cambridge sound works HD radio

[chrish]

I just bought a Cambridge Sound works HD clock radio through BSW, and was immediately impressed with the AM, audio quality, features and looks....till I tried
the FM. My office is eight miles direct line of sight to downtown Boston. With the
rod antenna I was able to only pick up 4 FM stations, luckily mine was surprisingly one of them....I'm talking analog, installing the " T " FM antenna brought in a few more. I can look out the window and see the antennas of stations that cannot be received. In my office I also have a GE Walgreens $10.00 special. A cheap radio that you might take to the beach. The FM dial is full of everything within 40 miles.

I called CSW tech support located in OKC, they must think I just fell off a turnip wagon, three of them tried to make me believe that is the way they were designed.
I finally told the supervisor who the F... is going to pay $300.00 for a radio that
only picks up 4-5 stations in an area where 30+ stations cover it with a 3.16 mv/m signal.
If this is what is being sold to the public as HD radios IBOC is in much deeper trouble than we think. On the 4-5 stations I could receive those in HD sounded good. I was going to take it home to NH tonight but it would be a complete waste of time, the only station that might come in would be WCRB 99.5 from Andover, MA
Does anyone else have one of these, I think the model is HD-850 and is this what
I can expect is I have another radio sent ?

Thanks for any info

Chris Hall
WFNX Boston
617-233-4743

 

[Mike Walker]

I'd love to see your experience with an Accurian in the same location. I get HD fm stations from 60-80 miles away, one (WMIT Black Mountain NC) from 100 miles away. But the speakers suck, so you'd want to use an external amp (which most people ain't gonna' do with a table radio, I know). I use a headphone amp, as the "headphone output" is really just a line output. Still...it pulls in the stations.

Before sending it back, try a 10 dollar set of rabbit ears. They DO pull in more stations than a T (I know the theoretical gain is the same...dipole vs. dipole). The Magnum Dynalab SR100 is a GREAT indoor HD antenna. Since you work in radio, I'm not going to ask anything silly like...are you in a steel-frame building, and is the antenna near a window. Nah...I won't ask that.

 

[SUPERCASTER]

So you are not getting the "hundreds of new stations between the stations" advertised and promised by HD radio, even with the extra external antennas supplied, chrish?

Mike Walker and other supporters say that you just need to keep buying more, better, bigger antennas, and keep trying antenna locations until it works. Of course once you find the "sweet spot" that picks up a few HD radio stations, what happens if you want to move the HD radio to another room or location?
ANSWER= You have to go through the whole signal courtship routine again.
Suppose the HD radio "sweet spot" is in a very inconvenient location, and the antenna that works is an ugly monstrosity, and your spouse divorces you for being a radio nut case, and collects big bucks?
It's happened!
Not to worry. I'm sure iBiquity and the HD cartel have unlimited liability insurance that covers that.

Building penetration is notoriously poor with HD radio, which is why HD radio does not work as advertised, even in cities within plain sight of the broadcasting towers.

You say you like the AM section.
How many AM HD stations do you get?

Will the signal be stronger, steadier, and the antennas smaller when they make a portable or pocket HD radio?
NOT!

HD= High Deception

More over-hyped then snake oil.

 

[Mike Walker]

"More, better, bigger"? This is my antenna. 30 bucks. It's out of sight on the top shelf of my closet. http://70.47.97.204/prodinfo.asp?number=MDSR100

Doesn't that look "bigger", and "better"? It pulls in those defective HD statons from 60-100 miles away (this one was 80 miles away) http://www.theproductionroom.net/shuffle.wma

And that's with what was the least expensive HD Radio on the market. Imagine what would be possible if only the technology wasn't "defective".

Rabbit ears, costing 10 dollars, worked almost as well.

But it ain't just HD were "better and bigger" pulls in more stations. It's analog as well as digital tv and radio. But even more important than "better", or "bigger", is HIGHER! VHF and UHF are line of sight. A simpler antenna higher up will do better than a sophisticated one closer to the ground.

This is so damn easy...people like Supercaster plead that "HD doesn't work", that it's "defective". Hell, I wish I could invite everyone here to my freakin' house IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. That's all it would take to prove THAT IT DOES WORK. I'm sure most would giggle at just how simple, and inexpensive my bedroom HD rig is. But wait...I CAN demonstrate it...with recordings I make on the rig! One of these days I'll have to make a video walking from my front yard, showing the pasture across the street, and surrounding mountains, into the house where the HD unit is...turn it on, tune from station to station so you can tell there's no trickery...all in one continuous shot. But even that wouldn't convince people who can't be bothered with facts. It's a conspiracy, I tell you! "Back, and to the left. Back, and to the left."

