We have purchased and supplied numerous Sony SRF a-300s and a neat little Sony pocket radio with earphones that will surprise you with its fidelity.
Now, I don't expect a huge bunch of radio stations to convert to AM Stereo or those who have turned it off to turn it back on in mass, although they would be wise to do so and give their listeners the best quality which can be delivered.
I know I only control my own little niche, and as a community broadcaster, I want my station to be the best in can be in all regards. So, we do lots of local news and community involvement. We believe in our city of license. And we want to sound the best we are capable of doing, both in program content and in technical quality.
The AM Stereo, with the station doing its part with a clean and modern audio chain, is the best sound.
AM Stereo is not dead. If you believe that come to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and meet some great people who will play it for you in their cars, like my friend Jeff who has a Navigator, or Ray who drives an Explorer, or Holly in her Dodge! Or, sit down in my Ford Thunderbird and punch the radio between AM and FM and decide for yourself about the fidelity of the AM Stereo compared to FM.
AM Stereo transmission equipment has improved from the 80s. The new Delta unit we purchased last December is far superior to the first C-Quam system I bought in 1983.
Ultimately, it is any radio station's programming and involvement in its coverage area which most determine's whether it will be viable and have an impact. However, having the best sound you can deliver helps a lot. AM Stereo is helping WNMB.
 
All I can do is Thank You for keeping it real and bringing AM Stereo back into Focus. I only wish more AM stations would follow your example and turn the Pilot Lights back on.

I will concede that for an All Talk station, it really is not neccesary. If however a station has a music daypart, or music on the weekends, it just makes sense to have AM Stereo. The new Digital processors can be dayparted, and the C-Quam exciters can be remote controlled to turn the AM stereo on and or off depending on daypart.

Basically all AM IBOC is, is Digital C-Quam. If you are an AM station that is planning on running IBOC down the road, then you might as well get an IBOC ready Transmitter and upgrade your antenna system if it needs it, and run C-Quam. Kind of like the way RDS caught on recently on FM before the stations started running FM IBOC.

I know of an Engineer who is Running IBOC during the day, and C-Quam at night. Management wants IBOC, but since you can't operate IBOC at night he has a rig set up to switch from the IBOC Exciter to the C-Quam Exciter at night.

Personally, I think that you can't beat the sound of AM Stereo. The equipment has gotten a lot more reliable and easy to set up. The receivers have improved a lot from the early 80's too. Europe and Japan use C-Quam. Like RDS, I don't know why we have to live without it. If stations would just put AM Stereo on the air, and promote to the listeners that they are broadcasting in AM Stereo where available, the consumers would start to recognize that AM Stereo does exist, and they would want it on their radios. But Alas, This industry is its own worst enemy. "We can't do AM Stereo, We'd have to spend 18 hundred on a Stereo Exciter, amd blow a few grand on a stereo processor, not to mention upgrade our STL?" This industry is not interested in product anymore, only in making as much money as possible for as little overhead as possible.

I am glad to see that there are still a few independant operators out there that still care about local radio, and continue to keep it real. And if they are doing all of that in AM Stereo, then its Twice as Good.

One Last thing, and feel free to use this. I had been working at an AM Station that played music in AM Stereo. Unfortunately something broke, and the AM Stereo reverted to mono. The station manager wanted to get the stereo fixed, so I came up with the slogan, "If you're not listening to us in AM Stereo, then your only hearing Half of our Radio Station." Unfortunately It wasn't an easy fix, and then the station flipped formats to talk, so that was that.

Once again, Thanks for Keepin it Local in Stereo!
 
I wonder how hard it would be to iterface a Delta C-QuAM Exciter to a Hamilton Rangemaster :) if you use a 2" O.D. copper pipe 3 meters long in place of the CB whip there should be enough bandwidth to pass the AMS signal :)<P ID="signature">______________
Oldies 1610 AM Stereo

"Proud User of Chris Cuff's Alfredo Lite 100mw"

http://www.part15.us
Largest Part 15 Website in the World</P>
 
> I wonder how hard it would be to iterface a Delta C-QuAM
> Exciter to a Hamilton Rangemaster :) if you use a 2" O.D.
> copper pipe 3 meters long in place of the CB whip there
> should be enough bandwidth to pass the AMS signal :)
>

Better still, is to induce Keith Hamilton to create a C-Quam Rangemaster. I'm not sure if C-Quam would work in a multiple TX set-up (e.g.,would there be severe platform motion?)

But I have no doubt one AMS Rangemaster would sound great and, of course, Bill Norman is to be lauded and applauded for flying in the face of conventional corporate wisdom by bringing great AM sound and local programming to his community.

db
 
> I wonder how hard it would be to iterface a Delta C-QuAM
> Exciter to a Hamilton Rangemaster :) if you use a 2" O.D.
> copper pipe 3 meters long in place of the CB whip there
> should be enough bandwidth to pass the AMS signal :)

That should be more than adequate. I run my 0.1 watt "Alfredo Lite" C-QUAM AM Stereo transmitter through a #19 gauge 3 meter wire antenna (tuned with a crystal radio kit air-core coil with a 160 pF variable capacitor across it) and its bandwidth is fine. -- Jason
 
> All I can do is Thank You for keeping it real and bringing
> AM Stereo back into Focus. I only wish more AM stations
> would follow your example and turn the Pilot Lights back on.
>

I can not pick up wnmb in Wilmington NC but used to listen
to it regularly when calling on accounts in Sunset beach and
on south towards Myrtle Beach. Great playlist and an asset to
the community of NMB and Little River. Hope to have a stereo AM
receiver when I vacation on Oak Island this June so I can hear
it in glorious stereo.

best wishes
JohnA
 
AM Stereo receiver source(s)?

