Interference complaints against KKDJ (K259CF) & FCC letter

[kenrayc]

1. It's iHeart and has been for several years. 2. Most of the major chains are still using it, and even for smaller broadcasters, having HD streams is a convenient regulatory loophole that allows them to put programming on translators that isn't on their main signal.

Yes I know it's iHeart, and I just don't know anyone who has ever bought an HD receiver, I don't even think they are standard in new vehicles and car companies all have Satellite Radio in their new vehicles.

 

[davideduardo]

Yes I know it's iHeart, and I just don't know anyone who has ever bought an HD receiver, I don't even think they are standard in new vehicles and car companies all have Satellite Radio in their new vehicles.

HD is, reportedly, installed in about half of this year's cars.

That is still a small number, as just 5% of cars are replaced annually, so the ones with HD are around 2.5% of all vehicles.

And nearly nobody is buying home or portable AM/FM radios or devices for at-work listening. Most consumers now consider their smartphone to be a radio, so they "already have one".

 

[davideduardo]

With the addition of RDS and IBOC systems, it places more demand to accomodate modulation in the same space... at least as far as industry observation is concerned.

The digital component to an FM station is "in addition" to the analog signal; the analog signal is not reduced or impacted at all.

In fact, some HD operations use a separate transmitter and even a different antenna for the HD signal.

Think of it as a park bench... one person fits comfortably, yet a second person can also sit there. Or a couple of kids. There is a finite limit, but unless the cap it exceeded both the adult and the kids can all be comfortable and not crowded or squeezed.

 

[kenrayc]

And nearly nobody is buying home or portable AM/FM radios or devices for at-work listening. Most consumers now consider their smartphone to be a radio, so they "already have one".

Very true, I have the iHeart, CBS Radio, and Tune-in apps as well as other streams on my phone and tablet, and I bluetooth them to my home stereo a Yamaha 1000 watt receiver.

 

[kenrayc]

Very true, I have the iHeart, CBS Radio, and Tune-in apps as well as other streams on my phone and tablet, and I bluetooth them to my home stereo a Yamaha 1000 watt receiver.

Had to add, Today's Smartphones are like yesterday Transistor Radio's, my very first mobile device was an AM only with the one ear plug and it got KYNO, KMAK, KFRE, KARM, KMJ, and KIRV and I was a happy camper.

 

[stewie]

HD is, reportedly, installed in about half of this year's cars.

That is still a small number, as just 5% of cars are replaced annually, so the ones with HD are around 2.5% of all vehicles.

And nearly nobody is buying home or portable AM/FM radios or devices for at-work listening. Most consumers now consider their smartphone to be a radio, so they "already have one".

The challenge is understanding the value of HD radio. My wife asked me the other day what the flashing HD logo on her radio was.

I told her, "honey, you have an HD radio and it's trying to lock".
Her response, " I have an HD radio?"

The car is 3 years old.

 

[stewie]

The digital component to an FM station is "in addition" to the analog signal; the analog signal is not reduced or impacted at all.

In fact, some HD operations use a separate transmitter and even a different antenna for the HD signal.

Think of it as a park bench... one person fits comfortably, yet a second person can also sit there. Or a couple of kids. There is a finite limit, but unless the cap it exceeded both the adult and the kids can all be comfortable and not crowded or squeezed.

Yes and No. Many stations had to bring their overall modulation down to acceptable levels to match the analog to HD preceived volume. So while you're correct, the analog is not impacted, many stations had to "clean up" their air chain and bring it into limits.

 

[MisterGort]

So - does anyone have an up to date list of the HD FM stations in the Fresno - Visalia and Bakersfield markets that they can post ??

 

[derek20la]

So - does anyone have an up to date list of the HD FM stations in the Fresno - Visalia and Bakersfield markets that they can post ??

Bakersfield doesn't have any local stations using HD Radio. However, on the west side of town, a good radio can pick up the digital signal of KBOS 94.9 and KSOF 98.9 from Fresno (with analog audio from KXTT 94.9 Taft and KHHT 98.9 Mettler).

For Fresno-Visalia, KFBT 103.7 and KHGE 102.7 also broadcast in HD. There may be others.

