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Should I bother with cQuam AM Stereo?

J

Jimmy Backrow

Before you immediately shut the idea down:
I broadcast music on AM. Unfortunately modern IBOC ("HD radio") radios are limited to literally half of the bandwidth (5KHz) that is not only available (10KHz), but that we have painstakingly taken advantage of by airing a full 10Khz with a brick wall filter.
Not to be crude, but do to the outright garbage system that is IBOC the IBOC radios sound like crap on AM do to it's (the IBOC system) limitations (an attempt to cram more than AM can do without sidebands that kill the audio quality)...BUT, most IBOC radios can decode cQuam.
Here's my reasoning: if we as AM broadcasters have to deal with receivers that sound like crap, why not take advantage of their AM stereo capability so we don't sound as bad as we would otherwise?
For the record: it would in no way effect the mono signal/sound though...forgive me, but..."real" radios, and give full stereo sound to the 0.01% of the population that has wideband AM Stereo radios.
Yes, we still comply to the AMAX standard..not that anybody knows what that is/was...lol
 
Last edited:
Jimmy Backrow said:
Before you immediately shut the idea down:
I broadcast music on AM. Unfortunately modern IBOC ("HD radio") radios are limited to literally half of the bandwidth (5KHz) that is not only available (10KHz), but that we have painstakingly taken advantage of by airing a full 10Khz with a brick wall filter.
Not to be crude, but do to the outright garbage system that is IBOC the IBOC radios sound like crap on AM do to it's (the IBOC system) limitations (an attempt to cram more than AM can do without sidebands that kill the audio quality)...BUT, most IBOC radios can decode cQuam.
Here's my reasoning: if we as AM broadcasters have to deal with receivers that sound like crap, why not take advantage of their AM stereo capability so we don't sound as bad as we would otherwise?
For the record: it would in no way effect the mono signal/sound though...forgive me, but..."real" radios, and give full stereo sound to the 0.01% of the population that has wideband AM Stereo radios.
Yes, we still comply to the AMAX standard..not that anybody knows what that is/was...lol
Click to expand...

I'd love to see AM Stereo make a comeback although I don't know how many AM stations still broadcast a stereo signal. I had an amazing Pioneer AM Stereo/FM Stereo car radio ad I was mightily impressed how well the AM stereo sounded [supposedly, according to a station engineer I talked to, far superior to FM stereo]. Unfortunately someone stole it. And I think one of the first things Ishartradio did when they bought a crapload of AM stations was to shut off the stereo signal. I don't think anyone even makes AM Stereo radios anymore and why would they when there's hardly any around. Plus the fact that so many AM stations now have FM stereo translators, they don't need to put their AM signal out in stereo. Was surprised when I did some DXing the other night how many stations I stumbled across that have dumped talk/sports, etc. and gone back to playing music.
 
Yabadabado1 said:
I don't think anyone even makes AM Stereo radios anymore
Click to expand...
A lot of the IBOC ("HD radio") radios will decode cQuam. The original idea for the system was for AM stations to run IBOC in the day hours and cQuam at night, so the IBOC/"HD" chips have AM Stereo decoders built in. Yes, there are a lot of AM stations with translators, but the FM dial is full over here in Lakleand, and..well...this may upset some fellow broadcasters, but the truth is that the signal coverage of a translator sucks. Even most graveyard stations cover more ground.
 
TheBigA said:
There's your next problem. How many people own and use the HD radios? From what I see, the only measurable numbers HD stations get is if they're connected to FM translators.
Click to expand...


I believe the only cases where lone HDs have registered is with NPR station subchannels, specifically in DC.
 
DavidEduardo said:
I believe the only cases where lone HDs have registered is with NPR station subchannels, specifically in DC.
Click to expand...

Here in Houston, the Classical format on Public Radio KUHF HD-2 routinely shows up in the ratings, as does a Gospel format on Urban One's KMJQ HD-2. Neither has a translator.
 
I sell electronics for a living these days. Nobody is even buying things with radio tuners anymore.

Invest in your streaming capabilities.
 
Yabadabado1 said:
[supposedly, according to a station engineer I talked to, far superior to FM stereo].
Click to expand...
They were either lying to you, or completely delusional. Even in a laboratory environment, CQUAM AM stereo could never match the stereo separation, signal to noise, or frequency response that FM stereo can/does. For example; best stereo separation for any AM stereo system was 28dB. FM stereo is typically 35-53dB. That, and nobody made an AM stereo tuner that demodulated stereo properly.
 
NO! Medium wave IBOC is NOT restricted to 5 KHz, no way Jose.

