"SR" wrote in message
...
Yes, a friend told me that digital radio for the broadcast band am/fm
came out. And that WWOR (NYC) mentions it on their announcements.

If anyone know more about this, please let us all know:

There is a sort of compatible digital system being used by some stations in
the US.

http://www.ibiquity.com/technology/iboc.htm


Do you have to pay for reception?

It's not currently a subscription service, but the radios aren't yet cheap
nor widely available.

I don't know if IBOC can be converted to a subscription service, but such a
switch might make sense if the public doesn't much care for "High Definition
Radio" .


Did they make the AM/FM bandwidth longer?

The digital sidebands significantly widen the channel a station occupies.
It's a real problem for AM DXing.


Are all stations moving on to it?

I read a report which said Clear Channel wanted to equip their entire
network with IBOC transmitters. IBOC isn't mandatory, and Chicago's WIND
seems to have abandoned it when their ownership changed.


Would we still be able to use our old analog radios?

Radios still hear the compatible AM part of current version of IBOC. The
IBOC plan allows for another conversion to a non-compatible full digital
modulation. I doubt any stations will convert to full digital unless just
about everybody has a IBOC radio.


And if new stations came on digital radio it in the future, would it be
heard on analog radio for those who do not have digital radio at home?

An analog radio will work with the current compatible version of IBOC. The
compatible version has a reduced frequency response, and also sounds a bit
undermodulated on a standard AM analog radio.

An analog radio will not properly demodulate the full digital version, if
the full digital version is ever put in use.


I wonder if shortwave would be in digital in the future?

There's a different digital modulation scheme for shortwave. A few stations
are working with it.

http://drm.org/indexdeuz.htm

Right now, DRM seems most popular with the European shortwave broadcasters.


73!

Frank Dresser