Saving AM radio?

[Force Commander]

http://gormanmediablog.blogspot.com/200 ... uency.html

[genlock]

There have been suggestions on this board for years to move the majority of the stations on the current am band to tv channels 5 and 6. There also have been suggestions that the am band be populated with clear-channel(not the company) stations that serve large areas via high power and low interference coverage. We have suggested digital transmission for the am band. We have suggested various technical and regulatory means for the transition to occur. Our suggestions would have the effect of hurting nobody and helping everybody. Those that are not too far gone to be helped, anyway.
Not a word. I have heard nothing from the chairman for the FCC, the head of the NAb or the President. Nothing.
I am disappointed. I might have a beer.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I am disappointed. I might have a beer.

I'll join you. First round is on me.

[AmpedNow]

This guy is living in a twilight zone if he thinks that old mono music will single-handedly save AM...and at the same time trash the idea of an expanded FM band and HD radio. This isn't 1958. Most people like their music in stereo with some high-end range.

I have some modified proposals and thoughts on this. I'm no engineer, so I'm not claiming it's doable.

First, forget about the idea of HD ever going away... For better or worse, the FCC has decided that it will be the digital standard in the U.S. There's also been too much invested in it to completely give up on. If iBiquity can ever get themselves to just give away the chips, this lack of radios problem will correct itself.

We also are not taking into account future HD technology breakthroughs that may curb or completely do away with the digital sideband interference, though current AM spacing will probably always have bandwidth issues.

Second, I don't agree with 100khz FM spacing. I say keep the current 200khz odd number spacing. If the expanded band goes down to 76mhz, there's still plenty of room there. Also, I can't imagine current HD technology on 100khz spacing... Interference issues would still be plenty.

I do like the idea of a sparsely populated AM band with only 50kw clears and maybe 10 and 25kw regionals in the lower band. That way, HD won't be as big an issue. It's also important to remember that in the event of a national emergency when modern communications go down, nighttime AM would once again prove its worth. Require all the clears to be part of a national EAS-type system.

On FM, part of the band could be set aside for LPFMs and translators, another part set for NOAA weather radio, and maybe another part for 100kw and higher (yes) stations. This would be useful in sparsely populated regions.

There are many possibilities here. They would take years to fully implement, but in the end, would be worth it for everyone.

Change is not always an enemy.

[Hoosier Daddy]

This guy is living in a twilight zone if he thinks that old mono music will single-handedly save AM...and at the same time trash the idea of an expanded FM band and HD radio. This isn't 1958. Most people like their music in stereo with some high-end range.

Agreed.

First, forget about the idea of HD ever going away... For better or worse, the FCC has decided that it will be the digital standard in the U.S. There's also been too much invested in it to completely give up on. If iBiquity can ever get themselves to just give away the chips, this lack of radios problem will correct itself.

Agreed. Get some radios out there. Don't try to make your money on the chips. Follow Microsoft's plan with Internet Explorer.

Second, I don't agree with 100khz FM spacing. I say keep the current 200khz odd number spacing. If the expanded band goes down to 76mhz, there's still plenty of room there. Also, I can't imagine current HD technology on 100khz spacing... Interference issues would still be plenty.

Agreed.

I do like the idea of a sparsely populated AM band with only 50kw clears and maybe 10 and 25kw regionals in the lower band. That way, HD won't be as big an issue. It's also important to remember that in the event of a national emergency when modern communications go down, nighttime AM would once again prove its worth. Require all the clears to be part of a national EAS-type system.

Absolutely. I envision some kind of refarmed band plan. Move the clears into the low end of the AM band, with higher powered regionals above 1000 kHz. Graveyard stations would be gone or placed above 1500 kHz. Although this would be controversial, I'd like to see 1600-1700 kHz made part of the Amateur service, with a special class of operation for hams to originate medium wave one-way broadcast operations. They could do internal frequency coordination (like they do with repeaters and beacons) and even time-share frequencies on a regional basis. I'm looking at technology and equipment development and yet another angle on offering local niche programming. With commercial interests primarily on the expanded FM band, this would open up MW again (first time since the 1920s) for some research and development.

On FM, part of the band could be set aside for LPFMs and translators, another part set for NOAA weather radio, and maybe another part for 100kw and higher (yes) stations. This would be useful in sparsely populated regions.

Not a bad idea. Especially the NOAA channel and the LPFM frequencies. Pffuque the translators.

[Cameron]

First, forget about the idea of HD ever going away...

Why not? The FCC hasn't mandated it as THE digital system. There's plenty of room for another FM system with the proper economic-backing to come from nowhere.

We also are not taking into account future HD technology breakthroughs that may curb or completely do away with the digital sideband interference, though current AM spacing will probably always have bandwidth issues.

...like FMExtra on FM. AM spacing has bandwidth issues in analog as well.

Second, I don't agree with 100khz FM spacing. I say keep the current 200khz odd number spacing. If the expanded band goes down to 76mhz, there's still plenty of room there. Also, I can't imagine current HD technology on 100khz spacing... Interference issues would still be plenty.

If the vacated television channels are the real estate, the entire bandwidth per-channel allocated could be digital.

On FM, part of the band could be set aside for LPFMs and translators, another part set for NOAA weather radio, and maybe another part for 100kw and higher (yes) stations. This would be useful in sparsely populated regions.

I saw a bandplan for a new digital band in the vacated television channels and it looked very similar to what you described (with the addition of a non-comm band and a couple of "homeland security" channels). The proposal was to offer it to AMs first with the agreement they go dark when they get the new digtial frequency. This band would be mandated in AM/FM receivers by the FCC.

There are many possibilities here. They would take years to fully implement, but in the end, would be worth it for everyone.

Well, hell just the addition of revenue attached to application fees and some nice, fat, job-security for the FCC pencil-pushers should be enough to get things rolling.

[Larkin Ocho Cinco]

This is only my opinion, but I just can't see a long term future for the AM band. What does it offer that can't be on FM these days? Not sports, not even talk radio. Quite a few cities like Dayton, Ohio have their talk station on FM now. Detroit has all of its Pro teams but one on the FM band too. Music? Really? Oldies are on FM of course, and some of the older stuff can be heard on Satrad. The other thing AM was good for when I was a kid and younger adult was throwing out a signal from a city a long distance so you could hear it in another state. But so what these days? The internet lets me listen to stations from around the world, and hear any game I want, and frankly, games can be heard on the internet as well. Sorry, folks, but I can't see AM surviving once those who grew up with it have passed on. It may take awhile, but I think it slowly dies off.

[AmpedNow]

Presumably, AM-HD was supposed to reverse this trend. But there are three fundamental problems:

1. AM-HD, esp at night, is having adverse effects on the band as a whole. People with analog radios don't know what to think...

BTW, it sounds just as shitty on an HD radio. The HD signal must be strong to decode, and it's unreliable on skywave since the signal strength constantly varies.

2. Most people under 40 never turn on AM. And there's no guarantee that they ever will, even with an HD radio.

3. There are still very few HD radios out there. It's become pretty clear that iBiquity is going to have to let those chips go for free to get this thing off the ground.

As I said, nighttime AM would prove its true worth in a true national emergency. If entire power grids are down statewide, nighttime AM from elsewhere may be the only source of real-time info.

It is time for a major restructuring, though.