WWJ 950 drops IBOC (?)

[Robert Grant]

I don't usually report when an AM station stops using it's IBOC, because it seems to happen quite often for a day or two (perhaps a sign that AM IBOC has some engineering problems at the transmitter end?).

However, WWJ (950kHz) Detroit's AM transmitter has been operating analog-only (day as well as night) for at least two weeks now.

WWJ is still available in digital, FM IBOC, that is, as they are carried on WXYT-FM 97.1-HD2.

Robert Grant, N8NU, Michigan.

[cd637299]

Concerning WWJ & others.....

This may be a silly Q, but I'm a silly person......Whether or not there is IBOC on AM, IF you have an HD radio & you are tuned in to an AM station's HD (not a sister FM's HD-2 relaying the AM), let's say there is either a thunderstorm (which generates crackle on AM) or electronics nearby (generating buzz), will AM's HD mute it out, or is there still the buzz/crackle on the HD when these events happen?

If the noise is still there, what's the point? AM stereo didn't save AM, and, if the noise is there, HD won't, either.

Already 2 of Miami's AM stations are being carried as HD 2's or 3's on the sister FM's.

If the question is only fidelity, then I say get a Superadio III & flip the switch to wideband!

As you can tell, I do not own an HD....I wanna be convinced.

Inquiring minds.

cd

[Mike-CT]

If I could actually hear a AM HD station on my HD radio I might be able to tell you, but I can't.

If the question is only fidelity, then I say get a Superadio III & flip the switch to wideband!

You got it, Chris.

As you can tell, I do not own an HD....I wanna be convinced.

I own one and you can't convince me.

The way I understand this, the effect of static crashes (from thunderstorms, for example) would be to kill the digital and force the radio back into analog mode. And analog AM is known for, you guessed it, static crashes in the summer. So then the question then becomes why even bother with it.

[cd637299]

Thanx for the info, Mike. Just as I figured..... :)

I know that the main lure of HD is the FM subchannels. But I've seen what's available.....as long as I have Internet radio, I'm content.

In south FL we apparently have 980 in Pompano Beach & 990 in Miami, about 40 miles apart....and BOTH have HD !! Splain that, FCC. :confused:

cd

[Robert Grant]

Please tell me what Pompano Beach 980 and Miami 990 due to each other's ANALOG AM reception.

Unless they are both REALLY directional away from each other, or the soil conductivity are REALLY bad (and, AFAIK, it's actually average), they must be murdering each other!

Rob

[cd637299]

Well Robert, all I can tell ya is that they must be hyper-directional...I cannot understand any other reason why the FCC permitted this.

Oh & 990 WMYM, for 5000 watts, has a pathetic signal as they *try* to pump out Hannah Montana music :) 2.5 miles from home on my car radio, a Cuban on 990 was all I heard. :(

cd

[KC5KBV]

My very limited experience with AM-IBOC is that storms nearby will kill the signal and revert back to analog. The only local station (65mi away) with AM-IBOC has a FM simulcast (analog only at present). The system's only saving grace is the "near-FM" sound quality, but it comes at the costs of QRM, interfering with adjacents, limited range, and dropping out with any electrical interference.

Nighttime AM-IBOC decoding is next to impossible, but we already know that ;)

[Robert Grant]

:mad:

This makes me wonder if somebody out there noticed my post.

After nearly a month of analog-only transmission, WWJ resumed IBOC, day and night, this happened sometime between 1615 EDt 3-17 and 0030 EDT 3-18.

Another bummer - Powerhouse CFCO-630 has flopped from oldies to country.

Rob

[cd637299]

I'm sorry if I possibly steered the thread OT.....I won't be able to hear WWJ here despite 50k.

I know that the FCC is allowing "regionals" to go up to 50k now, but aren't these stations still s'posed to protect the co-channels? Which way is WWJ's array beaming? Did any Canadians on 950 move to FM to facilitate this power increase?

BTW here in south FL, I *could* hear WJR still, if not for WEFL 760 which beams south from Tequesta.....Back in the 70s, a R Reloj station in Cuba was using 760, & WJR was iffy at best.

cd

[Robert Grant]

The old WWJ in Oak Park (about 10 miles NW of Downtown Detroit) was 5 kW omnidirectional by day (2 tower DA at night). The new WWJ (late 1998), about 25 miles SW of Downtown, is highly directional, and does not interfere with any Canadian stations.
One sharp daytime null protects the licensed contours of CKBB, Barrie, ON, and, as a result, the signal in some Eastern suburbs is only fair - even though CKBB hasn't broadcast on the AM band since 1984!

BTW, I think there is some kind of test being done in the area - about the same time WWJ went back to IBOC, WFDF 910 suddenly stopped