HD Radio questions: Will a new radio or car improve (or degrade) my reception?

[jeffw_00]

Hi - I love HD Radio. I live/work about 20 miles west of Boston, and am able to get a number of HD stations (as long as I don't drive more than 10 miles further West). I believe the quality of my reception can be attributed to my 2008 Dual XHD6425 and the OEM 33" cowl antenna on my '95 Corolla.

I have 2 questions:

1) Will a new HD radio improve my reception (i.e., has the technology moved forward?)

2) Due to the age of my car, I'm always 'shopping' for a new one (yes, 90% of Corollas made since 1990 are still on the road, but they won't last forever 8-}). I see many new cars with HD Radio (e.g., Subaru), but none have the 33" whip antenna which I believe is technically the best approach. If I get a new car that has whatever antenna comes with it (in dash? little stub on the roof)? Will I see a reduction in my reception range compared to my Corolla? Or is there some magic they do on new cars to compensate?


Thanks!
/j

 

[K6JHU]

I guess I am in a position to speak from experience since I just looked and I have that model Dual in my 2007 Toyota Corolla. I also have a Kenwood HD in the Silverado and a Sony HD in the wife's Rav4.

Short answer is that compared to the Kenwood and Sony, the Dual is a piece of c***. If it weren't for the fact that I have the Sirius/XM hooked up to the Aux and a 4 gig falsh drive plugged in, I would rip it out. It worked well in LA where there was plenty of signal and I was not very close to the transmittters. But out here where I go from near zero signal to overload within a few miles, the front end is from hunger (IM and overload).

Both the Sony and the Kenwood perform a thousand times btter on FM and HD. Given a choice I would believe that the Kenwood (being newer by a couple of years) is a better FM front end than the Sony. I don't remember which models but both have HD and a USB port.

 

[jeffw_00]

Thanks KDJHU - but just to make sure we're apples-to-apples before I drop $100+ on the Kenwood. What sort of antennas do you have on the 3 cars?

thanks!
/j

 

[tomservo]

I beg to differ, I think Corollas do last forever. ;D

As far as the technology moving forward, about all you can expect from newer firmware is quicker decoding times and faster radio operation. I don't think there's been any advances in sound quality or signal robustness.

Even with a 'compromised' antenna I think going Kenwood or Sony will be a step up over the Dual. It just seems to be a crapshoot whether a manufacturer puts a quality amplifier on their stubby or hidden antenna setups. I've heard some that are great and seem to be low noise (Mazda, Nissan, VW to an extent) and others not so much (Ford).

I don't have any experience with Toyotas, at least not since the days when they still had telescoping whips.

 

[K6JHU]

Corolla has a short antenna mounted above the rear window. Silverado has a 31" whip. Rav4 has an adjustable antenna moutned above the driver's door. None has a windshield antenna (which is the worse).

 

[KB1OKL]

Hi - I love HD Radio. I live/work about 20 miles west of Boston, and am able to get a number of HD stations (as long as I don't drive more than 10 miles further West). I believe the quality of my reception can be attributed to my 2008 Dual XHD6425 and the OEM 33" cowl antenna on my '95 Corolla.

I have 2 questions:

1) Will a new HD radio improve my reception (i.e., has the technology moved forward?)

2) Due to the age of my car, I'm always 'shopping' for a new one (yes, 90% of Corollas made since 1990 are still on the road, but they won't last forever 8-}). I see many new cars with HD Radio (e.g., Subaru), but none have the 33" whip antenna which I believe is technically the best approach. If I get a new car that has whatever antenna comes with it (in dash? little stub on the roof)? Will I see a reduction in my reception range compared to my Corolla? Or is there some magic they do on new cars to compensate?


Thanks!
/j

I live about 40 miles from Boston and I doubt a new radio will substantially improve your HD reception especially in a car, analog FM probably but HD? Doubt it. I have a Sony XDRF1HD tuner and to lock onto Boston FM HD stations I need a Yagi on the roof. HD is a severely compromised system, it's not your radio.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Hi - I love HD Radio. I live/work about 20 miles west of Boston, and am able to get a number of HD stations (as long as I don't drive more than 10 miles further West). I believe the quality of my reception can be attributed to my 2008 Dual XHD6425 and the OEM 33" cowl antenna on my '95 Corolla.

I have 2 questions:

1) Will a new HD radio improve my reception (i.e., has the technology moved forward?)

