Far better than I could ever explain it, Dave Hershberger, of Continental Electronics explains some of the potential problems with increasing the IBOC carrier(s) in an FM HD Radio system. If you have not already read it, read the entire article, it sheds some interesting light on the IBOC system and how it works.
Transmitting more digital power will certainly increase the digital coverage area and reduce digital dropouts. However, there may be some unintended consequences, which every broadcaster will have to evaluate before increasing digital power.
It is all right there. What amazes me is that the IBOC proponents do not acknowledge the system’s problems. Perhaps the above article is a bit over the head of the average general manager, or group VP, whatever the title dejour is. Engineers should understand this. Engineers should be able to explain this in an understandable way to managers and owners. It is the owners or whoever is holding their paper that have the most to loose in this scheme, which is to say, everything. Forget the FCC, they are in the pockets of their corporate sponsors anyway. Radio station owner’s and the bankers that control them should take a real hard look at this and see for themselves that they are writing their own epitaph.
Letter to the editor in the April 15, 1987 Radio World:
I’ve heard all the garbage I can stand about the AM stereo “issue.” The problem?
1. Motorola and Kahn each was a monopoly.
2. The stations don’t want to waste $6,000 on the wrong system.
3. The FCC is afraid it will be sued by the “sore loser” in a standard decision.
4. The receiver makers are afraid of wasting millions of the wrong system.
5. The listeners don’t know anything about AM stereo.
Does any of this sound vaguely familiar regarding some AM “improvement” scheme currently being used? Those that fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it, Bob.
In a way that never ceases to amaze me, Bob Strubel spins another yarn about HD Radio.™ According to Bob:
Tom’s experiences at the Ford dealership are disappointing. We believe they reflect the growing pains which often occur when companies launch new technologies. Tom hit the lot as factory installed HD Radio receivers were just launching.
Well, then, I guess that explains that. If I went to a Ford dealership today, I’d find plenty of models with HD radio(s)™ stock, right?
As far as new technology and growing pains, let us pick that apart piece by piece:
IBOC has been in development since 1990 or thereabouts. Not really new technology. Apple’s iPhone and iPad are new technology (2 years and 3 months respectively).
Ford Motor Company has been an HD Radio™ partner since 2007. One would think that all the kinks would be worked out by now.
The IBOC roll out hit a wall around 2008 and hasn’t grown since then, both the AM technology, which appears to be shrinking, and the FM technology, which appears to be subsidized by the US government.
To test Mr. Strubel’s next statement:
Had he been able to hold out with his old Explorer for another couple months, he would have been able to purchase an Escape with a factory installed HD Radio receiver as these vehicles hit dealerships the first week of August.
It is now the third week in August, I stopped by three Ford dealerships in reasonable sized cities around here. Not really wanting to waste a sales person’s time, I cut to the chase and asked about vehicles with HD radios. Here is the response:
Dealership #1 said they knew about HD radio, but none were in any of their stock vehicles. They also could not give me an idea of how long I’d have to wait to receive one, if ordered separately.
Dealership #2 pointed me in the direction of SiriusXM, saying that satellite radio was digital radio, or HD Radio™ or whatever it was
Dealership #3 never heard of HD Radio™ and said that all their radios were digital (Like, Duh!)
Finally, there is this standard iBiquity statement that seems to go well in any situation:
…it’s ironic that his negative experience happened at a time when the consumer rollout of HD Radio Technology is stronger than it has ever been. We are seeing dramatic receiver sales increases across all segments – OEM auto, consumer electronics, and the new portable HD Radio category. Overall sales of HD Radio receivers will more than double in 2010, and that is on top of a doubling from 2008 to 2009. Can anyone point to any other facet of AM/FM that has seen this sort of growth over the last several years?
Sure, analog AM and FM receivers continue to fly off the shelves in all the markets quoted above too. Furthermore, doubling receiver sales from one small number to another small number is not that dramatic. Like Mark Twain said: “There are three kinds of lies; lies, damned lies and statistics.” It’s like the rookie batting 1000 after his first time at bat; it happens occasionally, it is really not that dramatic or remarkable.
Comparing new technology such as the iPad to middle aged technology such as IBOC is silly. The iPad has all sorts of neat features, interactive programs, applications, etc. IBOC is just a one way radio that does sound any better than the old style radios.
