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Post by thelegacy on Mar 9, 2019 0:14:42 GMT
A Very reputable Radio Information source has predicted what I've been saying for quite some Time. AM is a Dead Horse there is No saving it. Expand FMThere should have been a second part to this and that is to set up AM as we know it from 1620-1700 for general User Broadcasting Service (Hobby Broadcasting) and let the user have 10 Watts. The service could be useful in rural areas and or allow schools to easily set up a Radio Station at little cost. The way I see it AM is only good for one of 3 things: 1. Selling Houses, parks and recreation stations, museum information, tourist information ect. 2. Travelers Information (hazard information, Weather Information. 3. Hobby Broadcasting, Dxing, entertaining niche genres of music and nostalgia Radio. And finally if you don't believe what I say you must read this: radioink.com/2019/03/07/i-repeat-am-radio-is-dead/?fbclid=IwAR3mClcUcm0y2f5_UVgRYJ7qeYe3nKSiT3YODqtAdemk9VN9eo7YJ1OMcgw
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Post by mark on Mar 9, 2019 0:51:31 GMT
Expand FM yes but KEEP IT ANALOG!
This hobby will be done if it is mandated digital. I've explained this in past posts. Part 15 depends on an analog band AM and FM(Canada)
The writer of the article isn't considering hobby radio such as part 15.
Also going digital will limit range as with analog as you get farther from the station you still get it just with a little more background noise or with FM perfect till the signal is smaller than the receiver will hear it but with digital you can only receive the audio with a very strong signal as with a week signal it breaks up as certain bit's of info are lost. With video it looks like a messy jig saw puzzle. ALL stations would have a largely reduced coverage.
This in addition to the fact that our hobby will be DEAD! Digital doesn't work like analog with frequencies and "unoccupied space" to transmit. Besides there will never be a digital transmitter you could buy.
Legacy, you should be fighting tooth and nail to preserve ANALOG!! Mandating digital would mean no album rock for Deltaville.
And that station owner will have his coverage much reduced if what he is saying comes to be.
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Post by thelegacy on Mar 9, 2019 2:15:40 GMT
I'll have to leave a comment about this. Digital will not work. I don't agree with that part of the article. We need to at least save analog even if you had to use Narrow Band Analog.
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Post by End80 on Mar 9, 2019 3:12:36 GMT
Analog AM is not dead and isn't going anywhere. It doesn't matter if popularity is less (I still think it's plenty popular due to the programming), AM will remain relevant, AM radios will remain on the market, and also in cars. Modern methods are too dependent on other modern technologies, so analog AM is essentially required to be maintained as relevant for it's self sufficient capability and dependability which other mediums don't posses. Here's a recent article which maintains that AM is crucial: www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/tis-is-a-stalwart-of-our-radio-landscape . I could post many more.
If nothing else, TIS is AM radios protector. Homeland Security makes sure of that.
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Post by thelegacy on Mar 9, 2019 6:04:11 GMT
I love that article thanks for posting it.
The Travelers Information Station on 1680 was not very far from where my stepmom used to live in Gloucester Virginia. It had a very nice sound to it and I can pick it up a good five miles in each Direction. It would be a shame to see that station go off the air because it does provide some very valuable information.
Also they comment about the Mackinac Island station in Michigan I actually picked that one up when we were visiting Mackinac Island before. It talks about the bridge and even gives a little history about the bridge as well the sound quality of that station was crap but it did serve a purpose and you can still hear the messages.
I'm glad that finally people are seeing the value of The Travelers information stations maybe that would be the one reason that am radios would stay in the cars and at least if the band thins out at least there will always be a few stations to listen to. I got a big laugh when I heard about the pirate that was complaining he was on 1620 and The Travelers Information Station was on 1630. Still the interference was minimal to the pirate that tells you that these stations don't cause too much interference. AM radio is pretty good for that as opposed to FM.
If anyting AM radio will become less of a prophet radio but I don't think it should die out completely either because it does have good use in cases where FM can't reach.
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Post by mark on Mar 9, 2019 6:07:20 GMT
I have asked about this in the recent past(Industry Canada and the FCC) and was told no plans are in the works for this and a system already in place is working along side the analog bands.
But if this were to be it would happen after my lifetime. First there would be a long transition time as no one has digital radios and millions of regular radios are in use and are being made and sold. the only digital(DAB) radios are being made for the UK markets.
The transition time would be 10-12 years maybe, longer then with TV as you could still keep your current TV and get an adaptor to convert back to analog which you can't do with a radio. That's after the decision to do this and it's not in the works or planning stages yet.
There would be resistance to this as terrestrial radio would suffer greatly reduced coverage and owners wouldn't like this. With TV the majority are on cable and the ones who don't want to pay for cable can put up highly efficient antennas with amplification for over the air TV at a decent distance.
