Saving the AM band

[frankberry]

I keep reading about various suggestions for saving the AM medium-wave band.
Increasing the licensed power of the AM stations is not a viable solution. Who will pay for the facility upgrades?
HD is certainly not a solution. Too much noise.
The ultimate solution would be to stop the noise at the various sources.
Cheap CFL and LED lamps are a huge source of interference.
TV sets with poorly-designed switching power supplies is another area of concern.
The FCC should enforce the existing regulations and stop the interference at the sources.
It is illegal to knowingly interfere with a broadcast station.
The manufacturers of the noisy RF-producing devices should be held accountable for the interference that their products are producing.
They should not only be required to correct their designs, they should be required to recall their noisy products and pay hefty fines.

Any other thoughts?

 

[KeithE4]

I keep reading about various suggestions for saving the AM medium-wave band.
Increasing the licensed power of the AM stations is not a viable solution. Who will pay for the facility upgrades?
HD is certainly not a solution. Too much noise.
The ultimate solution would be to stop the noise at the various sources.
Cheap CFL and LED lamps are a huge source of interference.
TV sets with poorly-designed switching power supplies is another area of concern.
The FCC should enforce the existing regulations and stop the interference at the sources.
It is illegal to knowingly interfere with a broadcast station.

The manufacturers of the noisy RF-producing devices should be held accountable for the interference that their products are producing.
They should not only be required to correct their designs, they should be required to recall their noisy products and pay hefty fines.

You think the government is going to order a recall of billions of devices, shutting down almost every computer, TV, light dimmer, etc., etc. in the country, all for the purpose being able to listen to a band that would still be dying of old age even if these interfering devices did not exist? That will happen right after the Cubs win the World Series and the Browns win the Super Bowl. ;D

Any other thoughts?

1. Turn off IBOC. Today.

2. Why not eliminate directional antennas and lower power at night?. Is there really a reason why (for example) KKOB Albuquerque must protect WABC New York? They're over 2000 miles apart. So what if both stations would be heard simultaneously in the Midwest? Neither station targets that area. Both stations would still put good signals into their own markets. I'd be interested in hearing from those who would be affected by a single-tower-for-all rule. This sounds to me (as a layman) like an old rule from decades past that could be gotten rid of nowadays.

It might not save AM completely, but it would prolong its life and cut maintenance costs as well.

 

[frankberry]

Of course the Government can't recall these devices. They CAN stop the manufacture of them. After a few years, the old, noisy devices would be out of service.
In the worst possible situation, you can pick up an AM transmission with nothing more than a coil, a capacitor, a diode and a pair of earphones connected to a piece of wire as an antenna.
Do not discount the importance of amplitude modulation.

 

[KeithE4]

Of course the Government can't recall these devices. They CAN stop the manufacture of them. After a few years, the old, noisy devices would be out of service.

Few would notice the difference. Even fewer would care.

In the worst possible situation, you can pick up an AM transmission with nothing more than a coil, a capacitor, a diode and a pair of earphones connected to a piece of wire as an antenna.

Who is doing that, other than maybe a few hobbyists who like playing with crystal sets? This is 2013, not 1913. Crystal sets became obsolete with the popularity of regenerative and TRF receivers in the years following World War 1. Yes, I know a few manufacturers continued making them into the 1920s, but they were no longer mainstream once the AM band became more than just 360 meters.

Do not discount the importance of amplitude modulation.

Why not? The market already has - at least as the AM band is now. With maybe a few hundred exceptions (10-20% of the total), AM stations could disappear today (in fact, they already are) and few would care. But like I said, maybe the inevitable could be prolonged if it were no longer necessary to maintain multi-tower setups - which would allow stations to cover their entire markets and maybe allow them to survive.

 

[TomT]

Fewer AM stations.

Then the viable stations could either increase power, or change/end use of directional arrays.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

2-6 Tv band (where it fits... no more new TV there!) for those that wish to simulcast and eventually give up (for real) their AM allocation in 15 yrs or less.... When the lower-powered stuff disappeared, higher-powered stations could then dump goofy directional patterns that never made sense in the first place and become a more meaningful service to their primary coverage area. Simple really, but will it ever happen? NOPE! Radio, especially "AM" owners are kicking-dogs. Look for more legislation favoring telecom giants and others willing to bring boatloads of money to the FCC and those involved with it.