I was reading several very interesting IBOC related articles and posts today. First of all, if Tom Ray, engineer from WOR and strong proponent of AM HD Radio seems a little reticent lately, well, perhaps this explains a few things:
It is telling that one of the most vocal proponents of IBOC would publish an article such as this. It seems to be diametrically opposed to the latest press release from iBiquity insisting all is well, never fear, etc. Perhaps it is meant to spur things on, rally the troops as it were.
The second item I found very interesting, Paul Riismandel from Radio Survivor fools around with a Sony XDRF1 HD receiver. He posts a great deal of information about his experience. It is a good read. To summarize some of the points of this story:
It is difficult to receive HD radio signals in the Chicago Suburbs.
When FM HD radio is in use, it is difficult to tell the difference in sound quality between the analog and the IBOC programming
Secondary channels have low bit rates and are not suitable for listening to music
Finally, Radio World, again, states that after six months 86 FM stations have completed the allowed IBOC power upgrade. That information is from the NAB. I cannot find any official FCC information regarding this, I would like to know if any of those 86 stations are around here. By the way, 86 out of 1,524 stations represents 6 percent of existing IBOC stations have upgraded. That makes 0.9 percent of the total number of FM stations licensed to the US running -14dBc IBOC carriers.
I will allow the reader to draw his/her own conclusions.
Let’s just hope that this is more of iBiquity’s wishful thinking, which is often presented as actual important news being based in fact. By iBiquity.
Why does the CRTC need a plan B anyway? Is in not enough that Eureka 147 failed mainly due to lack of public interest? If it was something that was commercially viable, wouldn’t it have taken off on its own? Now they are thinking of ruining the FM broadcast band, which, in my experience in Canada, is working perfectly fine.
Who says “digital” is better? If anything, what has been discovered in this country is when it comes to HD radio, digital is worse. Thus far, HD radio has the following going for it:
Proprietary system with expensive licensing fees
Complicated infrastructure
Insufficient building penetration
Poor performance in mobile reception evironments
Lack of original programming
Adjacent channel interference
Poor receiver sales
Lack of general interest and/or knowledge by public
All of these things have been well documented. If you work for the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC) and are thinking about this, contact me. I’ll even invite you down for a drive around and you can experience HD radio, in all its glory, first hand.
I was listening to locally produced program “The Media Project” on Northeast Public Radio this afternoon when Alan S. Chartock began speaking about HD radio®. It was particularly interesting to me because it became very apparent that he really had no idea of what he was talking about. What is more interesting and the point of this post is that Dr. Chartock is the CEO of Northeast Public Radio and thus should have a thorough understanding of the technology he is promoting.
He began by saying that most broadcasters where rushing to install IBOC (HD radio®) equipment. According to the FCC.gov web site, there are currently 1,542 FM stations out of 9,630 total FM stations broadcasting in IBOC. That represents approximately sixteen percent, which is a rather low number. Further, many of those stations are National Public Radio member stations which received very generous grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (e.g. your tax dollars) to purchase and install the said digital radio equipment from the sole manufacture and licenser of IBOC radio in the US, Ibiquity. Incidentally, there are 292 out of 4,790 AM stations currently broadcasting in IBOC, or roughly six percent. Those numbers have been relatively static over the last several years. It could hardly be called a rush to install.
It is categorically wrong for public money to be used to subsidize a monopoly such as iBiquity, proprietary licensor of HD radio. Millions of dollars of funds from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have been used to promote the spread of HD radio by grants to local public radio stations for conversion to a substandard IBOC system, which not only fails to deliver on claims of superior quality but also interferes with signals from adjacent stations. Even FCC Commissioner Michael Copps admitted, “Everybody involved pretty much admitted from the outset that the digital radio initiative is all about giving the broadcast industry more avenues to make money rather than actually improving radio from the perspective of the listener.”
Secondly, Alan stated that there is no analog radio anymore, “It’s all digital.” Nothing could be further from the truth. I suspect that Dr. Chartock is simply ignorant of the technology in spite of his title as CEO. That, in a nutshell, is the problem with IBOC technology. No one in a position of authority seems to understand what it is all about. While the technical spec looks better for main channel IBOC vs. analog FM if one is considering total frequency response only. Unfortunately, to attain that 20 kHz spec, some very aggressive bit reduction is required to make the digital signal conform with the alloted bandwidth. A well designed and maintained analog FM station will sound as good as any IBOC signal out there. Add to that, the difficulty receiving the IBOC signal in mobile environments or lack of building penatration of the IBOC signal, and the digital carrier is far inferior to the analog stereo system that has been in use since 1961.