2) Due to the age of my car, I'm always 'shopping' for a new one (yes, 90% of Corollas made since 1990 are still on the road, but they won't last forever 8-}). I see many new cars with HD Radio (e.g., Subaru), but none have the 33" whip antenna which I believe is technically the best approach. If I get a new car that has whatever antenna comes with it (in dash? little stub on the roof)? Will I see a reduction in my reception range compared to my Corolla? Or is there some magic they do on new cars to compensate?


Thanks!
/j

I have been an FM DX'er for 39 years, and that experience has helped me pull in HD stations in difficult situations.

(1) Yes - technology has improved! The most sensitive FM car radio, by a large margin, is a Pioneer Supertuner 3D. You must be very careful, they have a lower cost companion product, the Supertuner 3, which is not nearly as good. Pioneer Supertuner 3D employs a new adaptive IF technology that acts to maximize the ability of a radio to lock onto weak signals - including HD - in the best possible way. Conventional radios employ a fixed bandwidth IF that - most of the time - amplifies noise as well as the station. If Pioneer can't pull a signal out in a car, nothing will. One suitable model is DEH-4400HD.

(2) Those little stub antennas compromise FM reception. Your best option is to install a while antenna yourself, or have somebody do it. It involves drilling a hole in the fender, and somehow running the wire through the fire wall into the dash. If you don't know what you are doing, have a professional do it. Most auto parts stores still sell whip antennas. A little secret - you don't have to have a 31 inch whip. Go for the longer collapsible one - 55 or 60 inches. When you are dealing with super weak signals, the more metal in the air, the better.

And that is it - from the standpoint of FM reception, the challenges with HD reception are the same as with normal FM. If you are in a weak signal area, it is best to throw your best effort into it right from the start. Doing it right the first time is always best. If you take shortcuts and half measures, you will pay twice and go through twice the effort if your initial try comes up short.

 

[MRFLASHPORT]

what he said, the antenna is the key. These stubby and windshield antennas may look nice, but they're garbage. No solid RF ground, and they're close to the noise producing electronics inside the vehicle. Which brings me to another point: noise by in-vehicle computers.

My 2005 Hyundai Elantra came with a nice factory defect (the ONLY one): noise, and a TON of it, from the car's computer. When the key was in the ACC position with the engine OFF, it generates about 20db of whining noise all up and down the AM band. Even some odd carriers on FM. I complained when I first got it and the dealer blew me off...UNTIL...I went to Hynundaiforums.com and found a thread with a service bulletin about: wait for it...radio reception degradation. And a "noise reduction kit" is available, installed under warranty, which consisted of some chokes on the antenna and radio wiring harness, and relocating some cabling. Labor intensive. So I took it back to the dealer, who initially just wanted to replace the factory radio, but when I showed them the a copy of the bulletin, the ended up ordering the parts and doing the job. Took them a full day. I've since replaced the craptacular factory radio a number of times, but the noise kit really cleaned up the hash and trash on AM and got rid of the birdies on FM.
That and a nice full 32" whip on the rear fender make for stellar reception.

 

[nd2023]

If your HD radio is dropping out, a new, better radio will just help it drop out less, but it will still drop out. The rough terrain isn't kind to HD signals. You might notice the Prudential stations drop out more than the Route 128 stations. 30 miles southwest of NYC, I get HD reception if I sit still and hold the antenna in the right way. 60 miles southwest of NYC, I get a few HD stations with an outdoor antenna and the Sony XDRF1HD.

As for AM HD, if you can't see the tower, forget it!

 

[KB1OKL]

My car has a stubby antenna on the back and I see little difference in reception from a whip. Also HD reception does present the same challenges as analog but that's like saying that a Yugo has the same challenges as a Maserati in a race.
Any radio that's considered to have good HD reception is going to get stellar analog reception. My Sony is reputed to have good HD reception but compared to it's analog reception there is no contest.
AM HD is a joke.

 

[kc1ih]

Auto Zone carries a longer whip than can be used to replace the stubbie, it screws on to the same threads and comes with adapters for several different threads. I think it’s around 10 bucks. I wonder if anyone here has tried one of these and if so did it improve your reception?

 

[brian.marchand]

I have had a HD JVC aftermarket radio in my car for 4 or 5 years. Based on the recommendations here last week I bought the Pioneer HD radio DEH-44HD from Walmart. So I can compare the 2. I have a 53 inch car whip antenna I installed by drilling a hole in the hood. I live in the Springfield, IL area. I am sorry this is long but it taks time to describe different features. I was only concerned about the FM and HD radio. That is all I use.