 

[R.F. Burns]

So you are not getting the "hundreds of new stations between the stations" advertised and promised by HD radio, even with the extra external antennas supplied, chrish?

Mike Walker and other supporters say that you just need to keep buying more, better, bigger antennas, and keep trying antenna locations until it works. Of course once you find the "sweet spot" that picks up a few HD radio stations, what happens if you want to move the HD radio to another room or location?
ANSWER= You have to go through the whole signal courtship routine again.
Suppose the HD radio "sweet spot" is in a very inconvenient location, and the antenna that works is an ugly monstrosity, and your spouse divorces you for being a radio nut case, and collects big bucks?
It's happened!
Not to worry. I'm sure iBiquity and the HD cartel have unlimited liability insurance that covers that.

Building penetration is notoriously poor with HD radio, which is why HD radio does not work as advertised, even in cities within plain sight of the broadcasting towers.

You say you like the AM section.
How many AM HD stations do you get?

Will the signal be stronger, steadier, and the antennas smaller when they make a portable or pocket HD radio?
NOT!

HD= High Deception

More over-hyped then snake oil.

What's it like realizing that HD is making gains on a daily basis and all your rants are going nowhere? In NY we have about 20 new formats available to us and they're all free! More are on the way too.

 

[scanman1]

I just bought a Cambridge Sound works HD clock radio through BSW, and was immediately impressed with the AM, audio quality, features and looks....till I tried
the FM. My office is eight miles direct line of sight to downtown Boston. With the
rod antenna I was able to only pick up 4 FM stations, luckily mine was surprisingly one of them....I'm talking analog, installing the " T " FM antenna brought in a few more.  I can look out the window and see the antennas of stations that cannot be received. In my office I also have a GE Walgreens $10.00 special. A cheap radio that you might take to the beach.  The FM dial is full of everything within 40 miles.

I called CSW tech support located in OKC, they must think I just fell off a turnip wagon, three of them tried to make me believe that is the way they were designed.
I finally told the supervisor who the F... is going to pay $300.00 for a radio that
only picks up 4-5 stations in an area where 30+ stations cover it with a 3.16 mv/m signal.
If this is what is being sold to the public as HD radios IBOC is in much deeper trouble than we think.  On the 4-5 stations I could receive those in HD sounded  good. I was going to take it home to NH tonight but it would be a complete waste of time, the only station that might come in would be WCRB 99.5 from Andover, MA
Does anyone else have one of these, I think the model is HD-850 and is this what
I can expect is I have another radio sent ?

Thanks for any info

Chris Hall
WFNX Boston
617-233-4743

My suggestion would be to head over to Radio Shack, pick up the Accurian HD radio (I've had good luck with mine), and test it in the same location. If you get the same results, then the problem is signal penetration (or a lack thereof), and you can opt to return both receivers. Otherwise, if the Accurian gets the stations and the Cambridge doesn't, then the Cambridge is defective and you should send it back. 8)

 

[PocketRadio]

What's it like realizing that HD is making gains on a daily basis and all your rants are going nowhere? In NY we have about 20 new formats available to us and they're all free! More are on the way too.

"Find HD Radio Stations Near You"

http://www.ibiquity.com/hd_radio/hdradio_find_a_station

The conversion of stations to HD is slowing - there have only been about 10 conversions in almost two weeks (from 1314 to 1323). Progress on the consumer-front is almost nonexistent, and the HD Radio Alliance could disband at the end of the year.

 

[chrish]

PROBLEM IS NOT LOCATION, PLENTY OF SIGNAL ON ANY OTHER RADIO, I HAVE INOVONICS 530 MODULATION
ANALYZER AND IT GIVES ME AN ACCURATE LOOK AT EVERY MARKET FM STATION'S PARAMETERS WITH A
3' PIECE OF SCRAP WIRE ON THE SAME WORKBENCH.
THIS IS THE SAME FLAWED ARGUMENT CSW KEEPS PUTTING FORTH.
THEY ARE DROPING A NEW ONE OF AT THE STATION, WE SHALL SEE.....

