Best Buy: 2498 different artist's LP's and 5 HD radios.

[KB1OKL]

This was online, and of these 5 most were not available at the 6 or 7 stores close to me, the only one that supposedly was, was a JVC unit.
They have 88 "HD ready" car radios. Must be all purpose auxiliary jacks

This is a review for an Insignia stand alone HD tuner which costs 150.00 and is the only HD tuner they sell for home use that I could find.
Customer Rating
1
[EDIT]

HD antenna? ;D Oh yeah the 17 element Yagi cut for the FM band, 449.99 plus tax, great for the ultra fringe area: 10+ miles from the transmitter.
Heavy duty HD antenna rotor separate.


[EDIT-Citation exceeds amount of permissible content under Fair Use standards and has been truncated as a result.]

 

[fybush]

HD antenna? ;D Oh yeah the 17 element Yagi cut for the FM band, 449.99 plus tax, great for the ultra fringe area: 10+ miles from the transmitter.
Heavy duty HD antenna rotor separate.

Hey, Bob?

I was in Binghamton yesterday, visiting family members down there. Brought my Sony XDR-F1HD with nothing more than the cheesy wire dipole that came in the box, draped loosely down from the shelf where I put the radio.

Locked on to solid HD from WYXL 97.3 Ithaca (34 miles over rough terrain) and WIII 99.9 Cortland (37 miles over even rougher terrain) right away.

But, you know, don't let those of us who've actually used the radios confuse you with real-world results.

 

[KB1OKL]

Scott, I've used them enough to know that your average person isn't going to get those kinds of distances unless they have a DXer like me or you arrange the antenna for them.

Anyway that review was a solid 1 out of 5, in fact the customer returned the two he had bought for him and his mother because it didn't pick up anything, he did like the LCD display though.

 

[fybush]

Scott, I've used them enough to know that your average person isn't going to get those kinds of distances unless they have a DXer like me or you arrange the antenna for them.

Did you bother to actually read what I wrote? (Don't waste your time, or mine, answering that.)

I took the dipole that came with the radio, plugged it in, tossed it randomly back behind the dresser that the radio was sitting on, and turned it on. No problems with WYXL or WIII. (Which were, incidentally, the only HD signals I could hear in Binghamton, where none of the locals have HD.)

There was no effort expended in arranging the antenna. Again, I turned it on, and it worked.

I'm very sorry that that disagrees with your preconceptions.

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

Scott, I've used them enough to know that your average person isn't going to get those kinds of distances unless they have a DXer like me or you arrange the antenna for them.

Anyway that review was a solid 1 out of 5, in fact the customer returned the two he had bought for him and his mother because it didn't pick up anything, he did like the LCD display though.

Down, Bob. Scott is referring to the Sony HD tuner...one of the best tuners for digital or analog, more sensitive than most out there...NOT the Insignia, which suffers from the same deafness that affects most HD radios. If all HD receiving equipment had been like the Sony from the outset, HD might have done much better than it's doing. As I've posted here before: You get only one chance to make a first impression.

 

[Carmine5]

Scott, I've used them enough to know that your average person isn't going to get those kinds of distances unless they have a DXer like me or you arrange the antenna for them.

Anyway that review was a solid 1 out of 5, in fact the customer returned the two he had bought for him and his mother because it didn't pick up anything, he did like the LCD display though.

Down, Bob. Scott is referring to the Sony HD tuner...one of the best tuners for digital or analog, more sensitive than most out there...NOT the Insignia, which suffers from the same deafness that affects most HD radios. If all HD receiving equipment had been like the Sony from the outset, HD might have done much better than it's doing. As I've posted here before: You get only one chance to make a first impression.

This is very true. There's home-made chicken noodle soup and then there's chicken flavored Cup-O-Noodles.

Admittedly, the only HD Radios I've auditioned have been of the Cup-O-Noodles variety (like the Radio Shack/Best Buy offerings).

Very unsatisfying.

C5

 

[clouseau]

I attempted to post this in TIO and link to it, but apparently you can't start a topic there. Apologies to the mods. Still take this is the spirit it was intended.

Did you bother to actually read what I wrote? (Don't waste your time, or mine, answering that.)

I took the dipole that came with the radio, plugged it in, tossed it randomly back behind the dresser that the radio was sitting on, and turned it on. No problems with WYXL or WIII. (Which were, incidentally, the only HD signals I could hear in Binghamton, where none of the locals have HD.)

