Digital AM

Tim, the whole digital subject gets me agitated.

I absolutely loved NTSC analog television and my TV is still there, dead as a rock.

I totally ignored the "digital coupon" offered by the gov for conversion, because I'd already been worn down by format changes in the audio/video field in which I'd tried to keep up. I am so lucky my retirement came when it did.

AM radio is suffering from poor programming. The stations I find on my dial are only worth criticizing, not listening.

If badly programmed stations go digital no one will follow. It'll be a total waste of time.

The wonder of AM radio is the DX factor, being able to tune across America every night and finding... sadly, not much, but it could improve.

The last part 15 stations literally could become the final chapter in AM radio history in America.

Of four IBAH stations in this area, another has shut down, not worth the trouble. That opens 1590 and 1610 for good DX listening.

I am especially amused by his reference to how much better TV is now that it's become digital.  I ask, where is it better?  Not where I live.  We used to be able to get 3 over the air stations with rabbit ears.  Now, we get zero.

Just a mention that many commercial TV broadcast stations switched from the VHF band to the UHF band when going digital a few years ago.

Rabbit ear antennas can be OK-ish for analog VHF TV reception over moderate distances, but they are not very good for UHF TV reception unless such antennas are located close to the TV transmit site(s) to be received.

Those having problems receiving digital TV broadcast stations might want to buy, and optimally install a TV receive antenna designed for VHF channels 7-13 and UHF channels 14 and above, and then use the menu choice of their HDTV receiver to search for and recogize the HDTV channels it finds.

When I did that after installing such a non-rabbit-ear receive antenna for my then-new Sony HDTV set, I went from four SD analog channels with a 4:3 aspect ratio to ten high definition HD channels having up to 16:9 aspect ratios.

I use over-the-air TV.  The signals are actually better than from cable, as the cable companies use a lot of compression to jam as many channels into their offerings as possible.  And there's also no middle ground - you either get the channel with crystal clear picture and sound, or you don't - no more fuzzy pictures.

Plus, a lot of the TV broadcasters have sub-channels (often more interesting than the main ones) that often don't get picked up by the cable companies.

But most HDTV channels are UHF, and that does come with a price.  Unless you have line of sight to the transmission tower, you're going to have trouble getting reception.  Indoor antennas generally don't cut it - you have to get the antenna outside over your roof line and as high as possible.

Reception limits are around 30-40 miles unless you get that antenna high (you're limited by the curvature of the Earth), and use one with lots of gain.  Most smaller antennas use amplifiers, which really helps.  I've managed to pull in signals about 60 miles away (using a small Terk amplified antenna mounted about 10 feet above my roof line), and theoretically you should be able to do close to 100 if the equipment and conditions are right (don't believe the hype of some antennas that claim over 100 miles, as it's just not possible, unless you're located on a mountain top).

One thing I've noticed - there's a wide variation in the sensitivity of digital tuners.  A lot of the el cheapo converter boxes (and even some of the more expensive name brand ones) are rather deaf.  If you rely on the tuner in your TV, you might have problems, as they tend to be deaf as well.  I use a Channel Master 7000 PAL (which is also a DVR) and it does well.

Digital TV is like anything else - good and bad.  It's perfect for me, as I don't tend to watch much television, so it doesn't matter whether I get 15 or 1500 channels (there's usually nothing on I'm interested in in either case).

The channels in the Minneapolis area for the major networks are CBS-WCCO channel 4 (which we received on channel 4 for 40 years with no issues analog, now it's sporadic at best, on digital channel 4).  NBC-KSTP Channel 5 and ABC Channel 9.  The last two are still watchable.  Up north here, all over the air TV was marginal when it was analog -- you had to live with some fuzz or snow, but now you get nothing over the air.  WDIO/WIRT were always watchable over the air, now not at all, that's channels 10 and 12.  None of this is on VHF. 

