Ohio HD Radio Observations

By Tom Lavery

Misc. Ohio: On a recent trip to Ohio near Canton, I was checking out the sounds I could pull in on my HD Radio I installed in my vehicle for such trips. I was somewhat surprised by how many Cleveland area HD signals I could pull in since I was about an hour or so away from the Rock 'N Roll City. Despite the very low power output of HD stations, I was able to listen to some very good HD2 channels like country outlet WGAR 99.5 HD2, where they put out a classic country signal. Another was Oldies WMJI "Majic 105.7" with their HD2 channel playing 50's & 60's oldies while the main signal plays more 60's - 80's. Kudos to them for giving listeners an option. Speaking of which is WNWV "107.3 The Wave", which is a very successful smooth jazz station. Their HD2 option is traditional jazz. For those who like their AM to sound like FM, I was also able to check out WTAM 1100. I wouldn't call the sound FM, but it's pretty close. While I definitely wouldn't recommend Nighttime HD for AM because of the HD signal dropouts due to various interference issues, daytime AM HD isn't too shabby. While those were very good, there were some that were not so good. A couple I found included WHOF 101.7 in Canton and WKDD 98.1 from Akron. Both stations had HD2 signals but both were silent. This is definitely not a good way to promote multiple streams of audio when there is no audio. Someone at the respective stations needs to monitor the signals & not simply assume that they are on. Let's hope that a proposed power spike for HD Radio takes place and increases coverage areas to the point where you are not losing HD2 or HD3 signals when driving.

Misc. Ohio | thirteen comments | Link To This Entry

Posted at February 16, 2008 at 12:08 pm by






Readers’ Forum

HD/IBOC jams our airways and is a ploy by the larger broadcasters to jam the smaller competition off the dial. Because of the low-power digital saddlebags, HD is full of dropouts. This DOA flawed technology is DOA:
http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com/
PocketRadio (URL) - February 16, 2008 at 2:04 pm

Tom, part of the reason you may have been able to get the Cleveland HD signals so well is because the towers for most of the stations are somewhat south of the actual city of Cleveland. A good car radio can pull most of the Cleveland signals well south of Canton before you get into more hilly terrain.
Todd - February 17, 2008 at 12:16 am

Why in the world do you allow PocketRadio, the poster boy for the HD haters, to push his blog every time HD gets mentioned here? (Or in the comments section of any other article about HD anywhere else on the web?)
Joe - February 17, 2008 at 12:37 am

Joe makes a good point. I just looked at PocketRadio’s other comments, and they’re pretty much identical.

Hey, PocketRadio, please play another tune next time. Otherwise we’re turning you off.

(Translation: Either contribute something relevant to the specific entry you’re commenting on, or your comments won’t be posted.)

And that goes for the rest of yinz, too. As Mrs. Slocombe would say, “I am unanimous in my decision.”
Jason Togyer - PBRTV Bottle-Washer - February 17, 2008 at 02:24 am

Good point Todd. I’m not as familiar with the Cleveland market as “Old Akronite” is at his Ohio Media blog, but it is interesting see & hear what else is out there besides my neck of the woods. The only time I read anything negative regarding HD Radio after posting an article is from “Pocket Radio” who probably gets a notice of any article regarding HD Radio & posts a generic reply. I’ll agree with Jason there, I am all for both positive & negative feedback from actual readers, not someone with an agenda to knock something just for the sake of knocking it. “Pocket Radio” can do that on his own blog far as I’m concerned.
Tom Lavery (URL) - February 17, 2008 at 09:47 am

There are certainly plenty of legitimate negatives about HD Radio, mostly on the AM side of the equation, where it’s no real exaggeration to say the system just plain doesn’t work after dark. (There are also plenty of positives, as those of us using FM HD multicasting to boost the reach of directionally-challenged AMs can attest!)

But as anyone who’s been reading the “dialogue” over on a certain national message-board site can attest, there’s really nothing useful added to the discussion by those on either side whose minds are already completely made up.

