are hD radios selling?

[oldjohnny]

Yes I am DX'n to Houston and others, but I can still recieve Houston as clear as you would be in Houston. That is why I dont understand why my HD Radio does not work as well as I thought it should. Until it can work without so many drop outs I'm still going to be on analog.

Then you can't say HD is bad. It is made to cover HOUSTON, not Lavaca County. It's exactly what it should be.

How about KTJM, KQQK, and KFNC (or KHRS, whatever makes them feel good). They all have HD and their signal drops out everywhere within the city of Houston. Can we then say HD is bad?

I think we can say a little of both. HD radio is a great idea that was implemented all wrong. Digital radio is a great concept, but IBOC? I don't know, I'm having my doubts about it. I bought an HD radio and it works fine. I get a good 50 miles out of it before I finally hear dropouts, but we all have to remember we are in a Flat terrain. I'll wait on the pending approval of a IBOC power increase before I make may final call.

Now AM IBOC, It is lousy, but for some odd reason, it is not as lousy on me as some other people claim it is. I can receive WBAP in College Station (with a few dropouts of course) in clear HD. And not only that, but my engine produces a lot of noise in my stereo, and it still locks in. (Which reminds me, I think I need new spark plug cables). I can also hear KBME, but only during the midday, and with the engine off.

 

[Chuck]

Yes I am DX'n to Houston and others, but I can still recieve Houston as clear as you would be in Houston. That is why I dont understand why my HD Radio does not work as well as I thought it should. Until it can work without so many drop outs I'm still going to be on analog.

Then you can't say HD is bad. It is made to cover HOUSTON, not Lavaca County. It's exactly what it should be.

Based on an IBOC seminar I attended at a TAB convention several years ago, I recall, the original sales pitch from Ibiquity was that it should cover about the same area as your analog signal. It seems everyone was surprised when it had trouble making it much past your 60-65 dbu contour. Basically, it does not cover as well as originally advertised. If you are happy with that, God bless you.

Sure, people past that area probably won't be included in the latest ratings, but maybe some are, especially commuters. In Texas, a lot of people drive a very long way to work. If they lose your signal when they get to the city limits, they will seek other diversions. That may be another station that comes in well, their ipod, some CD's or just talking on their cell phone. In any case, they are not listening to your station. Will they tune in again on their commute back to the city? Good question.

This may not be a huge problem with your HD-1 channel, which should revert to analog, but what about that HD-2 channel which simply stops? Or is having secondary stations that don't go very far the new way to encourage localism in radio?

If people tire of listening to a station that drops out, they might just discover something else to do with their time, they may take you off of their list. I don't see how that is positive.

 

[CW]

It reminds me of AM stereo.

At least with the KAHN system, you only needed two normal AMs to get the stereo effect...no Motorola CQUAM or HD rcvr or SPECIAL radio......pity KAHN was such an a$$ in licensing his decoder design and the FCC went with the Motorola system even though it was violating FCC emissions mask at the time!! I listened to 790 and WLS in KAHN AM stereo using a Sony XRA33 FM/AM stereo cassette radio...Hell, I loved 790 more than 93Q at the time audio wise!!
HD on AM is a dead horse as far as Im concerned.....FM; the jury is still out and MAY work but if I asked all radio listeners I know WHO has a HD radio.....noone will hold their hand up...
and this includes engineers

 

[Chuck]

If you purchase an HD capable radio, it most likely will be an exceptional analog radio. By necessity, they possess a rare combination of sensitivity and selectivity. The ability to decode HD is an interesting side effect. At least, the offerings from Sangean and Sony live up to that promise. I have both, so I can vouch for them. I'm told that others do also, except for the early offerings from BA that we've all heard way too much about. If you invest in the radio, it will not become a doorstop if HD fails to make it. As CW points out, the jury is still out on FM. I think they've already delivered a verdict on AM.

As to the question of “Are HD radios selling?” the answer is yes, but probably not in the way the manufacturers would like. My local Best Buy lowered the price on the Sony table radio to $63.00. The stack of six disappeared in about a week. That included one “Open Box” return. These radios had been sitting on the shelf since last fall. It looks like that is a price point that will sell. $200 appears to be a harder sell.

 

[Radioman100]

How about KTJM, KQQK, and KFNC (or KHRS, whatever makes them feel good). They all have HD and their signal drops out everywhere within the city of Houston. Can we then say HD is bad?

Those are all rimshot stations with transmitters located 60-70 miles away from the west side of Houston. Their analog signals don't do a particularly good job in much of the city. Two are licensed to Beaumont, one to Port Arthur. That should tell you something.

