WBBM-AM on UHF??

[SouthSideScannerGuy]

What's up with that??

I was doing a scan this morning from 450MHz to 470 MHz, and my scanner stopped on 450.1625. As I sat there and listened for a few minutes, I realized it was "Newsradio 780" WBBM-AM.

Dumb question time, but why am I hearing them on 450.1625? Some sort of "patch" to a high powered amp or something.

Thanks for any light you can shed for this dim bulb

SSSG

[ecps92]

Were they doing a REMOTE broadcast from somewhere?
Many of the UHF 450 / 455 Media Channels are used for IFB or ENG Purposes.

Interruptible feedback - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Electronic news-gathering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by SouthSideScannerGuy

What's up with that??

I was doing a scan this morning from 450MHz to 470 MHz, and my scanner stopped on 450.1625. As I sat there and listened for a few minutes, I realized it was "Newsradio 780" WBBM-AM.

Dumb question time, but why am I hearing them on 450.1625? Some sort of "patch" to a high powered amp or something.

Thanks for any light you can shed for this dim bulb

SSSG

[SouthSideScannerGuy]

Originally Posted by ecps92

Were they doing a REMOTE broadcast from somewhere?
Many of the UHF 450 / 455 Media Channels are used for IFB or ENG Purposes.

Interruptible feedback - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Electronic news-gathering - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As far as I know of, no. It sounded like any regular broadcasts they do throughout the day. I tuned my car radio to 780 and heard on it what I was hearing on my scanner, albeit with about a 2 second "delay" difference.

[N_Jay]

Could be a STL (Studio Transmitter Link)
Could be the outbound side of an ENG repeater providing "Cue Audio" to a field remote.

[W9NES]

This is not a STL Link.450.1625 would be in the right band for Newsmedia.If you scan the 450.0 to 450.999 search area you will find more freqs that are used in your area for NBC 5 WMAQ, CBS 2 WBBM, ABC 7 WLS, WGN CH 9, FOX 32, WFLD. Also radio stations do use these freqs for remotes and also they use them for traffic reports from the helicopters or Airplanes that are in the air.This happens everyday in the Metro Indianapolis/Marion County are during rush hour in the morning and I hear the Newsmedia using these everyday for this use.Your STL Studio Transmitter Links wuld be around 944Mhz.

[N_Jay]

Hey, its been a long time since I worked in Broadcast.

Weren't there some double width UHF channels that were used for STL (or maybe back-up STL) at one times?

[KC9NCF]

I'm not at all an expert at this, but what I have been brought to understand is that the UHF links to the AM transmitter. The UHF link serves the purposes stated above, and I'm wondering if W9CHI or someone else in the business could take a few to break this down for us? Please?

[kevino]

I believe that WBBM-AM's 450.1625 transmitter is always (or almost always) on and that, due to the delay in the stations's broadcast signal mentioned below, it provides a real-time program audio cue for reporters (traffic, news, etc.) filing live reports from the field.

In the past, WGN-AM has cued their traffic reporters by transmitting a short live program audio cue on the same freq (450.250) they use to file their reports.

Originally Posted by SouthSideScannerGuy

As far as I know of, no. It sounded like any regular broadcasts they do throughout the day. I tuned my car radio to 780 and heard on it what I was hearing on my scanner, albeit with about a 2 second "delay" difference.

[CFDmedia]

WBBM does indeed keep programming up on the UHF and its for cue purposes. The over the air AM signal is delayed so that it is in sync with the HD digital signal. This delay makes live newsremotes very difficult so they run predelay over the UHF and the reporter gets it off the air. If the remote is done over cellphone the cue is over cell phone air but if its done over a laptop link then its done using the FM cue.... I know what your thinking why not send the cue over the laptop?? Too much delay coupled with the lag time getting laptop audio back in... it would be too sloppy In the old days they ran the UHF cue because reporters could not get any AM signal downtown.

The Studio transmitter link is in theh 950 range and is digital with an analog backup. The digital is uncompressed and high quality but thereehr is some delay there as well.

[Don_Burke]

Those 950 STLs tend to be very directional.

We have two stations on the same channel and rely on the dishes to keep them from messing each other up.