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WERS is on the air with HD...almost

W

webcastboy

Guest
Last night I checked WERS and got a surprise, their HD carriers are back on! Sounds like a very recent thing, though...I'm listening again now and the audio isn't processor-matched to the analog, and they haven't time-delayed the analog either. There's an HD-2 channel but it's just a simulcast of the HD-1 delayed by about 30 seconds.

...

...huh? ???

Whoops, as I was typing this...the HD carriers disappeared. They're back on analog only (with RBDS) at the moment. Guess there's someone working at OFC this morning! ;D
 
As of 2:45pm today, the HD carriers and multicast channel are back. Same issues with levels and delays.

I'm listening on a Sangean and I'm noticing that WERS has the same "problem" that WBUR does - the Sangean doesn't display the same PSD fields that some other HD Radio receivers do. So WBUR's PSD doesn't display at all - it just says "WBUR". WERS is the same way, but it says "WERS-1" and "WERS-2" for the respective multicast channels.

What? No WECB on the multicast channel? ;D
 
I don't think Bext makes HD Radio transmitters, do they?

Anyways, it was posted here earlier that WERS's HD Radio transmitter is a Broadcast Electronics (BE). Assuming they've got it worked, I would assume it's 24/7. In the past week or so HD has been there every time I check it, including pretty late at night.
 
WERS-2 Has always been a simulcast of WERS-1.

WERS has had problems with their new transmitter since the day they installed it, and it is my understanding that they don't yet have the performance they want out of it. I am not an engineer, so a lot of the talk makes no sense to me. Chris Hall or RJ may be able to give some kind of explination.

WERS doesn't have title streaming because they are sitll stuck in the past-- using CDs. The DJ sees a window on the ENCO computer where they put in the artist and song titles, but that only updates it on the website. The RDS and the HD streams are not yet title-enabled, but I believe that is one of many things WERS plans to change in the future.

Anyway, since the HD transmitter was installed last July they have constantly been switching on and off of it. They will be on it full-time soon, hopefully...
 
July is along time for having problems with a new xtmr. Is it because it is a "lemom" or because one xtmr . has to broadcast both analog and digital ,instead of 2 xtmrs and high-level combing?
 
CapeRadio said:
WERS has had problems with their new transmitter since the day they installed it, and it is my understanding that they don't yet have the performance they want out of it. I am not an engineer, so a lot of the talk makes no sense to me.
Click to expand...

The explanation could be that it's just being intermittent... :eek:
 
From what little I know about how digital radio works, one xmitter handles both analog and digital streams. In any transmitter, the different parts of the broadcast (mono, stereo, RDS, subcarrier, digital) are separated on different parts of the channel. (hence the meaning of in band on channel)

Most stations, as they switch to digital broadcast, keep their old analog transmitter as a backup. Thats what WERS has been switching between. Also why when they turn their digital xmitter back on why they haven't ramped up the 8 second delay, because they don't use that delay when they are broadcasting in analog only.
 
From what little I know about how digital radio works, one xmitter handles both analog and digital streams.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. For those who have the tower capacity, there are IBOC solutions that have a completely separate HD Radio transmission system. Like all IBOC solutions, that approach has its pluses and minuses, but it can be done...although WERS does not use such a system because the tower space at OFC is already packed full. I think they use high-level combining but in truth that's just a guess. So in their case, I believe their BE Transmitter, when it's operational, provides both the analog and digital RF signals.

BE has a fairly comprehensive guide to HD Radio installations on their website, including a quick summary of the five main ways to implement an IBOC installation (PDF). Check it out:
http://www.bdcast.com/hdradio/index.php?o=group&hdr_group=5
 
I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd post it here rather than starting a new topic. Has anyone else with a HD Radio noticed that WERS does not show their callsign on the dispaly, like every other station does? Normally, WERS-1 and WERS-2 (which is still just a delayed simulcast of the main channel) would be displayed. Instead of that, it shows up as HD -1, and HD -2. It's been like this for a couple months now, I think.

89.1 WEVO in NH is also showing up like this...
 
BE came to WERS in May and resolved the problems with the transmitter, I talked to Rick last week and he is currently trying to track down another round of interference getting into their Moseley Starlink Digital STL system.
Last year he spent months chasing down what turned out to be some loose hardware on a non broadcast antenna on the roof of OFC.
All was quiet for months but now another similar situation has developed, just another of the hazzards of operating in such a complex high RF enviorment.
 
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