Is it possible to force the Insignia HD portable into an analog-only mode? I'm in the market for a new portable FM radio for walking/yard work. I wouldn't mind having access to the HD2 stations, but with a portable I'm concerned about it flipping back and forth between digital and analog when listening to the main channel.
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Is there a way to force the Insignia potable to anaolg only
- Thread starter ngriffin
- Start date
Sadly not, which really can be frusterating, such as when I'm trying to listen to a station on a 5sec HD-Analog Delay and the HD comes in and out, skiping all over the song
Zach said:
But Zach, why would you want to lock out the HD? Didn't you buy it for HD? Why would iBiquity agree to allow its proprietary circuitry to be deleted at will? You bought it for HD reception with those incomparable extra channels of unique programming. No? Surely the switching from HD to analog can't be a negative because it never does it. That much. Maybe.
Offending stations? They're offending because the stinking system doesn't work and the engineers don't have time to keep the sync in sync and the big guys with the fancy titles won't buy the equipment that can do this automatically? It's the local engineers fault? Please. I know many folks that are handling up to eight stations alone. I hardly think their priorities are syncing an HD three people are listening to, but then you want to force it to analog anyway, so why bother with the syncing? They're not ignoring you, they're trying to figure out how they're going to get 14 contact closures to work with a system designed for eight so they can get Shawn Hannity's hair care products commercials to fire at the right break in Dr. Laura when she's giving it to the lazy mom's that work two jobs to pay the bills instead of staying at home to teet feed the babies made by the guy that left town two weeks after "I'm pregnant." And you're complaining about syncing something you want to force not to even do what the syncing is supposed to do so when the HD part doesn't work it seamlessly switches back to what you're trying to force it to do?
I have to say I'm very confused.
Sorry for the rant man. You caught me in the middle of the dumbest thing I ever had to do in radio. That's install FSK audio devices in the air chains of eight radio stations, three HD channels and seven internet streams that will cause all kinds of havoc to whoever gets the emails, pager calls and phone alarms in the middle of the night. It's called PPM, and we just get dumber and dumber in the way we operate our radio stations.
I couldn't care less if the HD's are synced right now. Get over it or just buy an AM/FM Walkman. Without HD and its syncing issues. You won't miss the phenominal extra channels of low bit rate HD 2 & 3. I bet.
RadeoEngineer said:
RadeoEngineer said:
Zach said:
But Zach, why would you want to lock out the HD? Didn't you buy it for HD? Why would iBiquity agree to allow its proprietary circuitry to be deleted at will? You bought it for HD CD quality reception with those incomparable extra channels of unique programming. No? Surely the switching from HD to analog can't be a negative because it never does it. That much. Maybe. Well, it shouldn't so much.
Offending stations? They're offending because the stinking system doesn't work and the engineers don't have time to keep the sync in sync and the big guys with the fancy titles won't buy the equipment that can do this automatically? It's the local engineers fault? Please. I know many folks that are handling up to eight stations alone. I hardly think their priorities are syncing an HD three people are listening to, but then you want to force it to analog anyway, so why bother with the syncing? They're not ignoring you, they're trying to figure out how they're going to get 14 contact closures to work with a system designed for eight so they can get Shawn Hannity's hair care products commercials to fire at the right break in Dr. Laura when she's giving it to the lazy mom's that work two jobs to pay the bills instead of staying at home to teet feed the babies made by the guy that left town two weeks after "I'm pregnant." The one that comes right before the spot for Viagra and then the used car lot. You know? And you're complaining about syncing something you want to force not to even do what the syncing is supposed to do so when the HD part doesn't work it seamlessly switches back to what you're trying to force it to do?
I have to say I'm very confused.
Sorry for the rant man. You caught me in the middle of the dumbest thing I ever had to do in radio. That's install FSK audio devices in the air chains of eight radio stations, three HD channels and seven internet streams that will cause all kinds of havoc to whoever gets the emails, pager calls and phone alarms in the middle of the night. It's called PPM, and we just get dumber and dumber in the way we operate our radio stations.
I couldn't care less if the HD's are synced right now. Get over it or just buy an AM/FM Walkman. Without HD and its syncing issues. You won't miss the phenominal extra channels of low bit rate HD 2 & 3 I bet.
Damn. Too much thorazine again.
Give poor Zach a break. I'm the one that asked. 
Mostly, I was interested because I heard several people comment that the Insignia did a good job on FM analog. Anything that was worthwhile off the secondary channels would be a bonus for me. But, I'll probably just pick up one of the Sangean portables.
Truth is, on the technical merits of the system, I'd probably agree with RadeoEngineer. It's the AM stereo of the 21st century. But hey, I have one of those too, around here somewhere.
Mostly, I was interested because I heard several people comment that the Insignia did a good job on FM analog. Anything that was worthwhile off the secondary channels would be a bonus for me. But, I'll probably just pick up one of the Sangean portables.
