Houston DXing

[rbrucecarter5]

Sir, what you can tell is incorrect. HD from Senior Road goes out to Navasota in the northwest quadrant, Winnie to the east, Columbus to the west, Huntsville to the north, and Goodrich to the northeast.

I had to laugh when I read this one. Huntsville in the North? Even with a Pioneer Supertuner, the MO City stations are suffering badly by the time you get to Huntsville. Dropouts to mono, even complete loss of signal in valleys. You claim HD goes all the way up there??? In what alternate version of reality! Maybe if you are talking about "the Point" - if it is HD - HD on it might last to Huntsville in the North.

 

[purpledevil]

I respect your point of view, however, I'm simply not convinced that the slogan is used or meant in the manner that you think it is. I also must disagree with you on KSBJ's vision on reaching out to more people. KSBJ's network of translators, and full powered stations make them an available choice for listeners in several areas of the state. Only Houston Christian Broadcasters, that I know of, can claim more coverage for a Christian based broadcaster in Texas.

 

[purpledevil]

Sir, what you can tell is incorrect. HD from Senior Road goes out to Navasota in the northwest quadrant, Winnie to the east, Columbus to the west, Huntsville to the north, and Goodrich to the northeast.

I had to laugh when I read this one. Huntsville in the North? Even with a Pioneer Supertuner, the MO City stations are suffering badly by the time you get to Huntsville. Dropouts to mono, even complete loss of signal in valleys. You claim HD goes all the way up there??? In what alternate version of reality! Maybe if you are talking about "the Point" - if it is HD - HD on it might last to Huntsville in the North.

Surprisingly enough, KHPT's digital "Pat FM" reaches to past Madisonville. The analog signal is listenable past Centerville, nearly to Buffalo.

 

[stevenNOLA]

Sir, what you can tell is incorrect. HD from Senior Road goes out to Navasota in the northwest quadrant, Winnie to the east, Columbus to the west, Huntsville to the north, and Goodrich to the northeast.

I had to laugh when I read this one. Huntsville in the North? Even with a Pioneer Supertuner, the MO City stations are suffering badly by the time you get to Huntsville. Dropouts to mono, even complete loss of signal in valleys. You claim HD goes all the way up there??? In what alternate version of reality! Maybe if you are talking about "the Point" - if it is HD - HD on it might last to Huntsville in the North.

Surprisingly enough, KHPT's digital "Pat FM" reaches to past Madisonville. The analog signal is listenable past Centerville, nearly to Buffalo.

And almost into Lufkin.

 

[stevenNOLA]

Sir, what you can tell is incorrect. HD from Senior Road goes out to Navasota in the northwest quadrant, Winnie to the east, Columbus to the west, Huntsville to the north, and Goodrich to the northeast.

I had to laugh when I read this one. Huntsville in the North? Even with a Pioneer Supertuner, the MO City stations are suffering badly by the time you get to Huntsville. Dropouts to mono, even complete loss of signal in valleys. You claim HD goes all the way up there??? In what alternate version of reality! Maybe if you are talking about "the Point" - if it is HD - HD on it might last to Huntsville in the North.

The relevance of your discussion of Houston HD Radio comes into question if you don't even know if "The Point" broadcasts in HD...

 

[oldjohnny]

Sir, what you can tell is incorrect. HD from Senior Road goes out to Navasota in the northwest quadrant, Winnie to the east, Columbus to the west, Huntsville to the north, and Goodrich to the northeast.

I had to laugh when I read this one. Huntsville in the North? Even with a Pioneer Supertuner, the MO City stations are suffering badly by the time you get to Huntsville. Dropouts to mono, even complete loss of signal in valleys. You claim HD goes all the way up there??? In what alternate version of reality! Maybe if you are talking about "the Point" - if it is HD - HD on it might last to Huntsville in the North.

The relevance of your discussion of Houston HD Radio comes into question if you don't even know if "The Point" broadcasts in HD...

