Christmas time and where is the portable HD radios?

[Chuck]

That Nokia announcement is interesting, but it ain't about convenience. It's about COST (of bandwidth on a mobile device).

To you and me, that's probably true. To my various teen and 20 something nieces and nephews, they seem quite unconcerned about having a cell phone bill that is several hundred bucks every month. I'm not sure what to attribute that too, but these kids never knew a time when people did not have cell phones. To them, it is “normal.”

On the other hand, I remember using our family's single telephone, which did not have a dial on it. You’d pick it up and a nice lady named Barbara would answer saying, "Oh, Hi Chuck. Do you want to call Alan?" Alan was the kid next door. Times change.

For that matter, just a few years ago, if you'd told me that I'd pay $59.95 (plus a lot of tax) a month for an EVDO card AND pay for a cell phone for both my wife and myself, I would have told you that you were nuts. Now I do it happily, and think it is worth every dime.

Go figure.

 

[Mike Walker]

PlayFreebird wrote "Looks like an interesting product. In NC, you should be able to receive strong DRM signals on 9800 kHz from Sackville; a schedule is available at:
http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/PDF/drm.pdf

I've been able to decode these transmissions with the DReaM software, using a convention general coverage receiver and homebrew 455 to 12 kHz IF converter.

Have you seen the website with detailed pictures of the KA2100's innards? See:
http://hkradioer.googlepages.com/rp2100"

HEY MAN, THANKS FOR THE INFO ON THE KA2100! And thanks for the Sackville schedule! I'm convinced...THAT IS WHAT I WANT (the KA2100). The prospect of "conquering" another new mode of transmission is too cool to pass up! Plus it looks like a great "lap portable" for toting around the house.

 

[R.F. Burns]

That Nokia announcement is interesting, but it ain't about convenience. It's about COST (of bandwidth on a mobile device).

To you and me, that's probably true. To my various teen and 20 something nieces and nephews, they seem quite unconcerned about having a cell phone bill that is several hundred bucks every month. I'm not sure what to attribute that too, but these kids never knew a time when people did not have cell phones. To them, it is “normal.”

On the other hand, I remember using our family's single telephone, which did not have a dial on it. You’d pick it up and a nice lady named Barbara would answer saying, "Oh, Hi Chuck. Do you want to call Alan?" Alan was the kid next door. Times change.

For that matter, just a few years ago, if you'd told me that I'd pay $59.95 (plus a lot of tax) a month for an EVDO card AND pay for a cell phone for both my wife and myself, I would have told you that you were nuts. Now I do it happily, and think it is worth every dime.

Go figure.

I don't know Chuck. My daughters have cell phones and computers and radios and I-Pods. They'll listen to the radio in the car, the I-pod in the car but in NY and other states it's illegal for a driver to use a cell phone in a car without a hands free devise. Both daughters are still in scool, one for her masters and the other a junior in college and both in Europe, as I write this. Never once have they listened to music or used their cell phones for anything other than phone calls and texting. By the way, I just found out that with 3 cars in our family I am now paying about $5,000 a year for car insurance alone (I just bought a new car for myself, which made me aware of the added insurance expense) and I don't know about you but I make it known to my chilren that the cell phone is a privlege, not a given. Unless you are a millionaire monthly expenses have to be capped somewhere. My children are 20 and 22 and will soon enter the full time workforce (Both daughters work summers and vacations to earn money for their own needs ) & soon their bills will be soley their responsibility. They know the value of a dollar and what it takes to earn that dollar. If there are parents who's children don't know that it takes work and money to support extras such as cell phones, might I suggest that it is never too late to instruct your children about what it takes to pay for those things. If they don't learn now it might be too late later on, when they find themselves in serious financial trouble.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

was worth quite a bit more. The important thing is whether the prices go down and that the chipset solve the problems of the early generations on sensitivity... my third generation gets AM and FM as far as the useful analog coverage area, so there is hope.

I don't know - analog coverage area of DFW stations is in the 300 mile range - KMKI, KAAM in perfect C-Quam stereo at the Crosbyton rest stop, with a little KOB under KAAM. In spite of canyon walls that were SUPPOSED to mess it up. Receiver - a humble Sony SRF-A1 walkman and a small loop. Try THAT with IBOC! I know for a fact that those sidebands aren't as robust as C-Quam was. There is a 630 in Lovington, NM that would destroy the upper sideband of KMKI. But - if you want to meet me at the Crosbyton rest stop and demonstrate perfect IBOC decode on KMKI and KAAM 290 miles out, I'm open minded enough to be convinced.

 

[Mike Walker]

AHH, the SRF-A1. I must be the only person who had bad luck with them. I tried three, and all had problems of one kind or another. NOW the SRF-A100 was a different matter. What a peach! 25 years later, mine still is packed away in the little "black" snap-case, with the protective foam on either side of the radio. Why the "it's a Sony" sticker is still on the radio. And it still has that "new radio smell". LOVE THAT DAMN RADIO!