There was no effort expended in arranging the antenna. Again, I turned it on, and it worked.

I'm very sorry that that disagrees with your preconceptions.

In the spirit of the upcoming election I'd like to suggest that the treatment of KB in this thread is grossly unfair.

THis man is uniquly qualified to decide if HD radio works or not. He has a lengthy history of being an amateur radio operator. He has or had mastery of the Morse code. He has ears. And he has a multi year history of speaking to the issue of HD radio on internet message boards.

As a guy who actually has authority from the government to build and operate radio transmitters, he is in a unique position to speculate on how this technology actually performs today.

Scott, it is totally demeaning to suggest KB is just spouting the party talking points when he ignores your "reported" real world experience. In fact, it's pretty clear you're part of the vast "Ibiquity-wing" conspiracy. I mean after all, you do a radio show, right? You're really just a nut-job talk radio host. At a public station no less. Making up mistruths about KB when his "Radio reception plan" (Which will soon be posted on his website) will provide a price cut for a Meduci AM tuner for every listener with a signal strength of less than 250,000 Nanvolts at their locales.

There are of course the reports of non credible statements like "Can't receive it at the transmitter site" and the later revisions of "at the studio" but overall KB is the victim of a vicious campaign of lies from many on this board.

Scott Fybush... Today's Worst Person in the World!

(Cue the Ripped off Huntly-Brinkley theme music)

This post offered in the Spirit of Campaign 2008 while keeping in mind the holiday this weekend. What's it Orson Wells said?

Smile.. It's Halloween.

Clouseau
(On behalf of Keith Olberman)

 

[Savage]

See? SEE?? I just KNEW Olbermann was behind HD Radio all the time!!!!

(I'll bet Chris Matthews has a JVC unit installed in his Benz. And Andrea Mitchell! And Katie Couric....and....and....)

What? Time to adjust my Thorazine drip already??

Aw.....okay.......

 

[fybush]

Counselor Savage has barely scratched the surface of this Vast Hiss-Wing Conspiracy. Reliable sources tell me that Rachel Maddow has not one, but THREE JVC HD headends installed in the Volvo she drives back to western Massachusetts every weekend. This is big, people. You don't know what you're opening up here...

 

[clouseau]

...this Vast Hiss-Wing Conspiracy...

What's it Larry the Cable Guy says?
"Now I don't care who you are, that's funny right there... "

Definitely.

Clouseau

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Locked on to solid HD from WYXL 97.3 Ithaca (34 miles over rough terrain) and WIII 99.9 Cortland (37 miles over even rougher terrain) right away.

But, you know, don't let those of us who've actually used the radios confuse you with real-world results.

I've done 70 mile HD reception with a dipole on a Sangean HDT-1X. And another poster has reported 84 mile HD reception. These are off of 100kW stations on tall towers over flat terrain, however. Still - I find it very difficult to rationalize why any power increase would be necessary for FM HD with range like that. About the only way to goof up HD reception is to crumple up the dipole along with the speaker and power cables on the floor. The typical way a home user installs their system. If they hook up the dipole at all.

And yes, I am a DX'er. The same tuner with a yagi antenna gets 300 mile reception of the analog signal of such stations.

 

[JohnnyElectron]

Can anyone confirm if the BestBuy Insignia stand-alone tuner is a clone of the Sangean HDT-1X, a de-contented version, or what tuner/HD radio it most closely resembles?

 

[KB1OKL]

This is a from a long technical comparison of The Sony XDR-F1HD and the Sangien HDT-1X receivers by a ham, according to him the Sony wins hands down, he also gives a simple mod to be able to switch the Sony between HD and analog, the actual mod instructions are down near the bottom of the review:

"Occasionally you may wish you could force analog reception. You may not care for the transmit processing a station uses for its digital signal, the HD-1 bit rate for a multicast signal may be low enough to cause coding artifacts, the tuner may switch back and forth between analog and digital on a marginal signal, or a distant co-channel HD Radio signal may co-opt the analog signal you're trying to receive. And then there is AM HD, which always sounds funny to me. This modification will let you keep the tuner in analog mode."


http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

 

[Chuck]

This is a from a long technical comparison of The Sony XDR-F1HD and the Sangien HDT-1X receivers by a ham, according to him the Sony wins hands down,

I own both receivers. He is right, there is no contest. The Sony wins in the sensitivity and selectivity race. In fact, I have never owned a better radio based on those criteria. There are things to dislike about the Sony, but sucking a signal out of nothing is not one of its problems. This thing gets decent reception where everything else fails. Use the modification to kill the HD feature and you have a great radio.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Ya know, I'm not sure whether Mr. Fybush is praising or damning
HD radio in this thread, or if it's just a big Halloween joke. I'd
better check with Carl Phillips or Professor Pearson.

