MW Stations can go digital in the US

[ka3jjz]

The potential for doing great damage to the hobby of MW DXing is enormous - not to mention trying to compete with different digital formats...here's the article from a link on SWLing.com

FCC Approves Digital AM - RadioInsight

radioinsight.com

Have a box of Kleenex handy.....Mike

 

[WA8ZTZ]

Well, that sucks.

 

[JPSan]

I hear that police calls are going digital..........Well, that sucks.........Buy a new scanner.......SOLVED.. ( ain't the end of the world)
I hear that amateur radio is going digital...... Well, that sucks........ Buy a new radio to use....SOLVED..(ain't the end of the world)
I hear TV is going digital...................................Well, that sucks......... Buy a new TV set..............SOLVED... ( World still didn't end)
ETC, ETC, ETC...........................................

Back when I first got involved with amateur radio there was serious opposition to SSB and then to FM on 2 meters and look at it today.
Whether YOU like it or not as technology advances, their will always be the whiners and naysayers who will complain cause they can and need to hear themselves cry.
You can stay behind and try to live in the "good old days" complaining and crying and that ain't going to change it back to your liking.

Today times move fast.....you gotta move as fast to play and enjoy........ Life will go on. The hobby will move on because it will adapte, the evolution thing you know.

 

[jonwienke]

Digital is an excellent solution to the low-frequency bands, since some digital encoding schemes are specifically designed to keep a reasonably low BER in high-noise conditions. I won't miss the AM static.

 

[WA8ZTZ]

I hear that police calls are going digital..........Well, that sucks.........Buy a new scanner.......SOLVED.. ( ain't the end of the world)
I hear that amateur radio is going digital...... Well, that sucks........ Buy a new radio to use....SOLVED..(ain't the end of the world)
I hear TV is going digital...................................Well, that sucks......... Buy a new TV set..............SOLVED... ( World still didn't end)
ETC, ETC, ETC...........................................

Back when I first got involved with amateur radio there was serious opposition to SSB and then to FM on 2 meters and look at it today.
Whether YOU like it or not as technology advances, their will always be the whiners and naysayers who will complain cause they can and need to hear themselves cry.
You can stay behind and try to live in the "good old days" complaining and crying and that ain't going to change it back to your liking.

Today times move fast.....you gotta move as fast to play and enjoy........ Life will go on. The hobby will move on because it will adapte, the evolution thing you know.

It's not the same thing, not even close.
AM radio as it exists has the unique ability for long distance nighttime reception.
The all or nothing nature of digital will not allow reliable long distance nighttime reception.
AM radio's problem is more the lack of creative local programming than technical issues.

btw, was involved with FM before most hams even knew there was such a thing

 

[ridgescan]

There are zero stations in MW in my area that play any kind of music-it's all talk, sports, news or foreign. So like WA8ZTZ stated, when night comes, I have a choice of long-distance stations who play stuff I like from Modesto, Fresno, Idaho, and Utah.
Supposing these stations go digital-you guys saying this long distance thing will go away? Why?

 

[WA8ZTZ]

There are zero stations in MW in my area that play any kind of music-it's all talk, sports, news or foreign. So like WA8ZTZ stated, when night comes, I have a choice of long-distance stations who play stuff I like from Modesto, Fresno, Idaho, and Utah.
Supposing these stations go digital-you guys saying this long distance thing will go away? Why?

If the digital format is of the hybrid nature, both analog and digital are transmitted. The analog is still received as usual. The problem
is with the digital sidebands that may be wide enough to wipe out adjacent channels. For example, if a local station runs hybrid on 950, forget hearing anything on 940 or 960 other than a waterfall sounding roar.

With pure digital format, there is no analog component. The station can only be heard with a digital receiver. The situation is similar
to digital TV, all or nothing. Unlike a weak, snowy analog TV picture, a weak digital TV signal will go to pixels then "no signal".
Same thing will happen with digital radio. If the digital receiver cannot get a lock, you won't hear the station at all.

Either way, nighttime DX suffers.
So what, you may say. Well, if you like to listen to stations in other markets for sports events or news from those areas or
interesting or creative programming not available locally then nighttime DX is your ticket.
For example, the programming offered on CFZM Toronto such as Big Band or the country music found on WSM Nashville.
Nothing like getting breaking news straight from the source such as WWL New Orleans during Katrina.

 

[ridgescan]

If the digital format is of the hybrid nature, both analog and digital are transmitted. The analog is still received as usual. The problem
is with the digital sidebands that may be wide enough to wipe out adjacent channels. For example, if a local station runs hybrid on 950, forget hearing anything on 940 or 960 other than a waterfall sounding roar.

With pure digital format, there is no analog component. The station can only be heard with a digital receiver. The situation is similar
to digital TV, all or nothing. Unlike a weak, snowy analog TV picture, a weak digital TV signal will go to pixels then "no signal".
Same thing will happen with digital radio. If the digital receiver cannot get a lock, you won't hear the station at all.

