Category Archives: Broadcasters

All-digital AM HD: WWFD’s experiment is attracting attention

(Source: InsideRadio via Ulis K3LU)

All-Digital AM Grabs Automakers’ Interest.

The fate of AM radio in the car dashboard may pass through Frederick, MD. That’s where the latest experiment on an all-digital AM signal is taking place, on Hubbard Radio’s adult alternative “The Gamut” WWFD (820). The project, in conjunction with digital radio developer Xperi and the National Association of Broadcasters’ PILOT program, is already generating interest from carmakers in the U.S and around the world.

The Federal Communications Commission in July approved a proposal to allow WWFD to turn off its analog signal for the next year while remaining an all-digital operation. The aim is to use the real-world environment to conduct experiments designed to improve the all-digital AM service.

WWFD has 4,300-watts day (non-directional) and 430-watts night (directional) and the company proposes to operate with roughly the same output when it goes digital-only, 24-hours a day. Dave Kolesar, Hubbard’s senior engineer overseeing the project, said it’s an ideal station to use for a test case since it’s non-directional by day and directional at night.[…]

The switch has already been flipped and Xperi senior manager of broadcast technologies Mike Raide said preliminary results are encouraging. “We haven’t had any problems with OEM receivers,” he said, noting he drove 70 miles from the transmitter site and still picked up WWFD without any problem. In fact, one DX listener in the Pittsburgh area, roughly 300 miles away, said they were able to hear the station during the daytime. “That’s a testament to how robust all-digital is,” Raide said.[…]

“At a time when we’re all hearing rumors about car manufacturers cutting AM from their factory offerings, something like this could come along and show the auto manufacturers that AM still matters and AM has a digital solution as well,” Kolesar said.[…]

Click here to view the full article at InsideRadio.

In August, I received a strong lock on WWFD in neighboring West Virginia via my car’s built-in HD receiver. The next day, I made this short video of my reception on the Sangean HDR-14 (read review here) in neighboring Germantown, Maryland:

I found that WWFD covered the DC metro area quite well.

Post readers: Do you believe, as this article implies, that AM HD could revitalize the band?

All India Radio kicks off 80th anniversary today

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(Source: India.com)

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) On October 1, 1939, the All India Radio made its first broadcast for foreign listeners — a Pashto service started by the then British rulers to counter the Nazi Germany propaganda during World War II.

The national radio broadcaster has decided that the 80th anniversary of the historic event will be marked by year-long celebrations beginning this week right up till October 1 next year.

The external services of the All India Radio (AIR), though began with the aim of serving the propaganda of the British colonialists, have now transformed into the “voice of India” at the world stage, officials said.

“Last year, the decision was taken that October 1 will be observed as External Broadcasting Day and Monday will be the first such occasion. All Indian missions abroad will observe the External Broadcasting Day,” Amlanjyoti Mazumdar, Head External Services Division, AIR, told PTI.

“The missions are going to circulate the material that we have sent them to sensitise the listeners in their respective countries about AIR’s external services,” he said.[…]

Click here to read the full article at India.com.

Update: Photos of WBCQ station construction

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Lee Reynolds, who shares these images and notes after a recent visit to WBCQ in Monticello, Maine:

Looks as if the basic antenna construction is all done up there now.

Thank you, Lee. Wow–that is an amazing antenna! I can only image what the foundation of that tower would entail! Thank you for the updates!

Click here to see Lee’s previous photos.

Hurricane Florence’s toll on radio stations and cell services

Slow Radio via BBC Radio 3

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Described as “an antidote to today’s frenzied world”, the BBC has launched a new radio program with 30-minute recordings of “the sounds of birds, mountain climbing, monks chatting as you go about your day.”

With the popularity of Slow Television and ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) I imagine Slow Radio will be quite popular.

Of course, Slow Radio can be heard on Radio 3, via the BBC iPlayer and as a podcast. The BBC iPlayer is geo-blocked outside the UK, but the podcast is available albeit with some advertising.

Click here for the Slow Radio homepage on the BBC.

Marketplace: “Time may be up for timekeeping radio stations”

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Photo taken in 2014 of the sign above WWV’s primary 10 MHz transmitter.

(Source: Marketplace via Richard Cuff)

The Trump administration wants to shut down two shortwave radio stations that broadcast time signals from the nation’s master clock.

The administration’s budget proposal would eliminate nearly $27 million in funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for the two stations. WWV, based in Fort Collins, Colorado, has been transmitting one rock-steady pulse per second for more than 80 years. Its sister station, Hawaii’s WWVH, has been extending the time signal across the Pacific for nearly 70 years. WWV is also the world’s longest continuously-broadcasting radio station. (NIST doesn’t stream the stations online because signals are often delayed as they stream over the internet. But you can hear the stations by calling (303) 499-7111 for WWV or (808) 335-4363 for WWVH . There are also online recordings of the stations’ gentle announcements.)[…]

Click here to read the full story and listen to the program audio.

If you feel strongly about keeping the atomic clock signals on the air, I urge you to contact your local representatives,and sign this White House petition.

The BBC World Service has a new theme

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(Source: The Guardian)

For 70 years, far-flung listeners knew they had found the BBC on their radio dial when they heard the jaunty notes of the Irish jig Lillibulero. Its brassy, old-fashioned sound spoke of men in dinner jackets and vintage radio microphones, and there was a minor public outcry when it was formally dropped more than a decade ago.

Since then the World Service, which has an audience of 79 million, has used a musical motif which, according to controller Mary Hockaday “changed every now and then in rather an ad hoc way”.

But from tomorrow morning, the English-language station will have a new jingle, letting listeners across the world know unquestionably that London is calling. The signature tune is a nod to the station’s long traditions, with even a beat or two of the BBC’s famous pips to send a message about values in an age of “fake news”.[…]

Click here to read the full story at The Guardian.