Who would have thunk it? AUTOMAKERS GET HD COMPLAINTS.

[rbrucecarter5]

The dirty little secret of "satellite" radio is that the vast majority of customers get their signal from the terrestrial repeaters.

I once had a tour of the XM facility in Washington, and this was volunteered by their engineering staff.

- Jonathan

I would agree except for one thing - every time I have a satellite dropout, it is because of something directly overhead. Awning at a hotel. Parking garage. Overpass where I am stuck in traffic. My garage. Sometimes a really dense tree soaked with water after a rain storm.

 

[Ai4i]

The dirty little secret of "satellite" radio is that the vast majority of customers get their signal from the terrestrial repeaters... - Jonathan

I would agree except for one thing - every time I have a satellite dropout, it is because of something directly overhead...

rbrucecarter5, you must use the high orbiting Sirius satellites.
Also, I tend to lose the signal from XM (over the equator) when I am on the north side of large structures.
Besides, who cares: if the terrestrials improve the service, more power to them.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

rbrucecarter5, you must use the high orbiting Sirius satellites.
Also, I tend to lose the signal from XM (over the equator) when I am on the north side of large structures.
Besides, who cares: if the terrestrials improve the service, more power to them.

Well, the subscription is to XM, not Sirius. Not that means anything ---

I'd think passive reflectors would be plenty to get the signal under overpasses. I do get stuck under overpasses a bit - my work is on the wrong side of a freeway so I take U-turns. The dropouts are just something to put up with in the name of getting the formats I like.

 

[tomservo]

Well, the subscription is to XM, not Sirius. Not that means anything ---

I'd think passive reflectors would be plenty to get the signal under overpasses. I do get stuck under overpasses a bit - my work is on the wrong side of a freeway so I take U-turns. The dropouts are just something to put up with in the name of getting the formats I like.

But... But I keep hearing on this forum that people won't put up with dropouts! They'll throw their radios in the trash, or worse, complain to someone. Guess it busts that myth.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

But... But I keep hearing on this forum that people won't put up with dropouts! They'll throw their radios in the trash, or worse, complain to someone. Guess it busts that myth.

I am a DX'er. I can put up with dropouts on satellite and HD. HD is worse - much worse. And unpredictable. At least with satellite, I know if I am under something, satellite can't reach there. I also know that when I come out from under, satellite will come right back. HD - not so much, although I know which spot on which road will drop. I don't know why, because I can see the tower, but oh well!

 

[Ai4i]

I don't know why, because I can see the tower, but oh well!

If you can see the tower, you might be in a close-in radiation angle null.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I don't know why, because I can see the tower, but oh well!

If you can see the tower, you might be in a close-in radiation angle null.

I think you are right. There are multiple examples, and whenever HD goes out, the analog is usually crummy as well.

I don't think consumers are as forgiving as DX'ers and radio people who know the technical details and limitations of broadcasting in general, and HD in particular. When it comes to reliability, nothing is going to beat iPods and MP3 players. And those platforms are taking over.

 

[Ai4i]

I have to add here that I absolutely LUV driving through AM directional nulls, especially those fifty kilowatters with the huge night arrays to protect the dominant station on the frequency.
Here is a fun station to drive away from, heading northeast on I-30, and yes, those are six pairs of towers.

 

[Savage]

I like hearing the hashy effect you get at the point you hit the precise null, when the carrier is suppressed in amplitude relative to the sidebands. Your radio is trying to detect the carrier that's barely there. When driving to a monitor point the location of the minima can actually be heard as you approach the monitoring location. If the phase angle has drifted a little at the array, the "hashy" spot will shift position along the road.

AM directionals (particularly older ones) which exhibit a lot of this like when you're constantly driving through broad, long-lasting minima, are especially bad candidates for HD. Systems with poor "pattern bandwidth" where the relationship between carrier and sidebands varies a lot throughout the coverage area, wreak havoc with the decode. The self-interference is terrible.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

I have to add here that I absolutely LUV driving through AM directional nulls, especially those fifty kilowatters with the huge night arrays to protect the dominant station on the frequency.
Here is a fun station to drive away from, heading northeast on I-30, and yes, those are six pairs of towers.

Oh yeah - that famous whale shaped pattern that mis-calculated the future growth of the DFW area. I lived in Midland at the time, the 50kW day pattern put an acceptable signal into Midland, but the night signal was weak. When we heard they were going to increase power from 1000W to 5000W at night, we were pretty excited, but the end result was about the same in Midland at night.

If you are in the DFW area, drive by the KLIF towers on Bush or Rayburn freeway, and you can occasionally get an ID from WNAX if you time it right. And my daughter's babysitter was in the null of KMKI, so deep that WTMJ came in almost perfectly. Three houses either side - I walked it myself with a portable - it was all KMKI. Amazing stuff.

 

[Ai4i]

...if you time it right.

The year was 1973, I was at UF, Gainesville (FL), WAPE was in the middle of an EBS test, their carrier dropped, the jingle filled my room: "Double You Tee Eye Ex, New Orleans".

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Couldn't find the original post about satellite unreliability with the Google maps link ----

I had a thought last night. I'd forgotten that a couple of years ago, I was having the exact same problem - dropouts under trees, etc. It finally dawned on me that the problem started when there was a severe lightning storm one night. Since I park outside, I'm thinking there was a nearby strike. A new LNA / antenna unit for $20 and the problem was fixed - no unreasonable dropouts since.