Praise to 770 KAAM

[doctorclu]

Just wanted to say, I love this station. I've loved the unique blend of music with hits from the 30's/40's to fairly current. (on average 40's-70's) Good on air DJ's. And they are stepping into the future in stride, keeping the AM frequency, but also available on HD radio now, and online...

http://www.kaamradio.com/

... now that is how I like to see a station improve.

 

[jd]

Just wanted to say, I love this station. I've loved the unique blend of music with hits from the 30's/40's to fairly current. (on average 40's-70's) Good on air DJ's.

I've enjoyed the station for many years, too, in its first incarnation on 1310 and later on 620. Too many weekend paid programs in the daytime hours but that's a necessary evil, of course. And I'll even admit that Brinkman does an okay job, but I miss Jack Bishop.

 

[BigBird]

I agree, especially regarding "I miss bish". The station does a good job at keeping a nice mix of the standards and the oldies. Thank goodness for the web; since their signal falls off the face of the earth in the evenings. In regard to their personalities, they all do a good job. Heck, even the poor guy playing the infomercials on Sunday mornings does well to keep things upbeat!

 

[dx7]

Amen! KAAM delivers a solid daytime car-radio signal here in Austin and it's a great radio station to listen to. Reminds me of the personality-driven MOR stations of the past -- a format that has virtually disappeared from the airwaves everywhere else.

 

[nipper1234]

I have always enjoyed listening to KAAM when I have visited the Dallas area but have noticed 2 things that bothered me:
This station used to have really good sound quality, now it almost sounds like telephone-line bandwidth. No "highs" at all. Are they using maximum 5Khz bandwidth due to IBOC?
There seemed to be hardly any sponsors. Most of the spots were promos and PSAs, I can only remember one commercial and that was the "wealth doctor".
It concerns me to not hear many commercials on a station, seems like a sign business must not be great...

 

[rbrucecarter5]

This station used to have really good sound quality, now it almost sounds like telephone-line bandwidth. No "highs" at all. Are they using maximum 5Khz bandwidth due to IBOC?

Same observation here. I hardly listen any more because of the poor sound quality. Crawford, of course, joined the rest of the lemmings in adopting IBOC. What a shame - they used to have a solid stereo signal out to Crosbyton, TX 290 miles away - where they start mixing with KKOB. Since they chopped the audio at 5 kHz, it just sounds awful. All for a flawed digital system that nobody can hear anyway. How many dozen HD listeners vs. how many thousand analog listeners? This makes no sense.

 

[Chuck]

Same observation here. I hardly listen any more because of the poor sound quality. Crawford, of course, joined the rest of the lemmings in adopting IBOC. What a shame - they used to have a solid stereo signal out to Crosbyton, TX 290 miles away - where they start mixing with KKOB. Since they chopped the audio at 5 kHz, it just sounds awful. All for a flawed digital system that nobody can hear anyway. How many dozen HD listeners vs. how many thousand analog listeners? This makes no sense.

Yes, I used to listen to KAAM every time I went to Dallas. I run a small East Texas Adult Standards station and I like to hear what other people are doing with the format. I must admit I’m not a huge fan of KAAM’s play list, but I enjoyed some of their on air talent. Even on my factory GM Delco radio, the station used to sound pretty good.

I was shocked when I first heard their signal after the IBOC switch. I even called them about it. Whoever I spoke with extolled the virtues of their new "improved" digital signal. Perhaps so, if you have a radio that can decode it. I don't, and I don't know anyone who does, except for a few people who post on these radio boards. On an analog radio, the station sounds considerably worse.

My brand new 2007 car does not handle HD. It isn't offered. Practically nothing has it. On the other hand, my car came with XM satellite built in which will probably be my choice for listening when I'm away from home.

I'm sorry to see it come to that...

 

[TheRover]

Simple..... I will be getting an HD Radio, soon to be installed in the car...

KAAM is one of the main reasons why...

 

[Chuck]

Simple..... I will be getting an HD Radio, soon to be installed in the car...

KAAM is one of the main reasons why...

Simple? Maybe, but probably not.

On a lot of new cars, that isn't a very viable option. At least, that has been my finding while recently shopping for a new car. Some models may be easier than others, but the people with upper end radios and built in entertainment and navigation systems will find that they are an integral part of the vehicle and not that easy to simply replace. They usually tie in with all kinds of other features found on the car and to replace the radio will disable a lot of those features.

If your car has just a basic radio, then you are in luck. Many new radios have a connection for an iPod or other external device. The easy work around on those radios would be an external HD converter just like in the early days of FM. As far as I know, none has come to market. I suppose you could buy an HD radio and connect it through the input jack of the factory radio, but then you are faced with the issue of where to put it, and what you are going to do for an antenna. It isn't as easy as it sounds.

 

[TheRover]

Simple..... I will be getting an HD Radio, soon to be installed in the car...

KAAM is one of the main reasons why...

If your car has just a basic radio, then you are in luck. Many new radios have a connection for an iPod or other external device. The easy work around on those radios would be an external HD converter just like in the early days of FM. As far as I know, none has come to market. I suppose you could buy an HD radio and connect it through the input jack of the factory radio, but then you are faced with the issue of where to put it, and what you are going to do for an antenna. It isn't as easy as it sounds.