 

[ironbear]

IBOC might be salvageable in some form if adventuresome stations might be induced to drop compatibility mode and truly broadcast digital within the 10kHz. channel. The FCC would have to mandate digital capability in new receivers. Ultimately, high license fees probably kill even that sort of salvage plan. Yes, Digital Radio Mondiale, the international and open-source system would probably have been better.

 

[KeithE4]

IBOC might be salvageable in some form if adventuresome stations might be induced to drop compatibility mode and truly broadcast digital within the 10kHz. channel. The FCC would have to mandate digital capability in new receivers. Ultimately, high license fees probably kill even that sort of salvage plan. Yes, Digital Radio Mondiale, the international and open-source system would probably have been better.

Propagation variables, multiple stations on a frequency, and static would kill digital radio in this band. DRM isn't being used all that much on shortwave - maybe a couple dozen stations - and I'm not sure if it's being used at all on AM.

Complex digital technologies are best when the path is line-of-sight - VHF and above.

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Let's face it. We need to be on a band with most if not all of our broadcasting that could be received on a handset with reliably. The public has other options these days. There is a purpose for high-powered AM in that it serves regionally to vehicles, but other than that it ought to be supplemented or replaced with VHF or higher spectrum. Considering the wireless industry gobbles up higher frequency stuff, our only option is to push to get something close to FM. The only somewhat plausible "available" spectrum is below FM on TV channels that aren't really that useful to TV stations. It's their "AM band". Where they don't have to use it, they won't. Let's push, and push hard, for getting allocations that won't interfere with EXISTING TV stations. There's plenty of room for effectively class A stations for most lower-powered AM stations. It's not a cure-all, but we have to start somewhere!

 

[OKCRadioGuy]

Also, let's try to get the spectrum before the wireless guys force TV to take some of that spectrum for repacking. Frankly ATT, VZ, and others need to put up more towers. It's cheaper to steal (at a price) spectrum from TV than build more towers. We should, as a broadcast industry, push back and not allow any more substandard below-FM for TV stations. It would work OK for radio, but not TV. Further allocations for TV on 2-6 is "not in the public's best interest".

 

[KeithE4]

Also, let's try to get the spectrum before the wireless guys force TV to take some of that spectrum for repacking.

More people use cellular & wireless spectrum (almost everybody) than broadcast TV spectrum (20% of the public at best). It's in the public interest to expand wireless data services (but see below).

Frankly ATT, VZ, and others need to put up more towers. It's cheaper to steal (at a price) spectrum from TV than build more towers.

Good luck. The NIMBYs and their lawyers in many parts of the country are making sure that no new cellphone/wireless towers can be built.

We should, as a broadcast industry, push back and not allow any more substandard below-FM for TV stations. It would work OK for radio, but not TV.

Digital TV on VHF needs to be fixed, not elimiated. The FCC has already said that the VHF channels will not be reallocated for broadcast radio or anything else. The biggest problem is that power levels need to be restored to analog levels (100 kW ERP on 2-6, and 316 kW ERP on 7-13). The myth that digital TV requires less power is just that - a myth. Rabbit ears don't work well on VHF either. Digital signals require a good line-of-sight path with no reflections whatsoever. What caused ghosts in analog TV will kill a digital signal.

 

[speakerman]

Last one out...turn out the lights. Not enough bandwidth and too much interference that WILL NOT go away anytime soon.

Can I interest you in an iPhone?

The buggy whip factories that survived made leather covers for steering wheels. Technology is like a stream roller we run in front of...stop and you get run over.

The 50Ks still work for me but the the younger demographics are voting otherwise. New band maybe... but the younger folks don't seem to be that interested in radio as they used to be...too many distractions on a 3.5" diagonal portable screen.

Where is my walker

 

[KeithE4]

The 50Ks still work for me but the the younger demographics are voting otherwise. New band maybe...

New band. New radios to tune that band. Who's buying radios for the current bands anymore, let alone any proposed new bands? And I mean radios, not phones or other devices with FM chips in them. And how many of today's devices even have FM chips in them?

