Matt_45 said:
Another basic question :lol:
What are the advantages to having comms using digital voice vs analog? I've tried looking at some web sites and stuff but they all seem to praise digital without offering any explanation as to the advantages. Through these forums i've kind of gotten that the ability to more easily encrypt comms is one advantage, anything else? MN is working on a statewide digital system, and i've seen that there are a few states w/ statewide systems that are migrating to digital. What benefits are they chasing after? Thanks for your help
Look at it from this aspect: If either signal is 100% it can be copied fine. If either signal is 75%, the digital signal can compensate for any losses and you still hear a pretty much perfect signal while the analog signal will have some hiss on it. That's the advantage.
However, when the signals drop to around 50%, you can still make out words (or at least know the guy is still talking) on the analog system while the digital signal falls to pieces and you hear nothing.
My percentages are relative, but you get the idea. Digital is either all or nothing, but the all can follow the signal into the noise to some degree. So, the digital signal can compensate for some losses and you won't hear any hiss on the signal. That's about the only advantage of a digital signal.
Oh, there is one more advantage. Since they cost more the dealer and manufacturer make much more money on the sale. That's the most likely reason there are as many digital signals as there are around.
Also, people see that CDs and DVDs are digital and have much better quality than analog recordings. So, they think that anything digital is inherrantly better. The only problem is that there is no data loss (compared to RF) when reading CDs and DVDs, so the comparison isn't valid for the RF world. Most people don't know that.
That said, there has generally been better audio engineering on digital signals compared to analog. I guess you could say that's another advantage. Analog COULD sound just as clear and crisp as a digital signal (provided both are 100% - no loss), but the engineering was never as good on analog signals. Some analog circuits really sound like crap - too tinny or too bassy. Digital seems to be more more faithful to the original audio source. (Fred sounds like Fred does in person)
Joe M.
