Insignia Narrator Advanced HD Radio with Radio Reader Service

[Ai4i]

They are legally private, non-broadcast, signals.
A talk station will never get fined for running pre-delayed audio over an SCA.
A translator can not translate an SCA on its main program channel or an unscrambled HD sub-channel.
FMX was nixed because it placed digital broadcast signal on the SCA sub-channel.
Raising the baseband subcarrier frequency to 67 or 92 khz is just as much scrambling as moving video sync signals to another frequency to make the picture more stable or going from negative video modulation to positive to improve the s/n ratio. Both scenarios might be true, but both are considered scrambling.

 

[Darth_vader]

"They are legally private, non-broadcast, signals."

Wrong. SCA was by and large deregulated in the 1980s to very little fanfare, despite the fact that the FCC seem to have forgotten about it. (The information on their SCA web page is very old and very out of date; don't trust it.)

"A translator can not translate an SCA on its main program channel".

Wrong again. KBOO, KBVM, KFAE and KPBX all relay their respective SCA channels through their translators. There are probably lots of others that do it as well.

"FMX was nixed because it placed a digital broadcast signal on the SCA sub-channel."

Wrong again. FM-X died because of its weak marketing and the fact that it couldn't compete with Ibiquity. Data transmissions have been conveyed via SCA channels for years.

"Raising the baseband subcarrier frequency to 67 or 92 khz is just as much scrambling as moving video sync signals to another frequency to make the picture more stable or going from negative video modulation to positive to improve the s/n ratio. Both scenarios might be true, but both are considered scrambling."

Wrong again. Transmitting a narrowband FM channel over a clear, unencrypted subcarrier is not the same thing as scrambling. Radio reading services are generally considered to be freely listenable, provided one has the appropriate equipment. The only reason why some of them require the user to provide credentials if they're trying to obtain a receiver directly from them is to prevent people who otherwise don't need them from depriving access to handicapped users who legitimately *do*. With third-party receiver equipment it's fair game.

Oh, Dr. Elving would be diasppointed in you, ai4i.

 

[Ai4i]

SAP is legally a broadcast signal.

 

[Darth_vader]

First thing you've gotten right so far.

 

[Ai4i]

First thing you've gotten right so far.

Where are my experts out there?
I need support!

 

[Darth_vader]

Why don't you just do a little bit of research first instead of making old and outdated claims based on situations that ceased being the case more than 20 years ago? You might be surprised how supportive that could be.

 

[Darth_vader]

"Because FM-SCA is a technology which is multiplexed and 'readily available' to large numbers of the public, tuning in its transmission is no more sinister than owning and using a police radio, public service band scanner, radar detector, listening to FM stereo, or watching color television. Virtually all laws prohibiting the use of such devices have been struck down by the courts as being in violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

"Apparently, however, government can control where you can use these devices, such as forbidding the use of scanners in private automobiles. Similarly, you should be able to listen to background music on SCA in the privacy of your home but not in a business that you own if it might deprive the music company of rental income for equipment to play the music in the store.

"You enjoy further legal protection if the radio, even though modified with an SCA circuit, is a radio designed primarily to tune in other transmissions (like regular FM and AM), rather than designed solely for subcarrier reception. Anybody questioning the legality of tuning in SCA should contact local broadcasters for a letter of permission authorizing tuning in their subcarriers for noncommercial, hobby purposes.

"The very distinction between who is an 'authorised user' and who is a 'pirate' is a fine one, and one that even the courts would probably shy away from. Although at this writing the FCC is unwilling to encourage the use of tunable SCA radios, the FCC noted that the frequencies received by many electronics devices, including scanners, can be used for unprotected communications as well. Thus, the suggestion that the Commission require that reception of certain frequencies be blocked or filtered is not a practical one. The FCC pointed out that it is not a guarantor of any electronics privacy protections. "

http://textfiles.com/hamradio/sca.txt (or http://mistman.pdp10.org/pub/radio/sca.txt, and probably a dozen others.)

 

[satech]

Out of curiosity I bought one of these Insignia Narrator HD Radios. None of the stores in my area had it in stock (I doubt any do!) and it took Best Buy about 4 or 5 days to get it shipped, so don't expect quick delivery.

Right out of the box, the left speaker is dead! ??? At least it plays through both channels when listening through headphones, although oddly, when you plug in headphones, the audio mutes for a few seconds before coming back on. And in general, it has the same sluggish reaction time to the controls that has plagued all previous Insignia HD Radio models.