I liked the JVC radio except one thing that really annoyed me. That was the manual tuning. To manual tune a JVC car radio you have to hold down the tuning button for a couple of seconds. That stresses me out because the manual tuning goes away after a couple seconds or when hitting any other function like adjusting the volume. When manually scanning for stations you can only listen for about 3 seconds and the manual tuning goes away. So you have 3 seconds to hear what is on that frequency before losing manual tuning. That makes me stressed out and anxious so I rarely turned the dial. Then you have to press the tuning button again for 2 or 3 seconds to get back to manual tuning to go up or down frequency. I hate that because I like to manual tune to see what stations are coming in. I never use the seek button because I have no interest in going to only strong stations. I either know what frequency I want and want to manually tune to it or check every frequency for dxing. And to make matters worse the tuning button the JVC car radio was a small round button that is hard to press. At least later models made the tuning buttons square and so easy to use.

But 4 years ago the JVC HD car radio was about all their was. So based on the great reviews of the Pioneer HD radio of great reception I decided to give it a try last week even though I am always down to my last few dollars each month. By the way I only listen to HD 2 channels. If the Pioneer HD radio had better manual tuning and better reception based on better sensitivity and HD channels came in a further distance I would be happy.

I can report I am was very disappointed. The worst thing about the pioneer is on the bottom of the display is 2 flashing lines that never go away. I hate that. Looking at the display makes me nervous and uneasy because of the never ending flashing lines. What a terrible idea. I had to but a strip of black electrical tape to cover up the bottom of the Pioneer's display. Otherwise I can't stand looking at the flashing lines. And on the display one setting just shows flashing lines across the whole screen and I hate that.

The Pioneer does have RDS which the JVC does not but even that is done badly. It's done very badly because the RDS does not show up automatically like most radios you have to hit the display button to see the RDS. Then when you can see the RDS you have no way of knowing if its an HD signal your receiving because of the lack of an HD icon that the JVC does have. The Pioneer is so frustrating and poorly designed. The Pioneer also only has 1 line of display except for the very annoying flashing lines at the bottom. 2 lines would have been much better. I also wish the clock was 24 hours as I use a 24 hour clock.

The reception is no better than the JVC even though people on hear say the Pioneer is so good. Maybe that means the JVC also has very good reception. Both receivers can tune in weak adjacent frequencies equally well when next to a strong local one. I love that about both. I hate radios that are unable to pick up adjacent weak signals next to strong ones. That is how most radios used to be but better tuners are now being made like the Sony HD home radio now discontinued. Fortunately I bought 2 of the Sony's a few years ago.

Although spec's show the Pioneer to have better sensitivity 9 for the Pioneer compared to 11.3 for the JVC the Pioneer does not hold a lock on HD signals any further than the JVC. The HD signal is lost on both at the same places. I was really hoping the Pioneer would allow me to pick up HD signals further. That was the main reason I decided to try it. The JVC did a good job of picking up HD signals but with the way people on this thread especially Bruce talked about how good the Pioneer was at Dxing I was expecting it to be better. Analog FM reception on the Pioneer is also the same as the JVC. I do not listen to AM but on the JVC I could pick up the HD signal of AM 670 out of Chicago from Peoria and it sounded great.

The dot matrix viewing panel looks cheap and hard to read in the day. The JVC viewing panel is a lot easier to read and looks much better. During the day I can't even see the Pioneer display where the JVC was good. The JVC lights up line segments which is much easier to read and looks better made. I also liked how the JVC radio has an HD indicator that lights up when an HD station is received. And that indicator blinks to indicate when HD reception is almost coming in. Pioneer has no indicator. Pioneer does not even have a stereo indicator to know if it in stereo or mono like the JVC does. There is no excuse for that. The JVC can be switched from mono to stereo. On the Pioneer besides not having an indicator icon saying if the channel is in HD, stereo or mono you can't even change from stereo to mono anyway. Maybe that would not be that big of a deal as I said I only listen to HD 2 stations for classical music on WUIS 91.9 HD 2 and or WCBU 89.9 HD 2 but there is an out of town classical station on 90.9 WILL-FM and I had a preset for them but their signal always has static with pops so I left the JVC in mono. But because of the static I never listen to it and it broadcasts the exact same thing as WUIS HD 2 most of the time except 5 hours a day they have separate classical music.