But definitely the FM band should be expanded to 76-108 MHZ as it's just sitting empty now and radios are made now that can receive that and easy enough for new ones to get the expanded band.
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Post by Boomer on Mar 9, 2019 9:17:53 GMT
Good articles, and it shows how many different perspectives there can be about the same thing.
Radio's death was predicted as far back as 1950, when TV was gaining popularity as the hottest new entertainment tech. People sat in their parlors in the evening with large console radios to listen to serials, dramas and quiz shows, and now all that was moving to the new television, along with the stars from radio.
Radio had to shift to news, talk radio, and especially that new rock and roll for teen-age listeners, and made great fortunes for decades afterward with that kind of programming, due to car radios, pocket transistor radios, headphone radios, boomboxes, all the things that young people could afford to hear 'their' programming.
FM was supposed to kill AM radio, and AM went to topical talk, religion and sports mostly, at least where I live.
Really, I don't know what the numbers in AM listening look like right now, but it's still there, just with every other entertainment available, it's a smaller slice of the pie. As of right now, the people are betting the future is on the net, but even now many podcasters and streamers are lucky to get a few listeners to their shows, everything is being spread so thin.
The problems I see are homes, where you have the PC, tablet, smart speakers, and the TV is so dominant for video entertainment, all you can watch and listen to. Mobile phones have FM if they have radio at all, one thing that the translators are helping with.
Who knows, AM radio might get some popularity back, like vinyl records and cassettes as something single purpose and appealing because it's so simple and direct. Right now, even younger people are listening to LP records all the way through, side 1 and 2, as a way to really hear the music you've bought and experience it, without the distractions from a browser or app, or being part of the singles on a playlist mentality.
I'm not buying the digital pill that the guy is selling there either, not yet, I'm determined to like analog and AM stereo, I think it suits the band fine, and digital is alien technology on the AM band. I've heard the demos of HD AM radio, but I haven't been impressed yet, the bitrate is just too low, the audio a shadow of itself. You can find some demos on video sites.
On the article about TIS stations, I like that slick white antenna mast that's shown on a concrete pad by a roadside. It looks like it has capacitance hat radials, something that's been talked about on the forums that you could add to your Part-15 antenna. The loop on the top, I'm not sure if that's for more capacitance, or to reduce corona discharge at the antenna's tip, due to the high voltage.
Boomer
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Post by End80 on Mar 9, 2019 13:01:21 GMT
I've got a few articles I saved from the 1970s where the NAB was making a big fuss over the "new" cassette tape deck recorders that were hitting the market, they claimed it was going to kill radio because now anyone could produce their own "personal radio stations" to play at home whenever they want! I'll dig them up and post a couple later. What a hoot!
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w9lwa
New Member
Posts: 43
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Post by w9lwa on Apr 21, 2019 21:49:01 GMT
Well, I've been working in radio in one capacity or another since I was 15 in 1967 so I certainly hope the industry survives. I remember seeing data from the Cumulus and iHeart bankruptcies and the company values divided by the number of stations gave an average value of something like $139,000 each for Cumulus and $157,000 for iHeart. Not exactly the golden age of radio.
I still enjoy listening to radio - and AM radio at that. There's something interesting about hearing whats going on in Chicago, Detroit, Toronto or Nashville from a local perspective. Unfortunately, there are a number of AM stations around here that have gone silent. This includes a local directional AM where I worked in high school and was a big operation in it's day. I think it's all still there and could be bought for a song. I've thought about it but imagine it could only be a hobby. None of a string of starry-eyed owners could make any money there, so it's unlikely I would, either. Even so, the real roadblock to me is that I don't want to mess with the three-tower array. If it were a one tower operation, I'd probably already be losing money trying to keep it on the air.
Putting one of these old stations back on the air would be a lot of fun. I don't know that I could use much of the existing equipment. I think they were still using the original GE transmitter which was a physically huge 500 watt apparatus that was literally about the size of an Econoline Van.
What does any of this have to do with purpose of these forums? Approximately nothing, but thanks for reading, anyway...
John
W9LWA
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w9lwa
New Member
Posts: 43
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Post by w9lwa on Apr 21, 2019 23:34:49 GMT
A Very reputable Radio Information source has predicted what I've been saying for quite some Time. AM is a Dead Horse there is No saving it. Expand FMThere should have been a second part to this and that is to set up AM as we know it from 1620-1700 for general User Broadcasting Service (Hobby Broadcasting) and let the user have 10 Watts. That would have been a good idea for 1620 - 1700. I think the only station around here on those frequencies was on 1620 in South Bend, Indiana about 100 miles NNW of here. It's already been off the air for quite a while. I don't think we could have done any worse with the frequency... Thanks for a good post. John W9LWA |
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