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Brain Fart...

B

BrokeEngineer

Does anyone remember the link for site which did testing of a digital stream on SCA? I can't recall it nor am I having any luck searching.
TIA

nevermind...finally got the search portion of RI.com to work.
Here is the link in case you care.

http://www.dreinc.com/www/index.htm

FMeXtra is what it is....<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by PoBrokeEngineer on 01/09/06 06:16 PM.</FONT></P>
 
> nevermind...finally got the search portion of RI.com to
> work.

If the system load is too high, you can always google for it by putting "site:radio-info.com" as part of it.

I think I enabled google caching.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
Thats a cool system, it seems much more superior to IBOC. Why havent we heard more about it?
 
> Thats a cool system, it seems much more superior to IBOC.
> Why havent we heard more about it?
>

Because our pals at Ibiquity wouldn't be able to charge their superior licensing fees for their inferior product they are sticking us with...

LOL!

At least with the whole HD-2 thing we might gain enough extra revenue to recover all the fees someday... Maybe.




<P ID="signature">______________
--- THE Insultant ---</P>
 
It looks interesting...but are there any receivers available for it yet? -- JasonW

> Does anyone remember the link for site which did testing of
> a digital stream on SCA? I can't recall it nor am I having
> any luck searching.
> TIA
>
> nevermind...finally got the search portion of RI.com to
> work.
> Here is the link in case you care.
>
> http://www.dreinc.com/www/index.htm
>
> FMeXtra is what it is....
>
 
FMeXtra vs HD Radio

> > Thats a cool system, it seems much more superior to IBOC.
> > Why havent we heard more about it?
>
> Because our pals at Ibiquity wouldn't be able to charge
> their superior licensing fees for their inferior product
> they are sticking us with...
> At least with the whole HD-2 thing we might gain enough
> extra revenue to recover all the fees someday... Maybe.

Thats just it. FMeXtra is superior in several ways to HD. First off, the Codecs sound much better. Why can't iBiquity get it right. How come the FM codec doesn't sound much better than the AM codec. FMeXtra managed to squeeze two really good sounding stereo streams in the subcarrier band. Even TieLine Technology http://www.tieline.com/ was able to develop a codec that gives you quality stereo audio over a POTS Dialup connection! Where has (or why has) iBiquity gone wrong?

Secondly, all the radio station has to do is buy the FMeXtra encoder/generator. Once you have it, you got it. Plug it in, configure it, and you're done, its on the air. With HD, stations need to spend money on combiners or additional antennas.

Thirdly, There is the annual licensing fee for HD. There are no fees with FMeXtra.

Fourthly, there is no issue of adjacent channel interference from FMeXtra as it uses the existing subcarrier part of the channel, and not the sidebands.

Drawbacks: You need to keep the Analog Modulation in check. No more overmodulating. Also the range doesn'treach quite as far as the usable main channel Analog signal. This however is no different with the current HD system.

Other Perks: FMeXtra is fully compatible with HD, so a station could use both at the same time if they wanted. The system supports ancillary data as well. It can also be configured to allow for use of RDS.


So why haven't we heard more about it? The problem is that it is a superior system that would allow the little independant and college/community stations to remain on a level playing field with the big corporate broadcasters. FMeXtra is developed by DREinc which itself is a small private company. iBiquity is a conglomeration supported by all the big corporate broadcasters and then some. There is too much invested in iBiquity's system to let some little independant guy come along and steal their corporate thunder. By advocating a system that requires major technical upgrades, expensive equipment, and "superior licensing fees" they basically edge out the little broadcasters who can't aford it, thus allowing more room for big bucks corporate radio.

Tell everyone you know about DREinc and FMeXtra!
 
Re: FMeXtra vs HD Radio

I had some email discussion with the FMeXtra guys a while back. The owner of the group I work for was interested in adopting the technology as an alternative to IBiquity if Digital Radio Express was serious about challenging the over-priced, inferior IBOC system being crammed down our throats.

Unfortunately, as you can see from the targeting of their marketing, DRE seems to have absolutely no interest in primary program delivery - or at least in fighting the 800 pound gorilla known as IBiquity.

