HD RADIO

[johnster]

KOX--you mean WXKS (AM) right?

The old XKS-AM is now KOX-AM (MIA1430). They swapped the call signs between the AM's.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

KOX--you mean WXKS (AM) right?

WKOX is 1430 AM "Mia", Spanish music in HD.

WXKS is 1200 AM, the conservative talk station formerly called "Rush Radio". 1200 was never in HD. Perhaps may it have been planned to be, but was never implemented. Very doubtful they would do it now, going forward.

 

[raccoonradio]

Right, though of course the 1200 is featured as the HD2 of WXKS-FM. Earlier this yr they started to
mention the HD2 on 107.9 as a way of hearing WXKS- (AM).

btw the HD radio site supposedly lists stations and formats though I don't know how accurate it is (at one point I think they listed
an HD2 here in town as being "comedy"...) Let's check:

http://www.hdradio.com/stations/Massachusetts-MA/Boston-11
Ha, they list 93.7 as "WEEI" but.. "AC"?
97.7 WKAF is listed as "Blues" (!)
107.3 WAAF: "Comedy" (Yet another inaccuracy...and when it comes to the AMs?
1200 is listed...and it's "Tropical". When did Rush Radio start, March of 10 I think?
(Yup...I wrote that month on Boston Radio blog: "Update: A Clear Channel press release says Rush will begin on WXKS 1200 on Monday." http://bostonradio.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html

Anyway, it's been Talk since then
And yes they do list the 1430 as being tropical in HD.
etc

 

[probboy]

WPRO-fm comes in, main sig as does HJY

Is WPRO actually broadcasting in HD? It used to light up on my Sony (although never well enough to lock and decode), but I haven't seen it in a while. They also don't ID with a "WPRO-HD" any longer. I had just assumed that they pulled the plug on HD.

 

[jlehmann]

WPRO-fm comes in, main sig as does HJY

Is WPRO actually broadcasting in HD? It used to light up on my Sony (although never well enough to lock and decode), but I haven't seen it in a while. They also don't ID with a "WPRO-HD" any longer. I had just assumed that they pulled the plug on HD.

WPRO-FM, WWLI, and WWKX have not been broadcasting in HD for a while, maybe at least a year?

 

[pqgeorge]

WPRO-fm comes in, main sig as does HJY

Is WPRO actually broadcasting in HD? It used to light up on my Sony (although never well enough to lock and decode), but I haven't seen it in a while. They also don't ID with a "WPRO-HD" any longer. I had just assumed that they pulled the plug on HD.

Both WPRO-FM and WWLI have not been broadcasting in HD for the better part of a year. More than likely, it's probably a matter of ROI and continual maintenance issues that comes with IBOC. Because of these issues, a lot of stations have turned off HD. For all intents and purposes, it seems like a failed technology. The way Ibiquity sold it..... it was supposed to be the "next best thing since sliced bread", right out of the box. (Never mind the $100,000 price tag for the cost of the equipment alone and the $25,000 license fee.) Well, IBOC wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. Instead, they had to add an additional 10db injection (IBOC carrier) just to get some-semblance of an acceptable IBOC coverage, all at the expense of the main carrier and the first and second adjacent channels. To me, that's like trying to change the rules of the game in the middle of the ninth inning. Here in the Northeast, with so many stations located so close together both on the dial and coverage wise, a lot of stations have seen their secondary coverage areas virtually decimated thanks in-part to IBOC.

Honestly, IMHO, with so many new digital platforms readily available today (MP3, satellite, internet, smart-phones and whatnot...), in this economy, why waste good money for a technology that, for all intents and purposes, has really missed the boat? Digital broadcasting should have used a less obtrusive technology using Digital SCA (FMeXtra). With practically "at-par" coverage to conventional FM Stereo and no adjacent channel bleed-over, coupled with a not-so-exorbitant price tag, even the smaller-stations could have gone digital by now. But, things didn't quite go that way.... so here we are.

 

[carmen]

theres a list at iBiquity site

how do you decode 1030 and 1260's HD in software? for DRM further up in freq i found Dream which works fine on the France, New Zealand, and BBC signals i found, and theres even an open-source P25 demodulator out there. but im not finding anything for "HD Radio" ?

 

[JIBGUY]

theres a list at iBiquity site

I wonder if that list also includes stations that have abandoned HD....