I'll be curious to see how well they perform in HD when the signals are 10 dB hotter.[/quote]

 

[jras20]

I bought a HD radio because I thought it was expose to go as far as analog. But it does not. I had one in my truck, I also stay about 30 miles or so from Austin, Its not even listen able to a HD-2 channel unless you are stoped out from a power line. And even some of the HD-1 channels are not in sink with the Audio. Some have delay's in them. AM is pretty bad, I can get WOAI all the way out to port o connor. If in the "IBOC" world, then that means, Houston radio should only be for Houston? And Bay City stations should only be for Bay city? I hear KMKS say Victoria also in their ID. I guess they may be braking the law? What about KTXX in Karnes City?? They ID themselves to San antonio. I also think about the people who drive a lot from place to place. I got me a portable Sony walkman, it picks up exellent AM and FM reception. Houston shines on it all the way out to my place in Lavaca county.

 

[saradio1]

Posted by: jras20-What about KTXX in Karnes City?? They ID themselves to San antonio.

The top of the hour says "Karnes City-San Antonio". I've never heard it say just San Antonio.

 

[oldjohnny]

How about KTJM, KQQK, and KFNC (or KHRS, whatever makes them feel good). They all have HD and their signal drops out everywhere within the city of Houston. Can we then say HD is bad?

Those are all rimshot stations with transmitters located 60-70 miles away from the west side of Houston. Their analog signals don't do a particularly good job in much of the city. Two are licensed to Beaumont, one to Port Arthur. That should tell you something.

In order for HD radio to work, rimshot have to be included. Imagine someone buys an HD radio to listen to their favorite radio station (which may happen to be a rimshot), and it cannot lock it in. Pretty bad for the consumer and the whole IBOC movement.

Both being at Beaumont and Port Arthur doesn't tell you anything. The transmitter is located no where near their prespective COL. Face it, those rimshots have way more listeners in Houston than they do in Port Arthur. If HD radio doesn't work in rimshots, then I'd have to say HD radio will be a thing of the past. Maybe this power upgrade will make HD radio salvageable.

 

[jras20]

How about KTJM, KQQK, and KFNC (or KHRS, whatever makes them feel good). They all have HD and their signal drops out everywhere within the city of Houston. Can we then say HD is bad?

Those are all rimshot stations with transmitters located 60-70 miles away from the west side of Houston. Their analog signals don't do a particularly good job in much of the city. Two are licensed to Beaumont, one to Port Arthur. That should tell you something.

In order for HD radio to work, rimshot have to be included. Imagine someone buys an HD radio to listen to their favorite radio station (which may happen to be a rimshot), and it cannot lock it in. Pretty bad for the consumer and the whole IBOC movement.

Both being at Beaumont and Port Arthur doesn't tell you anything. The transmitter is located no where near their prespective COL. Face it, those rimshots have way more listeners in Houston than they do in Port Arthur. If HD radio doesn't work in rimshots, then I'd have to say HD radio will be a thing of the past. Maybe this power upgrade will make HD radio salvageable.

Exactly... that was what I was trying to explain.

 

[CW]

How about KTJM, KQQK, and KFNC (or KHRS, whatever makes them feel good). They all have HD and their signal drops out everywhere within the city of Houston. Can we then say HD is bad?

Those are all rimshot stations with transmitters located 60-70 miles away from the west side of Houston. Their analog signals don't do a particularly good job in much of the city. Two are licensed to Beaumont, one to Port Arthur. That should tell you something.

In order for HD radio to work, rimshot have to be included. Imagine someone buys an HD radio to listen to their favorite radio station (which may happen to be a rimshot), and it cannot lock it in. Pretty bad for the consumer and the whole IBOC movement.

Both being at Beaumont and Port Arthur doesn't tell you anything. The transmitter is located no where near their prespective COL. Face it, those rimshots have way more listeners in Houston than they do in Port Arthur. If HD radio doesn't work in rimshots, then I'd have to say HD radio will be a thing of the past. Maybe this power upgrade will make HD radio salvageable.

True to a point...the fact they are licensed to BPT means they have to maintain city grade over the COL.....which means the xmtr cant be too far west...also adj channel spacing to the Houston C's have gotta be maintained so you KNOW they aint gonna cover Houston....FUNNY thing though...I had to drive out west today (WEST of Houston that is Listened to JACK as far as I could....it had an excellent signal on I10 past Hwy6....and stayed in stereo almost to Colombus!!! Eventually it started to fade and drop out (analog..I dont have a HD)...but it was better than any of the other Devers rimshots...never heard KOUL at all....in fact, BOB 103.5 FM was starting to splatter over to 103.7.......of course not a normal happening...but even 93.3 which usually has the best signal of the other Devers signals was pretty bad compared to 103.7.....(doubt they did any downtilt, etc to 103.7's antenna....but makes me wonder sicne they were on their aux for a while)..

Raising the power on HD will only increase the noise floor on adj channels and make it start to sound like AM IBOC (WHOA....big statement there!! WELLL maybe it wont....
but I doubt the 10db increase will help the rimshots much...the IBOC will still be worse coverage than the analog...