Went to replace my old am/fm and ran smack into HD Radio vs DRM+. So
how is this going to shake out?
Basically, all I need is a am/fm cd radio that will pull in a signal
from a distance. Any recommendations?
Gordon

Gordon wrote in news:13supbbjuh7nf1
@corp.supernews.com:

Went to replace my old am/fm and ran smack into HD Radio vs DRM+.
So
how is this going to shake out?
Basically, all I need is a am/fm cd radio that will pull in a
signal
from a distance. Any recommendations?
Gordon

The most expensive "marine AM/FM/CD player" is the cheapest car radio/CD
player with a white, not black, front on it.....

Hidden under or in a cabinet, black is beautiful. So, buy the cheapest
AM/FM/CD player you can find from the net and hide it inside somewhere
you can get to easily. Buy two at $30 and put one in a plastic ziplock
bag for when the salt air eats the first one, a hotswap spare with the
same plug on it.

Make SURE it has a FRONT PANEL MOUNTED stereo input jack so when I come
aboard with my computer or MP3 player with 90,000 great songs on it,
I'll have some place to plug it in so I don't have to bring my speaker
amps, too!

---------------------------------------------------------

Best Buy's car stereo department FINALLY has a stereo with bluetooth
INSTALLED, NOT "BLUETOOTH READY", which means you fork over another $100
for a "module".

When noone was looking, I paired it with my Motorola ROKR Z6m Bluetooth
sellphone, all loaded up with Jimmy Buffett and Carolina Beach Music. I
left the radio on, loudly, like the rappers that normally play them run
them.

I walked off about 50', brought up the MP3 player on the phone and
pressed PLAY. Beach music rolled out of the monsterous speakers to the
delight of every old fart cruising the aisles. We got half way through
the 3rd Buffett hit, "Son of a Sailor", before the store rappers figured
out which of the 50 radios in the rack was playing this terrible noise
they'd never heard before....PRICELESS!

----------------------------------------------------------

If you get a Bluetooth INSTALLED car radio for the cabinet, you can load
up your tiny cellphone's microSD card with MP3 songs off
alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.(genre) before you go to the boat, let Bluetooth
automatically connect to the boat's new stereo system, and play what you
like from your shirt pocket....complete with the phone's volume control,
fast forward, pause and HANDSFREE SPEAKERPHONE...right through the boat
radio! No fumbling around with scratched-up, halfassed CDs that only
play 40 minutes of the SAME artist, or some overpriced CD changer the
sea air is shortly going to eat away.

Carry different moods of music on different microSD cards to plug into
the phone and you're set for the whole cruise! You're laying in your
berth, click that special song she loves on your sellphone MP3 player
and play it softly throughout the boat....how romantic!...(c;

"Please....release me....let me go...........
.....for I don't love you......anymore......."

Gordon:

'HD Radio' is the trade name of the digital modulation scheme
developed for use on AM/FM broadcast stations in the USA by Ibiquity,
Inc.

This is also known as "in-band, on-channel" or 'IBOC' [radio] and
allows the AM and FM stations we're all familiar with to add to their
existing 'channel' a digital modulation signal, the benefits of which
a

(In the case of FM stations) provide a more 'robust' primary channel
signal (generally free from multi-path and other distortions that can
degrade an analog FM signal) as well as adding one-to-several
'additional' 'channels', known as "HD-2", "HD-3", etc. That is, let's
say your favorite FM station is WXYZ, the program format of which is
polka music. If you're equipped with an HD capable receiver, you'll
hear the polka music with 'near' CD quality. Then, if you push the
"tuning" button up, you may then hear WXYZ's HD-2 channel, which may
be a jazz format, for example. Push the tuning button up once again,
and you may find WXYZ's talk programming. In other words, HD Radio
provides an FM station with multiple channel streams, which has
heretofore not been possible with traditional analog modulation.

AM stations can also participate in HD radio, though to a lesser
extent. On AM, the digital modulation noticeably increases the
fidelity of the signal, most noticeable on music programming. Because
of the limited bandwidth allocated to AM broadcasting, no 'additional
channels' are possible (as they are on FM, as described above).

