"Brenda Ann Dyer" wrote
| Our AFN-TV satellite dish looks pretty much at the horizon to see the bird
| they use here. Under normal circumstances, we get a good solid signal
with
| a level of about 89 and a quality of 9 or 10. When it rains hard, that
can
| drop to 60 and 3 or 4.. and sometimes it goes out completely. It's funny
| sometimes that there can be no rain here locally, but raining hard in the
| distance between the dish and the bird, and we'll lose the signal
| completely. I think the only thing with water penetration is Richard L.

I was surprised that someone with Richard L's level of technical
sophistication
would overlook that obvious factor, but given his obsession with my
physique,
I guess I can't blame the guy.

(EG)

I think the main problem with digitalphiles is the fact that they seem to
be motivated to sell something, rather than to solve any problems or
find a novel approach to improve sound quality.

Again, nothing against Rush Limbaugh - the older I get, the more I
find myself agreeing with the guy - but he can be heard in every single
market I find myself driving through. The problem of sound quality has
been overstated, especially when we take into consideration the craze
for consolidation and market monopolies, and the lack of anything really
interesting in the way of programming.

Rush used to be great fun, as radio programs go, but he's degenerated
into a political cheerleader. Again, I agree with much of what the guy
has to say, but he's gotten boring and stale. I can't wait for someone
talented to jump in and fill the gap. (And for what it's worth, I'd group
Hannity, O'Reilly, and a few others with Rush - fairly white toast, mostly
boring, argumentative, sectarian cheerleading).

The problem isn't sound quality, because sound quality can be had in
spades. A well - engineered AM plant is a joy to listen to. But if the
only thing being squeezed out is hypercompressed satellite audio, passed
through mulitple compression / decompression levels in an audio chain,
and served up courtesy of Messrs. Orban and Optimod, I think that
the question is begged: If sound quality is so important, why aren't any
AM stations making good on that premise?

Nope, once again, it isn't sound quality or coverage area. The problem
is programming.

73,

Steve Lawrence
KAØPMD
Burnsville, Minnesota

(NOTE: My email address has only one "dot."
You'll have to edit out the one between the "7"
and the "3" in my email address if you wish to
reply via email)


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.688 / Virus Database: 449 - Release Date: 5/18/04