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"HD Radio: Nothing much has changed..."

700WLW said:
"HD Radio: Nothing much has changed..."

http://www.siriusbackstage.com/foru...ing-much-94492/index.html?p=690842#post690842
Click to expand...

Like Paul Harvey says:"And now the rest of the story."

Rating:
4 out of 5

Was this review helpful?

Written by ralph, Bowie, Md on February 1, 2007

Radio is great.HD is awsome. Wiring match-up was glitched by conflicting instructions (JVC vs amp adaptor) but resolution was painless. Solution shared with Crutchfield tech support people. HD stations are plentiful in DC area. Wish unit had a "clock on when radio off"setting similiar to factory radio instead of manual "push to display"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating:
5 out of 5

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HDRadio rocks
Written by K, Cupertino, CA on January 30, 2007

HD Radio is nice. Reception is good on this unit. I listen to commercial-free multicasting HD2 most of the time. SRS CS (Circle Surround) Auto sounds great.

Installation is easy and setup is simple. I replaced my cassette deck in 2 hours. I wish this unit has aux input without adapter.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating:
5 out of 5

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Exceeded all expectations
Written by Doug, San Francisco, CA on January 28, 2007

The tuner is superb! In the bay area where the hills and widely scattered transmission locations challenge the weaker FM stations, the JVC tuner is excellent. HD radio is widely available here and works flawlessly, as does the optional Sirius Sat tuner. The controls are easy to learn/use and unit's appearance is simple and tasteful - we found nothing available at any price that fit our needs as well.
 
Yeah, because of the hilly terrain and the interference it causes, the Bay Area has never been fully served (every nook and crannie) by ANY FM station. With it's improved multipath performance, HD makes that possible.

Elsewhere a guy who lives in the NYC area, seven miles from the Empire State Building where all the FM towers are, but on the ground floor so he's in the shadow of many tall buildings, had AWFUL reception. Until he got an HD radio, and an eleven dollar antenna from Radio Shack. Now he gets most FMs in the city CLEARLY.

Anybody who doubts HD's improved multipath performance over analog simply has no experience with it. Get an HD radio and a cheap set of (passive, not amplified) rabbit ears, and get ready for incredible reception. Spend 30 dollars on a Magnum Dynalab SR100, and get even better reception. Put up a roof antenna with rotor (if you have access to your rooftop), and get stations from Neptune! (Ok...that's an exaggeration. But the Moon and Mars for sure!)
 
Mike Walker said:
Yeah, because of the hilly terrain and the interference it causes, the Bay Area has never been fully served (every nook and crannie) by ANY FM station. With it's improved multipath performance, HD makes that possible.

Elsewhere a guy who lives in the NYC area, seven miles from the Empire State Building where all the FM towers are, but on the ground floor so he's in the shadow of many tall buildings, had AWFUL reception. Until he got an HD radio, and an eleven dollar antenna from Radio Shack. Now he gets most FMs in the city CLEARLY.

Anybody who doubts HD's improved multipath performance over analog simply has no experience with it. Get an HD radio and a cheap set of (passive, not amplified) rabbit ears, and get ready for incredible reception. Spend 30 dollars on a Magnum Dynalab SR100, and get even better reception. Put up a roof antenna with rotor (if you have access to your rooftop), and get stations from Neptune! (Ok...that's an exaggeration. But the Moon and Mars for sure!)
Click to expand...

"With the first antenna, I could get only 10 of the at least 16 stations HD-2 multicast channels listed for my area. Of those multicast stations that I could pick up, at least three signals could be described as in-and-out, including WKTU New York's Country HD-2 channel, which, had I been a non-industry person, would probably have been my primary motivation for buying the radio. When the digital signal on an HD-1 channel goes away, it defaults to the analog signal. When the digital signal on HD-2 disappears, so does the station... At least four multicast stations, advertised on the HDRadio homepage, appeared not to exist... So I tried the second antenna. Now WKTU-2 came in a little better--still not consistently, but I lost at least two other stations--WNYC New York's HD-2 and HD-3 channels... With budget and personnel cuts now taking place across the industry, it seems unrealistic that more resources are now going to be devoted to multicast stations."

http://www.siriusbackstage.com/foru...ing-much-94492/index.html?p=690842#post690842

HD Radio has made such progress - with consolidation and job cut-backs, little additional resources will be devoted to programming the HD channels. Reception is just as lousy, as it always has been ! Few HD radios have been sold, consumer interest is almost nonexistent, and interest in HD Radio is now in a rapid decline:

1) http://www.google.com/trends?q="hd+radio"

2) http://www.google.com/trends?q="hd+...,+xm,+sirius,+podcast&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all

3) http://www.google.com/trends?q="hd+radio",+xm,+sirius,+ipod,+mp3&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all

Thar she goes ! :D
 
Again, I'm primarily a public radio listener. There's no shortage of innovation in HD2 programming among public stations. I actually don't care that much what the commercial stations do with HD2. They'll probably do things like put oldies formats on 'em that have been taken off their "main" channels. Certainly programming to a ready audience, but far from innovative.

I hope, but am not optimistic, that some commercial station around here actually surprises me (with innovative programming). Until they do, I'll be on the "left end of the dial".
 
Mike Walker said:
Again, I'm primarily a public radio listener. There's no shortage of innovation in HD2 programming among public stations. I actually don't care that much what the commercial stations do with HD2. They'll probably do things like put oldies formats on 'em that have been taken off their "main" channels. Certainly programming to a ready audience, but far from innovative.

