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My test with a dipole

J

jras20

I decided to give my HD Radio another try I cant lift anything over 5 pounds for the next 4 weeks, but I hooked on my dipole and just through it in the back and surprise it did pick up the local HDS even Hot 93 which is around 40-50 miles from my home place. I was surprised.
 
I can get 15 DTV stations with a pair of rabbit ears, hardly any drops thats a great improvement compared to what I only was able to get 6 analogs from Austin. San antonio comes in great 60 miles for TV.
 
I'm still amazed at how much farther FM stereo travels than HD. I can get a clean FM stereo 84 miles out with a dipole getting Houston FM. If HD was that easy I would have 6 HDRadios going.
 
You could, but would you - or most average FM listeners - bother?

Does HD-FM really sound that much better than analog? I just have never heard any "typical listener" complain that they would listen to terrestrial radio more "if broadcasters could just get the sound quality better." The complaints I hear is that the programming is uninteresting.

Analog FM provides good dynamic range and a reasonable degree of noise immunity, certainly comparable with what you can get from mp3 files. If the FM signal isn't overprocessed (no guarantee THAT won't be a continued problem with HD) it sounds fine for any reasonable listening application. So the poor building penetration, insufficient coverage and mode-hopping that HD-capable receivers produce are a poor tradeoff for the dubious benefit of listening "in digital" as opposed to analog.

As far as HD-AM is concerned: yecchh with that codec. Even assuming you can get a reasonably reliable digital lock. I'd rather deal with analog noise on AM, thanks.

HD: a solution in search of a problem, that brings along a whole wheelbarrow of new, highly objectionable problems not present with analog broadcasting.
 
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