Digital Broadcasts/Death of vintage Radio & TV

[louisiii]

Now that TV is going to digital broadcasting what will happen when analog broadcasting is made illegal. TV is not to drastic of a change I remember buying UHF convert boxes for the newer stations above the VHF spectrum. But what is going to happen to armature TV broadcasting. But the bigger issue is when the Government outlaws analog radio broadcasting. Will we need to heterodyne the digital signals or use a FM transmitter from the phone jack of a digital radio to our analog receivers. Remember they tried to outlaw the CB band and reduce the number of armatures bands and you can no longer buy general all frequency band receivers or scanners. There was a time when you could listen to sub-frequency bands (radio signals of very low frequency that where transmitted over the surface and through the ground and through water instead of the air). And now in January during the inauguration cell phone transmitions for the general public will be turned off. Maybe this is the death of antique and vintage radio and TV.

[Ed in Tx]

I think they have a LOOOONG way to go perfecting digital radio before it ever becomes a mandate, judging by how unreliable and unstable it is here, stationary received with a home tuner. Most of the home audio manufacturers have not embraced digital "HD" radio in their products, likewise the auto manufacturers. They would rather hook up with Sirius-XM and sell subscriptions. TV.. well not much to do about the transistion to digital now since the government has already sold off or committed those freq bands being freed up to other things. But the mandate does not apply to Low Power TV stations as of now anyway, so there will still be a few analog TV broadcasts around. Happy Feb 17th!

[Arkay]

I hate the thought that one day, perhaps within my lifetime, all the vintage gear I have will be essentially useless in its intended form. That FM radio reception will only be via a digital converter and in-house re-broadcast, which will never sound the same. TV I am less concerned about, since it is not as hi-fi and I mostly watch broadband and cable TV anyway (when I watch at all), although I will miss being able to listen to the TV sound via my vintage Marantz TV tuner. Admittedly, I only use the Marantz tuner for fun and because I like the sound; in truth, the Arcam tuner I have does a slightly better job (although less warm and tube-like/ "three martini"). Even the Arcam --once praised by reviewers as the finest-sounding TV tuner ever made-- is now considered cheap, old junk, because it is analog and not hi-def/digital.

Ozymandius! This, too, shall pass... but some of us will remember, and miss, "the good old days" of analog free-to-air broadcasting!

[electroking]

Just a technical note: amateur transmissions are NOT broadcasting, they are
intended for other radio amateurs only, although the content is indeed public
and anyone is free to listen. Also, free broadcasts will be available as long
as not enough people are willing to pay to get what they want to listen to.
If 95 % of the public do 95 % of their listening on subscription digital radio, the
commercial incentive to do free broadcasting will be gone, and no government
policy will do anything about that.

The fact that TV is going digital before radio (if radio ever does it) is due to
most U.S. homes being already hooked to some form of cable or satellite
distribution.

As a final comment, I hope that you realize the FM or AM station you are listening to
is probably feeding its transmitter via a fully digital link...

[similost]

Originally Posted by louisiii

And now in January during the inauguration cell phone transmitions for the general public will be turned off.

I don't understand this part???? You don't mean regular carry it in my pocket cell phone do you? Am I missing something here?

[electroking]

He means that if you attend the inauguration in person, you cannot have a
cell phone with you. A fairly normal security measure, I would say. Maybe
they will ban shoes and boots as well...

[similost]

That isn't what I am reading about it.. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...PCJ5wD95424S00

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Dec...reless,00.html

Appears that they are trying to boost their coverage and traffic carrying abilities so they won't have so many dropped calls.

You CAN'T take a phone or their service away from a person... If you get mugged and can't make a 911 call because they govt decided it would be safer, you think they will pay law suit?

I think either the OP knows something we don't, or needs to do a little research first?

[gadget73]

Originally Posted by similost

I think either the OP knows something we don't, or needs to do a little research first?

I vote the latter.

Analog radio isn't going anywhere for a very long time. TV is easier, the vast majorty are stationary installations in a home or business with easy access to wall power. They also have standarized connectors, so all the digital box needs is 75 ohm coaxial out and it can be made to interface with pretty much any telivision ever made.

Radio is not so easily converted. The installed base of radio receivers is vast and diverse, obsoleting them all would go over like a fart in church and since it wouldn't be practical to create converter boxes for each and every type we're pretty much set to keep analog broadcasting for a long time.

[JimJ[VT]]

Remember they tried to outlaw the CB band and reduce the number of armatures bands and you can no longer buy general all frequency band receivers or scanners. There was a time when you could listen to sub-frequency bands (radio signals of very low frequency that where transmitted over the surface and through the ground and through water instead of the air).

The reason you can't buy general coverage receivers is due to cell phone transmissions.

VLF & longwave transmissions aren't illegal to listen to, I don't quite know what you mean by that?

[zenith2134]

I think roughly 95% of the cars on the road today are equipped to receive analog AM and FM only. HD radio is only included with new, new cars and most only have it bundled with a luxury audio system or whatever which a lot of people don't opt for.

Ceasing analog broadcast of radio would cause a rift with drivers for sure. A converter situation would be possible but who needs that....

[radiotvnut]

I think analog radio, even though it's not often worth a flip, should be left alone, PERIOD!!!!!

I'd hate to think that all my tube radios will become clutter if analog radio is ever phased out. Actually, my tube radios are close to clutter now. I hardly ever turn them on because I refuse to listen to the local AM offerings.

[toxcrusadr]

I plan to keep running my antiques with in-house transmitters for the forseeable future - already doing it with AM. I guess if I have to do that with FM eventually I can handle it. Hope it's not soon.

[electroking]

Originally Posted by toxcrusadr

I plan to keep running my antiques with in-house transmitters for the forseeable future - already doing it with AM. I guess if I have to do that with FM eventually I can handle it. Hope it's not soon.

Haven't you heard of AM DX? I hardly listen to AM in daylight anymore,
but long winter nights are another story!

[ponderbear]

Plus, you'll see most (all?) HD radios/tuners are hybrid- they receive analog and digital signals.

In my market, there is only ONE radio station broadcasting in HD, and only as an alternative along with streaming on the internet and analog fm.

No other stations I listen to have any plan to go HD anytime soon.

If ever?

[zenith2134]

Ponderbear's right. This HD radio thing could go the way of Dolby FM and quadraphonic broadcasts. Very easily in fact. Not a lot of (tech savvy) people here are embracing HD radio. They tend to go the satellite radio route and pay instead. I have a pretty good collection of cassette, LP, and CD so I only rely on radio in the car, and even then I listen to tape and CD more than FM. AM is good for news, but the programming on both bands is pretty mediocre, as others have noted.

As far as sound quality and fidelity: I happen to think FM, AM, and digital radio can sound fantastic. The key thing with FM is the compression threshold IMO. Since AM is vastly used for talk radio and news, the fidelity is less of an issue but the old tube sets can have a wonderful sound to them on the AM band.

HDRadio would be okay if they did the 'right thing' and allotted a generous amount of bandwidth to each station, instead of attempting to cram 3 or more stations on one sub-carrier....But I have mixed feelings on that since it would either require a phase-out of analog FM or the use of a totally different band/means.

Bottom line is that I do NOT feel that the writing is on the wall as far as traditional, analog radio. TV has got 60 or so days, as we all know, but hey what are the stats on cable/satellite subscribers nowadays? Fact is, most households pay for TV, and the FCC can get away with the transition to digital broadcasting. ($$$)