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Merlin and mono
- Thread starter Danfm
- Start date
Simple. The stereo pilot is part of the total audio. In fringe areas,because of the pilot, you may hear hiss. Switching off the stereo generator allows all the audio to modulate the carrier, improving signal-to noise ratio. This is very apparent with spoken word programming ,like talk radio.
Broadcasting in Mono also allows them to be louder. 9% of the carrier in a multiplex (not really stereo, it's L+R & L-R) signal is eaten up by the inaudible 19Kc 'stereo' pilot, which triggers your radio into multiplex mode to decode the two channels. That pilot is filtered out, everything above 15Kc is. Without that, they can rededicate that 9% to regular analog audio that you can actually hear, making them louder and less subject to multipath problems. And as pointed out, making their reach in the fringe area somewhat cleaner.
Although auto-stereo blending circuits have curtailed that hiss/flutter a bit. Personally, I'd rather have switchable or the full stereo seperation and let me decide to back off the treble if I want. Some of these car radios are asked to do so much, you need to be within a few miles of the tower to get full stereo. IBOC stations are worse.
Although auto-stereo blending circuits have curtailed that hiss/flutter a bit. Personally, I'd rather have switchable or the full stereo seperation and let me decide to back off the treble if I want. Some of these car radios are asked to do so much, you need to be within a few miles of the tower to get full stereo. IBOC stations are worse.
Years ago, on a big signal rock station we joined a mono-feed statewide network to carry a special one hour governor's talk show. Knowing that other stations in the state were using our signal as a relay, I shutdown the stereo generator to give them the cleanest signal possible.
The next day the GM was very upset that the stereo indicator light went off. He claimed that regular listeners to the station looked for that stereo light, and without seeing it they might not know that they were listening to the right station.
He seemed to forget the fact that regular listeners were expecting me to be playing rock, not hearing a once in a decade talk show.
My engineering and PD friends at some of the more distant stations picking up our signal later told me that the switch to mono did improve the audio they were getting, and worked better overall. If I were Merlin, trying to target as many outer suburban listeners as possible, (that's where most "Red" types live around Philly) I would forget stereo especially since the network audio feeds are all mono. I think WWDB-FM "The Talk Station" was mono too, even though it was mostly live and local. IIRC, its signal did get out.
The next day the GM was very upset that the stereo indicator light went off. He claimed that regular listeners to the station looked for that stereo light, and without seeing it they might not know that they were listening to the right station.
He seemed to forget the fact that regular listeners were expecting me to be playing rock, not hearing a once in a decade talk show.
My engineering and PD friends at some of the more distant stations picking up our signal later told me that the switch to mono did improve the audio they were getting, and worked better overall. If I were Merlin, trying to target as many outer suburban listeners as possible, (that's where most "Red" types live around Philly) I would forget stereo especially since the network audio feeds are all mono. I think WWDB-FM "The Talk Station" was mono too, even though it was mostly live and local. IIRC, its signal did get out.
A
Ajohns66
Guest
At one point a GM at WWDB believed that unless the stereo pilot was on certain GM radios did not pick up the signal when people were using the "scan" function, so the stereo was switched on even though the entire talk control room and physical plant was mono. The engineer just fed both sides of the transmitter with the mono feed.
Sid Mark's show was always done from a production studio, so it was in stereo. At 3930 Conshohocken Avenue the main production studio was used, when the station moved to 166 E Levering Mill, a small "Sid studio" was built with a radio systems console that mirrored the production studio. The studio was used primarily for Sid, but also was the only one with Switched 56, so Paul W. Smith could do a daily show for WJR in Detroit.
Sid Mark's show was always done from a production studio, so it was in stereo. At 3930 Conshohocken Avenue the main production studio was used, when the station moved to 166 E Levering Mill, a small "Sid studio" was built with a radio systems console that mirrored the production studio. The studio was used primarily for Sid, but also was the only one with Switched 56, so Paul W. Smith could do a daily show for WJR in Detroit.
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