Tom,

There's no doubt in my mind that others have shared your experience, and are 
equally frustrated.  In my experience, some of the technical realities are 
lost on those who come up with these almost great ideas.  Kind of like the 
old Fibber McGee show in which he invented this fantastic glue which could 
hold steel plates together well enough to make him think he could use the 
glue to replace welding in battleships.  Unfortunately, there was one minor 
problem: the glue was water soluble.

Steve

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 19:02
Subject: Re: Speaking of Digital:


> Steve:
>
> I checked wbbm A M again today on either side of the Chicago area.
>
> I need to do a bit more careful checking with milage, but I would say as a
> rough estimate that I really had to be within about 40 or so miles of
> Chicago before the digital a m signal stabilized, and this was in the
> day-time.  I can only imagine that, at night-time, the situation would
> worsen.
>
> The thing is that I can't believe others don't notice that too, which does
> the whole digital A M possibility a further dis-service.
>
> Anyway, these are just my views, of course, and I'll try to do some more
> checking with some other stations in other markets as my trip proceeds.
>
> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Steve Dresser
> Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 10:37 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Speaking of Digital:
>
> Tom,
>
> That's exactly the problem with HD radio on AM, and even on FM to a lesser
> extent.  You may very well discover that your radio doesn't have a means 
> of
> keeping the HD turned off, which in my opinion is an absolutely essential
> feature for listening on the AM band.
>
> I'm afraid that HD on AM will end up like AM stereo.  It will eventually
> disappear due to lack of interest.
>
> Steve
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, August 25, 2013 14:51
> Subject: Speaking of Digital:
>
>
>> Hi, everyone.
>>
>> The ongoing discussion regarding D Star, and audio quality reminded me of
>> something I recently experienced, and meant to bring up to the list.
>>
>> As many of you may recall, the XYL and I recently purchased a new vehicle
>> that has an HD radio in it.
>>
>> Well, thanks to the help of some on the list regarding how best to
>> understand and use the new HD capabilities while traveling, I believe I
>> have
>> mastered the main functions of the radio pretty thoroughly now.
>>
>> However, I have to say that digital A M leaves a tremendous amount to be
>> desired, in my opinion.
>>
>> For example, while traveling through the Chicago metro area from Michigan
>> on
>> our way to and from the St. Louis area several weeks ago, I tried
>> listening
>> to WBBM  AM 780 with the new digital radio, and the experience was
>> actually
>> quite anoying.  I'd say that as we got 30 miles or so on either side of
>> Chicago, the digital AM signal kept switching on and off, to be replaced
>> by
>> a much degraded analog signal.  Perhaps there is a way to turn the 
>> digital
>> AM reception mode off in this particular radio, but I have not found it
>> yet.
>>
>> We are going to be traveling through quite a few metropolitan areas on 
>> our
>> upcoming family visitation trip, so I'll have time to play with it a bit
>> more, but I really am wondering now about the usefulness of digital AM
>> radio.
>>
>> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>>
>