Jimmy Backrow said:
...the truth is that the signal coverage of a translator sucks. Even most graveyard stations cover more ground.
Click to expand...
NO!
Many translators cover small-medium markets better than highly directional AMs with *special* nighttime power levels,
and quarter-kilowatt translators on forty-five meter-tall, quarter-wave graveyard-channel radiators can be clear at night where their AMs dare not tread.
 
Mediafrog+ said:
Here in Houston, the Classical format on Public Radio KUHF HD-2 routinely shows up in the ratings, as does a Gospel format on Urban One's KMJQ HD-2. Neither has a translator.
Click to expand...

Remember that when a subscriber has a signal (AM, FM, FM-HD) that even gets one quarter hour credit in a week, it "makes the book" with a 0.1.

So some of those 0.1 shares are rally "courtesy" mentions.

And, of course, any share below about a 0.6 is a rating of 0.0
 
ai4i said:
NO! Medium wave IBOC is NOT restricted to 5 KHz, no way Jose.

NO!
Many translators cover small-medium markets better than highly directional AMs with *special* nighttime power levels,
and quarter-kilowatt translators on forty-five meter-tall, quarter-wave graveyard-channel radiators can be clear at night where their AMs dare not tread.
Click to expand...
I think what the poster was confusing is reducing the analog signal to 5KHz, when employing IBOC.
 
TheBigA said:
There's your next problem. How many people own and use the HD radios? From what I see, the only measurable numbers HD stations get is if they're connected to FM translators.
Click to expand...
I think there's quite a few in modern cars. Keep in mind that it would just be a bonus for those that have an HD radio that'll decode C-QUAM, or the (even fewer) that have older AM Stereo radios while doing nothing at all that would degrade the "normal" mono signal or sound.
We're already AMAX, and I doubt that 99.999% of people know what that is...lol
 
Jimmy Backrow said:
I think there's quite a few in modern cars.
Click to expand...

This is why it's so important to know your listeners. You need data on your listeners. The best way to get it is ASK them. But to do that, you need their contact info. So get them to join your listener club. Give them special discounts on things they use, provided by your advertisers. Then when you get a thousand or so email addresses, ask them if they have an HD radio in their car. You'd be surprised how many people have them but never use them. Once you give them a reason, they might start using their HD radio. But unless you give them a reason, they'll do the same thing they always do.
 
Parttimer said:
I sell electronics for a living these days. Nobody is even buying things with radio tuners anymore.

Invest in your streaming capabilities.
Click to expand...
We have a good sounding stream.
And, yes...as much as I hate to admit it simply finding ANY radio available in retail outlets in this day and age is a bit of a challenge. Even HellOnEarthMart (AKA WallyWorld) only has one, or maybe two lackluster ones available if any at all.
Some could even say that being on radio at all at this point (especially AM) is beating a dead horse...BUT..it's fun, so why not?
Sure, it's not what it used to be, but there's still people that listen, and it still exists, so why not put something on it that's worthwhile?
 
ai4i said:
NO! Medium wave IBOC is NOT restricted to 5 KHz, no way Jose.

NO!
Many translators cover small-medium markets better than highly directional AMs with *special* nighttime power levels,
and quarter-kilowatt translators on forty-five meter-tall, quarter-wave graveyard-channel radiators can be clear at night where their AMs dare not tread.
Click to expand...
This isn't a directional, and covers the aria better than any of the multiple translators here do.
Yes, it's true that it's a class D, but it's not a graveyard. With the nighttime power it's about even.
Unfortunately there's no space on the dial available here for a translator, and the tower is a hot Blaw-Knox that's only about 180' tall and down in a hole. It's not tall enough above the terrain to bother with isolating an FM antenna. The only real option for a translator would be to rent tower space, and that's not happening.
 
TheBigA said:
This is why it's so important to know your listeners. You need data on your listeners. The best way to get it is ASK them. But to do that, you need their contact info. So get them to join your listener club. Give them special discounts on things they use, provided by your advertisers. Then when you get a thousand or so email addresses, ask them if they have an HD radio in their car. You'd be surprised how many people have them but never use them. Once you give them a reason, they might start using their HD radio. But unless you give them a reason, they'll do the same thing they always do.
Click to expand...
That's a great idea. Thank you.
 
ai4i said:
NO! Medium wave IBOC is NOT restricted to 5 KHz, no way Jose.
Click to expand...
The standard ("analog") AM circuit in IBOC capable receivers is filtered down to 5KHz do to the nasty splatter that IBOC/HD stations put out. It's the reason why you hear all of that hash noise on HD AM stations with a good AM radio...and one of the reasons why HD AM failed so spectacularly.
My thought it that perhaps C-QUAM would help the sound on "HD" radios as they sound like crap on analog AM. You know..crap in stereo, versus crap in mono..lol
 
IBOC is neither in band or on channel.
 
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