Both my daughter in Minneapolis, and I up north have spent hundreds of dollars on quality digital antennas, amplifiers and doo-dads all to no avail.  Digital TV may be wonderful. If you're close enough to the tower to get it. 

Tim in Bovey

The digital format requires "X" amount of bits to reconstruct the original information. If the stream is corrupted, well..

I work in the 2-way radio field. The FCC mandated that everyone go narrowband. (5kHz. to 2.5kHz. deviation) That caused ~20% coverage loss in most of our customers range. After that, our sales dept. urged that everyone should go to a digital system with all of the bells and whistles that can be done with it. Well, they went with it and lost another ~20% of coverage! (Same original frequencies, same base antenna systems that are fine, same wattage)

We got the double whammy! We have a whole bunch of unhappy customers! (And there isn't anthing that can be done to improve coverage!) Maybe put the base antenna up in the air another couple hundred feet! (Which is impossible in most all cases)

While in analog, most customers were able to hear mobile units in the fringe areas good enough to pull out what they were saying. Now those areas are dead! The static level didn't change but the audio was reduced to 2.5 kHz. and it's now lower than the static! Then they went to digital and there isn't enough bit rate recovery to reconstruct the audio! Nice, huh..

How do you explain this to a customer! They had a system for over 20 yrs. in some situations and knew where their coverage dead spots were and now they lost those completely and even more when they went digital! (After spending thousands of dollars to get this New and Improved System!)

Needless to say.. We sure get the stink eye a lot when we show up to "Try" to fix things. (And there isn't anything that we can do!) Thank You FCC for making 8 slices out of a 4 piece pie..

AM radio suffers from poor programming because good, local programming is expensive.  Yes, there are a few who pull it off, and most of those are AM/FM combo stations.  I've spent 41 years this year in the broadcast industry, most of that time at AM/FM combo stations, including the last 26.  This is to great advantage as the revenue from the FM can help keep the AM afloat.

If your definition of "good"programming is local hosts round the clock, with a decent news department, you'll be hardpressed to afford it.  In major cities there are so many stations the pieces of the pie get sliced pretty slim. In small cities there's not enough revenue to keep it all going.  Ever seen a power bill for an AM transmitter plant? Figure in several thousands of dollars to BMI/ASCAP/SESAC for music broadcast rights. Ever have to replace an AM transmitter tube? Depending on the tube, a couple thousand dollars.  Ever have to have your towers repainted? Bulbs replaced? Directional system maintained? When the FCC announces a new emergency broadcast system, everyone drops 4 grand to update.  You have to pay your airstaff a living wage. You need sales people who can convince advertisers that advertising on the local staticy AM station is worthwhile, and at prices that will generate enough income to keep it going.  At the prices small and medium market stations can afford to pay, you rarely get top talent (unlike me LOL). 

Engineering costs can soar, as can expenses in keeping up with FCC regulations. Like trying to prove you tried to hire enough minorities, that you sent staff out in to the public with "outreach" programs to prove you're trying to recruit people.  

Coming up later this month we'll be having a mock inspection with an engineer from the Minnesota Broadcasters Association.  Many other states do this as well. You go through a full FCC inspection. Problems are noted and to be corrected, and you can either document, or reinspect as necessary to pass. Once passed you won't get a REAL FCC inspection unless there's a complaint that warrants investigation, etc for three years.  We do this every three years simply because we don't want an inspection and we like to know our ducks are in a row.  We've passed every time since I've been here (26 yeyars) because I'm a bit anal about having everything right. I'm an engineer and I'm on staff.  If they had to pay a contract engineer to keep everything up to snuff add several thousands more to the yearly budget. Doing this at an AM Directional/FM combo takes a full day and costs over $1000.  If you've never seen the FCC self inspection checklist here it is for the AM:

http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/bc-chklsts/EB18AM09_2009.pdf

