WTMI-AM 1290

[PaulWalker]

Congratulations to Nicole Marie, Woody Tanger and John Ramsey for being part of the sign on of Connecticut's First AM HD/Digital IBOC Station.

It was wonderful talking to you on the phone Thursday afternoon Nicole, I appreciate your time. It was wonderful hearing you as part of the ceremonies this afternoon too. I was able to record it in Windows Media Format.

In the past IBOC has been referred to as "Inherently Bad Off Channel" but with Mr. Ramsey's reputation, I'm sure it's gotten alot better or he wouldnt have installed it. I hope it does wonders for your 490 Watt Day/11 Watt Night signal! (sometimes referred to as a peanutwhistle.. i worked at one, it was only 250 Watts)

Rock on WTMI!

[OperaTenor]

Hi Paul, welcome to the Pit!

[piqaboo]

Originally posted by Paul B. Walker, Jr.:
Rock on WTMI!

Just a little friendly ribbing, PBWJ:

[PaulWalker]

Ok, so that wasn't the best choice oif words.. LOL... Can you think of any else that would've fit?

[zlosin]

Originally posted by Paul B. Walker, Jr.:
Ok, so that wasn't the best choice oif words.. LOL... Can you think of any else that would've fit?

how about "Tutti all the way!"

[ai4i]

Originally posted by Paul B. Walker, Jr.:
In the past IBOC has been referred to as "Inherently Bad Off Channel"

Also IBAC, "In Band Adjacent Channel", which is why Canada's CRTC put up such a stink that our FCC only allows AM stations to run digital from dawn to dusk.

[barfle]

Pardon me for looking totally ignorant about something that it seems I should be on top of, but what is required to receive the new digital broadcast? Will you be able to tell the difference with a good quality AM radio?

I know about AM stereo, which is a project I'll be undertaking to modify my dear old Altec 724 once I get my electronics shop done, but I must admit I'm clueless about what the HD AM format involves.

I'm not afraid of technical terms - I've been an electronic engineer for thirty years.

[ai4i]

Originally posted by barfle:
Will you be able to tell the difference with a good quality AM radio?

Yes, you will.
As the station reduces their main channel audio frequency response to five kilohertz, so as not to interfer with the HD sidebands, you should notice a definite reduction in trebble response; in those missing high notes and overtones.
But, fear not. The cellos, tubas, and bassoons should not be affected.

<small>[ 01-21-2006, 05:35 PM: Message edited by: ai4i ]</small>

[barfle]

AM radio isn't the highest fi going. I've been aware of that since the early 1960s when FM started showing up in our house. I still remember the AM/FM tuner my dad had, that would pick up one FM station for one side of stereo, and one AM station for the other side. There was a jack labeled "FM MPX" on the back for when they got around to deciding on a single station stereo standard.

However, that doesn't mean that AM can't sound good, even with classical music. You would do better with a good strong signal, to be sure, and from what I know of WTMI, it's not strong across the street.

I did a bit of digging on the Internet since I posted that message, and it seems like HD reception is limited to those receivers with digital decoding added in. There doesn't seem to be a chip set I can add to my dear old analog AM tuner, so I will delay any decision I will make until I want it bad enough to spend money.

And when it comes to being on the trailing edge of technology, I still play records in my listening room, and some of those records are bakelite and spin at 78RPM.