http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060315/ENT/603150308/1005
Satellite signals can hijack your car radio
By Tim Blangger
Knight-Ridder Tribune
March 15, 2006
You're driving down the road, calmed by the soothing sounds from your
favorite Christian radio station when, all of a sudden, Howard Stern
hijacks your radio.
This is just the most outrageous example of a phenomenon radio station
managers in the lower end of the FM spectrum have been hearing from
listeners in recent months, a situation they attribute to improperly
installed satellite radios.
The improperly installed radios turn automobiles into powerful, mobile
transmitters. The interference temporarily blots out specific radio
frequencies of nearby automobiles and homes, replacing it with the
passing automobile's satellite radio broadcast, which can include
Stern's uncensored Sirius Satellite Radio program.
Mike Starling, a technology specialist with National Public Radio, said
he's been hearing complaints about interference from member stations in
recent months. "Howard Stern's Sirius broadcast has been mentioned a
lot," he says.
The topic has also been discussed on radio-specific technical forums on
the Internet.
Starling says the most serious interference is related to improperly
installed satellite radios that are added to a vehicle, supplementing
the existing AM/FM radio.
Satellite radios connected wirelessly to a car radio don't pose as much
of an interference problem. These wireless systems, some of which plug
into a vehicle's cigarette lighter, use an encapsulated, or
self-contained, antenna that has a very limited range, Starling says.
Built-in satellite radios, which come with newer cars, also don't
produce interference problems.
The after-market satellite radios -- radios car owners add on after
they've bought the car -- come with a switch, which is required by
Federal Communications Commission rules designed to limit interference.
Once properly installed and engaged when the satellite radio is in use,
the switch prevents the satellite radio signal from transmitting over a
car's existing FM antenna.
Without the switch, the satellite signal is inadvertently transmitted,
and reports have indicated the signal can travel a quarter mile or more.
An FCC spokesman, who requested his name not be used, said the
commission has not received specific complaints about the problem, but
added the agency receives thousands of complaints a month and it's
possible some have been filed.
Starling says the problem increases in densely populated areas. When he
commutes to work along the Beltway outside of Washington, D.C., during
morning rush hour, he says he routinely experiences interference. The
interference is intermittent as his car moves through traffic.
Starling has already been in contact with Sirius Satellite Radio, which
features some NPR programming.
He is also trying to convince satellite-radio manufacturers to use a
relatively inactive FM frequency, 87.9, as the satellite radio's default
frequency.
Use of that frequency, which is mostly used by low-power radio stations,
mainly ones connected with small colleges and high schools, would not
interfere with broadcasters, Starling says.
An XM Radio spokeswoman, Anne-Taylor Griffith, says the company has not
received calls about the interference, but noted the add-on radios
represent an older technology. "We haven't used that type of technology
for in-dash radios for a couple of years now."
Users of these add-on radios also represent a fraction of XM's 6 million
subscribers, she said.
Newer add-ons plug directly into input jacks in the car's radio, or
connect to the radio wirelessly, she said.
Calls seeking comment from Sirius Satellite Radio, which has about 3
million subscribers, were not returned.
Other technology improvements also may help reduce interference, says
Starling. Newer satellite radios designed for permanent installation in
cars are "frequency agile," meaning users can select any frequency on
their FM radio to transmit the satellite signal to their car radio. Many
of the first satellite radios designed for permanent installation in
cars had a limited number of frequencies the installer could choose, and
almost all of them were in the lower end of the FM dial, says Starling.
Starling also is pushing to have the Consumer Electronic Association,
the major industry watchdog group, include specifics of proper satellite
installation in the association's certification course for radio
installers. However, not all radio installers are certified by the
association, Starling says.
--
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