The manual tuning on the Pioneer is the only thing that is better than the JVC which was the only thing I hated about the JVC. On the Pioneer now I can finally manual tune stations without being stressed. Because I can only listen to a station on the JVC for 2 seconds before I lose the manual tuning as explained above. But even that is not perfect on the Pioneer because if you press the manual tuning buttons on the Pioneer for more than a half second it scans so fast your halfway up or down the dial. That is way to fast and frustrating. So the only way to scan up or down for specific stations is to do it manually one at a time because holding the button downs goes so fast you will skip right by the station you want.

The Pioneer has a USB port which would be nice to charge my portable insignia H radio or GPS. But I even hate the way it functions. Because if I plug the USB it thinks you have an IPOD which I do not and turns the radio off. So frustrating. That function of turning the radio off when a USB can be turned off but then it makes IPOD a source on the souce button and that is worse because I do not want it to be a source as its very easy to bump the remote and have it go to the IPOD function in the middle of a good song on the radio. Speaking of which I was in the car last night and it just randomly switched from WUIS-HD 2 to the AM band. I did not pressed anything unless something bumped the remote and if so the remote is to easily bumped. Speaking of which almost every time I get in the car during the day I can not see the Pioneer display in daylight and I accidentally bump something and when I try to tune the volume up instead I am going through menu buttons. I have to wait until a red light to try and see what is going on. I never had that problem with the JVC.

To summarize both the JVC and the Pioneer can store HD sub channels which is very good. And both tuners are very good. But I hate so many things about he Pioneer compared to the JVC but hate the way the JVC tunes stations that I am not happy with either. I do think that the Pioneer has much better sound than the JVC which is important. It has more bass and power and more control over sound settings. So I will stick with the Pioneer because its easier to tune and sounds better and is new but which a lot of things would be corrected on it. Without the tape covering up the very annoying flashing lines I would have to go back to the JVC though.

On the JVC you can't turn the HD off. But I do not want to tune it off so that is good. On the Pioneer you can turn the HD off. What I would like is to turn the analog off. Because I do not want to go tothe analog if the digital drops and because the HD sub channel signals are all I listen too because that is where Classical music is going. I do not want to drop back to NPR talk when the HD classical drops.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I have had a HD JVC aftermarket radio in my car for 4 or 5 years. Based on the recommendations here last week I bought the Pioneer HD radio DEH-44HD from Walmart. So I can compare the 2. I have a 53 inch car whip antenna I installed by drilling a hole in the hood. I live in the Springfield, IL area. I am sorry this is long but it taks time to describe different features. I was only concerned about the FM and HD radio. That is all I use.

A lot to absorb here. First of all - there is no mention of the DEH-44HD on the Pioneerelectronic.com web site. Which leads me to believe it is a special build just for Walmart. We all know Walmart is big enough to drive something like that - a special low cost model. Pioneerelectronics.com does have the manual, but no other information even in its archive section, which lists every Pioneer I have owned over the last 30 years. This is a special of some sort.

That said - there are two Pioneer RF signal trains - the Supertuner 3 and the Supertuner 3D. You can usually tell the difference because 3 has a sensitivity of 11 dBf, and the 3D 8 dBf. The manual on this 44HD is 9 dBf - not helpful in determining which RF train it is, if it is either one.

I got suckered into a Supertuner 3 one time. Big mistake, it had good sensitivity, but not great. It was about equal to your run of the mill Kenwoods, JVC's, etc. All good radios, but just so-so for reception. I've had other DX'ers drive their cars up next to mine, we did side by side reception tests. There was quite a little club of DX'ers there in Florida. We tested Alpines, Pioneers, Blaupoints, Kenwoods, JVC's, stock factory setups, just about everything. Invariably, anybody in a tough reception scenario ended up ripping out their model and putting in a Pioneer - unless they were stubborn brand fanatics or couldn't accept the fact their unit lost. Pioneer Supertuner 3D smokes the competition. Because I am on the road a lot to some very remote locations, I can't waste time on second best. But Pioneer Supertuner 3 is so-so, you can put any model in there and Supertuner 3 is only equal, maybe worse.

In summary:

Supertuner 3 - average
Supertuner 3D - superlative
DEH-44 - unknown, probably a low cost version of the 3 made just for Walmart.

Current Supertuner 3D models:

DEH-4400HD
DEH-P9400BH
DEH-P8400BH
DEH-P7400HD

Any other model number - you don't know what is inside. Probably isn't a 3D. Personally - I think Pioneer was stupid for having the confusing "3" and "3D" supertuner models. Nothing but a pain in the posterior to go research what you are actually getting every single time, and even I got confused. The two RF trains are nothing alike except for the name.

