I just wonder what all of you think, will FM/AM analog always be around for a long time? I love HD radio, but I love analog just as much. I got over 20 tuners that I use from time to time, radios I take traveling also. I just hope they will keep using analog for a long time. I'm just wondering about this is because TV analog is going out in 09.

To the best of my knowledge there are no plans in place to stop the analog transmission of AM or FM.

As mentioned in many threads, AM and FM radio are not going anywhere. Unlike analog television, there is absolutely no plan to reduce them in any way.

I agrew tih Scowl. Since it's possible to broadcast analog and digital at the same time, in the same spectrum, there's no compelling reason to turn off the analog as with tv (the digital signal is in a different part of the spectrum, so theoretically analog can be turned off, and the spectrum sold).

There's also a compelling public safety reason to keep analog turned on. The signal is more robust (goes greater distances, and with simpler equipment), and not everybody has the gear. Analog is far more likely to be transmitted, and receivable in severe weather, for instance.

So I gues really FM/AM analog will be kind of like dialup internet is today, it'll always be around but you can get a hole lot more with broadband. In radio it'll be HD.

HD Radio is currently operating in a hybrid mode with both analog and digital signals. The digital part is transmitted with 1/100th the power of the analog part. Turning analog off will increase the digital power by a factor of 100 and yield a much greater reception range. It will also allow more bits per second to be transmitted as well as additional channels. All the technical details are at the iBiquity web site.

Brian

Hello, All

Good day !!!

I am very new to this FM demodulator area.

I wish to learn and test procedure (to set up)to test FM demodulator IC chip and its related circuitry and its important parameters

You are most welcome to provide related materials and web pages.

Thanks in adv. for helping.

best regards,
Plshelp

there's no compelling reason to turn off the analog as with tv

Turning analog off will increase the digital power by a factor of 100 and yield a much greater reception range. It will also allow more bits per second to be transmitted as well as additional channels.

Which of these two statements is true?

They can both actually be true. Remember, digital doesn't NEED the power level of analog to cover the same area. Traditional noise level measurements are all but meaningless for digital. All that's necessary is that there be enough power to differentiate between a one and a zero. That can be done with MUCH less power. ALREADY, with 1/100th the power, HD is covering between 60 and 80 percent of the area of analog. Pretty damned impressive! Because of the extra occupied bandwidth, there will always be some scattered areas where analog goes, but HD doesn't (due to adjacent channel occupation by other stations). But these will diminish as the final operating level for digital signals is settled on (it WILL be higher than now).

By the way...HD radios NEED analog, to "fill in the holes" where digital occasionally drops out. Now THAT'S a compelling reason to keep analog going, even if EVERYONE had digital radios.

The all-digital modes as described on Ibiquity's web site don't give the broadcaster much at this point. It's mostly intended for surround sound modes for the main audio. The increased power will also let them reliably transmit vaguely defined "data services" with less error correction needed. There isn't a huge demand for either of these at the moment.

I wonder if an all digital AM system would allow for long distance AM reception ... but with decent sound.

rwagoner we probably won't get to know. The AM System ain't exactly setting the world on fire because you can't use it at night, and it causes massive adjacent channel interference. Add to that the fact that it reduced audio quality for 100 percent of the CURRENT AM audience, and why would we even consider this turkey? As for turning off analog, why EXACTLY would you do that, when it's analog AM, the oldest and most robust of mass electronic media, that EVERYONE can receive, and that can be relied upon to be ON THE AIR, and offering LIFE SAVING INFORMATION after a disaster? Do we really want to turn off analog, and leave the poor, aged, and infirm who can't afford the latest digital doo-dads, or maybe don't even know about them, with no source of emergency information?????

There is no higher calling (in radio) than providing emergency information...to EVERYONE!

I wonder if an all digital AM system would allow for long distance AM reception ... but with decent sound.

http://www.drm.org/

http://www.drm.org/livebroadcast/livebroadcast.php

It is working all over the world on shortwave, and outside the US on AM BCB. US shortwave stations can use it, but not local AM stations. But, maybe there is a market for this on a domestic basis, if the FCC would allow sw stations to "target a domestic audience" (like, they don't already do that :D ) .

Have you listened to DRM over shortwave? I modified a receiver for this a few years ago for it and it wasn't very reliable, except during the rare moments I got perfect reception. I would rather listen to the analog signal fade in and out than the digital signal cut in and out.

I don't think there's that much yet in the USA to get on the DRM...in europe there is probably more. The latest WRTH has a interview with a guy from the BBC on it. It's just once you look up what can be received and then get it in english it seems to be some of the same major ones (deuch welle, vadican radio, bbc, maybe RFI)