950 WWJ - HD Radio FAIL! Analog signal now sounds faint.

[Ben Zonia]

WWJ was very weak when I tried it yesterday around 6:00 PM. Couldn't reliably tell if there were IBOC sidebands. WFDF was strong, and the sidebands were there but not overwhelming like WWJ the other Day. I'd say it was a fadeout, but WFDF was strong, before power and pattern change, which usually doesn't degrade the signal much. And while WNTD is still on nondirectional pattern for the next 15 minutes, WWJ often has more interference, before then and 950 in Jefferson City, MO goes DA, used to be KLIK, owned by a Michigan Group.

[Mega Hertz]

WWJ was very weak when I tried it yesterday around 6:00 PM. Couldn't reliably tell if there were IBOC sidebands. WFDF was strong, and the sidebands were there but not overwhelming like WWJ the other Day. I'd say it was a fadeout, but WFDF was strong, before power and pattern change, which usually doesn't degrade the signal much. And while WNTD is still on nondirectional pattern for the next 15 minutes, WWJ often has more interference, before then and 950 in Jefferson City, MO goes DA, used to be KLIK, owned by a Michigan Group.

WFDF. I get a very high pitched whistle on that frequency. Comes in great, but the pitch of the whistle will vary as I turn the dial. What's up with that?

[Ben Zonia]

WWJ was very weak when I tried it yesterday around 6:00 PM. Couldn't reliably tell if there were IBOC sidebands. WFDF was strong, and the sidebands were there but not overwhelming like WWJ the other Day. I'd say it was a fadeout, but WFDF was strong, before power and pattern change, which usually doesn't degrade the signal much. And while WNTD is still on nondirectional pattern for the next 15 minutes, WWJ often has more interference, before then and 950 in Jefferson City, MO goes DA, used to be KLIK, owned by a Michigan Group.

WFDF. I get a very high pitched whistle on that frequency. Comes in great, but the pitch of the whistle will vary as I turn the dial. What's up with that?

On an analog radio, you get a variable frequency whistle as you tune across the frequency. With digital PLL radios, the whistle doesn't vary but stays put very close to 910 where it is inaudible. It has to do with the IF frequency being 455 kHz, which when doubled is 910 kHz.

In the very early days of radio, there was just one station in North America on 910 kHz and that was in Canada. When NARBA came along and changed the frequencies, that ended up on 940, where as the stations already on and authorized to move to 880, moved to 910, so many stations were affected. One of those was WFDF, which was authorized (originally on 880) to move to 910, and was on 1310. Instead of moving to 1340, it moved to 910, and the directional parameters (the DA was already built for 880 when the final NARBA frequency list was issued, and were changed to compensate for the change, electrical heights, spacing and phases, to match the authorized pattern. WFDF, WWJ, WXYZ(T), and WOOD were retrofitted to reflect this change, the most obvious being that the electrical spacings of all towers increased. WKZO stayed on 590 and didn't have to change.

In the old days, technicians changed the IF to 450 kHz so this wouldn't affect many stations. And some newer radios used 450 kHz when they were digital radios.

[Mega Hertz]

I learn something new everyday. I believe it's the only frequency I have this issue with.

[Ben Zonia]

I learn something new everyday. I believe it's the only frequency I have this issue with.

Another artifact you may notice in your experience is that WAAM 1600 can be heard on many radios at 690 kHz, and WSDS 1480 may be heard at 570 kHz, This is called the IF Image, which occurs at the transmitted frequency minus 910 kHz, twice the 455 kHz IF frequency. This occurs because the oscillator frequency is 455 kHz below the received frequency at the low dial position, instead of above the received frequency.

FM Radios also have images, but the 10.7 MHz IF means that the Image Frequency is 21.4 MHz below the received frequency. So 107.9 has an image at 87.2 MHz, and most radios don't go that low.

[MWmetalhead]

WWJ 950 still sounds like shit. No one in that building cares evidently.

[ZenithCKLW]

If you’re looking for good sound quality from an AM radio station, I have some bad news for you.

I’m half joking, as I do believe it is quite possible for AM stations to sound great (AM Stereo please!) but we also face the reality that they just… don’t. Probably due to lack of resources like funding or technical know-how, or they’re going through an upgrade that isn’t going quite to plan, or they possibly have some failing components that are having trouble being acquired with the semi conductor shortage and supply chain issues. I don’t have the answers but let’s cut everyone in the building some slack before we condemn them.

[MWmetalhead]

I'm not going to cut them one ounce of slack. The audio degradation in this case is completely voluntary. All they have to do is turn off the HD exciter. Audio sounded terrific until it was turned on.

They obviously don't give two shits about giving their audience a good listening experience.

[MWmetalhead]

I'll remind everyone this is the same group of stations who ran an RDS with the wrong station brand intermittently for nearly a year on 98.7 FM. That issue was fixed about 60 days ago (finally).

Engineering excellence seems to be a low priority.

[DFELD2005]

At our house we listen to WWJ AM for at least 1 hour every morning. And later in the day if we want to hear updated weather reports. The only time we listen using a radio is in our car. All other times we use the Audacy app with a smart speaker or iPhone or tablet. Before Audacy we used the Radio.com and Tunein apps. The app versions of WWJ provide good quality audio and it is very convenient to listen on a wide variety of portable devices all around the house.

[bmw]

I've asked this before and nobody seemed to know. Do numbers exist, and what are they? For every 100 listeners to a station like WWJ, how many of those listeners listen to the HD signal vs the analog signal? Is it even 10 percent?

Second question - does having the HD turned on actually lead to a net gain in listeners?

If not, then WHAT IS THE POINT? Why would you degrade the listening experience for the vast majority of your audience just for the benefit of a few? It just doesn't make economic sense to me. Can somebody please explain?

[Ben Zonia]

Is there some kind of contractual obligation to keep running IBOC?

[Mega Hertz]

Engineering excellence seems to be a low priority.

There is only ONE priority, and it ain't the engineering, programming, continuity or promotion departments.

[mikemach]

I also listen to WWJ on Audacy occasionally, and the quality is excellent. My only gripe is it runs a couple minutes behind the actual broadcast. Minor I guess, but the time is wrong etc. But it does sound really good compared to the AM radio in my car.

[billmich88888]

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