<crickets>

...but the younger folks don't seem to be that interested in radio as they used to be...too many distractions on a 3.5" diagonal portable screen.

Not only younger folks, but the same goes for us old geezers that are no longer part of The Sacred Sales Demos. Music on the internet and from our own collections is king - on our own non-radio devices. No commercials, no dinosaurs disk jockeys, no nuthin' except for the music we want when we want to hear it.

 

[Kmagrill]

See also http://radiodiscussions.com/smf/index.php?topic=226371.0 for a previous discussion of this same topic.

The problem that I see is that most proposals don't address actually saving the AM band. They potentially "save" the stations on the band by moving them to another band, but it'll be decades, if ever, before enough radios are produced for a new band to be viable. Even the TV 5 and 6 spectrum is not viable because there just aren't enough audio receivers in people's hands.

AM's downfall has nothing to do with stereo. It's a low fidelity and lack of noise immunity issue. Any solution that tries to save the actual AM band has to overcome those two problems. Turning off stations does nothing to address the heart of the problem. So far IBOC and DRM are the only two solutions presented that potentially may work. There are other suggestions such as FM on AM which were touched on in the earlier thread. So, is AM dead and the stations need to climb into the lifeboat of another band, or is there a way to improve the band without migrating?

 

[AMradiofan]

Nobody has addressed here what the band needs:

Owners and operators who CARE and don't throw-away the potential of their good AM stations
on excuses that it "doesnt sell" or "doesn't work" or, "I can't sell it off, nobody wants it."

Many a town, many a county like ours have ONLY the local AM, and we're doing FINE. And please, I implore you....don't even begin
to argue that the FM translator we have saved us. It came SIX YEARS almost into our AM existence, and we were doing fine, adding
it because it was THERE and it was smart business to have both! (and the cheapest sale of a translator on record, I think!) Yes, it helps, but it didn't "save" us, it AUGMENTED our service. Just like streaming.

We (AM) don't need saving. We (AM) don't need the FCC to move us.

http://carlyletech.blogspot.com/2013/02/antique-to-android-am-radio-is-still.html

 

[rfry]

AM's downfall has nothing to do with stereo. It's a low fidelity and lack of noise immunity issue. Any solution that tries to save the actual AM band has to overcome those two problems.

Just to note that many AM broadcast stations now stream their programs on the Internet. Those sources essentially are noise free with no interference or nighttime fading, and sound better on "Internet Radio" receivers than on most OTA AM broadcast receivers these days even a few miles away from the transmit site.

For example, where I live I can receive AM 780 WBBM, Chicago day and night even on cheap, consumer-level (analog) AM broadcast receivers. But for the above reasons I prefer to listen to WBBM on my standalone WiFi Internet radio, even with the latency needed to access/listen to their Internet stream.

Such Internet devices sometimes need a re-boot, but still it has been preferable to listen to the Internet stream of WBBM than to their OTA signal here in west central Illinois.

Most of these Internet radios can access the many FM broadcast station (and other) program streams having very high quality stereo audio, such as provided by WFMT, and thousands of other sources around the globe.

 

[Bengalsfan]

Any other thoughts?

Funny that nobody mentioned programming. Put compelling, local programming on and people will listen regardless of the bands shortcomings. Happens every day in small and mid sized markets.

 

[KeithE4]

Nobody has addressed here what the band needs:

Owners and operators who CARE and don't throw-away the potential of their good AM stations
on excuses that it "doesnt sell" or "doesn't work" or, "I can't sell it off, nobody wants it."

Many a town, many a county like ours have ONLY the local AM, and we're doing FINE. And please, I implore you....don't even begin
to argue that the FM translator we have saved us. It came SIX YEARS almost into our AM existence, and we were doing fine, adding
it because it was THERE and it was smart business to have both! (and the cheapest sale of a translator on record, I think!) Yes, it helps, but it didn't "save" us, it AUGMENTED our service. Just like streaming.

We (AM) don't need saving. We (AM) don't need the FCC to move us.

http://carlyletech.blogspot.com/2013/02/antique-to-android-am-radio-is-still.html

Glad to hear your station is doing well. Maybe smaller markets like yours are still viable. Not having to deal with 5 or more towers has to be a blessing as well.