 

[dumber than a box of hair]

how do you decode 1030 and 1260's HD in software? for DRM further up in freq i found Dream which works fine on the France, New Zealand, and BBC signals i found, and theres even an open-source P25 demodulator out there. but im not finding anything for "HD Radio" ?

...and you won't. The signal protocols are proprietary and it takes mucho bucks to license them.

 

[N1WVQ]

Is WPRO actually broadcasting in HD? It used to light up on my Sony (although never well enough to lock and decode), but I haven't seen it in a while. They also don't ID with a "WPRO-HD" any longer. I had just assumed that they pulled the plug on HD.

WPRO turned off their HD soon after they started. I remember sitting in the P.D.'s office listening to when it switched from regular analog mono AM to HD mono AM. But 630 didn't have it on for very long. I dunno if 790 ever did. 1290 shut theirs off & 920 still has it on. On the F.M. side, it seems only Clear Channel is running it on WSNE-FM, WHJY & WWBB. WJMF also does it on the non-comm side.

 

[pqgeorge]

theres a list at iBiquity site

I wonder if that list also includes stations that have abandoned HD....

Indirectly, yes! The iBiquity HD list is so out of date you'll find stations that are no longer running it (but still listed as operating) along with formats that are no longer the case. Just look at the Rhode Island list alone and you'll see! Struble has yet to update his latest HDRadio column (since July).

 

[Savage]

Yes, maintenance and licensing are certainly frustrating expenses in HD operation with little prospect of ROI - in a tough economy. The capital expenditure of installing HD can be daunting with many FM plants. I would be interested to learn just how many recent - let's say in the last year - all-new HD turn-ons there have been. I would be willing to wager something on the "low" side between zero and ten.

But the big HD cash-burner is the electric bill. Depending on your method of combining the analog and digital signals - one type wastes 90% of the RF energy dissipated as heat - the transmitter power bill can more than double. I know of one Class B that shut HD off and repurposed the nice new HD transmitter as an analog standby. Listener complaints? ONE reported.

 

[mgpt6]

The only 2 HD subchannels I would miss if it went away are WGBH HD2 for CRB and WZLX HD3 for free form BCN. Have Sony table radio in dining room and Marantz HT receiver in family room which have HD functions included. By far WGBH's HD is the most consistent.

 

[Jimmy128]

I listen mostly to WZLX HD2 "Radio Mojo"

Occasionally I'll listen to WZLX HD3 "Free Form WBCN'"

Also WMJX HD2 "Smooth Jazz" Although they can be repetitive "Me an Mrs. Jones" etc.

For smooth Jazz nothing beats this site:

http://www.cjazzchannel.com/

I also like WCRB for the second delay so that I can put on another radio for the echo effect.

I'll Listen to WXKS HD2 for Jay Severin for entertainment purposes only.

My wife likes the soft AC on WODS HD2 "The Cove."

Oh yeah, very occasionally WKLB HD2 for "Classic Country."

 

[johnster]

Sunday I made my Factory Ford radio into and HD Radio with a kit from http://isimplesolutions.com. Seems to be working great.

 

[aaronread]

But the big HD cash-burner is the electric bill. Depending on your method of combining the analog and digital signals - one type wastes 90% of the RF energy dissipated as heat - the transmitter power bill can more than double.

High-level combining does indeed mean you're "wasting" 90% of the digital signal into a dummy load, but remember that the digital signal is 1/100th of the analog TPO to begin with. So for a nominal Class B with a 50kW TPO, that would mean 5kW is going into the dummy load. Actually 10kW, since you're also "wasting" 10% on the analog side, too. (5kW digital + 5kW analog)

That's kind of an extreme case, though. Not too many stations are running 50kW TPO. Those that do typically aren't using combining for HD Radio; it's too inefficient. They use dual-port antenna arrays or just separate antennas. Granted, THAT approach can significantly increase your weight/windload on your tower...or significantly increase your tower rent.

 

[4CX1000A]

But the big HD cash-burner is the electric bill. Depending on your method of combining the analog and digital signals - one type wastes 90% of the RF energy dissipated as heat - the transmitter power bill can more than double. I know of one Class B that shut HD off and repurposed the nice new HD transmitter as an analog standby. Listener complaints? ONE reported.

When Greater Media installed HD Radio at what was then WKLB 99.5 in Andover, they used separate antennas for the FM and HD Radio transmitters, so there is no power wasted.