HD radio does reach Huntsville (of course while driving on the clean surface of Interstate 45). I had trouble receiving it in Town, but driving on the road, I started getting it with dropouts. While I may add that you can consider it unlistenable, You can also argue that it does reach Huntsville.
StevenNOLA is correct about all the locations (except for the Northeast since I've never tried HD radio driving that way), but it also depends on the type of tuner you have on your car or home. Which also brings me to the question, hey Steven, what type of Radio are you using to pick up HD?

 

[stevenNOLA]

Sir, what you can tell is incorrect. HD from Senior Road goes out to Navasota in the northwest quadrant, Winnie to the east, Columbus to the west, Huntsville to the north, and Goodrich to the northeast.

I had to laugh when I read this one. Huntsville in the North? Even with a Pioneer Supertuner, the MO City stations are suffering badly by the time you get to Huntsville. Dropouts to mono, even complete loss of signal in valleys. You claim HD goes all the way up there??? In what alternate version of reality! Maybe if you are talking about "the Point" - if it is HD - HD on it might last to Huntsville in the North.

The relevance of your discussion of Houston HD Radio comes into question if you don't even know if "The Point" broadcasts in HD...

HD radio does reach Huntsville (of course while driving on the clean surface of Interstate 45). I had trouble receiving it in Town, but driving on the road, I started getting it with dropouts. While I may add that you can consider it unlistenable, You can also argue that it does reach Huntsville.
StevenNOLA is correct about all the locations (except for the Northeast since I've never tried HD radio driving that way), but it also depends on the type of tuner you have on your car or home. Which also brings me to the question, hey Steven, what type of Radio are you using to pick up HD?

Home & Office -- Accurian (I'm not very impressed with it's reception)
Car -- "Dinosaur" Kenwood KTC-HR100TR & KDC-MP2035 head unit.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

The relevance of your discussion of Houston HD Radio comes into question if you don't even know if "The Point" broadcasts in HD...

Don't know, don't care, don't even care that I don't care. If analog FM starts having dropouts by Huntsville, its a sure bet HD from the MO City towers is long gone. The head unit in the car is a Pioneer Supertuner 3D, about the most sensitive made. If they put HD capability in there, it would pull HD out if anything would. Pioneer can pull in Houston stations, but with dropouts, as far as Fairfield in the North. From the MO City towers. The Point, KSBJ, and other North Houston suburban are stronger as you go North. Dallas FM starts dropping between Madisonville and Huntsville, by the way. Except for duplicated channels which get covered up. But something like KLTY which is clear in Houston, or 95.7 and 99.1 which are relatively clear in Dallas - they hang in. I've had KLTY in parts of NW Houston repeatably. Pull up in front of one store, its there, another store, it isn't type of thing. With a yagi and a home tuner, KLTY would be easy from Houston. So I'm not dealing with a car head unit that has poor sensitivity just because small dropouts start in Huntsville.

HD - is 35 mile type of stuff. Big portions of Houston are not served in the car. Especially on newer cars that don't have whip antennas.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I respect your point of view, however, I'm simply not convinced that the slogan is used or meant in the manner that you think it is. I also must disagree with you on KSBJ's vision on reaching out to more people. KSBJ's network of translators, and full powered stations make them an available choice for listeners in several areas of the state. Only Houston Christian Broadcasters, that I know of, can claim more coverage for a Christian based broadcaster in Texas.

Coverage, maybe. But that is potential listeners only. Not people actually tuning in. KSBJ is irrelevant to 12 - 30 year olds. They never listen. And that, my friend, is the future of the church, and KSBj's future audience and future revenue stream. You don't reach out to them now, you won't have an audience in 20 years. People don't take slow boring Christian music like spiritual medicine because its good for them. They listen to be entertained. And to that highly desirable and affluent demographic, KSBJ doesn't exist. KSBJ surrenders it to KRBE and the local hip-hop stations. They gladly make loads of money off kids and young professionals. A wise program director would tap into that audience and start generating some real revenue - and ratings.

