Sangean HD-1 is there a way to disable HD?

[jras20]

Is there a way to disable the HD on the HD-1? I should of baught the HD-1X then I could of just used it for dx'n these are great tuners for dxn side stations.

 

[SUPERCASTER]

is there a way to disable HD?

This seems to be one of the most frequent complaints from people who have forked over the extra cost for HD radios. The fact that question even comes up shouts volumes about problematic HD technology.
Wasn't one of the (many) promises from the HD promoters that their HD radios could be upgraded as newer features and improvements were added?

 

[clouseau]

is there a way to disable HD?

This seems to be one of the most frequent complaints from people who have forked over the extra cost for HD radios. The fact that question even comes up shouts volumes about problematic HD technology.

Well at least you got a "Problematic" in there. We'll have to check with Len as to what number that is.

Now maybe this is a glass Half full/Half empty thing, but does this post look like a complaint? Or a question?

Wasn't one of the (many) promises from the HD promoters that their HD radios could be upgraded as newer features and improvements were added?

That would be that software upgrade that installs the extra switch on the front panel?

Whatever.

Clouseau

 

[LinoNYC]

is there a way to disable HD?

This seems to be one of the most frequent complaints from people who have forked over the extra cost for HD radios. The fact that question even comes up shouts volumes about problematic HD technology.

Well at least you got a "Problematic" in there. We'll have to check with Len as to what number that is.
Clouseau

Its and exerpt from #3 "expensive purchase of complex, problematic new HD radios"

As for an iboc kill switch, I can see why this is generally omitted, people will inadvertantly turn it off and then think it doesn't work. Last Saturday I went to an informal party at friend's apartment, they had WLTW's Christmas music on and I noticed no separation, they noticed this aswell and asked me about it. Well as you might expect this is one of those digitally tuned receivers that goes mono when you tune it manually and since they didn't know how to pre-set stations they had allways used it this way. Two well educated people, one Princeton and the other from my old school; NYU -neither could use the receiver properly.

Lino

 

[RadioFixerCLE]

Well as you might expect this is one of those digitally tuned receivers that goes mono when you tune it manually and since they didn't know how to pre-set stations they had allways used it this way. T

I hate FM stereos that automatically blend into Mono.

Then there's the ones that have a "mute" function, where if the signal isn't in stereo, the radio mutes itself. WTF. ???

 

[clouseau]

Well as you might expect this is one of those digitally tuned receivers that goes mono when you tune it manually and since they didn't know how to pre-set stations they had allways used it this way. T

I hate FM stereos that automatically blend into Mono.

Then there's the ones that have a "mute" function, where if the signal isn't in stereo, the radio mutes itself. WTF. ???

I agree, but what is it that Ron Brown Says?

"You can't fix Stupid"..

Clouseau

 

[JohnnyElectron]

There are jacks on both of my HD radios/tuners that indicate to me that you should be able to do a firmware upgrade. XM radios allow you to do it on their new radios, so why not HD?
As far as the button, there is a menu on both of mine, all that they have to do is add a menu item; select, and dump the radio into analog.

 

[Tom Wells]

An FM radio that only works in mono when tuned normally is way past stupid.
Presets are useful to keep people from discovering something new they might like better.
I would have to say it is simply unacceptable.....


Regarding locking out HD decoding, I can easily imagine ibiquity would mandate that there be no such switch.
You don't want to let people opt-out on the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Keeping HD decoding on full-time is the only way to ensure you enjoy the full HD experience.

Maybe there's some point in the circuit where you could tap off at the 10.7 mhz IF and pass the signal to a regular FM detector
in another tuner. That way, you could enjoy the reported excellent Sangean RF stage, minus the undesirable dropouts.
If it's easy enough, there could be a market for add-on detectors, as there was for add-on mpx decoders in the 1960's.

The fact people are even asking for such an option says a lot about the effectiveness of HD.
Would this be less of an issue if there were no HD2 and 3 streams?
More bandwidth could be used for data redundancy, instead of the extra channels.
Why was the multicasting considered more important than getting the dang HD system rock-solid in step one?
One must crawl before one can run. HD is trying to be too gee-whiz for its own good.
At least in analog, we only miss the brief moment when noise intrudes, rather than the 8 second mute or repeated switching.

 

[RadioFixerCLE]

The fact people are even asking for such an option says a lot about the effectiveness of HD.
Would this be less of an issue if there were no HD2 and 3 streams?

Actually it's more along the lines of FM stereo receivers having a stereo/mono switch. On the surface it seems pointless (why would you want a stereo radio only to switch to mono), but sometimes that's the only way to improve reception on that particular radio on THAT particular station you want to listen to.

The HD-2 and 3 streams are actually the only selling point of HD-FM. Digital FM doesn't sound any different than a good analog FM signal. Maybe a few more highs, but that's about it - you reallly have to be paying attention to notice it.

 

[Chuck]

Maybe there's some point in the circuit where you could tap off at the 10.7 mhz IF and pass the signal to a regular FM detector
in another tuner. That way, you could enjoy the reported excellent Sangean RF stage, minus the undesirable dropouts.
If it's easy enough, there could be a market for add-on detectors, as there was for add-on mpx decoders in the 1960's.

Tom,

If you figure out how to do that, please let us know about it. I spent about a half hour with a 100 MHz scope probing around on a HDT-1 and never figured it out. A schematic would have been helpful, but I didn't have one. Some of the traces on the PC board are incredibly small, which makes it hard to probe around without the possibility of blowing the thing up.

But then, I'm just a hobbyist with a soldering iron...

 

[Mike Walker]

The HDT-1x DOES allow you to lock out HD, and there's a very good (though pretty rare in my experience) reason for it. Sometimes a damn station just won't lock! It goes back and forth from analog to digital. ARRGH! Again, it happens rarely, but it's one of those things that makes you want to smash the damn thing against the wall! Hence the inclusion of "lockout" on the newer model.

 

[R.F. Burns]

The HDT-1x DOES allow you to lock out HD, and there's a very good (though pretty rare in my experience) reason for it. Sometimes a damn station just won't lock! It goes back and forth from analog to digital. ARRGH! Again, it happens rarely, but it's one of those things that makes you want to smash the damn thing against the wall! Hence the inclusion of "lockout" on the newer model.

You can also choose all digital mode Mike. It's handy when you want to listen strictly to HD stations.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

If you figure out how to do that, please let us know about it. I spent about a half hour with a 100 MHz scope probing around on a HDT-1 and never figured it out. A schematic would have been helpful, but I didn't have one. Some of the traces on the PC board are incredibly small, which makes it hard to probe around without the possibility of blowing the thing up.

But then, I'm just a hobbyist with a soldering iron...

Here is the reference design information on which the HDT-1X is based:

http://focus.ti.com/lit/ug/sbau099b/sbau099b.pdf
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/afedri8201.pdf
http://focus.ti.com/lit/an/sbaa132a/sbaa132a.pdf

 

[jras20]

The HDT-1x DOES allow you to lock out HD, and there's a very good (though pretty rare in my experience) reason for it. Sometimes a damn station just won't lock! It goes back and forth from analog to digital. ARRGH! Again, it happens rarely, but it's one of those things that makes you want to smash the damn thing against the wall! Hence the inclusion of "lockout" on the newer model.

Your lucky, that happens to me almost constantly, I have a great analog reception, but it just knocks out all the time, no multipath except for skips. Thats why I would love to still use that reciever for DX'n.