On the AM, WINS Teletype is back.

[SignalsradioLLC]

I remember the AP service engineer coming to the Yuma, Az AM station I worked for in '71 to pull the cover on a Model 17 (I think).

Clean, oil, leave another case of pale yellow roll paper for it. Took about a half hour, once a month.

The news dep't got real nervous with a 5-bell alarm. I heard a 10-bell once, but can't remember what it was about.

 

[MarkW]

Three radio broadcasting relics that belong in a history bin but not on the air in the year 2026:

-Laser sound effects
-Super aggressive music pitching (listen to some airchecks from Pirate Radio 100.3 from L.A. for examples; a number of alternative rockers in the 90s were also bad)
-Fake teletype

 

[PTBoardOp93]

The news dep't got real nervous with a 5-bell alarm. I heard a 10-bell once, but can't remember what it was about.

Well, in '71 you had the false EBS activation when a government tape operator played the real tape instead of the test tape, 55 years ago this week.

I'd guess "the nukes are coming" and "oops, the nukes aren't coming" would probably both merit all the bells... but in '71 my parents hadn't met, so no first hand knowledge here.

 

[delgriffith]

It disappeared during the pandemic in 2020. When most of the announcers started working from home, the teletype was missing, but the few who were still in the studio had the teletype. Eventually they retired it entirely.

Yes, the teletype sound effect is an anachronism... but as if AM radio isn't!? And it does have some possible benefits, such as masking background noise and giving the PPM encoding more chances to insert itself during the pauses in speech.

Another benefit to listening to WINS on AM: You get the news about 8½ seconds sooner, since the FM side has a delay for the HD Radio encoding.

When seconds count, get the news sooner on 1010 WINS.

 

[SignalsradioLLC]

Well, in '71 you had the false EBS activation when a government tape operator played the real tape instead of the test tape, 55 years ago this week.

I'd guess "the nukes are coming" and "oops, the nukes aren't coming" would probably both merit all the bells... but in '71 my parents hadn't met, so no first hand knowledge here.

That was it! Thanks for the memory jogger.

 

[davideduardo]

I still want to know how many panelist families actually send a meter to school with their six year old.

Children 7 to 12, IIRC, are told not to take the PPM to school. They use it everywhere else.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

The teletype is the least of WINS' problems -- it's the sillyness of their delivery. The smiley attempt to sound folksy.

That's primarily a criticism of the morning show which is simply awful with its forced not-funny "comedy" and predominance of fluff. I can't even listen for one minute, never mind three for the PPM credit. Agree WTOP's approach is far superior, but WINS actually does a fine job for the rest of the day.

 

[yeoldeschool]

Using teletype sounds in 2026 is stupid.

If they think teletype sounds will raise their TSL on AM by inducing some weird nostalgia narcosis, why not add the incessant sounds of answering fax machines and screeching daisy wheel printers on the analog FM? And then an endless background of Apple OS incoming message dings and notification bongs on the FM HD?

Do smoke signals produce any audio?

Just coughing and swearing while you burn your hands setting the rug on fire above the flames.

 

[davideduardo]

If they think teletype sounds will raise their TSL on AM by inducing some weird nostalgia narcosis

No, they think that the non-stop background sound may produce more PPM detections as the PPM encoder will find nearly non-stop opportunities to encode.

 

[KeithE4]

If they think teletype sounds will raise their TSL on AM by inducing some weird nostalgia narcosis, why not add the incessant sounds of answering fax machines and screeching daisy wheel printers on the analog FM? And then an endless background of Apple OS incoming message dings and notification bongs on the FM HD?

Don't forget the sultry, melodic tones of 300 baud modems also audible in the background as the newsfolk log into AOL or Compuserve.

 

[yeoldeschool]

No, they think that the non-stop background sound may produce more PPM detections as the PPM encoder will find nearly non-stop opportunities to encode.

That assumes WINS only cares about maximizing its PPM detections on AM and that it has no interest in doing the same for its FM. (The OP indicated that the teletype noise and reverb were only being added to the AM.)

 

[yeoldeschool]

By the way, does anyone know if there's a stream for listening to the AM broadcast? Or a specific WebSDR where it can be heard cleanly?

 

[radiofan2023]

That assumes WINS only cares about maximizing its PPM detections on AM and that it has no interest in doing the same for its FM. (The OP indicated that the teletype noise and reverb were only being added to the AM.)

Would the reverb impact the PPM encoding/the encoded signal being detected?

 

[davideduardo]

That assumes WINS only cares about maximizing its PPM detections on AM and that it has no interest in doing the same for its FM. (The OP indicated that the teletype noise and reverb were only being added to the AM.)

This, I believe, is an experiment. They are using the least listened to part of a simulcast in order to see if it is effective. Since the AM will have a much older audience, this is a good place to try the concept.

 

[amos1001]

No, they think that the non-stop background sound may produce more PPM detections as the PPM encoder will find nearly non-stop opportunities to encode.

does a spoken word station typically have an issue with PPM detection? As you mentioned it tries to feed the encoding 12 times a minute. if this is truly the case why is every news-talk not running something in the background? or, better yet, why has Nielsen not fixed this?
EDIT: I see your above response saying it's an experiment. But still, is PPM detection a problem for news-talk stations?

 

[davideduardo]

Would the reverb impact the PPM encoding/the encoded signal being detected?

I heard that only the teletype was added. I did not hear about reverb. The reverb would not be detected and is useless for this experiment.

 

[El Zilcho]

I totally remember the KNX teletype. And since KNX (AM) is a preset on my car radio, I would LOVE to start hearing it again!

I'm all for radio returning to a radio version of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. Lol.

I don’t remember KNX having teletype. During KFWB’s all-news days, I remembering hearing a teletype in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

 

[yeoldeschool]

I don’t remember KNX having teletype. During KFWB’s all-news days, I remembering hearing a teletype in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

My recollection of this is faint, but I believe both used teletype backgrounds originally.

 

[kevtronics]

WINS has reverb on both AM and FM, but it is rather subtle, and best heard through headphones.

 

[MarkW]

I should've included aggressive reverb on my earlier list. Subtle reverb is acceptable for present day use.