 

[Chuck]

I don't know Chuck. My daughters have cell phones and computers and radios and I-Pods. They'll listen to the radio in the car, the I-pod in the car but in NY and other states it's illegal for a driver to use a cell phone in a car without a hands free devise. Both daughters are still in scool, one for her masters and the other a junior in college and both in Europe, as I write this. Never once have they listened to music or used their cell phones for anything other than phone calls and texting. By the way, I just found out that with 3 cars in our family I am now paying about $5,000 a year for car insurance alone (I just bought a new car for myself, which made me aware of the added insurance expense) and I don't know about you but I make it known to my chilren that the cell phone is a privlege, not a given. Unless you are a millionaire monthly expenses have to be capped somewhere. My children are 20 and 22 and will soon enter the full time workforce (Both daughters work summers and vacations to earn money for their own needs ) & soon their bills will be soley their responsibility. They know the value of a dollar and what it takes to earn that dollar. If there are parents who's children don't know that it takes work and money to support extras such as cell phones, might I suggest that it is never too late to instruct your children about what it takes to pay for those things. If they don't learn now it might be too late later on, when they find themselves in serious financial trouble.

It sounds to me like you have done a very good job raising your daughters. I'm not surprised. Unfortunately, not everyone does these days.

The "kids" I'm talking about, at least for the most part, are out on their own. To be honest, I have no idea how they make ends meet. I watch them text message each other when they are sitting in the same room. That seems like a waste of time, energy and money. I suspect they value their cell phones about the same way you and I valued our first car. It's a right of passage.

I have no idea if "radio" over your cell phone will catch on, but obviously Nokia and others in the cell phone business think it is worth a shot. They have a lot of money that they are willing to gamble. How it comes out is anybody's guess. Win or lose, it is yet another distraction for conventional broadcasting transmission schemes.

 

[R.F. Burns]

I don't know Chuck. My daughters have cell phones and computers and radios and I-Pods. They'll listen to the radio in the car, the I-pod in the car but in NY and other states it's illegal for a driver to use a cell phone in a car without a hands free devise. Both daughters are still in scool, one for her masters and the other a junior in college and both in Europe, as I write this. Never once have they listened to music or used their cell phones for anything other than phone calls and texting. By the way, I just found out that with 3 cars in our family I am now paying about $5,000 a year for car insurance alone (I just bought a new car for myself, which made me aware of the added insurance expense) and I don't know about you but I make it known to my chilren that the cell phone is a privlege, not a given. Unless you are a millionaire monthly expenses have to be capped somewhere. My children are 20 and 22 and will soon enter the full time workforce (Both daughters work summers and vacations to earn money for their own needs ) & soon their bills will be soley their responsibility. They know the value of a dollar and what it takes to earn that dollar. If there are parents who's children don't know that it takes work and money to support extras such as cell phones, might I suggest that it is never too late to instruct your children about what it takes to pay for those things. If they don't learn now it might be too late later on, when they find themselves in serious financial trouble.

It sounds to me like you have done a very good job raising your daughters. I'm not surprised. Unfortunately, not everyone does these days.

The "kids" I'm talking about, at least for the most part, are out on their own. To be honest, I have no idea how they make ends meet. I watch them text message each other when they are sitting in the same room. That seems like a waste of time, energy and money. I suspect they value their cell phones about the same way you and I valued our first car. It's a right of passage.

I have no idea if "radio" over your cell phone will catch on, but obviously Nokia and others in the cell phone business think it is worth a shot. They have a lot of money that they are willing to gamble. How it comes out is anybody's guess. Win or lose, it is yet another distraction for conventional broadcasting transmission schemes.

Absolutely right Chuck, and we can say the same for Ibiquity & terrestrial broadcasters (those who have adopted IBOC). They are gambling that it will catch on. No one knows what willl happen. I'm just happy I'm not betting my future on either the success or failure of IBOC. If I owned a station one of the things I'd be doing is making my pressence known on the internet. I think we all agree, that one way or another, the internet will be the way most people receive radio in the future. What that will do is force owners to create local programing or die. There will be no reason to listen to station which just repeats syndicate programing. The syndicators themselves will be content providers in competition with terrestrial stations. It isn't going to happen tomorrow but it will happen eventually.

 

[Savage]

It's already happening, RF. Much - if not most - syndicated non-music programming is also distributed via sat radio these days. On our station, Quinn & Rose, Ingraham and O'Reilly are all also on the bird.

I think the model for the future of radio will mimic what's happened with TV, with terrestrial programming also available via cable and dish. You'll be able to get your local terrestrial station via the big ol' box-and-tower out back, or via the internet when you're out of range or away from town. Just like teevee, you'll have a choice of the free program in free space or pay for web access, podcasts, etc.

I think the point which has been made succinctly here by others, is the path-to-digital-of-least-resistance for terrestrial broadcasters is via the internet as being preferable to IBOC. "It's all about integration" with other devices, baby! Think radio via computers, wireless, phones.....some people may listen to "executive" box radios but not so many in the future.