Emailed Michael Carrier at Decade and got an interesting answer.
You get "way more range in mono because any radio is a lot more sensitive with mono signals" There is "more headroom so less distortion"
Asked if many mono versions of MS-100 are sold and he said that when he first developed the MS-100 and the others he didn't think he would sell mono ones but found out differently...."I sell way more mono ones than stereo"
Me, half my stuff is in mono anyway and I will take the better coverage and even fidelity over stereo.
The majority here are doing AM anyway and why?....for the most coverage you can get and no stereo on AM.
Mark
On the note of AM stereo, that is one mode of stereo that actually doesn't impact a station's coverage area.
But....How many people have AM stereo radio's? A few were made in the 70s when it came out but they are rare.
Mark
AM stereo is out there, some HD radios have it as part of the chip set. Some car radios would still have it. You just never know, but if you're looking for it, it's not really hard to find a radio.
1670, I think you should go stereo at your FM translator, it might be just one of those things that most people won't say anything about. I chuckled about a translator in my area that's doing the same thing, running mono, and thought aha, I know what they're doing, they have a mono AM studio so they just turned stereo off!
The Legazy, I know what you mean, stereos used to have a big bright LED or filament bulb under a jewel to show stereo, because it was a cool thing.
Ah, good times. I just think it's good for you as broadcasters to give it all you got, even when an audience or manufacturers with commodity products try to dumb us all down.
We opted for the extended coverage. Co-channel and adjacent channel interference would make stereo an absolute mess here with only 250 watts. Though, we could go stereo at anytime. For broadcasters our goal is to make it easy for the listeners, the average joe changes the channel when the noise kicks in. The real problem is building penetration with low power levels. 250 watt Class D AM and 250 watt FM. Running mono on FM helps with quite a bit of VHF related issues that plague low ERP stations and helps insure that more radios can clearly recieve the signal. Many stores have regular boombox radios, its a plus when it takes them no effort to tune in. Many AM broadcasters took the Mono route, several others went stereo.
I'll have to check out mono mode on the Wh3 and see if it increases and see if it increases the quality of the signal for that short range.
If you use your high-grade stuff you likely won't notice much difference, try it with your cheap ones first.
I was thinking of a drive test using our groups Experimental license and see if some of the fence posting is lowered on a car Radio up till fade out. I still expect to get up to a mile with the wire antenna and the lightning bolt on, but I'm expecting a more stable signal up till fade out.
Problem is that I'm legally Blind and don't drive and getting someone to help with this test is not easy. In the country you don't have sidewalks and it is not safe to try and walk on the side of the highway. I really want to know what will happen however.
Its an obvious test that I've really never done because I wanted to stay in Stereo however now I'm so tempted to see what the difference would be.
When did you get the experimental license?
I can't seem to find any Experimental License issued for any group in your state for testing in the FM radio band.
Come to think of it, I haven't seen any experimental licenses issued in the broacast bands for quite some time. I think the last I saw was for the IBOC AM station when they were developing the technology.
Edit: Upon Searching the Database, there are no experimental VHF facilities licensed in Middlesex County Virginia. (interestingly there apparently never have been)
You MIGHT want to go to our meetings and you'd LEARN something!!!!!
OUR MEMBER WHO HAS THE DAMN LICENSE IS IN ANOTHER STATE BUT AGAIN I'm NOT GOING INTO THIS WITH FOLKS WHO DON'T ATTEND THE ALPB MEETINGS, DON'T ATTEND OUR NRR MEETINGS AND AGAIN HAVE THE FACTS MIXED UP. YOU SHOULD KNOW WHO HAS THE LICENSE AND WHO HELPS WITH THE EXPERIMENTS I NEED DONE.
I'M DONE.
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Not our fault you were vauge, we aren't attacking you just generally curious as nobody I know has an experimental license. The process intrigues me.
Also you do realize only the licensee can operate with the license and only within the geographical constraints listed on the license. If the experimental license is issued to another individual in another state you cannot use it in your location. The license will dicate transmitter location restrictions and frequency of operation.
Edit: Do tell us which state, my only guess was your member in Florida. In the entire state there are 3 experimental licenses none of which were issued recently or anywhere near that members location. Even better, give the callsign. Its public information that should be easily obtainable by inquiring parties per FCC regulations.
WE2XZP 88-108 MHZ
WH2XKD 100 MHZ
WG2XHC 100 MHZ.
Even better, here is the master list of Experimental licenses in the FM band. Please tell us which is yours.
I'd highly suggest you not take such a hostile stance when people challange you.
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OK, this thread is done.
We're getting way off topic.
We need to be civil.
And I'll repeat the mandate of this Forum - to discuss unlicensed, LEGAL low power broadcasting. If you're going to dicusss activities that would be illegal except for holding an experimental license, then you'd better be prepared to answer questions about that license.