When it comes to deep fringe HD DX reception - going on the cheap won't get you there. Go big - or go home. Decent Pioneer Supertuner 3D - NOT 3, whip antenna in the fender - the longer the better.

Dead horse thoroughly whipped. No, I don't work for Pioneer.

 

[brian.marchand]

I could be wrong but I though the DEH-4400HD and the DEH-44HD where the exact same radio looking at both their manuals. That is why I bought it.

 

[mmnassour]

Hey at least both the 4400 and 44 have BUTTONS so you can select a station without causing a head-on crash.

 

[brian.marchand]

Yes I agree that at least it has pre-set buttons and was one of the reasons I went with this specific Pioneer. I would not want to buy a car radio without physical pre-set buttons although I listen to only 1 or 2 stations per area I am in and use the remote to change stations or volume most of the time. But Pre-set buttons are very important and a must have to easily and safely change stations. I do not understand how many car radio manufacturers now make car radios without pre-set buttons. But I guess they keep looking for ways to cut costs or make the radio look cool?

I also believe the Pioneer is a supertuner 3d because the reception is very good. I have no complaints with the reception. It is almost equal to that of the Sony XDR-F1HD HD radio I have. The Pioneer blends away adjacent channel interference as Bruce said. The JVC did too however just as well and I think saying that makes Bruce not think its not a supertuner 3d. But I think it is. The JVC has auto tuning that eliminates adjacent channel interference on almost all channels like the Pioneer.

I have had a Blaupunkt before in the 1990's and it was slightly better than the Pioneer and JVC in adjacent channel interference. The Blaupunkt was an awesome tuner and I used the Blaupunk's for both my home and car. I got away from Blaupunkt because they do not make HD radios and because all the Blaupunks I had broke. I had 4 of them and on all 4 the ribbon that connects the face plate come lose after a couple years on each and I could no longer see the display. And I could not fix it. It was very disappointing because I loved the Blaupunk's. In addition to the excellent tuner the functions and display of the Blaupunkt were much better than the Pioneer or JVC. But when the last one broke it was the time HD car radio's were coming out and I had to have an HD radio. That is when I got the JVC HD car radio. Before the Blaupunkt I had a Pioneer and was amazed at its great reception but it was not as good as the Blaupunkt. So I have come full circle. If Blaupunkt made an HD car radio I would diffently want it.

I wonder if their are any other radios except the the Pioneer, Blaupunkt and JVC are as good with reception and eliminating adjacent channel interference. The Sony XDR-F1HD does do a slightly better job of completely eliminating adjacent frequency interference. Nothing beats the Sony XDR-F1HD.

The thing with HD radio stations is they have a wall where the signal just drops no matter what radio it is just like HD TV. It is the nature of digital. Actually when the HD signal drops and it goes back to analog there is always fuzz on the analog and I am so used to a clean digital signal now I no longer like any fuzz on signal and will try to switch to another HD Classical station when driving which I usually can do between WUIS, WCBU and WILL driving between Peoria and Springfield, IL.

I am not complaining like most because I love digital TV and radio much better than analog TV and radio. I will take the perfectly clear digital signals over analog all the time. I was hoping for even better reception on the Pioneer than the JVC because of what people say but it just shows that the JVC also had very good reception that is equal to the Pioneer in my opinion. The reception and sound were not what I was disappointed in. Most of what I do not like about the Pioneer where some functions and the display because the display on the JVC display is much better than the Pioneer.

One last point I hate the negativity of people on the HD radio board who constantly come on to complain about HD radio. I wish they would go away and find their own board called I hate HD radio and stay off this one. I really dislike them and disagree with them. I do not want and or need negativity in my life.

 

[Tom Wells]

Dear Brian, I hope something you value is one day fouled with something you consider disgusting.

Amazing that on one hand you point out the digital drop effect as not too desirable,
but then don't acknowledge that such signals have simply eliminated any radio/TV service for many people.

This board's about HD radio, proc, con, and discuss.
If you want to read promotional material, where only glowing praise is enough, there ARE HD promotional sites.

You will find any behavior/product where there is a new method which requires the neighbors to accept lowered standards
is going to experience some negative response.

I don't need negativity in my life either.

I also do not need a "mode" that utterly ignores modulation realities in rf, pretending that pulse-like modulation
with square corners behaves in ANY way like sine waves as regards modulation products, by products and bandwidth.

Disregard for reality does not somehow magically change physics or mathematics.


Responsible behavior is not fouling your neighbors world by not fouling your own.