Oh but wait - that might PO Bill Gothard.

 

[oldjohnny]

The relevance of your discussion of Houston HD Radio comes into question if you don't even know if "The Point" broadcasts in HD...

Don't know, don't care, don't even care that I don't care. If analog FM starts having dropouts by Huntsville, its a sure bet HD from the MO City towers is long gone. The head unit in the car is a Pioneer Supertuner 3D, about the most sensitive made. If they put HD capability in there, it would pull HD out if anything would. Pioneer can pull in Houston stations, but with dropouts, as far as Fairfield in the North. From the MO City towers. The Point, KSBJ, and other North Houston suburban are stronger as you go North. Dallas FM starts dropping between Madisonville and Huntsville, by the way. Except for duplicated channels which get covered up. But something like KLTY which is clear in Houston, or 95.7 and 99.1 which are relatively clear in Dallas - they hang in. I've had KLTY in parts of NW Houston repeatably. Pull up in front of one store, its there, another store, it isn't type of thing. With a yagi and a home tuner, KLTY would be easy from Houston. So I'm not dealing with a car head unit that has poor sensitivity just because small dropouts start in Huntsville.

HD - is 35 mile type of stuff. Big portions of Houston are not served in the car. Especially on newer cars that don't have whip antennas.

Please, be kind enough to name me those portions of Houston that are not served. You forget, Houston is FLAT!

 

[CW]

You should also get WGN 720 Chicago. News/Talk.

Also from Chicago is sports WSCR, (aka the former WMAQ) on 670, and if you hear spanish on that same frequency, it's not from Mexico. It's Radio Rebelde all the way from Cuba.

720 from SanAntonio way usually makes it into Houston and Galveston daytime (weak and directional but it is 10KW...cant even hear WLS anymore because of the noise level has risen and the Mexican stations that blast away!!)

 

[CW]

The relevance of your discussion of Houston HD Radio comes into question if you don't even know if "The Point" broadcasts in HD...

Don't know, don't care, don't even care that I don't care. If analog FM starts having dropouts by Huntsville, its a sure bet HD from the MO City towers is long gone. The head unit in the car is a Pioneer Supertuner 3D, about the most sensitive made. If they put HD capability in there, it would pull HD out if anything would. Pioneer can pull in Houston stations, but with dropouts, as far as Fairfield in the North. From the MO City towers. The Point, KSBJ, and other North Houston suburban are stronger as you go North. Dallas FM starts dropping between Madisonville and Huntsville, by the way. Except for duplicated channels which get covered up. But something like KLTY which is clear in Houston, or 95.7 and 99.1 which are relatively clear in Dallas - they hang in. I've had KLTY in parts of NW Houston repeatably. Pull up in front of one store, its there, another store, it isn't type of thing. With a yagi and a home tuner, KLTY would be easy from Houston. So I'm not dealing with a car head unit that has poor sensitivity just because small dropouts start in Huntsville.

HD - is 35 mile type of stuff. Big portions of Houston are not served in the car. Especially on newer cars that don't have whip antennas.

94.9 does do pretty well into Houston (the band is somewhat open in that segment from 94.5 to 95.7..I am surprised noone tried to refarm the freqs and sneek in something but it would be tough and the money needed to spend to move 94.5 and everyone else to make room??? OUCH! AND with 95.1 in Beaumont and Victoria, that pretty well locks up the segment)....KOEM used to do as well as most Cedar Hill station and sometimes better until the NCE band started filling up north side of Houston...106.9 is NOT on a MO CIty tower..its on its own Splendora 2000ft tower (still owned by Salem and also has TV55 analog and 97.1's 800watt backup so it has a BIG head start on the MO sticks north..heck, I remember listening to The Point till Corsicana on a regular basis when I drove back and forth from DFW to Houston. KSBJ is only 1000ft and there are no other full C FMs on the north side of town over 600ft (88.5 north of Conroe is maybe 600 but its not a full C)

 

[stevenNOLA]

The relevance of your discussion of Houston HD Radio comes into question if you don't even know if "The Point" broadcasts in HD...

