Re: [IRCA] SE FL IBOC Status

["Craig Healy" <bubba@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I'll try to remember how upset we broadcasters are supposed to be when we
> fire up IBOC on WAQI and WQBA next year. But that is tough when you have
> never heard your station sound so good.

The JVC KD-SHX900 HD Radio I bought sounds reasonably good on WHJJ and WBZ.
I'll ignore the 8 second difference in the WBZ audio between analog and
digital.  However, the coverage is abysmal.  WBZ at 30 miles is unlistenable
in digital.  Decodes maybe half the time at best.  WHJJ is maybe 15 miles,
if that.

I'm surprised that station owners are willing to accept that much of a
coverage hit.  One of my clients is a full Class B FM with a transmitter
site 30 miles out of Providence.  If they were to go IBOC, the digital
signal would not cover their money market at all.  That's a huge problem.

As for the DXer's POV, it doesn't seem to have much potential.  I have tried
for several hours with a number of antenna configurations, yet the WOR IBOC
signal has never decoded.  I can see the little "HD" icon on the display, so
some part is getting through.  But no audio.  I'd estimate the WOR 710
signal at maybe point two mv/m here.

As to sound quality, I would love to compare it to the old WJAR-920 Western
Electric Doherty rig playing on a Zenith floor console.  'Course, that'll
never happen..

I'm not restarting this old flap about IBOC.  I am concerned as a
broadcaster about the significant loss of coverage.  I am also concerned as
a DXer at the seeming inability to get even a marginal bit of distant
reception.  If what I am seeing is really how it will be, it's going to be a
tough sell to a lot of these independent owners.

One of the people I work for said simply: "Show me the radios".

Craig Healy
Providence, RI


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