AM IBOC Madness
 

''...a draft Report and Order to allow all U.S. AM
stations to use HD Radio at night is reportedly sitting on the
FCC Chairman's desk. Insiders say the document will allow all
stations (with equipment in place) to light up simultaneously.
Hopefully an interference resolution mechanism is included in the
paperwork. Broadcast engineers surveyed on the floor of the NAB
were not optimistic about the long-term prospects of AM HD at
night, but iBiquity investors will undoubtedly make a concerted
effort to make it work.''

(credit is given to the CGC Communicator)

AM IBOC Madness
 

David wrote:

''...a draft Report and Order to allow all U.S. AM
stations to use HD Radio at night is reportedly sitting on the
FCC Chairman's desk. Insiders say the document will allow all
stations (with equipment in place) to light up simultaneously.
Hopefully an interference resolution mechanism is included in the
paperwork. Broadcast engineers surveyed on the floor of the NAB
were not optimistic about the long-term prospects of AM HD at
night, but iBiquity investors will undoubtedly make a concerted
effort to make it work.''
[...]


ACCORDING TO V-News.org Editor-in-Chief Kevin Alfred Strom, IBOC is
an inferior, interference-prone system designed primarily to ensure
the dominance of the corporate broadcast media and limit or prevent
the rise of new, independent voices on the radio dial. He states:

'IBOC (In-Band On-Channel) digital -- AM or FM -- is essentially a
turkey, technically. It's inferior in almost every way to a
dedicated digital system in a dedicated digital band.

'The main reason IBOC is promoted is because a new dedicated digital
band would level the playing field: the present 250-Watt AM
daytimer, once ensconced in the new band, would have just as clear
and clean a signal as the 50-Kw clear channel or the high-power FM
-- just as good fidelity, the same coverage, and 24-hour operation.
Just as your Web site is equally clear and accessible as NBC's.

'A dedicated digital band might also be scalable and allow many more
channels for the listener -- hundreds, thousands perhaps. Probably
enough to allow public access (in which anyone can be a broadcaster
for free or nearly free) on an even greater scale than does cable
television.

'And that would mean more competition for the big-money men.

'And it would mean that competition would now be purely on the basis
of programming, not the sheer signal superiority which the money-men
have paid for.

'They want to preserve the _inferiority_ of their smaller
competitors. IBOC does that. They want to maintain the high economic
hurdle to becoming a broadcaster. IBOC does that.'

AM IBOC Madness
 

On Mon, 01 May 2006 12:23:17 GMT, David wrote:

''...a draft Report and Order to allow all U.S. AM
stations to use HD Radio at night is reportedly sitting on the
FCC Chairman's desk. Insiders say the document will allow all
stations (with equipment in place) to light up simultaneously.
Hopefully an interference resolution mechanism is included in the
paperwork. Broadcast engineers surveyed on the floor of the NAB
were not optimistic about the long-term prospects of AM HD at
night, but iBiquity investors will undoubtedly make a concerted
effort to make it work.''

This is as it should be. AM stations will never discover or correct
nighttime IBUZ interference until they can hear it. Daytime only use
of IBUZ won't work. The quality difference between AM analog and
digital is more dramatic than FM, especially when loudness wars are
likely to continue and the alleged quality improvement will get lost
in the dust. The real advantage of the FM system isn't improved
quality, it's secondary channels that will compete with their main
channels for ad dollars.

In 3006 when there are enough receivers to make a difference,
listeners won't tolerate the dramatic drop in audio quality. That
would, effectively, make all AMs using the system daytimers as
listeners tune away when muddy analog comes back at 6pm..

Now is the time for stations to do whatever rebuilds they need rather
than waiting until everyone has to do it at the same time. I've
proposed that the first stations to make the required transmitter
plant improvements be granted priority over others that might
interfere with them. No station should have to modify its plant
multiple times as adjacents light up.

Rich

AM IBOC Madness
 

3006? Huh?
cuhulin

AM IBOC Madness
 

Rich Wood wrote:
In 3006 when there are enough receivers to make a difference,
listeners won't tolerate the dramatic drop in audio quality.

Yeah, but by then radio will have been replaced by telepathy.

--
All relevant people are pertinent.
All rude people are impertinent.
Therefore, no rude people are relevant.
-- Solomon W. Golomb

AM IBOC Madness
 

You all may think Rich is a bit off-the-wall about urging 24-hour AM
HD _RIGHT NOW_, but why sit around and agonize? Turn it on and the
squeaking wheel of night interference will either get fixed or hybrid
mode AM HD will be proven unworkable. But the situation needs
resolving as soon as possible. Waiting for the laws of physics to
change is misguided.

bob c.