The following is what I mean by digital radio, also called HD radio,
from the WAMU website:
"WAMU 88.5 provides digital channels as options for our listeners.
"WAMU's Bluegrass Country is available in HD at 88.5-2 - it's a full-
stereo, comprehensive, "real" radio station! You'll hear all your
bluegrass favorites and live-hosted programs featuring Katy Daley,
Ray Davis, and Lee Michael Demsey. This station continues to be heard
online at bluegrasscountry.org, which has served the full-time
bluegrass listener since 2001. WAMU's Bluegrass Country is among the
first in the nation to offer live programming exclusively for HD Radio.
"Our third channel, WAMU-3, in HD at 88.5-3, serves the dedicated
public radio news listener with programming not available on the
flagship channel, including extended BBC news coverage and NPR's Talk
of the Nation. Our groundbreaking partnership with AAA-public station
WTMD continues on WAMU-3, where we air WTMD's funky, eclectic blend
of rock, country rock, blues, folk, and world music, weekdays from
midnight to 5 a.m., and weekends from 7 p.m.-5 a.m."
WHAT I DON'T KNOW is whether the signal is actually usable in large
parts of the National Capitol area, which is why I asked this
question. I sort of figured that the signal wasn't very good, or I
would have heard of it; but it would be nice if it did work.
If the technology is not truly digital, I wouldn't know why the
broadcasters call it digital; but, as you see from the example
above, they do.
On Feb 6, 2010, at 1:12 PM, Mike Sloane wrote:
I think you are under a misunderstanding. HD radio is NOT
"digital". It is a proprietary format analog signal with a digital
adjunct. See: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio>
The only "digital radios" are either satellite (Sirius/XM) which
requires a paid subscription, special receiver, and an external
antenna or "internet radios" that access radio stations' audio
streams by connecting to the internet. In these two cases, the
quality of the sound is generally mediocre compared to high quality
analog sources like CD, tape, LP, etc.
Mike
Constance Warner wrote:
With all this discussion of digital communication frameworks, real
and potential, there's one medium that hasn't yet been mentioned:
digital radio.
I'd like to know what experience, if any, list members have had
with digital radio. I've heard that digital radios have come down
in price to something halfway reasonable--possibly as low as $50.
The advantage: once you have the set, the signals are free; no
subscription charges. Just turn the set on, like those other old-
fashioned over-the-air broadcast media. The disadvantage: digital
radio broadcasting isn't nearly as common as FM or AM stations.
(It would be no fun to take your shiny new digital radio out of
the box, turn it on, and get---static.)
So does anybody out there have a digital radio--or do your friends
have them--and if so, what's your/their experience?
I'm especially interested in the presence (or absence) of digital
radio broadcasting in the National Capitol Area.
--Constance Warner
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