Even when using the same antenna in the same position as my Denon tuner, the FM reception isn't as good, although I wasn't expecting it to. As typical for my location, FM HD reception is flakey on anything except the very strongest signals, and at night, I can only receive one AM station in HD (710 WOR). So far I have not come across any FM HD stations using the "Artist Experience" to display their logo or album cover images.

Unlike previous Insignia AM/FM HD Radios, it does not decode C-Quam AM Stereo. The fact that it bothers to display "AM MO" for AM mono hints that it should magically change to "AM ST" when you tune in a C-Quam signal, but alas, even when tuned to my own C-Quam signal generator, it does not -- the indicator stays "AM MO" and no stereo separation is heard. And strangely, even when you tune in an AM HD station transmitting digital stereo audio (with audible stereo separation), the indicator still shows "AM MO", along with the HD logo on the other side of the display.

I was able to get the HD indicator to start blinking when tuned to several AM HD signals coming in via skywave at night, but none were strong or steady enough for it to actually start decoding the digital audio. But the AM sensitivity does seem quite decent with the included loop antenna, although it mutes AM signals that fall below a certain signal strength threshold, so don't expect it to be good for any real DXing.

Although the fact that mine arrived with one dead speaker hints that build quality and/or reliability may be a problem, it does seem to be a pretty good radio overall, but its main selling points -- Radio Reader Service and Artist Experience -- are going to be worthless vaporware unless you know for a fact that at least some of the FM HD stations in your area are actually supporting these services.

 

[satech]

Another quirk of the Narrator: it has the worst analog/digital blending of any HD Radio I've tried. It always stutters and warbles when blending from analog to digital, even on stations which do not exhibit that problem on Insignia's own pocket-sized HD Radio.

 

[JH_Radio]

I just recieved this radio for christmas.
In answer to the question about it letting you go into the menu to read stuff in the visually impaired mode, the answer is no.
in the manual it doesn't tel you up front that the receiver comes in visually impaired mode either.
honestly? it doesn't speak everything.
as far as reception go, with the provided fm antenna, I'm way to far out (here in the villages) to get a listenable hd signal.
i'm gonna go outside one of these days and give a try.
I was able to decode WOCLHD2 but couldn't do it more than once from inside the house. i have no idea what weird way i had the antenna going either.

what i'd like to try is hooking it up to my external fm antenna just outside of Philly and see what that does for it.
Has anyone tried putting the AM terk advantage loop on this thing?
I'm thinking about doing that since you can tune the antenna and i feel it may be better than the stock wire provided for AM reception.
both speakers work well.
this unit has a flat output via the headphone out as well, so you could use this to record airchecks from.

 

[Kmagrill]

They are legally private, non-broadcast, signals.
A talk station will never get fined for running pre-delayed audio over an SCA.
A translator can not translate an SCA on its main program channel or an unscrambled HD sub-channel.
FMX was nixed because it placed digital broadcast signal on the SCA sub-channel.
Raising the baseband subcarrier frequency to 67 or 92 khz is just as much scrambling as moving video sync signals to another frequency to make the picture more stable or going from negative video modulation to positive to improve the s/n ratio. Both scenarios might be true, but both are considered scrambling.

Not to restart an old fire, but this is all correct except the last part about scrambling. 67 and 92 khz are both standard SCA frequencies and many SCA capable receivers can decode either. Subcarriers are not considered scrambled, but they are a non-public service.

SCAs are, in fact, subscription services by definition and it is illegal to sell a radio capable of receiving them without permission of a station. The fact that many stations freely say 'yes' doesn't change the policy. Just a couple of years ago, a man with a translator, that I personally know, tried to get permission to rebroadcast an SCA on the main channel and the FCC said 'no'. So, even though it might not be specifically written in the rules anymore about SCAs being private, it's obvious that the FCC policy still considers them in that light. The FCC often has policies that are based on decisions they have published. Policies are not rules, but they have the same effect, so just because one cannot find a rule barring something doesn't mean that an activity is permitted, either.

I suspect there's a secret code to enable SCA on the Insignia radio, but you have to present your authorization, from a station, to Insignia to get the info on how to unlock the radio.

 

[JH_Radio]

okay is this the audio Qualety i have to look forward from in Philly from this radio?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdF2cqa2j1o