RadioBanter - View Single Post - IBOC interference complaint

January 13th 04, 04:14 PM

(WBRW) writes:

I would like some advice on what is the most proper and effective way
to issue a complaint with the FCC regarding harmful interference being
caused by a radio station that is using the IBOC digital system.

The station in question is 710 WOR in New York City, which has been
using the IBOC digital system since October 2002. And since that
time, they have been causing harmful interference to frequencies as
far as 40 kHz away from their carrier -- across a region of at least
680 through 750 kHz.

You can be sure WOR's operation is entirely in accord with the FCC's
rules. By now the local FCC field office will have checked them out
six ways to Sunday.

The problem is not WOR. The problem is that digital modulation
schemes tend to require more bandwidth than analog schemes. As a
result, neither the AM nor the FM form of "HD Radio" is truly
in-band, on-channel; in-band, adjacent-channel is a more accurate
description.

The January 2 issue of _Radio World_ contains an article describing
a Chicago FM station's experiences with "HD Radio", and notes that
several stations in adjacent markets, having complained to the
FCC about interference from this station's "HD Radio" signal, have
been told they have to put up with it. The official line seems to
be that stations are only licensed to provide coverage out to their
protected contours, and anything they cover beyond that is subject
to whatever interference may arise in the future, whether from
"HD Radio", LPFM, local computer networks, or whatever.

I believe this position is poor policy because a lot of smaller
stations are dependent on coverage beyond the protected contour
for their economic survival. These are, for the most part,
stations that were "dropped in" over the past twenty years as
"rimshots" to various markets, licensed to suburbs or rural
communities that can't realistically support them. Deprived of
access to adjacent markets, many of them are likely to become
unsustainable, I think.

If the FCC wants to pretend stations serve no listeners beyond
their protected contours, then it should not be authorizing
stations that can't prosper within those contours. Moreover, it
ought to recognize that just as broadcast spectrum is a limited
resource, so are advertising dollars in any community, and it is
not necessarily the case that more stations on the air mean better
service. But I digress.

The bottom line is I believe IBOC is a mistake, and many stations
and their listeners will suffer because of it.

umar
--
URL:http://hippogryph.com/green
Send 'em back to Texas: T minus 293 days, 22 hours, 40 minutes.