Frankly, IBiquity is pretty much etched in stone now because too many companies would cry foul if their sizeable capital investments in the technology are challenged and could be rendered obsolete.

As far as DRE's FMeXtra, they've made inroads as primary program delivery in foreign countries, but are only pursuing the SCA / auxillary program delivery here in the states.

Like it or not, were stuck with IBiquity - because the corporate monoliths say so.
 
Re: FMeXtra vs HD Radio

Oh... by the way, some rading material on FMeXtra:


From Radio World - note the tone of "It'll never succeed"...

http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/special-report/05_rw_opinion_may_25_revised.shtml

From BE Radio:

FM Extra Tests in Israel
Digital Radio Express (DRE) will participate with Israeli broadcaster Radios on tests of DRE's FM Extra digital radio system in the nation of Israel.

"With the topography of Israel and (and a shortage of) frequencies, FMeXtra digital broadcasting offers a unique solution for us to improve our broadcasting", said David Ben Basat, president of Radios.

Unlike other IBOC digital modulation schemes, FM Extra allows an existing analog FM station to broadcast a digital signal through the addition of a single digital subcarrier to the analog carrier. Special receivers can decode the digital subcarrier, which is capable of carrying multiple compressed digital audio program streams, as well as ancillary data. Basat said the company plans to begin operating FM Extra on one of its FM stations shortly, and will likely petition the Israel broadcasting authorities for blanket permission to operate the system nationwide, pending a successful trial.

Transmitter manufacturer Energy Onix, a longtime vendor to Radios, will also be involved with the tests."
 
Re: FMeXtra vs HD Radio

> Drawbacks: You need to keep the Analog Modulation in check.
> No more overmodulating.

Oh man, no sale! God forbid, legal?
 
BULL****

> Like it or not, were stuck with IBiquity - because the
> corporate monoliths say so.

BULLSCRAP....With the exception of the jokers at Ijokuity, nobody ever comes on here and says man is it ever great. It's a piece of crap that just needs to turn white so we can pick it up with a shovel and put it into the trash. I don't ever see a time when I am sitting in my engineering office listening to my stations on Ibiquity.
DRE is stilll heavily involved with Ibiquity and that is why they haven't made a giant push for FMextra. If they were serious, it wouldn't cost 9 grand for a damn encoder. That's outrageous!
A couple of grand would be acceptable but not 9.
Just to send up another flare, why are we trying to fix something that ain't broke? Has anyone ever walked up to you and said "man, your FM sounds less than CD quality"? NO!
People are listening to awful MP3 downloads. Fix the content, not the delivery!
How about reducing the stop sets....lunacy I know
 
Re: BULL****

All together now for PoBrokeEngineer: "AAAAMMMEEENNN!"

My local AM on 660 that runs the *same* recorded fake talk program every Sunday morning hawking colon cleanser pills will not attract more listeners if they air it in IBOC or even C-QUAM AM Stereo--guano content is gauno content no matter how it's delivered.

As WLW proved in the 1950s, there's nothing wrong with AM or FM audio quality that can't be remedied (at no extra cost) by simply paying attention to and tweaking each stage in the audio chain and encouraging listeners to use the higher-quality AM/FM receivers (Sangean, Lennox, Fanfare, etc.) that are readily available. -- JasonW

> > Like it or not, were stuck with IBiquity - because the
> > corporate monoliths say so.
>
> BULLSCRAP....With the exception of the jokers at Ijokuity,
> nobody ever comes on here and says man is it ever great.
> It's a piece of crap that just needs to turn white so we can
> pick it up with a shovel and put it into the trash. I don't
> ever see a time when I am sitting in my engineering office
> listening to my stations on Ibiquity.
> DRE is stilll heavily involved with Ibiquity and that is why
> they haven't made a giant push for FMextra. If they were
> serious, it wouldn't cost 9 grand for a damn encoder. That's
> outrageous!
> A couple of grand would be acceptable but not 9.
> Just to send up another flare, why are we trying to fix
> something that ain't broke? Has anyone ever walked up to you
> and said "man, your FM sounds less than CD quality"? NO!
> People are listening to awful MP3 downloads. Fix the
> content, not the delivery!
> How about reducing the stop sets....lunacy I know
>
 
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