Sangean HDT-1 HD tuner doesn't get HD-3's

[Eli Polonsky]

I just re-connected my Sangean HD tuner which had been sitting disconnected for about a year. Since I had recently been listening to "FreeForm 'BCN" (intermittently) on my new Insignia HD portable, I was hoping for a nice stable signal on it at home. I was wrong.

I'm three miles from the Pru on the side of a hill facing Boston in Somerville. Using rabbit ears, all the major Boston FM HD-1 and HD-2 signals from the Pru and One Financial, also the ones from FM-128 and Blue Hill over ten miles away, come up to all six "bars" on the meter. I can also get analog reception of the usual RI and NH stations, all the low powered local college stations, steady HD-1 reception on fairly weak signals such as WUMB transmitting 660 watts (only 66 HD) from 12 miles away in Quincy and HD-1 on WCRB from up in Andover, and I can get Worcester market stations WSRS and WAAF in both HD-1 and HD-2.

But, this thing won't get most of the HD-3's at all. The only HD-3 it gets consistently is 98.5 HD-3 WBZ, and that's from ten miles away on 128. It won't get 100.7 HD-3 (FreeForm 'BCN), 104.1 HD-3 (Psychic Network) from three miles away on the Pru, or 89.7 HD-3 (//WCAI/WNAN) from Blue Hill, for more than about five seconds before it cuts out and reverts back to the stations HD-1, though it gets all those stations HD-2's nice and steady.

It can't be a signal strength issue because I get good reception on everything but HD-3's, and for the few seconds before they cut out, the meter goes up to all six "bars" on the HD-3's as well, then it drops to nothing. It seems to be a decoding issue rather than a signal strength issue, it can't seem to decode and process HD-3's (except 98.5 HD-3) for some reason.

I guess it's a junk tuner. Unfortunately, it's out of warranty by now.

 

[Rick]

Sounds like a problem with your unit. I am looking to buy one of those in the next month or so and my friend Jeff has one (jjlehmann). I've heard nothing but good stuff about it. Maybe he will comment on how his is pulling those in from the South Shore. I just checked 89.7 as an example from here on the South Coast and I was able to get HD3 (but that's on a Boston Acoustics HD Recepter).

 

[jlehmann]

I have the HDT-1X (the upgraded HDT-1), and the only HD3 that it has an issue with is 104.1's. It's been like this both when it was "Indie 104-1" and now as "Psychic Radio." The Sony XDR-S3HD behaves exactly the same way, only with 104.1-3. 89.7, 98.5, and 100.7 are fine on both tuners. For some reason, the Kenwood KTC-HR200 in my car gets 104.1-3 just fine.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

I tried lowering my "rabbit ear" antenna down as far as it goes, each arm extended only a few inches. For some reason, now it gets 100.7 HD3 "FreeForm 'BCN" (though it still cuts out and back in often, but at least usually no longer reverting to HD1), and it also now gets 89.7 HD3 steadily.

104.1 HD3 "Psychic Radio" still does not exist at all on this unit, though I do get it fairly steadily on my Insignia HD personal portable (which is also intermittent on 100.7 HD-3 "FreeForm 'BCN").

 

[aerie]

I've noticed that HD reception seems to vary from day to day. I need to pay attention to see if specific weather conditions favor or disfavor reception. Some days I get all the HD signals, other days I may not even receive the HD-1 signal. WTKK is a recurrent problem with the HD-1 (when the radio flips back and forth between HD and analog, it sounds like an echo chamber). Even the mighty WBZ-HD flickers in and out some days. I wish my HD radio had an on/off switch for HD, so that if I am on the fringe of HD reception I could turn it off and stick with the analog. Didn't stereo tuners used to have a stereo/mono switch for just such occasions?

 

[sshore]

-all HD3's are steady as a rock down Scituate way....on a cheap HD radio as well...

 

[Eli Polonsky]

-all HD3's are steady as a rock down Scituate way....on a cheap HD radio as well...

Which one do you have? I may want to buy one!

 

[aaronread]

Could be that some stations are running Extended Hybrid mode to get the extra bits for the HD1 and HD2, and putting the HD3 on the ext.hybrid 24kbps. In theory that won't affect overall HD reception much, but since it IS a different method of broadcasting, I can see differences in reception between stations not using the ext.hybrid mode and those that do.

 

[sshore]

-all HD3's are steady as a rock down Scituate way....on a cheap HD radio as well...

Which one do you have? I may want to buy one!

-it's the Directed brand, doesn't even have a model #

 

[sshore]

-PS I have a Sangean AM Radio that Art Bell convinced me to buy that was total crap, the LED burnt out within a year of purchasing ('we can fix that for $49.95 plus shipping charges'), and now, after only 3-4 years of existence, she's totally dead...

 

[Radioman59]

I have the same problem here in Methuen Ma. Even wbz hd fades in and out . I can get wgbh
hd channels very well but thats all. Any ideas on a good antenna for HD?

 

[kc1ih]

I have an HDT-1 also, and notice you sometimes have to sit on the HD2 for a few (like ten) seconds before you can tune in the HD3, otherwise it skips over it like it isn't there.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

I have an HDT-1 also, and notice you sometimes have to sit on the HD2 for a few (like ten) seconds before you can tune in the HD3, otherwise it skips over it like it isn't there.

I've tried that too, and mine often completely loses the HD3 even after I've tuned it in and I'm already listening to it. It will suddenly drop from all six "bars" to nothing, and revert itself back to the HD1. It does not do that on the HD2.

Early Sunday morning, "FreeForm BCN" ran the half-hour public affairs show "Common Ground", which is all spoken word. It never dropped out once during that. Once they went back to music, which uses more bandwidth than talking, it began dropping out again. I've noticed that it drops out more often on louder, more fully produced songs than during softer ones. Sometimes it entirely loses the channel during certain loud songs, and it reappears when the next (softer) song comes on.

"FreeForm 'BCN" just announced that they're going to be giving away one of these same models in a contest every week for the next couple of months. Unless they've improved them since I bought mine almost two years ago, they're going to find that a lot of people can't listen to the station that they won them from!

 

[necrat123]

According to another engineer who shall remain nameless,

It could be that way if the station is using Extended Hybrid mode and placing their HD3 in the extended partition. The extended partition is adjacent to the analog signal, and if the station is regularly overmodulating it will degrade the carriers.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

According to another engineer who shall remain nameless,

It could be that way if the station is using Extended Hybrid mode and placing their HD3 in the extended partition. The extended partition is adjacent to the analog signal, and if the station is regularly overmodulating it will degrade the carriers.

That looks like a good possible explanation, but if so, my question is, how to make CBS Boston engineers aware of it, and ask them to control the modulation to prevent that from happening?

 

[bigtom101]

According to another engineer who shall remain nameless,

It could be that way if the station is using Extended Hybrid mode and placing their HD3 in the extended partition. The extended partition is adjacent to the analog signal, and if the station is regularly overmodulating it will degrade the carriers.

That looks like a good possible explanation, but if so, my question is, how to make CBS Boston engineers aware of it, and ask them to control the modulation to prevent that from happening?

Call up the radio station offices and ask to speak with the engineer, or put thru to their voicemail. Engineers are usually good about keeping on top of those kinds of things.