Don't know, don't care, don't even care that I don't care. If analog FM starts having dropouts by Huntsville, its a sure bet HD from the MO City towers is long gone. The head unit in the car is a Pioneer Supertuner 3D, about the most sensitive made. If they put HD capability in there, it would pull HD out if anything would. Pioneer can pull in Houston stations, but with dropouts, as far as Fairfield in the North. From the MO City towers. The Point, KSBJ, and other North Houston suburban are stronger as you go North. Dallas FM starts dropping between Madisonville and Huntsville, by the way. Except for duplicated channels which get covered up. But something like KLTY which is clear in Houston, or 95.7 and 99.1 which are relatively clear in Dallas - they hang in. I've had KLTY in parts of NW Houston repeatably. Pull up in front of one store, its there, another store, it isn't type of thing. With a yagi and a home tuner, KLTY would be easy from Houston. So I'm not dealing with a car head unit that has poor sensitivity just because small dropouts start in Huntsville.

HD - is 35 mile type of stuff. Big portions of Houston are not served in the car. Especially on newer cars that don't have whip antennas.

I know you could give a rat's ass less. You roam the boards looking for an opportunity to bash HD radio. Your inaccurate assertions prove your point.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I know you could give a rat's ass less. You roam the boards looking for an opportunity to bash HD radio. Your inaccurate assertions prove your point.

Since when is saying that HD radio doesn't go much farther than 35 miles in a car amount to bashing it? That is a pretty common experience from what other posters have put on here. I revised my own estimates upward when I actually got one of the things - it does better than I expected.

If you get 85 to 90 miles reception on an HD CAR radio - I'd like to know the brand! A number of HD DX'ers have gotten 100 mile reception, but only with a large outdoor antenna.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Please, be kind enough to name me those portions of Houston that are not served. You forget, Houston is FLAT!

Cypress, Woodlands, Conroe, Galveston. HD probably covers Houston proper, but I didn't get a chance to test past 610 in places like Pasadena. It is probably suffering out there. That adds up to a lot of the population of the Houston metro area not served. 35 miles seems to be about it. Take a map, draw a circle with a 35 mile radius on it - and look at the places outside the circle. That would be a pretty good approximation.

I'll admit, it might be possible to get in a node somewhere in the boonies long enough to get HD lock, but there are a lot of nulls out there, too, so HD wouldn't last long.

 

[oldjohnny]

Please, be kind enough to name me those portions of Houston that are not served. You forget, Houston is FLAT!

Cypress, Woodlands, Conroe, Galveston. HD probably covers Houston proper, but I didn't get a chance to test past 610 in places like Pasadena. It is probably suffering out there. That adds up to a lot of the population of the Houston metro area not served. 35 miles seems to be about it. Take a map, draw a circle with a 35 mile radius on it - and look at the places outside the circle. That would be a pretty good approximation.

I'll admit, it might be possible to get in a node somewhere in the boonies long enough to get HD lock, but there are a lot of nulls out there, too, so HD wouldn't last long.

35 miles is the wrong measurement. I've been in Pasadena and HD radio works well. No Drop outs. Besides, where do you get this idea of 35 miles? HD goes out farther than this here in Houston.

 

[oldjohnny]

I know you could give a rat's ass less. You roam the boards looking for an opportunity to bash HD radio. Your inaccurate assertions prove your point.

Since when is saying that HD radio doesn't go much farther than 35 miles in a car amount to bashing it? That is a pretty common experience from what other posters have put on here. I revised my own estimates upward when I actually got one of the things - it does better than I expected.

If you get 85 to 90 miles reception on an HD CAR radio - I'd like to know the brand! A number of HD DX'ers have gotten 100 mile reception, but only with a large outdoor antenna.

