FMExtra News

[Chuck]

My friend Lyle Henry, who is the “Johnny Appleseed” of
FMExtra, and an excellent engineering resource on anything that has to do with SCA broadcasting reports the following about FMExtra:

“Radios in small quantity are $200. So far there is only the Aruba. This is a very hot radio with great sound from a heavy magnet speaker and tuned port plus many features. Even shows text and pictures on the display. Has optical SPDIF, and analog stereo outputs, analog input, SD card slot, USB port for firmware updating, and a jack for a matching stereo speaker. It has a shielded automotive type tuner and is extremely sensitive and selective. A great DXing tuner. Also is the best analog 67 and 92 kHz radio I’ve ever used. In short, a far better
and more useful receiver than the usual IBOC radio.”

He goes on to say:

“I doubt the price of this Aruba radio to fall (soon), but DRE has signed an agreement with TCL which owns Thomson, produces Thomson and RCA TVs and has investors like Phillips and Toshiba IIRC among others, and is expected to begin delivering by the end of the year. They will be making a number of models including car radios.”

I thought this was quite interesting news.


[NOTE-Original Post Restored After Review.]

 

[Chuck]

The real news is Thompson will presumably be selling FMExtra compatible radios in the foreseeable future.


[NOTE-Off Topic Discussion Removed]

 

[dbdigital]

And in contrast to the non-interfering technology of FMxTra is this little entry from the CGC #799 newsletter:

"ARE SUPERPOWERED FMs CAUSING IBOC INTERFERENCE TO ADJACENTS?
I understand that one or two super powered Mt. Wilson FM
stations have temporarily suspended IBOC (HD Radio) broadcasts
and that another superpowered FM near San Bernardino has also
suspended IBOC. "Spectral regrowth" is the issue and in all
cases second adjacent channel stations were impacted with
interference. The problem is reported to be hardware related
and comes back to a single IBOC equipment manufacturer."

http://www.bext.com/_CGC/2007/cgc799.htm

Ah, yes, again the ugly problem of adjacent channel interference continues to dog HD-R.

db

 

[SUPERCASTER]

Chuck:
[EDIT] FMeXtra is digital "High Definition" truly compatible "In Band On Channel" digital radio, unlike iBiquity. I know that Lyle Henry is among the most experienced and respected engineers still working in radio broadcasting.
FMeXtra is a competing, truly compatible, and many say, much simpler, better digital broadcasting system then iBiquity's, and the topic of FMeXtra broadcasting is certainly much closer to being "on topic" then many others discussed on this thread.
Because FMeXtra is 100% compatible with analog, it immediately met all existing FCC standards when it was introduced, got quick full FCC approval, and did not have to wait for further rule changes and the adoption of NRSC-5a standards to be fully approved years later as iBiquity IBOC which later adopted the moniker "HD radio".
Was the source you quote from "copyrighted" material?
If so, could you post a link, if allowed?
If not, could send me a copy of Mr. Henry's comments by e-mail?
I am very interested in what Mr. Henry had to say about digital broadcasting.


[NOTE: Off Topic Discussion Removed]

 

[Chuck]

Was the source you quote from "copyrighted" material?
If so, could you post a link, if allowed?
If not, could send me a copy of Mr. Henry's comments by e-mail?
I am very interested in what Mr. Henry had to say about digital broadcasting.

The first quote [EDIT]came from an email which Lyle sent to me, as well as to several other radio professionals. It was not copyrighted. I can't give you a link, because it was an email. [EDIT] was simply his thoughts on the Aruba radio, and some of its capabilities. Suffice to say, it is an interesting radio which can do a lot of things. [EDIT] That was his opinion, and I respect that. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, be it right or wrong. I've never tried the radio at any place other than a trade show, so I can't comment from personal experience.

I've only known Lyle for a little over a year or so, but I've met him on several occasions in the last year. We've had several really great conversations, and I'm convinced that he really does know his stuff. We have continued to communicat via email on several occasions. He is sincerely interested in radio's success, and goes on pilgrimages for FMExtra at his own expense. As far as I know, he is not an employee of DRE. At one point, he was going to bring his test FMExtra rig to our station as well as to another non-com in the area. It had never been tried in a low power situation, so we were all interested to see how it worked. Unfortunately, scheduling did not work out, and the full power NCE station was sold to a religious broadcaster from out of state, so the whole trip fell through.

The part of his post that I thought was interesting was the news that Thompson Consumer Products is planning on marketing FMExtra radios. The evaluation of the radio is no big deal, [EDIT]

[EDIT] All you really need to know is it is a good radio, and DX'ers would like it, at least according to Lyle.

If anyone wants the full text of the email [EDIT], I'd appreciate it if they contact me through my station's web site, which is www.kzqx.com , [EDIT]To find me, just click on the "contact" link. I hesitate to post an email address here, simply because I don't want the spam-bots to pick it up. I make no attempt to hide behind false screen names or hide who I am, but I don't like getting hundreds of emails from "Hot Teenage Girls Want Your Credit Card Number." I hope everybody understands.

[EDIT-Off Topic Discussion Removed]