Most broadcasters see it as an opportunity for second program channel on the HD-2 carrier. While that is one advantage of the technology, doing so means a revenue sharing agreement with Ibiquity. If the main channels use aggressive bit reduction schemes, the second and third channel use bit reduction butchery. If the audio quality of Sirius Satellite radio sounded bad, this sounds worse. The quality of such secondary data streams is so low and I would think that organizations such as NPR and CPB, both of which pride them selves on the quality of their product would not want to degrade it thus.
Finally, IBOC (HD radio®) is not the same as HDTV. On the TV side of things the HD stands for “High Definition.” This notes an actual improvement to TV technology by increased picture size and screen definition. On the radio side of things the HD stands for nothing, it is merely two letters that Ibiquity chose to represent its IBOC system. The fact that the letters are “H” and “D” is a coincidence.
Rumor has it that iBiquity is going to release a software upgrade for the AM IBOC system they peddle. Allegedly it is going to improve the sound quality of the digital signal, allow the analog signal to increase it’s bandwidth to 10 kHz and provide data such as song titles. No word on whether they will be providing software upgrades to consumers for the many HD radioTM receivers out there.
I have been following a discussion on AM quality over the last few days. It seems many engineering types at least, acknowledge that analog AM can sound good, if not more natural that FM. The addition of IBOC hybrid mode on AM station has created more noise and further degraded the station’s main signal by reducing the bandwidth to less than 5 kHz.
Tonight I am listening to WWVA on 1170 kHz, and there is this horrific white noise/hash over top of the station. Same thing on 1190 kHz, all courstesy of WHAM 1180′s IBOC transmission. It is one thing to trash your own station, limiting the analog audio response to 5 kHz. It is quite another thing to trash the adjacent frequencies with noise making them unlistenable.
Here is a brief clip (recorded at 8:00 pm EDT, March 24, 2010):
Second clip, WWVA has faded out (recorded at 9:10 pm EDT, March 24, 2010)
The audio in these videos is adequate but not the best, still, it is pretty clear that there is a whole bunch of white noise on top of WWVA’s signal and on 1190 where no station is coming in. The only conclusion that I can draw is that WHAM is operating with their IBOC turned on. This was recorded at a location that is 197 miles from WHAM and 364 miles from WWVA. I have made several better recordings directly into the computer without the video frequency readout reference.
In 1990, the FCC mandated NRSC-2 (73.44) spectral mask on all AM stations, requiring them to put in brick wall filtering to limit the bandwidth to 10 kHz or less. They also require all AM station to do “equipment performance measurements” (73.1590) to verify that the stations are complying with FCC regulations. This was done because of excessive sideband splatter by AM broadcasters creating interference to adjacent channel stations. I agree in principle with the NRSC-2 standard, I think it serves a purpose. Why then, are stations allowed to interfere with other stations with IBOC signals? Even though Ibiquity has put up a spectral mask that complies with NRSC-2, it still creates interference. Isn’t this a double standard? A station in Pennsylvania gets fined $4,000.00 for operating past its sign off time (because operating after sign off might create harmful interference), yet, WHAM gets to generate noise all night and drowned out adjacent channel stations that are hundreds of miles away?
In the mean time, if the FCC inspector shows up at a station that has not made the required “equipment performance measurements” they will get a fine too.
Am I crazy, or is it hypocritical bull shit to fine one station for potential harmful interference, but then the FCC to ignores its own rules and allows another type interference? Hint: I am not crazy.
I have recorded this in .wav format and I am sending it to the FCC with an interference complaint letter. It is about time somebody made some noise about this noise. Apparently, there are many engineers who feel the same way. Will Ibiquity listen, or will they keep doing CPR on a corpse?
Since the FCC approved a ten fold increase in the radiated power of the digital carrier, a progress report on the digital radio rollout is in order. The FCC report and order (MM Docket No. 99-325) gives us some background:
An original goal of the developers of the hybrid FM IBOC DAB system was replication of FM analog coverage without adversely affecting either the host analog signal or adjacent channel analog FM operations. iBiquity and several independent parties conducted extensive field and laboratory tests. Based on the National Radio Systems Committee (“NRSC”) evaluation of those test results, iBiquity requested and the NRSC approved an FM Digital ERP of one percent of FM Analog ERP (20 decibels below carrier (-20 dBc)).
