Re: [IRCA] WQAM 560 IBOC off.

["Bob Foxworth" <rfoxwor1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Subject: RE:  WQAM 560 IBOC off.


> WREC had it off today.  There is no way IBOC will ever succeed if it
is
> being turned on and off like that.  It's pretty obvious that the
powers that
> be would like IBOC to eventually replace all analog radio, so they can
force
> consumers to buy new equipment, or do without.  It's the same thing
they are
> trying with TV.  TV has a good chance of succeeding eventually,
because they
> put it on different channels, and can leave it on 24/7 without
problems.
> That is the way they should have done digital radio as well.
>


I believe, as others have said, that the on-off nature of IBOC now
on these stations is merely part of the testing and shake-down
phase of getting the system optimized (from the broadcasters'
point of view).

Lots of these stations have complex antennas that have different
phase relationships on each side of the carrier, which makes
them non-symmetrical in the frequencies where the sidebands
exist. I would guess that engineers are trying to tune these
antennas for symmetrical sideband behavior while maintaining
the required minima (nulls) at the carrier frequency. This could
explain the alternating long periods of on|off IBOC usage. But,
it is for me just a guess.

Remember that from the point of view of these stations, IBOC
has not even been implemented yet, and there is zero expectation
that the public "has a clue" about it. I believe the marketing
strategy is to have it up and running, with the bugs worked out
(as far as that can be done, from their POV) and then, unleash
the big ad campaign and un-cork the receivers into the marketplace.

I think the receivers have been designed and are now waiting for
the engineers to give the word that the xmtr's are ready for
"prime time". Once they let them loose into every Best Buy
in existence, they have _one shot_ to "wow" the public, and
to make that happen, there has to be a lot of stations up and
running with it, at least 7 days/week, every day.

In addition, I'd bet that they are "assured" that night time
operation will be approved on AM, and the receiver floodgates
won't open until this happens.

If this idea was not correct, then I think I would NOW be seeing ads
for that Kenwood car rx which I personally saw operate inside
the vehicle of the CE of the Cox FM chain here in town 6 weeks
ago. Listened to Rush on WFLA (the only AM here so far with
IBOC lit up) on it. This rx seems to be, today, a special order item
for those in the industry. And yes the difference is noticeable,
if you discount the cost of attaining it at present. That will
become a value judgment for many in the listening world.

FWIW, I don't know of any time WFLA has had their IBOC off,
since first beginning it, but I don't check for that every day, so I
can't speak to that. I'd guess their day system is reasonably
flat and was good-to-go from the outset.

In answer to the quoted comment, my belief is that there is a
wish, in the industry, to substantially thin out the total number
of stations on the air, by raising the bar high enough (cost to
implement IBOC) that the small mom-pop deals will fall by
the wayside. The big chains will have the rest (all) of the
marketplace to divide among themselves. Sorta like joining
the Union Pacific Club Of The Air.

Broadcasters today have no expectation that AM listeners even
are aware that IBOC is being used. Listeners (not DXers) who
care to write their  _local_stations_  who are using IBOC, with
comments about the signal quality etc.,  probably have a good
chance of having those letters noticed by station management.
(unless those management people read this listserv :-)

- Bob


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