I know a lot of you don't much care for high school sports on the radio. Me neither. But AM radio is well suited for sports coverage.  And it's one thing that generates revenue. After all these years I know well that evenings full of sports is probably what's paying the salaries.  Listenership may drop from 10,000 to the 800 people who care, but dollars earned per hour goes way up. Many businesses who won't buy an expensive ad package will drop a couple hundred bucks to follow the local team. If the team makes it to state all the better. Doing local high school games is a huge pain in the ass for the station, you need reliable remote gear that will work in some pretty crappy venues with old/poor infrastructure, bad ancient phone lines, no cell service, no wifi, etc.  You need a guy at the game, preferably two, and engineer back at the studio, and enough staff to cut a million general ads with no message in them except "ABC Plumbing supports the team" because thats ALL they want to say.  Yes, there are many creative ways to sell sports, and there are many creative ways to get it on the air, believe me, I've been in on them all.

AM is going to die because of poor fidelity in todays world, the high cost of maintaining it from a technical standpoint, especially those legacy stations with old gear that can't afford to upgrade, the increased competition from dozens of other sources and the resistance from advertisers to buy on an old technology.  One lightning strike can be enough to take an AM off the air forever because they just can't afford to put it back together. Sometimes there's insurance, sometimes not, sometimes not enough. 

It's easy for me to see that operating a 100,000 watt FM is a LOT cheaper than running a 5,000 watt AM and it's much easier to sell and generate revenue. I've been watching it happen for decades.  And I'll point out, our sales staff goes out of their way to promote the LOCALLY programmed, owned and operated AM all the time.  Sometimes they win, sometimes not.  Getting money from agency buys for AM in a small or medium market is tough.  On our 100,000 watt FM in the same town, agency buys fly in like mosquitos to a lightbulb. 

In the meantime successful internet radio stations like WREN in Topeka continue to grow.  They're my favorite beause I love their oldies programming and the fact that they're all real radio guys.  No FCC, no huge power bills, no local sports.  When I talked to them a couple weeks ago they were averaging 35,000 listeners a day in 118 countries and most of their ad slots are sold out.  They've made it into the ratings books for Topeka and reallly pissed off all the Clear Channel and Cumulus owned stations in town (there are ZERO locally operated/programmed stations in Topeka).  My Son lives in Topeka. We're able to leave northern Minnesota and drive straight to Topeka with WREN coming on my my iPhone plugged into the car stereo all the way except for one spot up here where there's no cell coverage for about 5 minutes.  their sound is far better than any AM I've ever heard, generally better than satellite radio (another competitor for listeners and dollars).  Heck, I even nlisted to part 15'er the Walburg Radio Network right along. 

Every one of you guys who starts a Part 15 and streams too is creating another competitor for commercial broadcast radio. Then again, everyone one who tunes into my Part 15 here in Bovey is one less possible listener for the commercial stations I work for!  I like to think that Part 15 folks are offering programming not available at the commercial stations so you're picking up listeners who probably arent' listening to the locals anyway. If you like Polka music, you're probably not listening to the local hot hits station!

Whoa! That was quite a rant! Better let the keyboard cool down!

Tim in Bovey

Your last sentence in the 2nd last paragraph says it all.

Part 15 stations have to offer programming that isn't available anywhere else.  It can be local in a market which isn't well served locally, or it can be other stuff that just isn't played commercially because it isn't, well, commercial (and won't attract sponsors).

Personally, I'd rather listen to my own radio station that virtually anything else (except for sports - I much prefer listening on the radio than watching on TV).  Because it's programmed to MY tastes.  If I get some other listeners (and I do), then that's fine.  But even if I don't, I'll still continue to do it.

I tried the advertisement route with local programming on Bowen Island.  You're right, it's a lot of work.  Local advertising dollars are hard to come by - a lot of these businesses are just barely hanging on anyway.  And once you accept someone's money, you're on the hook to show them they got value (i.e., their spots played, when they played, what was the audience when they played if you know it, etc.).  A lot of responsibility, particularly if you're a lone wolf (or almost a lone wolf) Part 15 operator.

