In article ,
Doug Smith W9WI wrote:

I got my HD radio this evening. A few thoughts:

- I can't tell the difference between HD and regular FM. They both sound
good but I can't tell one from the other.

- There are four HD stations in Nashville:

WLAC-AM 1510:
WPLN-FM 90.3:
WVNS-FM 102.5:
WNRQ 105.9:

- Couldn't test AM, as UPS didn't deliver the radio until 6:15. "FCC
sunset" for Nashville in March is 6:00 so WLAC-HD was off the air.

- WVNS' analog audio sounds *better* than the HD -- the HD was "hissing
its F's" which the analog doesn't do. No other station has this
problem, so I suspect it's a processing issue at the station. WVNS has
a translator on 102.1 which is *not* relaying the HD. (not that I
expected it would)

- At my location (18 miles from the nearest HD station and about 27
miles from two of the three) the provided 18" wire antenna is not
adequate for any HD reception. I hooked the set to my TV antenna. I
suspect the built-in AM antenna wouldn't provide any reception either
but the set comes with an external loop which probably will. I'll find
out tomorrow!

- WNRQ-HD drops out for about 5 seconds about every 30-60 seconds.
Neither WPLN nor WVNS does this. WVNS is a lot closer, but WPLN is on
the same tower as WNRQ - and runs about 20% *less* power. Tested only
on HD2 though I'd be surprised if this problem doesn't affect both channels.

- At least in theory, the HD exciter is supposed to contain a delay line
that delays the analog audio to match the delay through the digital
coding process. It appears that no station around here has got it
completely right. (but they're all pretty close) It is possible this is
due to varying delays in *receivers* though; the Receptor HD appears to
delay the audio of *analog* stations. (might it have DSP for analog
signals??)

- It takes roughly 5 seconds for the radio to lock in to a HD signal. If
you've tuned to a HD simulcast of an analog signal, you'll hear the
analog audio during the lockin period.

Sounds like a long lock time. Maybe it is a 5 second buffer time?

--
Telamon
Ventura, California