 

[Chuck]

PROBLEM IS NOT LOCATION, PLENTY OF SIGNAL ON ANY OTHER RADIO, I HAVE INOVONICS 530 MODULATION
ANALYZER AND IT GIVES ME AN ACCURATE LOOK AT EVERY MARKET FM STATION'S PARAMETERS WITH A
3' PIECE OF SCRAP WIRE ON THE SAME WORKBENCH.
THIS IS THE SAME FLAWED ARGUMENT CSW KEEPS PUTTING FORTH.
THEY ARE DROPING A NEW ONE OF AT THE STATION, WE SHALL SEE.....

If anyone takes the time to read the instruction manual for the Inovonics 530, it says on Page 28, "Designed for local-market coverage, the 530 was never meant to win DX awards." My observation is that is true. Even most cheap radios outperform it in the sensitivity department. If your 530 outperforms the CSW radio, then the CSW must have borrowed the radio design from the folks down the street at Boston Acoustics.

Either this particular radio is defective, or the CSW is just more HD junk. I hope your replacement radio yields better results.

I will say that my Sangean HDT-1 will not receive the only HD station in my area without the use of an outside antenna, although my GE Super Radio has no problem with the same station using the built in whip antenna. Of course it is analog and the GE is mono. I get the same station with acceptable stereo separation on my two home stereo receivers (a Sony and a Kenwood). Both are connected up to the twin lead style folded dipoles that came with them. On those systems, the antenna is just hanging off the back, tangled up with the rest of the wires. I think that is more typical of most home FM tuner installations.

 

[clouseau]

there have only been about 10 conversions in almost two weeks (from 1314 to 1323).

Yeah, they're screwed. An entire RADIO STATION signs up every business day. That's basically the end of HD radio, right?

Dude, you ought to read the stuff you post. It's a riot.

and the HD Radio Alliance could disband at the end of the year.

I hope it does. Increased competition among HDers will be good for the system.

Any other victories you'd like to claim?

Clouseau

Post Irrelevant off topic link below.

 

[clouseau]

The conversion of stations to HD is slowing - there have only been about 10 conversions in almost two weeks (from 1314 to 1323). Progress on the consumer-front is almost nonexistent, and the HD Radio Alliance could disband at the end of the year.

Oh goodness, even MORE bad news. Only two more radio stations converted today.
http://www.ibiquity.com/hd_radio/hdradio_find_a_station
Sheesh you must really be gloating over this.

I will personally help Ibiquity move their stuff to a storage unit when they fold up. I feel bad for them.

I got to admit, though. I hope they get thru the weekend. I've got plans on Saturday...

Clouseau

 

[PocketRadio]

there have only been about 10 conversions in almost two weeks (from 1314 to 1323).

Yeah, they're screwed. An entire RADIO STATION signs up every business day. That's basically the end of HD radio, right?

Dude, you ought to read the stuff you post. It's a riot.

and the HD Radio Alliance could disband at the end of the year.

I hope it does. Increased competition among HDers will be good for the system.

Any other victories you'd like to claim?

Clouseau

Post Irrelevant off topic link below.

"Commercial Schedule - 4/2/07 - 7/1/07"

http://www.hdradioalliance.com/commercials.php

iNiquity has promised 2000 stations converted to HD by the end of 2007 - if only 5/week convert, as of now, that will be only 1475 by year's end - yea, and we'll see 3000 eventually ! Struble has stated that he wants the HD Radio Alliance to continue, because they do a lot of the coordinating and scheduling of HD marketing and commercials (interesting, I haven't heard any HD Radio commercials in a while).

"Where's Waldo - FOLLOW UP"

"Taking a page out of radio’s guerrilla marketing playbook, we had HD Radio orange uniformed street teams (15 people) handing out HD Radio VIP lanyards at the People Mover stations... At 2:30 each day the trucks caravanned in front of the center making a spectacular site! The mobile billboards carried HD Radio and car specific art and messages including 'Drive, Listen Love', 'More free radio in your car', 'New radio stations…. for free', 'More choices than ever on the dial', 'Love your car… love your radio'... This was a monumental effort..."

http://jacobsmedia.typepad.com/jacobs/2007/01/peter_ferrara_p.html#comments

Plus, the HD Radio Alliance has the guerrilla marketing playbook and the orange uniformed street teams !

 

[radiopilot]

there have only been about 10 conversions in almost two weeks (from 1314 to 1323).

Yeah, they're screwed. An entire RADIO STATION signs up every business day. That's basically the end of HD radio, right?

Dude, you ought to read the stuff you post. It's a riot.

and the HD Radio Alliance could disband at the end of the year.

I hope it does. Increased competition among HDers will be good for the system.

Any other victories you'd like to claim?