Thanks for the rational position on this, Jason and Tom!
Scott Fybush (URL) - February 17, 2008 at 11:23 am

So in other words because we repeat the truth on different message boards you people feel we are becoming repetitive and we will be banned because we disagree with this lead balloon of a technology which DOES jam adjacents of AM (even in the daytime as I can attest) and severely cuts the range of FM (on HD radios) which is a fact whether the HD parrots accept it or not. I believe this dialogue should be ongoing from BOTH sides as hardly anyone knows about iBlock anyway. What may seem boring and repetitive to radio people may be news to people who know nothing about it. Don’t you think they deserve to know both sides? This is a blog correct? Don’t blogs usually encourage people’s opinions whether they agree with the blogger or not? I do not think pocketradio is knocking it “just for the sake of knocking it” He’s knocking it for the same reason many people do, because it is a big scam, just that most of them are in broadcasting and fear for their jobs if they do, we have nothing to lose (except getting thrown off of supposed “free” blogs). And by the way, why does NPR (which I like and listen to) get a free ride when it comes to iBlock? I think it is a waste of the taxpayer’s and donor’s money, how many donors actually own one? I certainly know a lot of people who listen to NPR but don’t know one person who owns an iBlock radio.
bobyoung - February 17, 2008 at 4:37 pm

“Translation: Either contribute something relevant to the specific entry you’re commenting on, or your comments won’t be posted.”

Translation – either post something positive, or get lost. My comments, and blog, are right on the money with HD Radio. Glad that everyonew is aware of my blog (how could they not be), because only a handful are willing to speak out against this destructive technology.
PocketRadio - February 17, 2008 at 5:24 pm

So I guess that I can post something positive about the medium on the HD Radio Farce site? I decided to post your response because it looked like it wasn’t an automated reply like they have on this & other sites. Have something to say like bobyoung did & not just a link to your site every time someone sneezes “HD Radio.” Unfortunately, good radio jobs are already being eliminated by giants like Clear Channel & CBS Radio. I highly doubt that it’s because of HD Radio. It’s more likely because of the bottom line in order to save a buck and increase profits for the various broadcast giants.
Tom Lavery (URL) - February 18, 2008 at 06:16 am

It’s true, PocketRadio. We’re part of the vast HD Radio conspiracy.

I’m also the Lindbergh baby.
Jason Togyer - PBRTV Sergeant-at-Arms - February 18, 2008 at 09:35 am

Bob:

I’m pretty sure that the only one who pays the bills at PBRTV.com is Eric O’Brien, who funds this out of his pockets.

And I’m pretty sure that Eric, Tom and I are the only ones who contribute any labor.

So I’m not sure why you think you’re entitled to post anything you want here.

We intend to keep this civil, and we do encourage comments. But it’s not a free platform for people to promote their agendas or their own websites. You have plenty of other places to voice your opinions.

Thanks for understanding.
Jason Togyer - PBRTV Shore Patrol - February 18, 2008 at 09:43 am

OK then Eric, Jason, and Tom,

I appreciate your responses, but I have just one question: Why do you have a blog then if it is not meant as a free exchange of information and opinions? I also don’t believe that the layoffs at CC and CBS and the general malaise of radio are caused by IBOC, but I do believe that IBOC will hurt it even more. The big consolidations have all but ruined radio and they think HD is going to save it, haha! IF they tried local programming again, hiring good programmers etc. instead of using this abomination called HD they might not be laying off and firing people. I don’t believe giant corporations can run individual stations, the result is that they all sound the same and people get really sick of them. The big corporations don’t care about quality radio, they only care about sucking money out of it which unfortunately for them is backfiring in a big way. Consolidation is what is killing radio, not the sound quality which is not really improved by iBlock anyway especially when you have HD1 and HD2 running, MP3 quality sound is not exactly hifi to my ears. Most people don’t really notice a difference in sound unless it’s really bad, such as when the range is reduced which causes drop outs or they get co-channel interference, now THAT does irritate people and that’s exactly what iBlock does on both FM and AM. The cure is much worse than the disease.
bobyoung - February 18, 2008 at 1:41 pm

OK, Bob. Thanks. We’re now done here.
Sylvester P. Smythe - PBRTV Janitor - February 18, 2008 at 1:51 pm