I have had a Sony HD Am Fm radio for some time now, and agree
with what Mike and all have said here. I have no experience with
the newer HD models. When I first got my HD radio, I tried to
pick up KNX, 1070 in LA from the San Francisco area where I live.
Although I can and could hear it fine, it never would go to HD
mode because the signal just wasn't strong enough no matter what
kind of antenna I used. The strongest HD Am station I can get
where I live is KCBS. After a couple seconds, the high
frequencies improve and the audio just sounds more like Fm. My
other experience with Am was when we had a car with an Am stereo
radio in it. In that case, You could get stereo on weak stations
when the signals were strong, but when they faded down, the
station would become mono again. In my opinion, the separation
was never that good on Am stereo. I was really surprised when I
heard our local baseball team, the Oakland A's in stereo on Am.
The only thing that you really could get was the crowd noise in
stereo, but it was cool. Other than that, I think Am stereo is a
waste and I apologize for diverting this off topic to even more
off topic. Jim WA6EKS.
----- Original Message -----
From: Tom Behler <[log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Date sent: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 20:49:11 -0400
Subject: Re: Off Topic: HD Radio In New Vehicle
Steve:
Thanks much for the clarifications.
The radio has the usual tuning knob, so it will be easy for me to
experiment
with when we get into an HD radio area again.
And, I never even thought to try it on A M.
I guess I've always been turned off to digital A M radio because
of the
limits it puts on A M D X ing at night, but I suppose the cleaner
audio
could be easier on the ears.
Anyway, I appreciate your and everyone's help with this, and will
let you
know what I find in my future explorations. Of course, I can't
do it hear
in my town, so things may have to be delayed a bit.
Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Dresser" <[log in to unmask]
To: <[log in to unmask]
Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2013 8:14 PM
Subject: Re: Off Topic: HD Radio In New Vehicle
Tom,
Tune to the main frequency of the station you have in mind.
After a few
seconds, the radio will acquire the HD signal if there is one.
Your XYL
will be able to tell by the display, but you may hear a subtle
change in
the
audio (usually a slight stutter) as the HD locks on. If you're
doing this
on AM, the audio will become a lot sharper and clearer (unless
there's
static or noise, in which case you won't be able to acquire the
HD).
Getting back to FM, since that's the only place where you'll
find stations
with more than one HD subprogram, once the HD has been acquired,
press the
Up button (or tune clockwise one click if the radio has a tuning
knob) to
get to the HD2 subchannel, and continue the process to get to
subsequent
channels. In most cases, HD2 is the limit, but you may find an
occasional
station with HD3. If you go past the maximum number of
channels, you'll
hear the familiar white noise that happens between stations.
Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]
To: <[log in to unmask]
Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2013 19:03
Subject: Off Topic: HD Radio In New Vehicle
Hi, all.
Well, the xyl and I regularly lease our vehicles, and today we
picked up
our
newest one.
I was interested to learn that the radio in the vehicle has HD
radio.
This is not helpful in the semi-rural part of Michigan where we
live, but
could be interesting to experiment with when we are traveling to
larger
metropolitan areas.
But, my question is this:
How do you access the given HD radio stations?
I know that many stations have their main frequency (say 99.5
FM), but
how
do you access their HD sub-channels for other program
selections?
Do you start on the main frequency for the given station, and
then go
from
there? Or, does it depend on how the given radio is set up?
I know this is off topic, so please respond off list to:
[log in to unmask] if you have some suggestions.
Of course, the radio in the new vehicle also has XM/Serious
satellite,
which
I'm really going to have to be careful not to get addicted to,
since we
only
have a four-month trial subscription. Sure is tempting, though,
due to
the
terrific program variety selection, and no commercials!!
(smile)
Tom Behler: KB8TYJ, Big Rapids, MI
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