Clouseau

Post Irrelevant off topic link below.

"Commercial Schedule - 4/2/07 - 7/1/07"

http://www.hdradioalliance.com/commercials.php

iNiquity has promised 2000 stations converted to HD by the end of 2007 - if only 5/week convert, as of now, that will be only 1475 by year's end - yea, and we'll see 3000 eventually ! Struble has stated that he wants the HD Radio Alliance to continue, because they do a lot of the coordinating and scheduling of HD marketing and commercials (interesting, I haven't heard any HD Radio commercials in a while).

"Where's Waldo - FOLLOW UP"

"Taking a page out of radio’s guerrilla marketing playbook, we had HD Radio orange uniformed street teams (15 people) handing out HD Radio VIP lanyards at the People Mover stations... At 2:30 each day the trucks caravanned in front of the center making a spectacular site! The mobile billboards carried HD Radio and car specific art and messages including 'Drive, Listen Love', 'More free radio in your car', 'New radio stations…. for free', 'More choices than ever on the dial', 'Love your car… love your radio'... This was a monumental effort..."

http://jacobsmedia.typepad.com/jacobs/2007/01/peter_ferrara_p.html#comments

Plus, the HD Radio Alliance has the guerrilla marketing playbook and the orange uniformed street teams !

Sounds like DESPARATION on the part of HD proponents HD Radio Alliance and Ibiquity!

Why would Ibiquity need to give rebates out to people that bought an HD radio? Did anyone get a rabate form Dolby when they bought a radio or TV last year? Why Not? After all isn't Ibiquity just the enabler of the technology of this equipment no different than Dolby or the coding of CD's Phillips Corp., why isn't the rebate from the manufacturers of the equipment?

Is now one buying this farse of HD radio that the HD Radio Alliance needs to take to the streets to sell this defective technology? When was the last time Sony or Sansui or any radio manufacturers out in full force out in the streets handling out flyers to buy the latest AM/FM stereo reciever or tuner?

They are so DESPERATE and it's showing...TAKE IT TO THE STREETS is their motto now... Haha... it's almost becoming a joke already! Soon the clowns (pro-HD) in their clown suits will be handing out candy and popcorn along with flyers and a rebate coupon to get people to walk into their local Radio Shacks and Best Buys to buy an HD radio.

HD Radio = 15 years too late!
HD Radio = Non-Existant to consumers
HD Radio = Now Getting Desperate

Radiopilot

 

[clouseau]

Post Irrelevant off topic link below.

"Commercial Schedule - 4/2/07 - 7/1/07"

http://www.hdradioalliance.com/commercials.php

iNiquity has promised 2000 stations converted to HD by the end of 2007

Again, you're fast and loose with the truth. They "Projected" that number. not promised.

- if only 5/week convert, as of now, that will be only 1475 by year's end - yea, and we'll see 3000 eventually !

Well if you think it bodes well for the Anti gang that there is only one station a day converting then that's why they call it an opinion. I guess the rest of this is the obligatory "Off topic" links...

Struble has stated that he wants the HD Radio Alliance to continue, because they do a lot of the coordinating and scheduling of HD marketing and commercials (interesting, I haven't heard any HD Radio commercials in a while).

I recently visited Houston, TX. There were HD ads all over the radio. Your observation "IS" interesting.

"Where's Waldo - FOLLOW UP"

"Taking a page out of radio’s guerrilla marketing playbook, we had HD Radio orange uniformed street teams (15 people) handing out HD Radio VIP lanyards at the People Mover stations... At 2:30 each day the trucks caravanned in front of the center making a spectacular site! The mobile billboards carried HD Radio and car specific art and messages including 'Drive, Listen Love', 'More free radio in your car', 'New radio stations…. for free', 'More choices than ever on the dial', 'Love your car… love your radio'... This was a monumental effort..."

http://jacobsmedia.typepad.com/jacobs/2007/01/peter_ferrara_p.html#comments

Yep, you posted this link which basically talks about the extensive marketing effort done for HD radio. You and the author were shown to be be way off from reality of what happened. IN THIS LINK, Jacobs admits this.

On a side note, why are you reposting links which were posted almost 5 months about an "Auto Show" that happened before that?

Plus, the HD Radio Alliance has the guerrilla marketing playbook and the orange uniformed street teams !

Yes they do. And the Anti side has...well, what ever it is that they have...

Clouseau

 

[Chuck]

Funny, I thought we were talking about the Cambridge Soundworks HD radio. Silly me....