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Insignia "Desktop Portable" HD Radio?

Just bought one of these today. I had the original "walkman" type from Insignia but the built in battery life was way too short and I didn't want to be tied down to a computer with a USB cable.

This new one seems fine. Small unit that uses AA's and has very sensitive tuning. It's FM only,but I have enough other radios, and the speakers sound good. I m in North Central Pennsylvania and the only HD station is WQKX out of Sunbury,but they don't have sub channels. The Wilkes Barre and Harrisburg stations come in but I'm too far away to get their RDS info and HD signal. Yes, it has RDS,which is a nice plus, like the Sangean PR D5.

I read where the battery life is poor, but with rechargables and the AC adaptor that shouldn't be a problem. I'll probably bring this unit with me when I travel and check out the HD channels in different cities.

It's about $40 at Best Buy and $32 is the cheapest price I've seen on Amazon. Most reviewers give it high marks. It would be nice if HD could be perfected and it would catch on.
 
Adding to my original post on the Insignia HD radio...this thing sounds fantastic! I was in Washington DC over the weekend and the HD stations sound great. Three in particular stand out..WASH HD 2 is 60's and 70's oldies..very wise choice being there are no oldies stations in DC, WMZQ runs a Classic Country format and WPGC runs dance on their HD. All are in stereo and sound incredible with a good headset. Of course, the signals start getting spotty about 25 miles out of DC,but I was impressed.

Only downside to this unit besides having no AM is the terrible battery life. Maybe 5, 6 hours using rechargeables. The AC adaptor is a must.

Getting off topic a bit, 106.7 has three HD channels, for WJZ in Baltimore,WIP in Philly and WFAN in New York. Nice use of the sub channels. On the other hand, 107.3 just relays WMAL and 94.7 has WNEW and WJFK on their sub channels. There must be a better use of HD..at least program content that isn't heard in DC.

It's a shame HD radio is at a standstill. It is nice having other formats on the sub channels. This radio is the best portable HD radio yet and there is a lot to discover, if the public would discover HD radio.
 
benale said:
It's a shame HD radio is at a standstill. It is nice having other formats on the sub channels.
Click to expand...

It would not be at a standstill if there were any format on an HD subchannel that was making any money. AFAIK there are none (please correct me gently if I am wrong).
 
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