The only "plate" today's transmitters have is the one the guy who sold it to you had his lunch on!
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DIGITAL AM?
- Thread starter Mrtejano
- Start date
The only "plate" today's transmitters have is the one the guy who sold it to you had his lunch on!
How many AMs is that? And how much money can be made? How many listeners are there even left? I just don't see how AM HD is supposed to stop the declining trend (much less reverse it). It's just an added expense for the broadcaster and a new hurdle for the listeners.
And that's the immediate future of AM radio. After that, other technologies will completely finish killing AM off. Low orbit satellite connectivity is the future for rural communities/workers.
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AnyHuman
Guest
Go search Amazon for HD portable radios, Magnavox and Sangean sell a few different ones.
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Groove1670
Guest
How many consumers are actually going to search for a home HD radio. Very few.
The real question is who in their right mind is going to spend that much for a radio? With all the other alternatives available in the market, I just don't see how anyone would spend $70+ for a radio with no internal memory or wifi access.
They have tried. The FCC refuses to increase the FM band.
Great idea except that makes the millions of FM radios obsolete, and the electronics manufacturers, based in China, have no motivation to make a product no one wants.
On the regulatory side, the FCC has no motivation to give away valuable spectrum space to profit-making companies, when they have telecom companies that will pay them billions of that same spectrum.
Of course, below FM is a zone allocated to TV, and immediately above is aeronautical and all kinds of service channels for police and the like.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...locations_Chart_2016_-_The_Radio_Spectrum.pdf
The main issue is that people are not buying single usage electronic devices. I replaced the kitchen radio for my partner with an Alexa device years ago, and she can ask for the weather, a recipe or specific kind of music (if they play a song she hates, she just yells at Alexa to skip it.. they that on a terrestrial channel) and the device can even do timers when she is making something and remind her when the news is on TV!
We would not buy a new radio with an expanded band because we moved on from terrestrial radio in the home long ago. And, of course, we can always say "Alexa, play K-Love 107.5 from Los Angeles" if we want to hear our friends intro songs..."
Now, why would I want to replace that with a single purpose radio?
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This.
People don't listen to the radio because it's a radio.
People listen to the radio for what we do on the radio.
We make content. We make money when people consume it. We don't care where they do it.
Which is precisely why adding to the FM band or going all digital on AM won't work. Listeners have the alternative they want in streaming options. They won't buy new radios.
The time to have set up an expansion of FM down to 76 MHz was 25-30 years ago, when it could have been planned in conjunction with the digital TV switchover, and radios covering the extended band could have been produced. Way too late now.
As for expansion upward to 120 MHz: That spectrum is still used by aircraft navigation systems. While newer (and future) navigation technologies will operate elsewhere, we are probably several decades away from that band being available for other uses.
Want to hear FM between 76 and 88 MHz, as well as the "usual" FM band? Visit Japan.
108 to 110 is aircraft VOR, then above is voice use to about 135. WX sat and other operations are 135 to about 140 then Government is above that to 144, where 2m ham starts. The 108 to 135 is world wide allocation..its not going away anytime
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AnyHuman
Guest
Want to hear FM between 76 and 88 MHz, as well as the "usual" FM band? Visit Japan.
Or purchase one of the 0.5 watt low power transmitters currently for sale on Ebay... Some of those work down to 76 MHZ. TO listen you will need a radio with Japanese radio support.
Or purchase one of the 0.5 watt low power transmitters currently for sale on Ebay... Some of those work down to 76 MHZ. TO listen you will need a radio with Japanese radio support.
ThatVoice22
Banned
FYI - Insignia makes a portable HD radio for a mere $59 ---https://www.insigniaproducts.com/pdp/NS-HDRAD2/4888900
It's OK, ya get what ya pay for.
Kinda big for a portable:
Dimensions
Height 5.2 inches
Width 8.3 inches
Depth 2.4 inches
Weight 1.34 pounds
Bigger than my phone.
Of course 0.5 watt is way above Part 15 limits. Online availability doesn't mean "legal."
However, there are some IFB/cueing/remote monitoring transmitters that are Part 74 and Part 15 compliant (50 milliwatts) and operate between 76 and 88 MHz. Example here: https://comtek.com/76-88-mhz-series
You might get up to 1/4 mile with a sensitive receiver, and perhaps more than 1/2 mile using a yagi antenna with that receiver.
There are also similar units (such as the Telex TT-16) that operate from 64.5 to 67.5 MHz in 200kHz steps, so using the upper half of that range you could have your own OIRT FM band transmitter.
Insignia also has a much smaller pocket-sized unit, NS-HD01: https://www.insigniaproducts.com/pdp/NS-HD01/9375071 It has excellent reception and battery life, I use it often when going outside. No AM, but it's too small to fit a good AM antenna inside it.
It's discontinued. That should tell you something...
And you can fit a decent but not great AM antenna in that size; just a few loops of wire embedded in the case will do it, or part of the case can be made to function as a ferrite core for the same purpose. It's been done a lot before for small novelty radios.
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AnyHuman
Guest
LOL MediaFrog, I got my first 0.5 watt unit in 2012, currently use it on a vacant channel in my area, and always have it set 4 spaces away from licensed signals in my area. If a station is on 93.3 I set it to 92.9, for example. I've had noone knocking on my door asking about the station, just a neighbor or two who've heard me on the air and commented.
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