[opendtv] Re: HD radio ramblings
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 12:04:43 -0400
Rod Hewitt wrote:
> [SNIP]
>> "I tried this radio at Best Buy (Gaithersburg, Maryland)
>> yesterday and could only get two FM stations (105.9 and
>> 107.3); the stations sounded exactly like regular analog
>> AM/FM radio. I tried the regular analog AM/FM boom-boxes
>> and they were able to get many stations."
> [SNIP]
>
> Knowing how bad Best Buy are (www.bestbuysux.org has
> plenty horror stories) they probably didn't have an
> antenna hooked up.
Yes, that was my initial reaction too. Problem is, the playing field is
even. The analog clock radios or boom boxes, presumably also without an
external antenna feed, had no problem receiving multiple stations,
according to that reviewer.
But sure. As of now, in hybrid mode, lack of robustness for the digital
sidebands is to be expected. Would be nice if this obvious fact were
ever made public. The "in band, on channel" aspect of HD radio is much
advertized as if it were a great feature, when in fact what it means is
that the digital signal is heavily compromised.
But the main point I was trying to make is that even if the analog
signal is removed, it's not clear to me that the all-digital station
would be as much improved as one should have every right to expect.
> Who knows what'll happen with IBOC - sure better can be
> done but it's a good compromise IMHO
Is it?
I would rather have seen a scheme that uses the existing tabboo
frequencies between stations, rather than something that broadens the
spectrum of each station. The end result is not much different. Think
about it. Either way, you're still filling up tabboo frequencies with a
lower level digital signal, hopefully not to interfere with the analog
locally and from the adjacent markets. The problem with IBOC is that it
seems to have to live with its compromise even in the all-digital mode.
Analog FM station allocations are spaced 200 KHz apart. With the digital
sidebands added, an IBOC station is 400 KHz wide. Hmmm.
Bert
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