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WBMX 104.1 HD4
- Thread starter mgpt6
- Start date
I also noticed the HD4 sub on WBMX/104.1 . It was still silent (no audio present). What they plan to do with it? Who knows. I could only imagine it would be some kind of a "spoken-word" format due to the bandwidth limitations of IBOC, especially for an HD4 (which has never been tried here in Boston, before). It sure makes for a very busy set of carriers/sub-carriers at 104.1. The HD2 seemed silent this morning. The HD3 was still active.
The HD subs here in Boston really have nothing compelling to offer. The only HD2 I've found to be worth listening to was from Los Angeles' KRTH/101.1 HD2 ("K-Earth Classics"). Something like that would be worth the investment of getting another HD Radio. My HD Radio is 7 years old (Boston Acoustics) and is beginning to show signs of age. Would I buy another HD radio? Probably so in order to keep up with the business. Otherwise, I rarely use the one I have now. There's nothing there to warrant prolonged listening.
The HD subs here in Boston really have nothing compelling to offer. The only HD2 I've found to be worth listening to was from Los Angeles' KRTH/101.1 HD2 ("K-Earth Classics"). Something like that would be worth the investment of getting another HD Radio. My HD Radio is 7 years old (Boston Acoustics) and is beginning to show signs of age. Would I buy another HD radio? Probably so in order to keep up with the business. Otherwise, I rarely use the one I have now. There's nothing there to warrant prolonged listening.
WBMX 104.1 HD4, when it first came on just over a month ago, WAS airing the "New Age" talk network "Sky Radio".
This was formerly on WBMX 104.1 HD3, which is now airing the "Mercy Rock" contemporary Christian channel, which was formerly on WODS 103.3 HD3.
WODS 103.3 HD3 went all-Christmas the week before Halloween, that's when "Mercy Rock" was moved to WBMX 104.1 HD3, and when WBMX 104.1 HD4 first appeared with "Sky Radio", moved from their HD3.
Reception of "Sky Radio" on WBMX HD4 was so spotty and intermittent even in the immediate Boston metro, even where WBMX HD1, HD2 and HD3 were strong and steady, that I wasn't sure whether they recently stopped airing the programming and have been airing "dead air", or whether my receivers simply were failing to demodulate it.
This was formerly on WBMX 104.1 HD3, which is now airing the "Mercy Rock" contemporary Christian channel, which was formerly on WODS 103.3 HD3.
WODS 103.3 HD3 went all-Christmas the week before Halloween, that's when "Mercy Rock" was moved to WBMX 104.1 HD3, and when WBMX 104.1 HD4 first appeared with "Sky Radio", moved from their HD3.
Reception of "Sky Radio" on WBMX HD4 was so spotty and intermittent even in the immediate Boston metro, even where WBMX HD1, HD2 and HD3 were strong and steady, that I wasn't sure whether they recently stopped airing the programming and have been airing "dead air", or whether my receivers simply were failing to demodulate it.
I've noticed their HD2 wasn't airing anything (including the radio.com app) until this evening. Not to get too off topic, but how does HD Radio work in the tunnels? Or any signal for that matter?
It doesnt.
Also, I noticed on the legal ID that it still says "WBMX-HD3 Boston" on it, but that's likely because CBS could almost care less about that channel. And I wondered about HD reception in the tunnel because I'm considering getting HD installed in my car to listen to the other channels and have to drive under bridges almost constantly.
ksradiogeek said:Also, I noticed on the legal ID that it still says "WBMX-HD3 Boston" on it, but that's likely because CBS could almost care less about that channel. And I wondered about HD reception in the tunnel because I'm considering getting HD installed in my car to listen to the other channels and have to drive under bridges almost constantly.
I have an HD radio in my car (doesn't everyone : ) and you will loose HD in the tunnels. The only reason you have any radio in the tunnels is that Mass Highway has a system in place to bring a limited number of FM and AM signals through the tunnels. Their system does not include HD signals so they are lost immediately as you enter the tunnels.
When you drive through the tunnels, what stations do you get?
ksradiogeek said:When you drive through the tunnels, what stations do you get?
All of the big FM-128, Prudential, and One Financial Center ones. At a minimum, it includes 89.7, 90.9, 92.9, 93.7, 94.5, 95.3, 96.9, 98.5, 100.7, 101.7, 102.5, 103.3, 104.1, 105.7, 106.7, 107.9. Pretty sure 99.5 and 107.3 are down there as well, along with some of the lower power 88-92 non-comms. But no out-of-market signals that I can think of.
The logic behind the highway radio repeater system, if I recall correctly, is that is the event of an emergency, MassDOT could hijack everyone's car radios to coordinate an evacuation.
I would assume it's a radiating-cable FM system, the kind that Radio Systems and LPB Communications sold for years, often to Part 15 college radio stations. WTBU at Boston University had/has a system like that in Warren Towers and the three West Campus dorms.
It requires a separate 1w exciter/modulator for each station you're rebroadcasting, although you can combine them all into one radiating cable (usually Andrew NF2d, I think) but the cost for all those modulators add up. IIRC, a requirement to be rebroadcast down there was that MassPike had to be able to receive your signal via over-the-air reception at the south end of the tunnel (by Dewey Square). And this is fuzzy but I think at first it was just gonna be commercial stations until WBUR and WGBH squawked pretty hard about it and were added. WERS was also added, but none of the other non-comms were (mainly WZBC and WMBR) but that was several years ago and I haven't checked lately. Next time I'm in there I'll listen to 90.3 and 88.1.
It requires a separate 1w exciter/modulator for each station you're rebroadcasting, although you can combine them all into one radiating cable (usually Andrew NF2d, I think) but the cost for all those modulators add up. IIRC, a requirement to be rebroadcast down there was that MassPike had to be able to receive your signal via over-the-air reception at the south end of the tunnel (by Dewey Square). And this is fuzzy but I think at first it was just gonna be commercial stations until WBUR and WGBH squawked pretty hard about it and were added. WERS was also added, but none of the other non-comms were (mainly WZBC and WMBR) but that was several years ago and I haven't checked lately. Next time I'm in there I'll listen to 90.3 and 88.1.
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