Pretending there are no neighbors is not an acceptable premise, either.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

One last point I hate the negativity of people on the HD radio board who constantly come on to complain about HD radio. I wish they would go away and find their own board called I hate HD radio and stay off this one. I really dislike them and disagree with them. I do not want and or need negativity in my life.

I'd like to address your concerns, and I think you make a valid point that there has been some real negativity on here. For the record, I own two HD radios and may get a third for my car. I do have qualify that by saying my purchase of my two home HD radios has been priimarily for their outstanding analog characteristics, as it will be for my new car radio. There are two, and only two HD-2 choices in my city that are compelling in any way, one of which is now over the air as well. But I do make use of HD-2 to listen to those two choices at home, and will in the car.

A lot of the criticism is not being anti-HD radio. It is being anti-HD interference. Slopping sidebands over adjacent frequencies is all too akin to property rights - your property ends where mine begins, you don't throw your trash over on my lawn and I don't let my dog poop in yours. As a Southerner and a property owner, I suppose this principle is thoroughly ingrained in me from birth. It is part of me. So when I hear a radio station slopping trash all over its neighbor, it triggers the same primal outrange on my part. It just seems wrong. If HD radio could have been done, or could be modified to not interfere with neighboring stations, there would probably not be a single opponent to the system. Most opponents, myself included, are angry because HD radio limits our listening choices by drowning out previously receivable signals. We have had to trade 10 adjacent signals we were interested in hearing for one or two HD-2's. That is not a good trade any way you look at it.

Another thing that HD radio advocates did, right from the start, was to alienate the radio listening DX community by attaching labels to us such as outdated, outmoded, irrelevant, out of touch and the like. There was a concerted effort to marginalize us as a splinter group of weirdos who are conspiring to stop this wonderful new innovation. I think you can relate if you have ever been insulted, bullied, ignored, or otherwise abused. This did not set well with DX'ers, who went from being friends and allies of radio station engineers - alerting them of problems before they because acute - to being adversaries to be ignored. There is a tremendous knowledge base of reception expertise out there, and the attitude of HD advocates backfired. When reception problems surfaces, we could have been a valuable resource in training people on how to receive HD radio. But by that time, the vast majority of DX'ers were thoroughly insulted and so P.O.'d that they didn't give a darn about helping. If we are dinosaurs the HD people want to go extinct - so be it. HD listeners in difficult situations were left out in the cold. I, for one, have posted many posts trying to help people get HD stations when they have problems. Their problems are akin to mine getting distant stations over the years. I have 40 years of experience at this sort of thing, I am here to help.

Just my perspective - I hope I don't come off as too negative or hateful. That isn't my intention - as a science professional I deal in facts. And I've tried to be as objective as possible. When it comes to the intangibles that can't be proved scientifically - I do suspect some high pressure sales tactics and even payoffs behind closed doors. I think the engineering behind the HD system is shaky at best, it was not thoroughly tested before released, no consideration was given to alternatives that would leave adjacents clear, test results were slanted in favor of the system, outright lies were published as truth in the test reports, and the primary ones pushing the system were those financially invested in it with the most to lose should it fail in the market place. Independent tests by experts such as myself were completely ignored or ridiculed.

 

[Chuck]

I don't believe very many people on this board are against digital radio. I know I'm not. It is a good concept. What many of us have a problem with is the implementation. This particular system doesn’t work as well as advertised. It drops out, interferes with others, has very high licensing fees for the broadcaster and benefits only a few. We deserve better.

 

[tomservo]

Another thing that HD radio advocates did, right from the start, was to alienate the radio listening DX community by attaching labels to us such as outdated, outmoded, irrelevant, out of touch and the like.

“But you are, Blanche! You are in that wheelchair.”

We DX'ers are a tiny, tiny minority these days. That doesn't detract from the magical feeling of getting distant signals, but we are pretty outdated and irrelevant. As others more edu-ma-cated than I have said on this very site: most of the listening is done within the city grade contour on FM these days. AM listening falls off somewhere around 10 mV/m thanks to interference and noise, doesn't it? We are irrelevant where it counts, and that is advertisers.

The elimination of clear channels on AM would be missed by only us. Very few listen to distants anymore as a source of information, and since it drives no advertising (maybe aside from trucking shows, at least) it's not really necessary anymore.

I don't want to see it go away, but I recognize reality is not in my (our) favor.

If anything, HD has only added an extra layer of challenge on both FM and AM for me, just as DTV DX has added a new level of challenge.