Tom Kent on HD Radio: "OMG - WTF!"

[rbrucecarter5]

I would have to agree with the phasing out of whip antennas as a factor (of many) that makes HD radio impractical.
I haven't noticed signal degradation on FM (on the analog side anyway, the HD's barely hit half the distance), but it sure is noticeable on AM analog and digital.

Whip antenna car radio - Pioneer Supertuner 3D. Range for a full class C, 100kW off of 200 foot tower over flat terrain - dependably 140 to 150 miles analog. Occasional reception up to 200, with 300 under extraordinary circumstances in node of signal.

No whip antenna - stock radio. 70 to 80 miles analog, maximum. Pathetic, pitiful, painful if you are in the boonies trying to get FM from the city. Some of that is the anemic receiver in the dash, but most of it is the crappy antenna in the back glass or little nub. Personally, I'll find a place on the fender and drill for a decent whip. It sure made a difference the last time carmakers tried this nonsense with wires in the windshield. The radio was still capable, just not the antenna.

 

[tomservo]

Rabble rabble.

Both my car and another car I drive regularly have "non whip" antennas and both meet or outperform the last car I had with a whip and a sensitive aftermarket radio.

My car has a 12" whip on the back of the car with an amp in the base. Before the base corroded it was quite a performer, especially on AM. I'd have to guess it slotted between Liberty's mileage with the Supertuner 3D and the stock radio. The other (stock) radio in a Mazda I have access to has no visible antenna at all and it blows my car's reception out of the water. In both these cases though the blend feature seems overly aggressive. I'm within eyesight of our local class C's (12-15 miles away over flat terrain) and both radios tend to blend to mono well within the 70 dBu contour, sometimes within eyesight of the towers! If I travel to our nearby metro areas, Mobile and Pensacola, I think pretty much everything from in-between, even at 100 kW are solid mono at 30-40 miles out.

Having done an extensive amount of travelling and driving various cars, my belief is most people most of the time are listening to FM that's blended to mono. I remember renting a car in Los Angeles for a few days a few years ago and losing the stereo separation somewhere around Santa Monica or Long Beach and anything north or south of that was pretty much mono. Of course where I stayed in Pasadena the locals were loud and clear.