 

[kenrayc]

Bakersfield doesn't have any local stations using HD Radio. However, on the west side of town, a good radio can pick up the digital signal of KBOS 94.9 and KSOF 98.9 from Fresno (with analog audio from KXTT 94.9 Taft and KHHT 98.9 Mettler).

For Fresno-Visalia, KFBT 103.7 and KHGE 102.7 also broadcast in HD. There may be others.

iHeart is the only one in Fresno the 4 stations mentioned.

 

[bjmtech]

iHeart is the only one in Fresno the 4 stations mentioned.

In Fresno there are 8 HD FM stations that can be heard:
KVPR 89.3 HD1; KRDA 92.1 HD1; KFSO 92.9 HD1/2; KBOS 94.9 HD1/2; KALZ 96.7 HD1/2; KSOF 98.9 HD1/2; KHGE 102.7 HD1/2; KFBT 103.7 HD1/2

There are 3 HD AM stations that can sometimes be heard in Fresno, although none of them local:
KCBS 740 San Francisco; KCBC 770 Manteca and KSL 1160 Salt Lake City at night due to sky wave propagation.

 

[DaveBayArea]

Think of it as a park bench... one person fits comfortably, yet a second person can also sit there. Or a couple of kids. There is a finite limit, but unless the cap it exceeded both the adult and the kids can all be comfortable and not crowded or squeezed.

That's mostly true, but the occupied bandwidth of a station transmitting HD is still 400 KHz, while that of an analog station is 200 KHz. There are still situations where a station running HD interferes with an adjacent-channel analog signal in a distant market. Terrain has to be a factor, but the problem still exists.

Dave B.

 

[radiotwit]

I believe KVPR is no longer doing HD Radio. And Radio Bilingue, as far as I could tell, never figured out how to turn it on and get it working. All they did was put KSJV-HD on their RDS. Pretty amazing that a station that got two grants from CPB to do HD, never got it turned on.

 

[derek20la]

I believe KVPR is no longer doing HD Radio. And Radio Bilingue, as far as I could tell, never figured out how to turn it on and get it working. All they did was put KSJV-HD on their RDS. Pretty amazing that a station that got two grants from CPB to do HD, never got it turned on.

Can confirm for KVPR (and KPRX in Bakersfield). Here is a message I received from a station employee last year:

"We have had terrible issues with our HD transmitter’s performance, and it hasn’t proven to be a good investment overall. It regularly burns through power amplifier modules at the cost of several thousand dollars every few months. We are unable to run it at full power and our engineer has been unable to resolve these issues with the manufacturer. The HD transmitter currently serves as our backup transmitter, and we typically use our analog transmitter as our main service."

 

[kenrayc]

Fresno used to have a lot more stations in HD, KJFX, KFRR, KMJ, KSKS, KWYE, KMGV, and many more had it and dropped it because there were no listeners and a waste of power, no one is buying HD radios, it's just a matter of time before iHeart turns them off also.

 

[DanielBoone]

Fresno used to have a lot more stations in HD, KJFX, KFRR, KMJ, KSKS, KWYE, KMGV, and many more had it and dropped it because there were no listeners and a waste of power, no one is buying HD radios, it's just a matter of time before iHeart turns them off also.

You know, I am surprised that 103.9 KDJK (104.1) KHKK has not yet filed an interference complaint against 103.7 HD2. That 103.9 signal is spotty in Madera and parts of Merced County. Those are the areas that they claim on their commercial spots to serve!

 

[DanielBoone]

Gee, where do I get one (or a few) of those forms to fill out? I know several other stations that are interfering with adjacent, or of the same frequency.

 

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

You know, I am surprised that 103.9 KDJK (104.1) KHKK has not yet filed an interference complaint against 103.7 HD2. That 103.9 signal is spotty in Madera and parts of Merced County. Those are the areas that they claim on their commercial spots to serve!

The interference you speak of is well outside of KDJK's protected coverage area. Merced and Madera only hear KDJK by luck of terrien.

 

[DanielBoone]

Yes, but the station claims their signal serves Merced, Mariposa and Madera counties. I've heard this on their commercial spots in the past.

 

[DanielBoone]