Len14043 said:
I predict FM IBOC will become popular at a slow pace and AM IBOC will stall or fail.
AGREED! I’ll join The Dude; and as Smokin’ Will Robinson [of The Miracles – not “Lost in Space”] once sang, “
I Second That Emotion”!
Len14043 said:
I hope FM IBOC becomes ubiquitous...
Is that a play on words, Len
I’ll give you a
restrained “yep” as to your FM prognosis... ‘Like it or not – iBiquity-flavored “HD Radio” IS a “done deal” on FM; and as most of life’s little imperfections—we simply learn to cope, innovate, and ultimately-overcome our aches ‘n pains... Someone did manage to invent aspirin ‘ya know! IBOC will be championed by its corporate radio promoters – and they’ll encounter FINAL-judgment from those who frequent the
ballpark—NOT strictly the
boardroom! IF the iBiquity “HD” FM system survives [and that’s a debatable IF], I might imagine an additional lane on the highway for those more-averagely endowed in the market size and ERP departments... The
FMeXtra digital SCA solution has attracted my positive attention, but its promoters had better seek more-agile marketing counsel than did “The HD Alliance”!
I’m not firmly-convinced the fortunes of FM radio are dependent on near-term digital delivery. I simply CANNOT find a hoard of casual radio listeners who are dissatisfied with
competently-engineered ANALOG FM... I can identify a large-and-growing group that has proclaimed: “
It’s over” to the “less is more” and lowest common-denominator PROGRAMMING status embraced by corporate radio. THAT should-be radio’s
most-compelling concern – NOT some silly modulation scheme! That’s the root-rationale behind my “IF” contention above.
As it currently stands –
Multicast is HD’s most marketable asset; but aside from Public Radio, its custodians seem content to dismiss it to a PC in the cluster’s programming broom closet. Allow yourself to harbor NO ILLUSIONS – the “corporate suit” definition of “Multicast ROI.” is
your future desire to “PAY for play”.
Len14043 said:
...and drags AM along to the point where it could transition to the all-digital mode. While the AM hybrid system is fraught with problems, the all-digital mode (not necessarily IBOC) would help AM - if only we could get there.
Quoting a former Gannett Radio Chief Engineer and later-counsel to U.S. Digital Radio—the original consortium that preceded iBiquity: “
Hybrid digital AM is just a bad idea; not enough “real estate” for both modes, TOO much interference, NO coverage improvement, and an audio-quality advance that is subjective at best and too-little to make a difference at the end of this century.”
That was 1998 – TEN YEARS have passed and bit-rates as low as 48k are now common and considered a barely-acceptable MINIMUM. “HD” AM crawls at a snail-paced
16kbps! Then consider the damage visited on an already-congested band – all for a “mid-fi” MONO audio stream bettered by most home internet-audio hobbyists with a free ShoutCast server!
I beg to differ with the “enthusiasts” of HD; but modern-modulated ANALOG AM via a carefully-chosen/affordable “
quality” receiver, situated within the
same signal contour required for “HD lock”, is comparable to the sonic capacity of current 16kbps digital AM. My observation is born from personal experience with the former-RealOldies 1690 [WRLL Berwyn/Chicago]. The “HD” reference was a borrowed BA HD Receptor... The analog reference was my Tivoli Model One at less than HALF the BA’s cost. They were situated in Munster, IN – about ten-miles from WRLL’s new 10kw digitally-modulated transmitter. Despite the IBOC-mandated audio bandwidth limitation – WRLL’s analog audio signature was subjectively-BETTER on the Tivoli than in “HD” on the Boston Acoustics radio. No such comparison was possible in Spring 2004; but I can
clearly remember
the OUTSTANDING pre-IBOC audio from your local RealOldies 1530 [the former WSAI] on that same Tivoli. I won’t be silly-enough to assume the identity of a 22-year-old, and proclaim it as “
comparable to my iPod”; but I had NO audio-induced inhibitions toward enjoying THE PROGRAMMING on 1530 at that time!
There simply is NO utility, NO up-side, and NO hope for this “science-fair project” conceived strictly in narrow self-interest... And I promise – that’s as “
bitter” as I’m going to get in this post
As for FULL-digital from 530-1700kHz:
There is no-better candidate for a digital augmentation than the current AM band; but I’ll join you in questioning how to get there – and whether practicality could survive the brutal politics. Given the historical priorities of the FCC; the coverage capability of analog AM; and a heightened domestic threat – I can’t imagine the Regulators permitting a full-scale antiquation of the analog receiver base. I might imagine their acceptance of a voluntary “proceed at YOUR own risk” decision by a station consciously-selecting a digital-only mode aimed at capable tuners, but you can easily grasp the perils of that in the near-term!
Len14043 said:
Putting your personal bias aside, where do you see IBOC or some kind of digital system going for both bands?
One can’t easily-answer your question without visiting vsa’s wisdom...
vsa said:
You are assuming that people will still be buying AM/FM band terrestrial-style radios... or things that contain such radios 15, 20 or 25 years from today.
With the PC-technology explosion in the late-90s; I learned first-hand the futility of such fortune-telling—even thru a ten-year tunnel; so it is difficult [if not impossible] to mortally-predict, but I’ll stretch...
IBOC “HD Radio” on FM will survive just above a level of necessary significance
IF conjugated with ANOTHER technology and/or medium of greater popularity. It will be driven
only by an industry tethered to its massive and perpetual prior investment, but I’d be haunted by the doubtful expectation for a cooperative consumer electronics industry—lured by trendier fish to fry in more-lucrative product markets.
AM hybrid-digital IBOC? ...Believe it or not, I can pound this nail in one stroke...
Do you remember C-QUAM AM-stereo? :'(
