Translators can also ID via a FSK (freq. shift keying) of the carrier. A few God-casters do that with their Crown transmitters, and a few other models like BW Broadcast offer that option.
Correct. I believe all translators must have either an FSK or code key for identification even if they never use it.
Although it makes sense, I was unaware that ID'ing a station with the PAD data was a substitute for the aural ID. And, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't help the 100% simulcast on 104.5's need to also ID as KRXO HD2, Oklahoma City at the top of every hour.
I've read the rules for ID'ing an FM translator, and I've never seen anything that indicates the translator has to run the legal ID of the station it relays once-an-hour, though I suppose that was assumed when the rules were originally crafted since digital radio of any kind was barely even a pipe dream when the rules were established. From what I've seen, if the HD multicast channel ID's visually with data, the translator would still be in the clear so long as it ran its required ID three times a day. The rules for translator identification haven't been updated since the FCC decided it would allow them to relay HD multicast channels. Of course, I'm not a communications lawyer. So, don't go running your translator like that on the ground that I think you can do it!
I also can't say whether or not they're really ID'ing the translators via Morse code or FSK or whether or not they're ID'ing the HD feeds visually. I haven't lived in OKC since the summer of '95, and it's been over a year since I've been back there. The next time I visit, I'll bring my HD Radio dongle for my iPhone, assuming my current iPhone 4 still works and/or that the connection adapter for the new 9-pin phones will still let me control the radio through the HD Radio app.