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HD Radio Range

T

thatradioguy

Guest
Hello,

This has probably been discussed in a random topic below... however, I was wondering what kind of REAL range the HD signals are getting? I live about 53 miles from where I work; it's flatland mainly... any chance I will be able to receive the signal? I don't want to go purchase an HD Radio unless I know I'll be able to get the signals. Station I work for is 100,000 watt broadcast... any estimates on the range of the HD signal?

Thanks.
 
thatradioguy said:
Hello,

This has probably been discussed in a random topic below... however, I was wondering what kind of REAL range the HD signals are getting? I live about 53 miles from where I work; it's flatland mainly... any chance I will be able to receive the signal? I don't want to go purchase an HD Radio unless I know I'll be able to get the signals. Station I work for is 100,000 watt broadcast... any estimates on the range of the HD signal?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I live in the Cincinnati area and own a JVC HDR1 car radio. The Cincinnati FM stations can be received in HD reliably up to 35 miles from the towers. After that, it is spotty at 35-45 miles. In Cincinnati, reception of the Dayton stations in HD is spotty at 40 miles. On AM, WLW can be received in HD reliablly at 100 miles from the tower, spotty at 100-150 miles, and very sporatically up to 180 miles.
 
Antenna height has a great deal to do with this. There's a big difference between 600 and 100 meters. Where I live, most of the Class Cs are 100kw @ just above or below 450 meters and their HD signal is said to get out about 60 miles.
 
I live over 60 miles from Zaraphath New Jersey, where WAWZ broadcasts both HD 1 & 2 streams. They run 28 KW, at 279 feet above ground. I don't know if average terrain is relevent here because they are so far away from me. Anyway, they provide a solid signal on both streams on my Sangean tuner.
 
HD Radio Range? I used to have an Amana Radar Range, is that the same thing?

I get HD with an indoor antenna spotty from 100 miles (WMIT Black Mountain NC), and solid as a rock from 80 miles (various Charlotte stations). I'm in Wilkes County...in the foothills of Northwest NC.
 
Thank you for all the responses...

I'd guess my best bet is to go invest in an HD Tuner, Sangean probably, and see how it does. I can always make a return if it doesn't do a lot for me.
 
The antenna makes all of the difference in the world. I scrapped the 2 "wire" antennae that came with my Accurian and use a $7 pair of rabbit ears. I have much more stable FM reception. For AM, I'm using a CCrane Justice antenna and get mediocre results.
 
"Boat Anchors", Supercaster? THAT'S FANTASTIC! I COLLECT BOAT ANCHORS! I've got a Zenith Trans Oceanic, a couple of Hallicrafters, another huge Zenith from the 50s...you know...."BOAT ANCHORS" (which is radio-enthusiast slang for very large, usually old, radio). I freaking LOVE boat anchors! Thanks for the heads-up, Super! Now I have an excuse to uby MORE HD RADIOS! I had no idea they were boat anchors!
 
I can't even count how many boat anchors I have collected. From my perspective, this term refers to "real radios" with actual physical
tuning components, as opposed to modern "radio emulators" which cannot actually be "tuned", peaked, or tweaked.
For consumer grade radios, they were far better than the current choices.
It would be fun to compare REAL specifications of the Zenith Transoceanic to any modern example.
These radios had tuned RF amplifiers ahead of the mixer stage, and they are hot, Hot, HOT!
 
I love "real radios", and love collecting them. But they don't actually pull in more stations, Tom...certainly not more than modern digital communications receivers.

There is NOTHING I can get on my Trans Oceanic or Hallicrafters with longwire that I can't also get on my Eton E5 on it's whip. Hell, the Grundig has SSB...none of my "boat anchors" do.

Romance is great. It's wonderful to remember great experiences of the past. But though Betty-Lou may have been your (my) first...in the backseat of the Chevy, let's not forget that she was flat-chested and wore braces! ;)
 
thatradioguy said:
Thank you for all the responses...

I'd guess my best bet is to go invest in an HD Tuner, Sangean probably, and see how it does. I can always make a return if it doesn't do a lot for me.
Click to expand...

Invest in a good outdoor antenna to go with it, you should have excellent results. A radio is only as good as its antenna. You need a lot of RF input power to make HD work. A ten element yagi has about 13 dB of gain, that will probably do it up to 100 miles. Just a little help from us "obsolete" DX'ers.
 
Amen RBruce. ANY radio is only as good as it's antenna. Reception is 90 percent antenna, 10 percent radio. Probably 95/5 with HD!
 
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