Moving the AM Band

The current government mandate for digital TV is already bad enough. The public was mostly satisfied with NTSC, and then the government forced everybody to buy new TV sets. Huge amounts of money are being wasted to subsidize converter boxes. Now, this group is trying to get the government to force everybody to buy new AM and FM radios, also.

while I am mobile and there is nothing on the airwaves which interests me regardless of the frequencies involved. Only commercial free movies on satellite and music over cable come into my humble abode. I don't know if I am a typical consumer or not but I only listen to what I want and am willing to pay for programming to get rid of the obtrusive advertising.

Ermi, you have probably asked, as have I, what problem is being solved by the switch to HDTV. Why would I want to view the commercial TV junk just because it is in HD vs. NTSC. It is still not worth my time regardless of the format. So, to the OP, what difference does it make what frequency band is used for broadcasting. It makes none to me.

My wife and my sons are in the same mode. No interest at all in broadcast media.

By the way, TV is called a medium because it is neither rare nor well done.

Thanks for tolerating my minirant.

Neil

Oh boy, his is great, really great, that way the present AM band I’m sure will be given to part 15 AM broadcasters, move AM up there to VHF at more expense than the bailout.. Might as well... better yet, the broadcasters can go for another bail out to make the move, hmmmmmm wonder what the public can do with ten zillion AM sets with the 550-1705 KHZ band? Since no one will ever make a radio receiver for the new AM band that is proposed im sure it will go over well.... AM as it is will certainly be dead, remember AM stereo, that was a good thing, but wait,did you ever try to buy a AM stereo table radio when AM stereo was around, at any rate, try to find a table radio period...We might as well get rid of the FM band too. Clean house. It will be interesting how much confusion the switch to digital TV will cause the general public when it goes digital. I don’t watch TV either, just some joker trying to make you laugh or buy something you don’t need. My girlfriend watches stupid shows like the dam batchler or dancing with the stars, I go listen to my walkman in the basement when that crap is on.. No we don’t need to move the AM band. I’m tired of people jackin us around.
Radio Joe

should read, THIS is really great, went back to edit it but wont edit so ok, made the correction here

CH 5 and 6 will see far better application because of its frequency than the AM band... so no need to worry fellows. Just a bunch of goofs on that link talking BS

When I first read this article I thought it was a dumb idea. But it does have some good things going for it. First of all is the creation of many low power community radio station frequencies in the new band. Imagine the new possibilities that would open for new local programming.

The authors of the proposal said themselves that it wasn't perfect and certainly wouldn't have immediate implementation but I am for expanding the availability of new broadcast stations. The FM band is overrun. AM is so noisy and quite honestly lacks interesting content anymore. Public comment and modifications could make the proposal even better.

As far as no receivers for the new band, that would change over the course of years. The cost of receivers would certainly come down and there would be a gradual transition. If programmers in the new band would create some new and interesting content (especially local) people would be willing to buy new radios.

My big concern is that new stations in the new band should reflect more diversity in ownership than the existing broadcast bands. So much radio today is merely canned music and talk satellite delivered to the transmitter. It's cheaper for group owners. If the FCC used a point system to choose among applicants with favoritism towards locally owned, programmed and operated stations, much like the LPFM rules, the public would be the winner. In fact I am more in favor of not moving existing AMs and opening the new band to new stations only.

I think the article has its information messed up. It's more likely that the proposal is to expand the FM broadcast band downward into the space that will be vacated by TV channels 5 & 6, down to 76 mhz. After all, that makes the most sense. And, in Japan, the FM band starts at 76 mhz! Even in this country, there are FM radios that include the audio from the lower VHF channels as well as the standard FM band. I own one myself! So it would not be much of a stretch at all to do this, as radios already exist that do it. Hopefully, the 76-88 mhz spectrum would be reserved for community radio! As for moving the AM band there, if you think about it, it is really a stupid idea.

And yes, TV channels 5 and 6 (76-88 MHz) are contiguous with the low end of the existing FM band. The BMC proposal envisions creating enough space to accommodate all existing AM and FM stations within the new band, so that the current bands could either be phased out at some point or retained for some analog stations (the new band would be entirely digital).

I don't know if anyone will object to my posting the link, so if you go to your favorite g-rated search engine and type in the words "Broadcast Maximization Committee proposal", you will get the document, which you can then read for yourself. That will answer a lot of questions. It is a very well thought out proposal.

Set aside specific frequencies for use by TIS, HAR, LPFM and Part 15 Stations Each service would have it's own set of frequencies for use by that service. this would come in handy for part 15 so it does not interfere with licensed stations and could be afforded higher power and rules similar to AM where RF can be measured from antenna, radiating coax or at the property line of a Private (Private Home, Commune, Co-Op), Semi Private (School, Drive-in, Trailer park, Camp Ground, etc), or educational institution. some of which is not allowed on AM or FM Bands under part 15.

This new band will be an all-digital radio band. As in "HD Radio" or some other digital system. As such, it would probably not be accessible to the typical Part 15 operator. For one thing, consider the Ibiquity licensing fees, which are bundled with the equipment purchase.

There is a possibility that at some point after most of the existing broadcasting stations have moved to the new digital band, a reallocation of some space in the legacy AM and FM analog bands could be considered. But I'm not holding out a lot of hope for that. When you consider the regulatory climate in the USA, and the political clout of the NAB and major group operators like Clear Channel, what makes you think they will ever allow any kind of expanded Part 15 operation? I just don't see it happening, in my lifetime anyway.