Actually it's very simple, in my case. JVC has come out with an AM/FM Digital Radio/CD Player KD-HDR1, that now costs $200 minus a $25 rebate from HD Radio, good for purchases through Jan. 17, 2007.

Built-In HD Radio Tuner with Multi-Cast Capability
Ready For Ipod
Sat Radio Ready
MP3/WMA Compatible with ID3/WMA Tag

In my case, I had a mid 90's automobile, that needed to upgrade to CD anyway.

So, it's a sweet deal for me.

BTY, there are many mobile units available that are "HD Ready". The Kenwood Digital Radio Tuner KTC-HR100TR, is $200 by itself (minus an HG Radio rebate of $25).

I am happy that I could do this, when it was time for fro me to upgrade the factory AM/FM/CASS Radio that came with the car.

 

[Chuck]

Actually it's very simple, in my case. JVC has come out with an AM/FM Digital Radio/CD Player KD-HDR1, that now costs $200 minus a $25 rebate from HD Radio, good for purchases through Jan. 17, 2007.

Built-In HD Radio Tuner with Multi-Cast Capability
Ready For Ipod
Sat Radio Ready
MP3/WMA Compatible with ID3/WMA Tag

In my case, I had a mid 90's automobile, that needed to upgrade to CD anyway.

So, it's a sweet deal for me.

BTY, there are many mobile units available that are "HD Ready". The Kenwood Digital Radio Tuner KTC-HR100TR, is $200 by itself (minus an HG Radio rebate of $25).

I am happy that I could do this, when it was time for fro me to upgrade the factory AM/FM/CASS Radio that came with the car.

I'm not sure I'd use the term "many." I was in Dallas for NAB Radio, and decided to stop by Fry's to see the HD radios. They only had one. Four salesmen denied that they had any. "HD? You must be mistaken. HD is a TV." Or they took me to the satellite radios. They had tons of those. They did have a JVC HD radio, but I had to find it myself in a pile of other boxes. It turned out there was one on display, but it didn't work, and was not identified as anything special. Just a SKU number and a price: $199.99. Fry’s (on Northwest Highway must not be a good place to get one.

While you've lucked out, a lot has happened in automotive electronics in the last 10 years. It is not unusual to find that your radio is integrated with numerous other functions. Change the radio and a lot of your car's other features won't work. That isn't very appealing. Even if it is appealing to you, it will not be easy. It is no longer a do-it-yourself project.

I'm sure outboard converters are on the way, but an adapter/converter that works with existing auto sound equipment is the only way some people will be able to upgrade. Of course they can wait until they buy a new car, assuming new cars will eventually come with these radios. Some current factory radios have aux in jacks for iPods and the like. Those will be easy. If you have to resort to a modulator, any sonic improvement on FM will be out of the question. It should help on AM though, and hopefully, you’d be able to access HD-2 channels. Currently NAB is making a lot of noise about the dangers of FM modulators, asking the ones that exist now to be recalled. Therefore, I assume that any HD converter/modulator will need to be hard wired into the antenna with a switch to prevent it from radiating out the vehicle's antenna. Not impossible, but it certainly complicates things. I'd hate to try to find the antenna lead on my car's radio. It must be buried back there somewhere....

 

[TheRover]

Chuck,

I'd recommemd that anyone interested in HD Radio try entering in their automobile data, to see what fits, from an outfit like Crutchfield. You can do it yourself, or pay in advance to have a local professional do the install for you. If there is a custom faceplate to make it work, Crutchfield can help there too...

The Kenwood site lists over 70 compatible Kenwood receivers that their HD Radio Tuner KTC-HR100TR will work with... (See link in post above).

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I would probably not buy a car radio with an IF bandwidth wide enough for HD - unless I was going to use the car strictly for commuting. Any radio with an IF bandwidth that wide would not hold stations very well on the highway. The gain / bandwidth product would not allow sufficient gain on distant stations between cities. Even if they could compensate somehow, the selectivity would be very poor - and in rural areas were adjacents are common, all you would get would be a mixture. I've been there before - the early Delcos used ceramic filters with 450 kHz bandwidth, it was common to hear 2 and even 3 stations mixing together. You know you are in trouble when you switch to the adjacent frequency, and the station is just as strong.

 

[SmokeRing]

You can do it yourself, or pay in advance to have a local professional do the install for you. If there is a custom faceplate to make it work, Crutchfield can help there too...

No consumer should be expected to work THAT much to gain access to a new technology. And consider that this new technology is producing virtually zero buzz on the street. A formula for failure.

And I'm hearing the HD2 signals sound horrible. Especially when you consider the label "HD" is being used for them. Consumers should (and, I think, do) expect more.

 

[Chuck]

No consumer should be expected to work THAT much to gain access to a new technology. And consider that this new technology is producing virtually zero buzz on the street. A formula for failure.

I guess that is my point. Somebody who paid $35-40,000 (or more) for a new car with a "premium" sound system is very unlikely to call Crutchfield or go to the local car stereo shop to let an 18 year old kid take a Sawzall to their dash board.