[IRCA] Did I just get caught up into Heaven, or is 1580 KMIK's HD/IBOC off?

[Stephen Airy <pianoplayer88key@xxxxxxxxx>]

So I was listening to 1580 KMIK, and decided to briefly switch over to 1110 KDIS.  (I'm a little south of El Cajon, CA, about 299.6 mi / 482.2 km, 262.2° from KMIK and 111.4 mi / 179.3 km, 146.7° from KDIS.  KMIK is usually one of the strongest skywave signals here, often capable of exceeding some of my locals, except for KFMB, KECR, KSDO and maybe a couple others.)  A few seconds later I noticed the same passage of music I had just heard on 1580 aired on 1110.  "Odd," I thought, "normally 1580 is a second or so behind 1110, and now they seem to be several seconds ahead.  Hey HD has a several second delay compared to just straight analog - I wonder if…"  So after flipping back and forth between 1110 and 1580 a couple times to verify the change in delay, I tuned to 1570 ....

and was greeted with .......

*batatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatataBING!*

NO HASH!!! :D  Just a clean, if somewhat weak, signal from a presumed 1570 XERF, which is a regular here.

I then tuned off-frequency a kHz at a time on my PL-398mp using its "1 kHz" setting (which according to you traditional purists is a 2 kHz RF bandwidth, if not a little wider).  (This can give me some idea of the audio bandwidth of a station even if my radio's not capable of reproducing that audio when tuned on-frequency.  Splatter will still be loud as long as you're within their audio passband and 1 kHz beyond to a lesser extent, then at 2 kHz beyond it drops off like a cliff.)  I got out to 1574 and 1586 kHz and the splatter was still strong.  On 1573 and 1587 the stations on 1570 and 1590 respectively took over.  The bandwidth check is also made more difficult no thanks to some co-channel interference from KBLA.

I understand that back in the day, 1580 Tempe (when they were KCWW and running country) broadcast in analog C-Quam AM Stereo.  My Sony SRF-42 is currently non-functional, so does anyone else have a way of finding out if they're running analog AM Stereo now?



_______________________________________________
IRCA mailing list
IRCA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca

Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers

For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org

To Post a message: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx