HD Seeks To Increase Power 10 Fold
HD Radio is seeking to increase the power of their transmissions by a factor of 10. The move would enable better indoor reception of the HD signal. They lobbying for this effort has been happening over the past year and a half, and includes the National Association of Broadcasters, major broadcasting companies, as well as NPR.
According to Inside Radio, the FCC is now preparing to open a comment window on the issue. In the media sector, there is continued debate about the viability of HD Radio. In addition, HD is seeking inclusion into all satellite radio receivers.
Position: Long SIRI
Didnt the NAB go BALLASTIC when Sirius and Xm had transmitters that barely exceeded their allowable limits—Now they want more of what they fought to deny the sats?
Get us a link so we can respond. HD already has too much power and bleeds over regular terrestrial stations.
To post concerning Docket #99-325 go, here:
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/.....oad_v2.cgi
To review your comment, after 24 hours go, here:
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/.....rch_v2.cgi
Here is NPR’s position:
“More power for HD digital could mean more interference”
“And that ‘41% of public radio stations would lose one-third or more of the car radios their analog signals can reach’ at the moment. National Public Radio’s been an important backer of inband on-channel technology. But its Chief Technology Officer Mike Starling concludes that ‘we cannot responsibly support boosting power [to] 10% en masse, to the detriment of existing FM analog signals.'”
http://www.radio-info.com/news.....082008.pdf
“How Far Does the Digital Go?”
“Public radio wants to know how far its digital signals are going, and how susceptible to interference neighboring analog stations are. So the Corporation for Public Broadcasting commissioned NPR Labs to conduct a series of tests to find out… While an IBOC power increase would most benefit home listening, the resulting increased interference would likely hurt analog mobile coverage, Kean told Radio World… Increasing the IBOC power level from the current –20 dB to –10 dB causes a substantially larger amount of interference, including a larger number of stations that may lose 50 percent of their analog service population on a noise-limited service basis, according to Kean’s findings. He considers his approach different from how HD Digital Radio Alliance stations tested elevated power levels, on which we’ve reported.”
Here’s out chance to bash the sh*t out of the NAB by way of HD radio the way they did to us. Let’s pile it on. I hate these slimeballs for what they did to us. After they bashed the hell out of SDARS and failed to stop the merger, they then attempted to piggyback their crappy product with SDARS. F**k these b*stards.
Thanks for the link. I sent a request to deny their petition based on the interference it would cause.
Who cares – HD (Hear Dis-shit) ??? 10X the crap.
What did Mel say on autozone – I’m paraphrasing, but think he said
“Does anyone know what HD is ?”
The only people affected by bleed through from the HD on the side channels are those listening to out of town and/or low powered broadcasts… which makes up a very small percentage of the overall listening audience. The majority of listening is done locally and are not affected by any bleed through. Without the masses being affected by this, it will be very difficult to stop.
While I don’t necessarily believe that a 10X increase will be granted — I do see an increase above current limits. For example, my station is 13kW Class B — that has a 280W transmitter for its HD1/2 signals. I can easily see this being approved for a 100% increase minimally with no impact on distant listeners.
BTW, this has been in the works for over 2 years. I’ve been mentioning this from time to time in posts. And I see the FCC going along with it, because current HD signals are very difficult to get indoors.
Also, writing against it to the FCC — saying you’re against it because they were against DARS applications — would likely get dismissed. Using any comparison to DARS would get dismissed, IMHO. There is no comparison of having illegal FM transmitters and repeaters to seeking power increases of digital transmitters.
This is just a slightly informed opinion… take it for what it’s worth.
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