Simon, Globe: Sat. radio interferes with FM recep

[racconradio]

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/article..._are_interfering_with_some_fm_stations/"...to attract listeners who want a low-cost option, both XM and Sirius have licensed ''do it yourself" plug-in receivers that can be used in a car or with a home stereo. These plug-in receivers, known as FM modulators, usually contain small, low-power wireless transmitters."''We have gotten numerous complaints," says William Kuhlman, chief engineer of MIT station WMBR-FM (88.1). Listeners trying to tune in to this small MIT-based station, he says, ''hear bits of Howard Stern bleeding through into our morning shows when they commute to work." The problem is national. The Vermont public radio system in particular is encountering difficulties with its new classical radio network, according to Scott Fybush, editor of the Rochester, N.Y.-based NorthEast Radio Watch."

 

[Smoke]

The same thing happens to wireless networks in apartment complexes, people can't (or don't know to) turn down the transmitter power.

 

[HHH]

But the bleed issue is a two-way street. Why would not WMBR bleed the other way and disrupt the sat signal relayed via the little FM xmtr, and cause theuser to find another frequency? This is probably 87.9 by the way....a popular car xmtr frequency which I tune to and hear all kinds of stuff from in-car units when I drive.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

But the bleed issue is a two-way street. Why would not WMBR bleed the other way and disrupt the sat signal relayed via the little FM xmtr, and cause the user to find another frequency?

Because the low-powered satellite transponder is only a few feet, at most, away from the car's radio, and WMBR is not a very powerful station. The transponder will completely cut out WMBR's 720 watt signal in the car all over greater Boston unless perhaps the car is right near WMBR's transmitter in Kendall Square, Cambridge or right on MIT's East Campus.

This is probably 87.9 by the way....a popular car xmtr frequency which I tune to and hear all kinds of stuff from in-car units when I drive.

Sirius transponders come factory pre-set for 88.1, though this can be changed by the user.

 

[infrequency]

I was wondering why I heard Stern a few weeks ago on an FM frequency right around 87.9. I listened for about ten minutes. It was jarring to hear the profanity on the radio. He was taking some calls, and every caller dropped an f-bomb, most dropped several. It was anything but edgy or daring - it sounded sadly adolescent.

 

[HHH]

Sirius FM-links are pre-set to 88.1?Oh no! Bad move. Not just in Boston but in many other cities (like Los Angeles) that have a unique and important station on 88.1They should be pre-set to 87.9. No one is on that frequency, and all cars have it.

 

[CTListener]

Sirius FM-links are pre-set to 88.1?Oh no! Bad move. Not just in Boston but in many other cities (like Los Angeles) that have a unique and important station on 88.1They should be pre-set to 87.9. No one is on that frequency, and all cars have it.

They're not preset at all. The user has to choose a frequency from the available range. On my XM SkyFi2, the ranges offered are 88.1-90.9 and 107.1-107.9. I use 88.3 and 107.1 depending on my location and have heard Stern and other satellite programming while stopped in traffic, parked in a lot or -- very briefly -- in motion. I think sat-radio receivers of more recent issue have a broader range of frequencies available. I heard Stern coming in at 104.9 at the Turnpike service area at Framingham (I was listening to WBOQ on its outer coverage fringe) a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

They're not preset at all. The user has to choose a frequency from the available range. On my XM SkyFi2, the ranges offered are 88.1-90.9 and 107.1-107.9.

If they're not pre-set, then I guess most listeners are just leaving them on the lowest number offered, 88.1. But, you're talking about an XM unit, which may be different.