But the big- and mid-market stations that don't run 50 kW ND are the ones that are in trouble. Most don't fully cover their markets as they are today, and that's the problem. Thanks to suburban sprawl, the markets outgrew the stations' coverage areas, as they were configured 40 or more years ago.

Here in Phoenix, only one AM station completely covers the market (a 50 mile radius from downtown) 24/7, and that is KTAR 620 with 5 kW. The only other one that is close is KFYI 550, but at 1 kW at night, it doesn't reach the outer suburbs very well. The other 20 or so stations are highly directional and/or low powered at night. They may have covered the metro as it was in 1960, but not in 2013 (the metro has quintupled in population and doubled in land area since then). How can an AM station make money if it can't be heard well?

 

[AMradiofan]

How do you make money? Sounds like you're concerned about nights....if I read you right...
and, if the population is bigger than when the stations began, it sounds like more dollars to go after!

-Reinvest in the company when needed (technology, engineering, whatever.) Be a good owner!
-Don't concern yourself with everyone else's signals and programming, instead: concentrate on your own.
-Know your audience and program TO them with something they want!
-Promote, Promote, Promote
-If (night) signal is a true issue, then invest in streaming or translator.
-If you can't (above), make it so your daytime listeners habitually listen! After all, night is NOT any radio's best time anymore. (AM or FM)
-Promote, Promote, Promote!

We're between two much larger markets with many signals. We still grow.

 

[markbohach]

How do you make money? Sounds like you're concerned about nights....if I read you right...
and, if the population is bigger than when the stations began, it sounds like more dollars to go after!

-Reinvest in the company when needed (technology, engineering, whatever.) Be a good owner!
-Don't concern yourself with everyone else's signals and programming, instead: concentrate on your own.
-Know your audience and program TO them with something they want!
-Promote, Promote, Promote
-If (night) signal is a true issue, then invest in streaming or translator.
-If you can't (above), make it so your daytime listeners habitually listen! After all, night is NOT any radio's best time anymore. (AM or FM)
-Promote, Promote, Promote!

We're between two much larger markets with many signals. We still grow.

I too own a small/medium market AM standalone station. For many years prior to our ownership the station
had a 50KW FM sister station to lean on. When consolidation moved the big FM to the big city, the AM was left behind as a standalone to serve the smaller community. The big corporation had no interest in it and it became a castoff.

That's when my wife and I saw the opportunity to own the only local commercial radio station in a county
of more than 100,000 people. Local news and talk programming, local high school sports and locally connected and involved staffers plus a strong commitment to a top notch technical plant made the station successful- year after year.

This was despite the fact that the station had a blistering 16 watts of nighttime power. Imagine doing a Friday night football game and at 8:15 PM, your signal just goes away for a big chunk of your listeners. And- we played by the rules- no mysterious 'remote control failures' on Friday nights.

To compensate for these limitations, we had to be creative- the Friday night game was replayed on Saturday morning
complete with bonus spots for all the sponsors. We sold ROS Spots on a strictly 6AM to 7PM basis with free nights
added- just like the big cell phone companies.

Did people tune in- absolutely! And not just the wheelchair bound crowd so many people relegate as listening
to the AM band. I regularly heard from Bank Presidents, small business owners and many other community members.

In 2010 and 2011, we were fortunate enough to be able to obtain two FM translators that now effectively cover
our market area. Now we have solid 24 hour coverage.

This has allowed us to augment our programming. Now we do a second delay-broadcast game on Friday nights.
We can confidently sell a 6AM to Midnight ROS. We can broadcast the 4th of July fireworks soundtrack and the only
thing crackling and popping is in the sky.

We also bring in nearly 10,000 unique online listeners who generate over 18,000 session starts each month and
listen for an average session of over 60 minutes. This alone was enough to convince a local auto dealer to advertise.

All of these delivery methods are just ways to put great local programming in the listeners' ears.

Would we be 'dead' if we didn't have the translators or the internet stream- heck no.
Yes- it's easier now. I admit that.
But I write these things to remind myself that it wasn't bad before.