My hearty congratulations on your decision to broadcast in AM Stereo! I'm curious--did you get the Sony AM Stereo receivers from audiocubes.com or from some other source(s)?

There's no reason why AM Stereo can't make a comeback. (Technically, it was never "here" in force due to the FCC's failure to mandate a single AM Stereo standard for so long, but clever and persistent marketing and public awareness campaigns can change that.)

Motorola and Sony could stage listening demonstrations in US and Canadian communities with AM Stereo stations (there are surprisingly many of them on the air) with a slogan like "AM radio of the future--available today!" In communities that don't presently have AM Stereo stations, they could use Chris Cuff's "Alfredo Lite" or new "Micro Lite" AM Stereo transmitters to demonstrate the technology. -- Jason

> I read with interest, and with some amusement, the posts
> regarding an earlier article about my station's conversion
> to AM Stereo recently. One, in particular, caught my
> attention as the poster referred to "electrical noise" in
> stereo.
> Some of you may not be aware, but there are more AM Stereo
> receivers than you might first imagine. In particular, Ford
> and Chrysler have continued to include AM Stereo in premium
> sound systems all these years. Ford has several models by
> Visteon and Audiophile which are AM Stereo and they sound
> awesome.
> I decided to do the AM Stereo for two reasons.
> First, IBOC is miles down the road and there appears to be
> much inequity between it for AM and FM. Then, there's the
> matter of the fees. Pretty heavy for us small market
> broadcasters, even for those who "think big". Another
> factor is the interference which can be created by IBOC to
> the existig analog signals out there. It's the last thing
> AM Radio needs. And what AM broadcaster would really
> believe that taking his AM analog signal down in bandwidth
> is a good idea?
> On the positive side, AM Stereo exists. It sounds great.
> The separation is truly fantastic. There are existing
> receivers now. Plus, for any station willing to promote a
> little bit, there are brand new receivers available from
> Sony right now. We have purchased and supplied numerous
> Sony SRF a-300s and a neat little Sony pocket radio with
> earphones that will surprise you with its fidelity.
> Now, I don't expect a huge bunch of radio stations to
> convert to AM Stereo or those who have turned it off to turn
> it back on in mass, although they would be wise to do so and
> give their listeners the best quality which can be
> delivered.
> I know I only control my own little niche, and as a
> community broadcaster, I want my station to be the best in
> can be in all regards. So, we do lots of local news and
> community involvement. We believe in our city of license.
> And we want to sound the best we are capable of doing, both
> in program content and in technical quality.
> The AM Stereo, with the station doing its part with a clean
> and modern audio chain, is the best sound.
> AM Stereo is not dead. If you believe that come to North
> Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and meet some great people who
> will play it for you in their cars, like my friend Jeff who
> has a Navigator, or Ray who drives an Explorer, or Holly in
> her Dodge! Or, sit down in my Ford Thunderbird and punch
> the radio between AM and FM and decide for yourself about
> the fidelity of the AM Stereo compared to FM.
> AM Stereo transmission equipment has improved from the 80s.
> The new Delta unit we purchased last December is far
> superior to the first C-Quam system I bought in 1983.
> Ultimately, it is any radio station's programming and
> involvement in its coverage area which most determine's
> whether it will be viable and have an impact. However,
> having the best sound you can deliver helps a lot. AM
> Stereo is helping WNMB.
>
 
hi all. ok our little am station here in wisconsin plays music. ive been reading this with some interest. what would we have to do to get am stereo? just the exciter? we have a new harris transmitter. what about range? will we lose our range? finally before i go to the owner..how much this gonna cost?

finally..ive been seing all these posts about this new lpam service with up to 450 watts(thats bigger than us at night)! is that just an april fools joke? i cant find anything from the fcc site.
 
> hi all. ok our little am station here in wisconsin plays
> music. ive been reading this with some interest. what
> would we have to do to get am stereo? just the exciter?
> we have a new harris transmitter. what about range? will
> we lose our range? finally before i go to the owner..how
> much this gonna cost?

I'm not a broadcast engineer, but just a C-QUAM AM Stereo exciter (Motorola and other manufacturers produce them) should be all that you need on the transmitter end. On the input end, you'll need a stereo audio chain and (if your transmitter is remote from the studio) a stereo STL or other audio line.

Chris Cuff, who makes the low-power (20 milliwatt to 100 milliwatt) "Alfredo Lite" and "Micro Lite" C-QUAM AM Stereo transmitters, has used them as exciters to feed ordinary AM linear amplifiers for AM Stereo Carrier Current (signal injection into outdoor and building electrical wiring) broadcasting.

> finally..ive been seing all these posts about this new lpam
> service with up to 450 watts(thats bigger than us at night)!
> is that just an april fools joke? i cant find anything
> from the fcc site.

Ah... a fervent Part 15 AM low-power broadcaster's wish, expressed in the form of a "We can dream, can't we?" April Fool's joke. :) -- Jason
 
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