[CW] FCC MM Rule Making 13-249 AM Broadcast

[Steve WD8DAS via CW]

David - 

While I *love* analog amplitude modulation, I can speak from personal experience that all-digital broadcasting using the iBiquity non-hybrid mode is a highly effective system.  My personal experimentation as well as involvement in the industry has shown me that the existing HD receivers know what to do with the all-digital signal and the range is excellent and the audio is high-fidelity.  I have long been a supporter of hybrid HD on both AM and FM bands, and have had it do well on my stations - with the exception of disappointing table-top and portable receiver availability.  

The receiver problem is a reflection of the poor market for any consumer radios, not just HD.  The makers of high-volume consumer electronics have nearly zero interest in building anything but the very cheapest radios.  And zero interesting in making higher-quality radio receivers of any kind, digital or analog.  These companies see very little demand for new radios - there are millions and millions of radios already in homes across the country.  Look at the radio selection in a your local Walmart, Target or BestBuy.  There might be one or two cheap analog radios for sale.  It is not surprising that the radios makers are not willing to introduce new models at higher prices.  The only exception to this trend are auto radios - and most of the new radios coming out now are actually getting better and include HD.  Huge numbers of car radios with HD capability are being sold right now - that offers some hope.

Given that the vast majority of AM stations have very few listeners, and are losing money and will go off the air if the owners see no path to future success, it is time to allow broadcasters to make the choice to give all-digital a try.  Niche formats often have listeners willing to work a bit to get a radio to receive their favorite kind of programming - we see this with people getting HD radios to hear the second and third channels of hybrid digital FM stations.  

An extra bonus - having some AM band stations go all-digital will actually reduce interference on the band, as it will eliminate some of the analog splatter and the hybrid carriers on second-adjacent channels  The digital transmitters focus the energy tightly around the center frequency, fully within the allocated channel.



Steve WD8DAS

sbjohnston at aol.com
http://www.wd8das.net/
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