I'd rather do it for the love (love of music, love of learning).

I've listened to WREN.  They are very good.

We are on a busy main street close to

most of the local TV transmitters.

It's a different kind of situation than

many TV watchers have.

Zillions of cars go by during rush hour.

The analog TV signals are very strong

but there is a continuing multipath

nightmare.  Before the change - the analog

TV picture on the screen

would flip all around with constantly

changing qhosting - that sort of thing.

You could almost say it looked like a

strong E-skip TV signal.  All messed up.

When digial came - the signals were, and

still are very good.  IF you point the indooor

antenna in the right direction.  There is a

little drop out but we don't care.  Some of the

sub channels are great.  Old movies, old tv

shows - some a lot of fun. 

I'm not a TV watcher, but my wife is, and

she is satisfied.

The local PBS has four channels, so it's

24.1, 24.2, 24.3, and 24.4 - four channels -

(for those of you not familiar with this) -

There are some WONDERFUL shows on 24.2

late at night about nature, history, and that

sort of thing.  Really good stuff.

I could go without TV - so if we couldn't get the

digital signals, I wouldn't care. 

Nobody listens to

"HD" AM radio in the whole state of Connecticut. 

There are a few "HD" FM listeners.  A very few.

Very very few.  I know because somtimes the

engineers get calls about problems or whatever.

(Really rarely.)

I don't listen to our local flamethrower, WTIC,

50 kW, 1080 kHz.  I don't like the programming.

But I have to give them a LOT of credit.  If there

is a storm or whatever - WTIC drops EVERYTHING and

puts people in the studio, and those people basically

live in there, and report, report, report - until the

"disaster" is over.  They will stay there for days. 

When it's bad - WTIC AM is there for you.  Also

they have live news, weather, and traffic (if needed)

24 hours a day with a real person in the studio. 

I listen on my crystal set if the power is out. 

I love a particular semi-local AM station on 1150 kHz -

a class D - I think.  They run in parallel with a 1420 kHz

in another town, and they do real local radio. 

Back before I understood AM "HD" - nI thought - Gee - if this station

got AM IBOC - they would sound great - much better

than analog.  HA!  I thought it would be AFFORDABLE

for little stations, and that it would WORK!

WRONG!

(I'm not angry here.)

Anyhow, this great little hometown station

streams now, and I listen to them on the

computer sometimes.  I called them and asked

if the streaming was in stereo.  They said -

no- that it was in mono.

I thought about it.  There whole studio is

probably old and wired for mono.  That's OK

- they are great.

I can't think of anythiing else right now.

Best Wishes, sorry about the typos

but I gotta go.

Bruce

One bad but good thing about analog AM radio is the severe static during electric storms. It is bad because static interferes with the listening experience, but it is good because it gives a vivid idea how close the lightning is and serves as a kind of "heads up."

So, and it's been explained but I forget, what happens to digital AM radio during an electrical storm?

I would assume that digital AM during a lightning storm would simply cut out complpetely when lightning flashes. Data is not going to stream correctly during the monster electrical peaks of airborn electricity. So, I suspect instead of hearing static you would hear nothing. And I'll bet it would take a few seconds additional to come back on as the digital stream would have to get picked back up again and start it's data processing stream again. aAd I imagine with buffering in the receivers the time between the lightning and the effect on the radio could be several seconds apart.  Just guessing. 

Tim in Bovey

A great song from a fellow ham radio operator.

I just mentioned Joe Walsh on

another thread. 

But WDCX - you mentioned him

a couple of days before me, and I

didn't see your post. 

Coincidence.

Bruce

P.S.  And yes - during a thunderstorm

an AM IBOC (BLEH) signal would

just cut out, and then it would have

a real mess getting started again, probably.

IBOC is neither in band, or on channel.

What is going unnoticed, or at least unmentioned, is that when AM goes digital, it is no longer "AM".