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There's a moderate risk of severe weather today, and...

Discussion pertaining to Detroit, Ann Arbor, Port Huron, and SW Ontario
kc8yqq
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2018 6:15 am

Re: There's a moderate risk of severe weather today, and...

Post by kc8yqq » Wed Jun 17, 2020 6:26 am

Something I have mentioned once or twice over the years of being on this board, is tying RDS (on FM) to weather alerts. Within RDS is a traffic feature, when activated, will automatically tune your radio to that station. Why not use this for dangerous weather?

I have not ever seen any station use this correctly. Two of the Smile FM stations (WLGH and the White Star station) had their's turned on all the time to snag unknowing listeners.

Several years ago I was sitting out in the Westwood Mall (Jackson) parking lot listening to a tape while the wife was inside shopping. Facing west I noticed the sky was getting darker. Shortly after that, the stereo automatically switched from the tape to 101.3 FM. I thought it was the Grand Rapids station doing some testing since was around that time they were starting to RDS. Commercials were playing during this time, but I did not recognize the businesses and area codes mentioned were not in Michigan. No station ID/slogan was given. I made a few notes and checked it out when I got home. The station was KFDI from Wichita, Kansas.

A few years later my wife and I drove to Wichita to visit her cousin. When coming into KFDI's range, RDS would kick in on hilltops and the tape switched to FM. Down in valleys, the stereo switched back to tape when the signal dropped. While in Wichita, I stopped by the station and told them the story above and also about the trip to getting there. The engineer told me the traffic alert had been accidentally turned on and they couldn't find the manual to tell them how to turn it off.



thatonedude
Posts: 380
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:39 am

Re: There's a moderate risk of severe weather today, and...

Post by thatonedude » Thu Jun 18, 2020 6:04 pm

Honest question: aren't there alternate methods they could use to deliver the feed to the transmitter, like an IP STL to Southfield? The phone line method never seemed the most reliable to me...and is that what causes the crosstalk I hear on KEC63 all the time?

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