Do you have an HD Radio?

[Rob]

Do any of you have an HD Radio and use it?

I have it in the car and at home.

I am a sports junkie at times and switch between 102.3 ESPN and 104.3's HD Channels. KKFN's HD-1 is just their regular signal (which is in stereo unlike their analog and a lot less distorted than their analog) and HD-2 which is KKZN 1600 the Zone.

I also check out the 80s/Retro channel on KTCL's HD-2. I wish more stations would use this technology as I still find myself flipping back to my satellite radio a lot of times.

Also, it takes a pretty strong signal for HD to work. So as you are driving, it cuts out regularly. AM HD Radio is even worse as for needing a very strong signal for the HD signal "to link", as my receivers call it.

[radiodude]

Do any of you have an HD Radio and use it?

I have it in the car and at home.

I am a sports junkie at times and switch between 102.3 ESPN and 104.3's HD Channels. KKFN's HD-1 is just their regular signal (which is in stereo unlike their analog and a lot less distorted than their analog) and HD-2 which is KKZN 1600 the Zone.

I also check out the 80s/Retro channel on KTCL's HD-2. I wish more stations would use this technology as I still find myself flipping back to my satellite radio a lot of times.

Also, it takes a pretty strong signal for HD to work. So as you are driving, it cuts out regularly. AM HD Radio is even worse as for needing a very strong signal for the HD signal "to link", as my receivers call it.

I am still baffled on why regular radio is still being sold in stores and while I don't ever see any HD radios being sold in stores? I thought this was suppose to take over regular radio and so far it hasn't done that?
Plus it makes me wonder...

Who is listening to those side channels? Anyone? They can't be streamed unfortunately. So who is listening? They need to stop selling regular radio in stores and start to put out HD radios in stores. Or HD radio well not make it.

[Rob]

I think manufacturers have to pay for licensing the technology and the public really isn't demanding it. So to keep costs low, they don't include it. I noticed Radio Shack has stopped carrying any HD radio's and some other places as well. So the peak of demand has maybe passed? :confused:

[DenverDiamondJack]

I always wondered why KOA never went to an HD dot channel situation. To a large extent the internet makes it unnecessary now, but the programming possibilities are sizable. Among them include radio broadcasts of every Rockies' spring training game (the one time of the year when most of us can actually be happy listening to baseball) ; same day full reruns of Rosen later in the afternoon; a full Coast to Coast rerun daily in the early morning hours; entry of other Limbaugh types into this market (Liddy and many others whom can read about at http://www.talkers.com/heavy-hundred/); a Zesbaugh daily four hour program which is being cried for by many GOP supporting women; development of the future replacement(s) for the quickly aging and fading Rosen; and other programming that has difficulty in getting enough airtime with all the other programming commitments KOA has. Heck, Michael Brown might even have to work more than one or two nights a week if there was an KOA 850.2 . With the inevitable eventual doom of KRFX as a classic rock station after Lewis and Wax hang it up or are finally run out of town in the next five years or so, maybe that is where and when these scenarios will eventuate --- at the future new 103.5 KOAF or KOAC or KKOA ....

[Rob]

AM stations can only do one channel of HD Radio since they are very limited by bandwidth. And they have to broadcast their main signal on there.

FM stations can have 3 HD channels per signal. The rule is, one of them has to be at least as good of quality of their analog signal. 3 HD channels really pushes their bandwidth to the edge where one of those channels usually ends up sounding like a very compressed mp3 file.

Clear Channel could put KOA on one of their FM signal HD channels if they wanted to. Or even create a new 24/7 news format I'm one. I'm kinda surprised they haven't put their AM signals on FM HD channels. It makes better sense than putting on some of these really obscure formats that really don't help their ratings.