I hope, but am not optimistic, that some commercial station around here actually surprises me (with innovative programming). Until they do, I'll be on the "left end of the dial".
Click to expand...

HD Radio - too-little-too-late.
 
Mike Walker said:
Yeah, because of the hilly terrain and the interference it causes, the Bay Area has never been fully served (every nook and crannie) by ANY FM station. With it's improved multipath performance, HD makes that possible.

Elsewhere a guy who lives in the NYC area, seven miles from the Empire State Building where all the FM towers are, but on the ground floor so he's in the shadow of many tall buildings, had AWFUL reception. Until he got an HD radio, and an eleven dollar antenna from Radio Shack. Now he gets most FMs in the city CLEARLY.

Anybody who doubts HD's improved multipath performance over analog simply has no experience with it. Get an HD radio and a cheap set of (passive, not amplified) rabbit ears, and get ready for incredible reception. Spend 30 dollars on a Magnum Dynalab SR100, and get even better reception. Put up a roof antenna with rotor (if you have access to your rooftop), and get stations from Neptune! (Ok...that's an exaggeration. But the Moon and Mars for sure!)
Click to expand...
 
Mike Walker said:
With it's improved multipath performance, HD makes that possible. Anybody who doubts HD's improved multipath performance over analog simply has no experience with it. Get an HD radio and a cheap set of (passive, not amplified) rabbit ears, and get ready for incredible reception. Spend 30 dollars on a Magnum Dynalab SR100, and get even better reception. Put up a roof antenna with rotor (if you have access to your rooftop), and get stations from Neptune! (Ok...that's an exaggeration. But the Moon and Mars for sure!)
Click to expand...

Shilln' for HD Radio - just sickening ! :p
 
As I tried to say, in my previous post, before a software (not wardrobe) malfunction-
If Radio Shack, Circuit City and other stores selling HD can't get their HD radios to play HD, within sight of the broadcasting towers, and even with their vast selection of antennas at hand, then I guess I'll pass. If it won't work at the store, then it won't work at my location, and perhaps not yours either.
 
A good point Supercaster. But how often does one see a WORKING demonstration of satellite radio? Once in a GREAT while (my experience).

The frustrating thing at Radio Shack is that all they'd have to do is hook up a pair of damn rabbit ears (one more deaf rabbit. So very sad!) That's it! They're on the aisle in the back, guys! Look by the rabbits feet.
 
Mike Walker said:
A good point Supercaster. But how often does one see a WORKING demonstration of satellite radio? Once in a GREAT while (my experience).

The frustrating thing at Radio Shack is that all they'd have to do is hook up a pair of damn rabbit ears (one more deaf rabbit. So very sad!) That's it! They're on the aisle in the back, guys! Look by the rabbits feet.
Click to expand...

Satellite XM and Sirius radio is alive, well, and working, at my local Radio Shack, Circuit City, Best Buy, and every other electronics store that has sat. radio. I don't know why they can't get sat. radio working where you are, but they sure can't get HD radio working here, even within plain sight of the broadcasting towers!
Yes, they tried your rabbit ears trick, with quite a number of rabbits, without any success. They even have been moving the HD Accurians complete with funny bunny ears, all around the store, since before Thanksgiving. The only place HD works is outside in the parking lot, and people keep tripping over the long extension cord.
Perhaps, as Bugs said "it's rabbititus!"
What a joke HD Radio is.
The stores get all the FM stations fine, just not ANY HD. Their in store AM reception is a bit noisy, but again no HD, less then 8 miles from the AM stations.
 
Mike Walker said:
A good point Supercaster. But how often does one see a WORKING demonstration of satellite radio? Once in a GREAT while (my experience).
Click to expand...

My experience is different. Radio Shack, Wal-mart, Circuit City, Best Buy, Office Depot, Target, Sam's and Sears all have working satellite displays in my area. I'm sure other stores do too, but those are the ones I know about.

Mike Walker said:
The frustrating thing at Radio Shack is that all they'd have to do is hook up a pair of damn rabbit ears (one more deaf rabbit. So very sad!) That's it! They're on the aisle in the back, guys! Look by the rabbits feet.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, most Radio Shack stores have people working at them who couldn't find their butt with both hands. It's sad but true. Every now and then, you will find a really good store manager or great employee, but they are the exception, not the rule. Usually, they do not last very long.
 
My local Radio Shack used to have a working Sirius display, but they don't now. Wal Mart, and Staples both have non-working displays (XM at Staples, XM and Sirius at Wal Mart).

One of the local cell phone stores has a non-working XM display. Over in Hickory (a much larger town), there ARE working displays at Best Buy and Circuit City. But that's an hour away. There are also working displays of HD Radio there, as well..and at Radio Shack (in Hickory...at least the one in the shopping center on highway 64).
 
Mike Walker said:
My local Radio Shack used to have a working Sirius display, but they don't now. Wal Mart, and Staples both have non-working displays (XM at Staples, XM and Sirius at Wal Mart).

One of the local cell phone stores has a non-working XM display. Over in Hickory (a much larger town), there ARE working displays at Best Buy and Circuit City. But that's an hour away. There are also working displays of HD Radio there, as well..and at Radio Shack (in Hickory...at least the one in the shopping center on highway 64).
Click to expand...

All of the Metro D.C. RS and BB stores, that I have seen, have nice, large cell phone, iPod/MP3, and Satellite Radio displays - not one HD radio.
 
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