Truth is, on the technical merits of the system, I'd probably agree with RadeoEngineer. It's the AM stereo of the 21st century. But hey, I have one of those too, around here somewhere.
Neil Griffin said:
Being about 17 miles from the FM sticks in my area, I don't have any trouble getting HD-2s to stay locked while walking outdoors. The only place I had trouble was just inside of the 60dbc contour. For instance, I had trouble in the distant suburbs of Chicago. However, the analog signals were not great either. Next time I'm in Chicago, I see how well the 1 or 2 digital stations that increased their power perform. Chicago seems like a bad place for FM because the low powered stations provide meager coverage to a large metro area. The JVC HDR-1 in my car has the analog-only option, but I seldom use it.
RadeoEngineer said:
Well, you have two choices: find another job or deal with it.
I'd say you're dealing with it. I don't mind the rant. I think the lack of a good syncing system built into what HD hardware exists is really stupid. People really shouldn't have to use profanity delays to sync analog and digital.
But the point remains: if the system at the transmitter plant worked (and it could with the right equipment) then there wouldn't be a real need for an analog only switch on these radios. I've heard seamless, nearly transparent blends and then I've heard the clunkers. I could live with the former but not the latter.
Surely if HD is such an unworkable problem for engineers and only 3 people are listening, they should just shut it off. It's not like anyone would notice, right? Seriously, if it's so bad, just turn it off. It wouldn't bother me, no one near me broadcasts in HD anyway. AM HD stations are shut off all the time, usually for technical reasons, and nary a phone rings with complaints. So go ahead and shut off FM HD are your properties. See how long until someone says something, then blame it on "technical trouble." Which would be accurate.
Once again, RadeoEngineer rings the bell. Congratulations on a great post, Radeo. And congratulations on a great post. And congratulations on a great post, Radeo....
Sirius-ly, though, Radeo succinctly expresses the frustration of overworked engineers constantly having to juggle HD diddling with productive and important tasks. And stoking the pressure-cooker is their mandate not to talk about the system's shortcomings.
Radeo nicely "captures the spirit of the thing," to quote the hapless sports writer in the classic "Slap Shot."
Sirius-ly, though, Radeo succinctly expresses the frustration of overworked engineers constantly having to juggle HD diddling with productive and important tasks. And stoking the pressure-cooker is their mandate not to talk about the system's shortcomings.
Radeo nicely "captures the spirit of the thing," to quote the hapless sports writer in the classic "Slap Shot."
Zach said:RadeoEngineer said:
Well, you have two choices: find another job or deal with it.
I'd say you're dealing with it. I don't mind the rant. I think the lack of a good syncing system built into what HD hardware exists is really stupid. People really shouldn't have to use profanity delays to sync analog and digital.
But the point remains: if the system at the transmitter plant worked (and it could with the right equipment) then there wouldn't be a real need for an analog only switch on these radios. I've heard seamless, nearly transparent blends and then I've heard the clunkers. I could live with the former but not the latter.
Surely if HD is such an unworkable problem for engineers and only 3 people are listening, they should just shut it off. It's not like anyone would notice, right? Seriously, if it's so bad, just turn it off. It wouldn't bother me, no one near me broadcasts in HD anyway. AM HD stations are shut off all the time, usually for technical reasons, and nary a phone rings with complaints. So go ahead and shut off FM HD are your properties. See how long until someone says something, then blame it on "technical trouble." Which would be accurate.
Sorry mang. It was meant to be humorous. I don't have a job, been retired for a couple of years but I'm helping out right now with an enormous PPM install that strikes me as a total clusterfork. I'd hate to be having all that stuff shoved into my audio chain and know I have to live with it forever and ever. As far as turning HD's off, there are contractual obligations that prevent that from happening. I know plenty of folks that would love to pull that plug but can't.
If you want a radio with DSP but not iBOC,then try this one:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3767071
It has an American-made DSP chip;FM is superb,AM and SW are
fair to average.Costs only a little more than the Insignia.
Reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Grundig-Trave...dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
and:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/8517
Download the user manual here:
http://www.etoncorp.com/product_card/?p_ProductDbId=916173
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3767071
It has an American-made DSP chip;FM is superb,AM and SW are
fair to average.Costs only a little more than the Insignia.
Reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Grundig-Trave...dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
and:
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/8517
Download the user manual here:
http://www.etoncorp.com/product_card/?p_ProductDbId=916173
re the DSP Grundig G8 etc. :
Here is a link for a review of the Degen 1123 which also
uses the DSP chip. (Third one down)
On page two,the DSP chip used in the Grundig G8
and Tecsun's PL310 and PL380 is shown and discussed,
for the technically minded.
http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mt_reviews_09.html
Here is a link for a review of the Degen 1123 which also
uses the DSP chip. (Third one down)
On page two,the DSP chip used in the Grundig G8
and Tecsun's PL310 and PL380 is shown and discussed,
for the technically minded.
http://www.monitoringtimes.com/html/mt_reviews_09.html
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