Broadcasters Petition FCC to Boost Digital Radio Signals

"Increasing from one percent to 10 percent of analog broadcast power greatly improves digital performance without meaningfully increasing interference."

I wonder if the adjacent stations to these legal jammers will agree, A whole lotta whooshing going round!

Bob Young
Millbury, MA
KB1OKL

"Upping HD Radio signal strengths"

"The short math given what we know today is that it will cost roughly double on the transmission end to increase HD Radio FM power tenfold. There are likely to be additional costs for cooling and air handling as well, in order to dissipate the excess energy required to get out another 10 dB in HD Radio signal. And, for some higher powered stations, existing HD Radio configurations may not be able to handle the power load, which could add to the cost and complexity of increasing HD Radio beyond its current power level... Also worth considering is existing transmitter combiner technology and whether or not it can support the added demands of increasing HD Radio broadcasts another 10 dB. If not, then it’s very likely that stations at the higher power levels will need to factor in a new antenna system that can support HD Radio, rather than piggyback onto their existing FM antenna system. At the higher powers, especially, an immediate 10 dB increase in HD Radio signal may be cost prohibitive... This will typically mean the addition of another similarly rated transmitter (using a combining technique) or the purchase of a new transmitter of roughly twice today’s power level."

http://www.rbr.com/features/intel_briefs/hd_radio_signal_bealor_cavell.h...

Many radio stocks have lost 50% - 90%, and are in the penny-stock range. Few stations will be able to afford the upgrade to accommodate the proposed 10db power increase.

"NAB to Seek FCC Approval of Major IBOC Power Boost"

"For some broadcasters, however, the fact that the NAB has apparently signed on to the recommendation without first revealing details of this rather secretive study to its general membership is both striking and troubling."

http://tinyurl.com/39foj9

"FM IBOC Power Increase Sought"

"As I suspected, this request is 'piggybacked' on Docket 99-325, it is not a new Petition for Rulemaking. You see, they want to eliminate the opportunity for public comment and just push it through. Note that this request includes Appendix A (the long list of owned FM radio stations, demonstrating how high and mighty these companies are) but where are all of the referenced test reports that were supposed to be included in Appendix B and C? I would kinda like to read them. A-Ha! Footnote 5 explains that the test reports are being submitted directly to the FCC by iBiquity and CBS, Inc. Sneaky!"

http://tinyurl.com/4vrrl6

iBiquity ran these tests, so no doubt, these tests are flawed and the proposed 10db FM-HD power increase will probably cause massive interference. They are trying to avoid public comment, and didn't show these tests results to the NAB members.

"The initial HD Radio rollout was structured to ensure minimal interference of analog signals while also offering a strong digital service, and with the first gone smoothly, there was minimal interruption of traditional radio broadcasts."

Oh, really?

"HD Interference: Not Just For AM Anymore"

"Radio World Engineering Extra dropped a bomb this month with a very provocative cover story: 'What Are We Doing to Ourselves, Exactly?' Written by Doug Vernier, the man who authored the technical specifications for an ongoing Corporation for Public Broadcasting-sponsored HD Radio interference analysis, the report is the first of its kind to document interference between FM-HD stations around the country. Using anecdotal reportage, some sophisticated contour-mapping, and presumably 'early data' from the CPB study, Vernier's article conclusively proves how stations running in hybrid HD/analog mode can (and do) interfere somewhat significantly with not only themselves, but their neighbors on the FM dial."

http://diymedia.net/archive/1207.htm#122307

"Editorial: AM IBOC in Distress?"

"Citadel Director of Corporate Engineering Martin Stabbert embodied questions about the efficacy of full-time AM HD when he ordered all his AMs that had already converted to cease transmitting HD at night, using language that must have given Ibiquity officials heartburn. Separately and for different immediate reasons, Cox, in a 'let’s wait and see' move, has tried HD on most of its AM stations but is taking it off the air day and night, once tested at each facility."

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0044/t.9917.html

"Editorial: More Than Half Full"

"AM-HD continues to fight uphill. Several manufacturers showed impressive new transmitter models designed to optimize and maintain HD performance. Yet the growth of AM-HD stations coming on the air appears stalled and we hear murmurings about some broadcasters pulling back on AM-HD or wishing to renegotiate their commitments with Ibiquity."

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0044/t.13363.html

What a farce:

http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com