I've DX'ed 170 Miles HD, on FM, in a truck Stereo, with factory truck antenna. And it was all done from the JVC KD-HDR1. Hell, this happens like once a week during the late hours of the night or early morning. You must not know what you are talking about, HD goes out more than the 35 miles you claim it does. For all Houston Senior Road stations, I see my first drop out at around the 50 mile mark, not the 35 miles you claim.
I'm beginning to think you

 

[davideduardo]

Since when is saying that HD radio doesn't go much farther than 35 miles in a car amount to bashing it? That is a pretty common experience from what other posters have put on here. I revised my own estimates upward when I actually got one of the things - it does better than I expected.

If you get 85 to 90 miles reception on an HD CAR radio - I'd like to know the brand! A number of HD DX'ers have gotten 100 mile reception, but only with a large outdoor antenna.

I have gotten 90 mile HD on AM with no fallbacks on a 5 kw 550 kHz regional AM, KFYI, in Phoenix. I get 60 to 70 mile range at least on KNX in LA driving east over very low conductivity soil. I have had Phoenix Class C FMs for about 50 to 55 miles, and LA grandfatered B's for about the same (before mountains blocked the signal).

Receiver is third generations OEM in a BMW.

I'm betting the new chipsets from Samsung and others will improve this.

 

[CW]

Since when is saying that HD radio doesn't go much farther than 35 miles in a car amount to bashing it? That is a pretty common experience from what other posters have put on here. I revised my own estimates upward when I actually got one of the things - it does better than I expected.

If you get 85 to 90 miles reception on an HD CAR radio - I'd like to know the brand! A number of HD DX'ers have gotten 100 mile reception, but only with a large outdoor antenna.

I have gotten 90 mile HD on AM with no fallbacks on a 5 kw 550 kHz regional AM, KFYI, in Phoenix. I get 60 to 70 mile range at least on KNX in LA driving east over very low conductivity soil. I have had Phoenix Class C FMs for about 50 to 55 miles, and LA grandfatered B's for about the same (before mountains blocked the signal).

Receiver is third generations OEM in a BMW.

I'm betting the new chipsets from Samsung and others will improve this.

Ok lets see 550kHz....there's one explanation...KNX?? another...AM HD is not a problem for some stations...
Phoenix C's?? up on the mountain tops?? LA B's same situation?? Better than a 2000ft steel tower and having to deal with pine trees, etc.....I can buy the HD you describe David...but that aint Houston.

 

[oldjohnny]

Since when is saying that HD radio doesn't go much farther than 35 miles in a car amount to bashing it?  That is a pretty common experience from what other posters have put on here.  I revised my own estimates upward when I actually got one of the things - it does better than I expected.

If you get 85 to 90 miles reception on an HD CAR radio - I'd like to know the brand!  A number of HD DX'ers have gotten 100 mile reception, but only with a large outdoor antenna.

I have gotten 90 mile HD on AM with no fallbacks on a 5 kw 550 kHz regional AM, KFYI, in Phoenix. I get 60 to 70 mile range at least on KNX in LA driving east over very low conductivity soil. I have had Phoenix Class C FMs for about 50 to 55 miles, and LA grandfatered B's for about the same (before mountains blocked the signal).

Receiver is third generations OEM in a BMW.

I'm betting the new chipsets from Samsung and others will improve this.

You wanna talk AM HD? Well then, I hear WBAP loud and crystal clear in HD about 150 miles away. No Dropouts (except for the usual powerlines). Also remind some of you that I have not put in any type of homemade antenna. I still get interference from my spark plug lines, but that doesn't really bother WBAP. Once I fix that problem, I hope I can receive KBME while driving since I can only catch it while the engine is off.
HD has it's downsides, but if these Chips that are coming out (as you say) improve HD radio, then I'll 100% hop on into the HD Radio Bandwagon.