I know of one LPFM that transmits in HD. KBUU-LP in Malibu. I had a chance to hear it while driving in the Malibu/Santa Monica area and yes, the HD doesn't stay locked for very long. I think it lasted all of about four miles. According to Wikipedia, they are running HD-1 and HD-2 with plans for HD-3 and HD-4. I think I remember that they were running a KPOP and a J-POP on two of the HDs. It's been a couple of years since I heard it.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Audacy reducing HD power?
- Thread starter Signal Geek
- Start date
Actually, it was tiny as they based the projections on a volume of millions of units, not a few specialty radios.
If they were running K-Pop and J-Pop on two channels, the means HD-2 and HD-3, as HD-1 has to be a simulcast of the analog content.
In the scheme of things, the cost amounts to a rounding error. Most of the stations that will be implementing HD Radio, have already done so and paid the license fees. Stations wouldn't be saving any money by discontinuing transmitting digital sidebands.
What does not seem to be understood is that the savings in discontinuing programming on an HD-2, HD-3 or even HD-4 is in labor costs for programming.
Right, I looked them up after my post and they are running 3 HD channels currently. I was just too
lazy to go and correct the post.Related question - since stations have already paid to license it, bought the equipment, etc., why have so many AM's dropped it? Is it due to the sideband intereference, equipment refreshes since implemented and choosing not to buy replacements with HD, lack of engineering resources?
Just curious. There seemed to be a robust adoption rate at the beginning. Receivers have maybe not propagated to the degree originally expected yet there are still a decent number out there and continuing to be put in cars.
I thought worked pretty well and sounded decent on AM. We had a few in my area but none any more. Music, ironically, sounded better on it than talk (to my ears). We had a Radio Disney outlet running it and it sounded good - probably better than the Radio Disney feed on SiriusXM. To me talk could sound a bit off but not enough to make me tune out.
Always thought xperi could have done more with it. Use the data component to publish simulcasts so the radio could flip to the stongest signal automatically (think FM HD2 to AM if the HD2 cut out, etc.) Eliminate the need to change bands - just have "radio" and it tunes from 530khz to 108mhz and skips over the gap between 1710khz and 88mhz. Then scanning would bring new people to any frequency regardless of band.
Just curious. There seemed to be a robust adoption rate at the beginning. Receivers have maybe not propagated to the degree originally expected yet there are still a decent number out there and continuing to be put in cars.
I thought worked pretty well and sounded decent on AM. We had a few in my area but none any more. Music, ironically, sounded better on it than talk (to my ears). We had a Radio Disney outlet running it and it sounded good - probably better than the Radio Disney feed on SiriusXM. To me talk could sound a bit off but not enough to make me tune out.
Always thought xperi could have done more with it. Use the data component to publish simulcasts so the radio could flip to the stongest signal automatically (think FM HD2 to AM if the HD2 cut out, etc.) Eliminate the need to change bands - just have "radio" and it tunes from 530khz to 108mhz and skips over the gap between 1710khz and 88mhz. Then scanning would bring new people to any frequency regardless of band.
Potentially, but as I understand the current state of things; is that many playlists for HD-whatever-ancillary channels are recycled playlists over a series of weeks. Just need to change the date range, and playlist ready to go.
That sounds a bit like DAB. You don't need to know what station is on what frequency - the listener just gets presented with an alphabetical list of all the stations they can receive at their location.
Incidentally, the discussion about the poor range of LPFM HD stations made me think. I've never had a problem with reception of full-power DAB services in the past, but we have recently started to get low-power micro-local DAB services (roughly 50-200 watts), and these are also pretty patchy even in their intended areas. It seems like digital radio technology, of whatever ilk, doesn't do well with low power. You can cope with the odd crackle if the content is good, but digital dropouts are far more noticeable and disruptive.
That's because digital is, well, digital. Binary. 1 or 0. A signal is there or not there. There's no such thing as faint digital audio; the audio simply disappears.
I am a radio geek, and I still don't listen to over-the-air radio very often at all. Most of what I listen to is radio, but very few are local stations, and I only have working radios in the car. I can't imagine even us geeks use radio like we did 15 years ago.
Are you new to this site? If so, welcome!
I wonder if Audacy is intentionally running some of its throwaway AM stations at reduced power?
50 kW 1270 WXYT in Detroit is throwing a noticeably weaker than usual signal my way. The station usually grabs no better than a 0.1 or 0.2 share and mostly runs Bet QL and CBS Sports Radio programming.
50 kW 1270 WXYT in Detroit is throwing a noticeably weaker than usual signal my way. The station usually grabs no better than a 0.1 or 0.2 share and mostly runs Bet QL and CBS Sports Radio programming.
Not how any of that works. The cost associated with power from an HD exciter are negligible. The HD2 channels were cut to save on the more expensive licensing costs themselves, the automation, the music licenses, etc. By shutting those down, they save a few thousand dollars per station.
Explain as the professionals may, some posters never quite wrap their heads around just how little the electric bill factors into the big picture of station ownership. And that used to include me!
It's really a matter of scale. If you own a group of stations in a larger market, then costs are spread among the stations. That includes utility costs. If you're a small market, stand alone, full Class C FM earning $16K a month, transmitting via a 30kW tube transmitter, that $3,000.00 a month power bill really cuts into any profits.
AM tube transmitters are incredibly inefficient. A 50kW AM station still using a tube transmitter will cost $8K-13K per month in utility power, depending on per kwH utility rates. Solid state AM transmitters are much more efficient, but could be cost prohibitive for a smaller station to purchase while just trying to make ends meet.
But the "to save power" posts have nearly all been about a major market station owned by a large group "saving" based on reducing transmitter power. I doubt that there are many... if any... large group stations that don't have solid state transmitters today. The savings in electricity and maintenance amortize the cost of the rig very quickly... and high power tubes are really expensive and eventually you can't keep rebuilding them, either.
I know there are some high power AMs that are daytime or very directional that are owned by groups or licensees that sell time to preachers and the like where the costs are getting unbearable. But that is not what we have been discussing.
One must remember too, that operating a radio transmitter at a reduced power many times takes it out of an efficiency curve. The transmitter was designed and built to operate it's most efficient at the licensed TPO. Anything less, and you're using the same, or more out of the wall, for less output.
And what some don't understand is that for lower power stations, the transmitter may not be the primary use of power at a site; lighting of multiple DA towers, A/C, heating, the rack equipment, lighting of outside the building for security, and other items add up and, unless you are 10 kw and over, may be as much as the transmitter power consumption.
- Status