DRM is the digital modulation scheme developed by a consortium on
European broadcasters - Digital Radio Mondiale. Unlike HD Radio, DRM
does not allow for the simultaneous transmission of both the
traditional analog and new digital modulation. It is simply digital
modulation on the frequencies traditionally used by AM/FM
broadcasters.

The real question is: where do you live? If you're in the USA, then
a new HD Radio may be right for you. In the USA, a DRM receiver would
be worthless, since US radio broadcasters are not permitted to use
digital modulation exclusively.

If you're in Europe, then a new DRM capable receiver would be the way
to go (assuming your local telecom governing board has allowed DRM
transmissions in your Country).

Mike Worrall
Los Angeles

wrote:
Gordon:

'HD Radio' is the trade name of the digital modulation scheme
developed for use on AM/FM broadcast stations in the USA by Ibiquity,
Inc.

This is also known as "in-band, on-channel" or 'IBOC' [radio] and
allows the AM and FM stations we're all familiar with to add to their
existing 'channel' a digital modulation signal, the benefits of which
a

(In the case of FM stations) provide a more 'robust' primary channel
signal (generally free from multi-path and other distortions that can
degrade an analog FM signal) as well as adding one-to-several
'additional' 'channels', known as "HD-2", "HD-3", etc. That is, let's
say your favorite FM station is WXYZ, the program format of which is
polka music. If you're equipped with an HD capable receiver, you'll
hear the polka music with 'near' CD quality. Then, if you push the
"tuning" button up, you may then hear WXYZ's HD-2 channel, which may
be a jazz format, for example. Push the tuning button up once again,
and you may find WXYZ's talk programming. In other words, HD Radio
provides an FM station with multiple channel streams, which has
heretofore not been possible with traditional analog modulation.

AM stations can also participate in HD radio, though to a lesser
extent. On AM, the digital modulation noticeably increases the
fidelity of the signal, most noticeable on music programming. Because
of the limited bandwidth allocated to AM broadcasting, no 'additional
channels' are possible (as they are on FM, as described above).

DRM is the digital modulation scheme developed by a consortium on
European broadcasters - Digital Radio Mondiale. Unlike HD Radio, DRM
does not allow for the simultaneous transmission of both the
traditional analog and new digital modulation. It is simply digital
modulation on the frequencies traditionally used by AM/FM
broadcasters.

The real question is: where do you live? If you're in the USA, then
a new HD Radio may be right for you. In the USA, a DRM receiver would
be worthless, since US radio broadcasters are not permitted to use
digital modulation exclusively.

If you're in Europe, then a new DRM capable receiver would be the way
to go (assuming your local telecom governing board has allowed DRM
transmissions in your Country).

Mike Worrall
Los Angeles

Is this what we in Europe call DAB radio (digital audio broadcast)?

If so, we are told it is already on the way out due to lack of
sales/interest.

It is widely rumoured to be another Betamax catastrophy. Stations are
pulling out and closing down.

I have one. Cost £100, and I have to keep it in the kitchen window, antenna
touching the glass, to pick anything up. Greatest rip-off since radio was
invented. Batteries last about 30 minutes if you're lucky.

Dennis.

The real question is: where do you live? If you're in the USA, then
a new HD Radio may be right for you.

Scan through fleabay for Visteon or Directed brand HD radio units. Both are
modules that have a separate LCD control panel. They've got both FM
modulated and audio line-level output. You can feed the FM signal into your
existing FM radio setup. Or use an AUX-in line if you've got an amp setup
and want the 'better' HD sound levels.

The upside is it's also capable of continuing to act as a regular radio.
It'll tune to AM and FM, along with HD stations. This means you can set it
up with the LCD controller in perhaps a more convenient location than a
current radio. Put the control box anywhere along the FM antenna cabling
and the LCD controller likewise anywhere within reach of it's cable (or an
extension).

Both are also popular with the computer geek crowd as the LCD panel can be
replaced with an RS-232 adapter to control it from a computer.

-Bill Kearney

"Gordon" wrote in message
...
Went to replace my old am/fm and ran smack into HD Radio vs DRM+. So how
is this going to shake out?
Basically, all I need is a am/fm cd radio that will pull in a signal
from a distance. Any recommendations?
Gordon

Get a good antenna and mount it up high. A collinear type array would be
good, it has a squashed donut type pattern. Use good coaxial cable, not twin
lead.