Ken, I guess it was me that brought up the KOKE AM 1600 issue with voice over IP, quality, dead air, etc. I however did not mention anything about programming content. Somebody else did that.
It has been a good long while since I worked in a AM station as a broadcast engineer (1st FCC licensee here), but I always recall striving for broadcasting excellence regardless of content. On more than one occasion I was under that mixer board looking for a source of an intermittant, or 60 hz hum source when the disk jockey was saying things that I did not agree with, or was playing music that made me want to vomit. Still, I set the board to achieve full modulation, with crystal clear audio. It was in that spirit I brought up KOKE AM 1600 in Austin since this station stands out in a way that it is unlistenable due to dead air, cut-outs (voip), over modulation, etc. Regards, Jim WD5JKO --- Ken Zuercher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Sorry I just got around to reading this for a reply. > The prime cause of wierdness in programming and > quality is that there is rarely anyone minding the > store at Commercial stations, especially AM. The > stations are being run by computers, Usually windows > machines that are riddled with bugs. The engineers > are > like me, a contractor that isn't on staff and only > called in ocassionally. Thing happen to the systems > and you get dead air, multiple sources on the > air,etc. > I also think that political commentary doesn't > belong > on this or any other ham radio list. Considering > that > 90% of the AM talkers are of the right wing variety, > comments about Air America should be best kept to > one > self. Not all of us think alike and that's a very > good > thing. If we did, we all would have only rice box > rigs. > Ken KC8QO > > --- VJB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > The FCC is allowing the quality of AM signals to > > deteriorate, but it's been over a very long period > > of > > time. > > > > First there was the neglect of receiver standards > > which could have forced car radio and home tuner > > manufactuers to comply with minimum specs on > > selectivity and audio fidelity. Many industry > > observers feel this could have been established > > during > > the "AM Stereo" controversy. > > > > Then, after failing to do that, the FCC allowed > the > > industry to propose and implement a 9 kHz > > transmitted > > bandwidth standard, ostensibly to minimize > adjacent > > channel interference. > > > > In the time since digital decoding and encoding > > became > > a successor to the (sometimes) equalized metallic > > pair > > between studio and transmitter, there has not been > > enough industry interest at making sure digital > > artifacts are held to a minimum > > > > Lately, the industry jumped on the "digital" > > bandwagon > > that rolled through television then FM, to > > voluntarily > > try to implement In-Band, On-Channel digital > service > > on contemporary AM frequencies. > > > > The side effects of this system spread > interference > > well past 15 to 20 Kc from center frequency, as a > > function of trying to match (not beat) the kind of > > analog audio quality our parents remember when > they > > were tuned to AM on the old wooden floor console > > that > > served as the Home Entertainment Center in those > > pre-TV days. > > > > Paul/VJB > > > > > > __________________________________________________ > > Do You Yahoo!? > > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > > protection around > > http://mail.yahoo.com > > > ______________________________________________________________ > > AMRadio mailing list > > Home: > > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html > > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > AMfone Website: http://www.amfone.net > > AM List Admin: Brian Sherrod/w5ami, Paul > > Courson/wa3vjb > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > AMRadio mailing list > Home: > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html > Post: mailto:[email protected] > AMfone Website: http://www.amfone.net > AM List Admin: Brian Sherrod/w5ami, Paul > Courson/wa3vjb >