And (after paying gobs of license fees and installation costs):
Many FM stations promptly commenced hybrid FM IBOC operations. Despite the rigorous testing, it soon became apparent that hybrid FM IBOC digital coverage often did not replicate analog coverage, especially in mobile and indoor environments.
Therefore (Fox, here are the keys to the hen house, knock your self out):
Based on the results of the experimental operations with increased FM Digital ERP and other studies, on June 10, 2008, a group consisting of 18 radio group owners that operate over 1,200 commercial and noncommercial educational (“NCE”) FM stations and the four largest broadcast transmission equipment manufacturers, identifying themselves as “Joint Parties,” requested (the “Joint Parties Request”) that the Commission generally increase maximum permissible FM Digital ERP10 from one percent of a station’s authorized analog ERP (-20 dBc) (1% FM IBOC Power”) to a maximum of ten percent of a station’s authorized analog ERP (-10 dBc) (“10% FM IBOC Power”).
Based on (We find these hens are delicious!):
NPR concluded that at 1% FM IBOC Power, the mobile, indoor and portable digital coverage achieved by most FM stations would not replicate analog coverage, but that at 10% FM IBOC Power most FM stations could achieve digital mobile, portable and indoor coverage levels which either met or exceeded comparable analog coverage levels.
And (in spite of numerous concerns by the public and other broadcasters) Viola:
73.404 Interim Hybrid IBOC DAB Operation.
(a) The licensee of an AM or FM station, or the permittee of a new AM or FM station which has commenced program test operation pursuant to § 73.1620, may commence interim hybrid IBOC DAB operation with digital facilities which conform to the technical specifications specified for hybrid DAB operation in the First Report and Order in MM Docket No. 99-325, as revised in the Media Bureau’s subsequent Order in MM Docket No. 99-325. FM stations are permitted to operate with hybrid digital effective radiated power equal to one percent (-20 decibels below carrier (dBc)) of authorized analog effective radiated power and may operate with up to ten percent (-10 dBc) of authorized analog effective radiated power in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Media Bureau’s Order in MM Docket No 99-325. An AM or FM station may transmit IBOC signals during all hours for which the station is licensed to broadcast.
Notice how they stuck AM nighttime operation in there too. Now I get to hear IBOC signals over riding adjacent channel stations that used to come in clearly via skywave. One tends to wonder if this interference is not deliberate. Crush the small operators with interference, make their stations worthless, drive them out of business…
To help things along, iBiquity has offered to reduce their licensing fees to $5,000.00 (oops, its more like $10,500 – 12,500). These rules were put into effect on January 29, 2010. According to the FCC data base, there are 1524 FM stations and 292 AM stations transmitting IBOC. That breaks down to 15% of the FM stations and 6% of the AM stations. I will post an update if there is a sudden rush to install IBOC. Still a pretty low penetration for a 10-20 year old technology. It is likely these low numbers are the reason why both broadcast bands are still mostly listenable, at least from a technical perspective.
As the noise floor rises and the competing stations sink further and further into the mud, the audience will turn to non-static filled technologies to listen to their music and other programs.
NPR and iBiquity has come to an agreement to screw the rest of us out of radio spectrum with a four fold increase in HD RadioTM power levels. Here comes the interference.
But hey, it’s the future, that digital stuff, because it’s better. And if you are not on board, then you are a narrow minded backwards thinker not worthy of consideration.
The funny thing is, all of the bells and whistles and whiz bang digital do dads, Ipod song titles, and fancy acronyms do not add up to a nano fart. If there is nothing compelling listeners to buy the HD Radios,TM it is a dead technology. Here is a news flash, when it comes to radio listener ship,
IT’S THE PROGRAMMING, STUPID.
That has to be fixed, then the other stuff will start to make sense.
What do I know? I’m going to go have a cold beer and put my feet up.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
~1st amendment to the United States Constitution
Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
~Benjamin Franklin
...radio was discovered, and not invented, and that these frequencies and principles were always in existence long before man was aware of them. Therefore, no one owns them. They are there as free as sunlight, which is a higher frequency form of the same energy.
~Alan Weiner
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers
~Universal Declaration Of Human Rights, Article 19
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