But Scott did write in this week's Northeast Radio Watch that
he noticed KDKA was getting slammed after dark in parts of the
Pittsburgh metro by I-CRAP hash from both WINS and WBZ.
Kind of an All In The Family problem, which makes me wonder
who was the CBS Meathead that gave the thumbs-up for I-CRAP? ;D

 

[Savage]

"Reliable souses report" that's why The Eye pulled KDKA off the market while it shops its other Pittsburgh radio properties - they were told by the broker, nobody will buy the station until you turn off the IBOC interference from WBZ.

So: rather than send a negative signal about the HD debacle (no pun intended) CBS elected to continue to own, and annihilate, its co-owned historic Pittsburgh station with HD noise. That should be a reliable indicator of the CBS commitment to this botched, jerry-rigged hybrid system, an inexplicably moronic cling to the indefensible.

We also learn CBS is chopping 200 feet off of KDKA's stick to make it work better with IBOC. Their Franklin antenna has huge problems with self-interference to the analog signal from the IBOC hash.

 

[calstymes]

oldiesfan6479 questioned:

who was the CBS Meathead that gave the thumbs-up for I-CRAP?

I think it was some fellow from Group W who went to iBiquity and then came back "home" to CBS radio. It just doesn't get any better than this!

And Savage discloses:

"Reliable souses report" that's why The Eye pulled KDKA off the market while it shops its other Pittsburgh radio properties - they were told by the broker, nobody will buy the station until you turn off the IBOC interference from WBZ.

So: rather than send a negative signal about the HD debacle (no pun intended) CBS elected to continue to own, and annihilate, its co-owned historic Pittsburgh station with HD noise. That should be a reliable indicator of the CBS commitment to this botched, jerry-rigged hybrid system, an inexplicably moronic cling to the indefensible.

We also learn CBS is chopping 200 feet off of KDKA's stick to make it work better with IBOC. Their Franklin antenna has huge problems with self-interference to the analog signal from the IBOC hash.

You therefore must ask yourself, "WHY would The Eye inexplicably cling to a moronically indefensible technology?" Too much money already invested, perhaps?

 

[pocket-radio]

Some say noise and static are the main culprits AM radio is struggling.
Well it seems obvious the proposed solution “HD” creates more noise and static on the band. A radio guy or gal will tolerate listening annoyances caused by switching between analog and digital. Average users, listeners, likely won’t have the patience,
tolerance or understandings to even bother. They just want to turn the button on and forget it, their lives are too complicated and busy to fuss with a temperamental experimental, beta bugger.

I’ve been experimenting with ie 8, it has some cool features, but it has also caused numerous system lockups. It’s a poorly written, temperamental experimental, beta bugger. I tried it once and uninstalled it and foolishly tried it again. Why I don’t know.
Same with Vista, I gave up and went back to XP.

My guess is average users will just stick with AM & FM radio.

Given the perception problems with Vista, users are sticking with XP too.
That is until Microsoft releases software or patches to fix their beta version.

 

[KB1OKL]

Windows is now experimenting with Windows 7 dumping the Vista name.
HD: the cure that's worse than the malady, it's like taking poison to cure the common cold.
I just bought one of those Sony's for 85.00 and will experiment from my house, will definitely do the mod though so I can manually switch it off and on. I'll plug it into my thirty year old Marantz 2385 and compare it's reception on FM, if it's as good as you guys say it is it should blow away the Marantz in analog mode. The AM receiver is krap in the Marantz, the Meduci kills it in sound and I highly recommend them if you want a quality hifi AM receiver, it receives very well also. The FM in the Marantz sounds very good and is sensitive.

 

[KB1OKL]

(Which will soon be posted on his website) will provide a price cut for a Meduci AM tuner for every listener with a signal strength of less than 250,000 Nanvolts at their locales.

Clouseau
(On behalf of Keith Olberman)

Just to set the record straight I do not nor have ever had a website, you got the wrong guy, perhaps that explains your vitriolic attacks against me whenever I don't read the post clearly and leave myself open.