Either way, nighttime DX suffers.
So what, you may say. Well, if you like to listen to stations in other markets for sports events or news from those areas or
interesting or creative programming not available locally then nighttime DX is your ticket.
For example, the programming offered on CFZM Toronto such as Big Band or the country music found on WSM Nashville.
Nothing like getting breaking news straight from the source such as WWL New Orleans during Katrina.

Bingo! on your last sentence. Here, I was monitoring KFI and KABC in Los Angeles during their fires getting real-time coverage I would not get up here.
Far as the sideswipes from digital, come to think of it I already get that here with a couple stations-I guess they already went hybrid too.

 

[Boombox]

The band will always be mostly analog. DXing won't suffer much. Right now, with zero IBOC HD AM stations in my region, there are channels that are unusable for DXing (about six total) because of local splatter masters. The new rules allow stations the all-digital option. I doubt most will take it. As some have noted on other forums, going digital involves more than just putting a digital signal into the transmitter. There are antenna issues -- not all directional systems are good for a digital signal. A lot of stations may balk for that reason alone.

 

[MTS2000des]

With the noise floor being what it is today on the MW band in the average home or business, it doesn't matter what carrier one is transmitting if -75dbm of hash exists from turd China electronics such as poorly filtered switching power supplies, LED lights, TVs, cheapo wireless APs/routers with poor shielding...will anyone really care?

AM is done. FM is not far behind. Nevermind the complete lack of compelling programming.

 

[JerryX]

Digital on MW is not a threat. There are millions of receivers for analog AM already, and no one is going to buy a new digital receiver to listen on the MW band. Just not gonna happen...

 

[Boombox]

With the noise floor being what it is today on the MW band in the average home or business, it doesn't matter what carrier one is transmitting if -75dbm of hash exists from turd China electronics such as poorly filtered switching power supplies, LED lights, TVs, cheapo wireless APs/routers with poor shielding...will anyone really care?

AM is done. FM is not far behind. Nevermind the complete lack of compelling programming.

I am a MW listener and find that both at home and at work I can hear not just local AM broadcasters, but a few DX stations, too, with just a smaller portable -- this is with various routers, switching power supplies, etc. still located in the proximity. I don't work in a steel encased building, however.

I know the noise levels from RFI are an issue, but they're not always as bad as cracked up to be. If a local 50KW station went all digital, I'm sure it would cut through whatever RFI even better than the analog signal. At least one wouldn't hear the whine or hash from such devices on certain channels.

This isn't to say that 50KW stations are going to go HD any time soon. I've already stated here that I think most remaining MW stations in the US will stay analog, for various reasons.

 

[majoco]

Who said anything about digital broadcasting in the AM BC band? Digital radio has been around for years in some countries and they still have the AM network. Read....

What is DAB, Digital Audio Broadcasting » Electronics Notes

What is DAB Digital Radio or Digital Audio Broadcasting: all the key facts figures and explanation of how it all works.

www.electronics-notes.com

 

[air-scan]

I won't miss the AM static.

Some Medium Wave DX'ers will. You can't get decent decodes with digital because it has some signal threshold for decoding. I am not saying it can't be done but it's going to make life harder for DX'ers. If you like to hear a broadcaster 80 miles away it may not decode if the signal isn't strong enough. Sure it sound okay on a analogue receiver doesn't mean it's strong enough to decode. Digital works best if you're listening to a local station.
Yes digital will probably provide low bit rate stereo quality I don't doubt that.

 

[jonwienke]

Sounds like a regurgitation of the claim that the range of public safety radios would decrease if they went digital. And that proved to not be the case. If the radio is set up properly, the threshold for getting digital decode isn't much different than what you need to pick an analog signal out of static.

 

[Boombox]

Some Medium Wave DX'ers will. You can't get decent decodes with digital because it has some signal threshold for decoding. I am not saying it can't be done but it's going to make life harder for DX'ers. If you like to hear a broadcaster 80 miles away it may not decode if the signal isn't strong enough. Sure it sound okay on a analogue receiver doesn't mean it's strong enough to decode. Digital works best if you're listening to a local station.
Yes digital will probably provide low bit rate stereo quality I don't doubt that.

I think you make a valid point. If the AM band somehow went all digital, the DX reception would be limited, because even an HD radio with an external loop antenna won't capture a DX HD station as well as it will capture a marginal analog signal. It would be more of a locals-only show.

It would definitely challenge the MW DX hobby if all MW signals were digital. But fortunately, that probably wouldn't be the case...

 

[w4amp]

Many Hi-Fi tuners sold now do not even have the AM broadcast band.

 

[n2nov]

Too bad we can't have any DRM on broadcast bands in the USA.

 

[Boombox]

Many Hi-Fi tuners sold now do not even have the AM broadcast band.

They still make and sell hi-fi tuners? I haven't seen one of those in a while. They've almost become as niche an item as SW receivers, AM radios, etc.

 

[typesix]

No great loss there. Almost 100 percent of the Hi-Fi tuners have poor AM sections anyway. Tuners can still be found, but you have to visit a purely stereo shop or online, a Best Buy will not have tuners, even in the Magnolia section. Better off finding a GE Super Radio.