Got HD? HD Radio that is...
Pittsburgh:For what it's worth, and sometimes we're not sure it's worth much, KDKA (1020) now broadcasts on FM...if you have HD Radio. Sister stations WZPT (100.7) and WDSY (107.9) air KDKA's content on their HD3 channels. Neither are available online. One report we received from an HD Radio owner said, "It is now a lot more enjoyable to listen to their station, especially at night." Some wonder if and or when WZPT's main signal would become "KDKA-FM". Somehow we don't think that will happen anytime soon.
Meanwhile, how many people have HD receivers?
The 50,000 blow torch has had some signal problems over the last year or so. Some blame the IBOC used on sister station WBZ (1030) from Boston. We also understand that the station was at reduced power for a time for repairs.
Readers’ Forum
I wish that AM stations would turn off their IBOC signal at night. I’d especially like to see WBZ turn it off, as it interfers with KDKA. Where I now live, I used to be able to get KDKA well at night, but WBZ’s IBOC signal is so strong that all I get is “digital static” now. It’s rare that KDKA is strong enough to be heard over the IBOC signal. HD radio sounds good on paper, and may actually sound good on a radio, but it causes too much interference with other analog stations.
Dave - November 19, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I wonder what’s been broken….............aside from the IBOC fiasco in general?
RJ
RJ Kanary - November 19, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I used to be able to receive KDKA in Crawford County just fine at any time of the day, but around two years ago, the station started fading in the evening, starting around the 5:00pm hour and slipping into pure noise within an hour or two, that makes it unlistenable at night.
As for the HD radio thing . . .I don’t have one, so it means nothing to me.
Troy - November 20, 2008 at 07:57 am
Yes I do have an HD Radio and I cannot say that I disagree with the flaws of the technology. Nighttime AM HD is a nightmare and should be eliminated. On FM, the technology may be OK if you’re in or near a major city like Pittsburgh but outside of that, you’ll experience constant HD signal dropouts on either band. HD Radio is definitely no competition for Sirius XM. Eric, KDKA already streams online on their own website so I guess that there would be no need to be on the other stations sites but could mention that KDKA is available on an HD Radio at 100.7-3 or 107.9-3.
Tom Lavery (URL) - November 20, 2008 at 09:23 am
Troy, have you noticed this fading just as Autumn gets into full swing ? As the days get shorter and the nights longer groundwave cancellation on the MW band gets to be a real issue.
For instance, I’m about half way between Butler and Pittsburgh. In the early morning hours until about the end of February, 1020 is nearly unreadable here.In addition, the .25kW Voice of Butler County, 680 WISR is also nearly unreadable especially while still on their massive nightime output of 50 W.
Makes listening to the School Closings list a challenge. :)
RJ Kanary - November 20, 2008 at 10:24 am
Nope . . . it happens all year round . . . this only started about 2 years ago . . . before that I don’t remember a problem at night.
Troy - November 20, 2008 at 11:05 am
I still say KDKA signal problems all started with it’s new tower. As soon as they put up the new stick, KDKA could not be recieved at all in parts of the country that used to get it at night. Now that could by design and maybe management doesn’t care about DX night time coverage. However, the 50,000 watts must be warming some earth or something because in Moon Township the signal now has dropouts and nulls that never occured before the tower change. Add to this the IBOC from WBZ on a cold winters night and KDKA has the perfomance of a 5kw signal. It’s a real shame.
Remember that all radio will eventually go HD just like TV. When that happens, IBOC at night shouldn’t be a problem. Shouldn’t it????
Jeff N3EVN - November 20, 2008 at 12:27 pm
As I understand it,(And that in and of itself is scary.) the tower that was put down was a sectionalized or Franklin radiator.The present one has a web of ground radials buried several inches below the surface of the soil.
I believe that takes the present tower out of that design category. This mimics the AUX tower that was constructed sveral years previous to this project. [The Aux tower’s radials were not too well covered, and many were hastily removed by mowing equipment.:( The new Aux replaced the graceful 300 ohm open feedline dipole that was apparently since the big move from Saxonburg in the late thirties.]
Groundwave cancellation was an issue at the Saxonburg site as well.This prompted several antenna design experiments. Those didn’t turn out as expected, so the move to Allison Park was the next step to try to improve things in the City.
Nice to see a brass pounder chiming in, Jeff.
RJ
RJ Kanary - November 20, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Nope radio won’t have a mandatory switch to IBOC. The TVs are switching because of government mandate to clear their frequencies for “public safety” use and to sell to any bidders which still have money.
Radio stations can continue analog as long as they wish, or voluntarily switch to a digital format.
There’s another transmission system used in Europe called – I think – DRAM. It is supposedly superior to IBOC.
Frank - November 20, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I live in Moon Township too and noticed the same thing, when they switched to the new tower in 1994. I don’t think all radio will go HD like TV, there will always be a need for something “low-tech” for emergency use, but if there is to be HD radio, keep it on FM. I know Europe did plan to go to all digital radio but they’ve backed away from it, at least keeping analogue FM and a few AM and longwaves around. I like to AM DX at night, but with the IBOC signal, KDKA occupies up to 20 kilocycles below and above their analogue signal. It “walks over” WBZ on 1030 and CFRB on 1010. I’ve noticed this on every set I use from my 1953 Philco 5 tube model, to my 1965 Magnanox 8-transistor radio to even the radio in my mother’s Hyundai.
I do like Kevin Miller and Dennis Miller on KDKA-AM but IMHO, “they’ve jumped the shark.” BTW, I think a few years ago, KDKA was running 10,000 watts for a little while until they were able to fix the transmitter for a full 50,000, but I’m not sure.
BTW, Jeff, I’m a ham too, KA3WRW, maybe we can QSO over the 147.090 or 146.730 repeaters sometime.
Charles D. Mandus - November 20, 2008 at 9:36 pm
I am completely disgusted with KDKA & have given up as a listener. The combination of drivetime ground/skywave cancellation, WBZ IBOC (the worst offender), and the general rise if the noise floor when driving have made consistent listening to our grand old blowtorch impossible on my commute between Waynesburg and Morgantown, WV. I could live with the cancellation, but the IBOC racket is overwhelming during much of drivetime. As more AM broadcasters migrate their audio to a local HD-2 or HD-3, they can abandon their AM sites entirely. This is how AM radio ends, not with a bang but a digital whimper. From a DX standpoint, it’s a good thing: with many of the USA AMs going dark over the next few years — either migrated to FM in some form or financially deceased — the band will be more open to exciting foreign DX.
Fred Schroyer - November 28, 2008 at 4:46 pm