Pete KE9OA wrote:
Ann Gallagher
Charles Miller
These are two people in the FCC that you can contact about the interference
that IBOC transmissions are causing. Will it do any good to complain? Who
know? I took the gamble, and I also e-mailed the local radio stations about
this issue.
IMHO IBOC was not a technical decision. The Commission's technical
staff answers to the Commissioners, none of whom have a technical
background. I think the technical staff has been *ordered* to implement
IBOC on both AM and FM stations, and is doing the best they can to
comprimise between the technical consequences of doing this, and the
employment consequences of not doing it.
In the LPFM proceeding they saw exactly what happens when the technical
truth gets in the way of the will of lobbyists.
I don't think any complaint against IBOC will be listened to unless it's
accompanied by large campaign contributions. The chances of KE9OA
outbidding WOR are pretty much zero.
That said, I think IBOC is going to fail of its own volition. On AM,
it'll never sell to the vast majority of stations unless it can be left
on all night. But if it *is* left on all night, the massive
interference will kill the AM service altogether.
On FM, I think it'll simply never sell. IBOC-FM will fade away, as the
digital transmitters suffer inevitable breakdowns & budget-conscious
managers decide not to spend money repairing transmitters nobody is
listening to.
On the receiver end, set prices will have to pretty much equal those of
existing analog sets if they're to compete with satellite. They have a
VERY long way to go to reach that point!
--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66
http://www.w9wi.com
Ham stuff for sale:
http://www.w9wi.com/articles/4sale.htm