Commissioner Pai's Comments on Radio's Future

While acknowledging that these are his thoughts, and his thoughts alone, what Pai says might give a clue as to the FCC's thinking on certain subjects such as: FM chips in phones, digital AM and cross ownership.

Worth a read:

http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2015/db0219/DOC-332124A1.pdf

To quote his speech
"In the United States, we’ve found that FM translators can deliver immediate and tangible help to AM broadcasters. It can be a bridge to the future as we work on long-term fixes for the AM band. But there just aren’t enough of them to go around right
now. So the Commission would like to give every AM station the opportunity to apply for its own FM translator."

That's not FIXING the AM band...it is a cluttering up of the FM band...as if it needs more translators, etc.

REQUIRE AMAX standards in ALL digitally tuned AM radios sold (Switchable/automatic bandwidth, NOISE blankers, audio bandwidth to 9.5 kHz min)....if it has FM stereo, require AM stereo as well...ALL digital?? That would kill the AM band as it sits...

He didn't say it was about helping the AM BAND. It's about helping AM BROADCASTERS. AM broadcasters would be better served by letting them have an FM frequency. That might not help either band, but it's probably good business.

It's not anything. There isn't room on the FM band for AM stations to receive translators in medium-large markets. Simple as that. Even if they deleted the thousands of useless religious translators and loophole HD2/3 translators there still wouldn't be room.

Actually it really DOESN'T give a clue on the FCC's thinking. First of all, the FCC doesn't think. Second of all, Pai represents the minority view on the Commission. He can't get any of his thoughts or ideas converted into regulations. So instead of trying to build consensus among the Commissioners, he travels to Toronto and speaks to groups trying to build public support for his ideas. But this is not the way to get things done. And this is why the AM band is in the state it's in.

The AM band is also in the state it is because of:
1) NON existent FCC enforcement of Part 15 rules with computing devices and electric distribution...I USED to be a TVI/RFI investigator for a public utility. When it was bought by a larger one (sound familiar?), they took that job away from the telecom folks and gave it to the Line/Service dept...who has/had NO clue as to RF and what to look for...real smart!!...there are several places I know of that SPEW noise across the entire RF spectrum (in several utilities territories; lack of FCC Field Agents have allowed that to happen) Proposed BPL operations did not help either...most of them, luckily have been shut down since they "discovered" unbalanced 60Hz AC systems was not designed to carry MW-HF signals without causing havoc....geesh everyone knew that....but the FCC is more political than technical these days..(I feel for the poor Field Agents who are overloaded and care about their job but dont have the budget or resources to do what needs to be done)

2) $$$ being saved by manufacturers making horrible AM receivers...No NB, poor audio quality, etc..50 cents per unit saved in parts times several million units improves their bottom line but makes a crappy radio which noone really likes...

3) AM operators not giving a damn about their operations (thus a lot of sites in disrepair/just falling apart..off air more than one, etc) The major signals at least try to keep their sites up to snuff but have you seen a picture of the WLS transmitter site posted on FB a while back? Weeds and other overgrowth.....KAAY? Cumeless has yet to fix the night time DA.... At least KOKC's owners is really putting money into the former KOMA. If ALL AM operators took that kind of care of their site and spent money on maintenance and upkeep, then we would see a lot less problems (well, the noise issue at the receiving end, which must be dealt with AT that location and NOT by doing something different at the transmitter, will still be present! All digital wont work any better than analog...if the noise is bad enough where the decoder cannot see the signal, whats the use???)

Those are the major three issues as I see them...(ehh but what do I know?)

Until the FCC quits trying to be a political department and goes back to being a technical body, the AM band will be sorely hurting.

I've recently become a fan of AM radio. Properly processed it can sound pretty good. Of course, it is different sounding than FM, but it can still be quite pleasant to listen to. The interference issue is the biggest problem. All kinds of things put out amazing amounts of hash that drown out all but the most powerful stations.

Something I've recently noticed is interference originating from large trucks. That really puzzles me. They are diesels, so there is no electronic ignition system. The hash I hear is not the usual whine from an alternator. The sound is more like a rushing white noise. I've noticed this in the daytime when the LED lights are not on. Perhaps it emits from some of the electronics on board. I haven't taken an actual poll, but it seems to come from Freightliner and International trucks the most. Others may do it too. Whatever causes the interference, it absolutely wipes out AM reception as you go past the truck. It looks like another case of a lack of FCC over-site. Does anyone have any idea what might cause it? Whatever it is does a real dis-service to AM radio.

ContinuousWave said:

Until the FCC quits trying to be a political department and goes back to being a technical body, the AM band will be sorely hurting.

Click to expand...

"Trying to be?" When the Commissioners are appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate, what do you expect?

It's always been political. BUT there used to be a strong in-house technical staff. With retirements and budget cuts, technical has been outsourced. Just like a lot of radio stations. In house, technical has been replaced with lawyers.

My takeaway from Pai's speech:

While Pai acknowledges the need for activated FM chips in cellphones making the activation a totally market-based decision instead of an FCC mandate is essentially an "AM Stereo/recipe for failure" approach. While some phones have FM activation, most don't and without an incentive to do so, telcos and handset makers have no reason to add it. Can you picture Apple, a company that is all about control over everything an iPhone user sees and hears and getting a taste of it, relinquishing some of that control and giving it to broadcasters? I certainly can't.

The AM Revitalization Initiative is nearly two years old with no movement in sight. By the time this initiative goes through, AM will be taken off life-support and given up for dead. The Commission needs to stop obsessing over the incentive auction and make rulings on some of these proposals like an overall power increase, eliminating the ratchet rule, allowing synchronous AM transmission and announcing a filing window for FM translators for AM (while putting off the idea for all digital AM to another time). Looking at the LPFM channel finder, I do see a few open channels that were never applied for in the LPFM filing window--mostly in sparsely populated rural areas. But where translators are most needed for AM broadcasters, they're completely unavailable.

I do applaud Com. Pai for wanting to help, at least, one sector of the broadcasting industry even though his AM initiative is going painfully slow through the Federal digestive tract. But making FM cellphone chip activation a passive "market-based" decision means it will never occur on a major scale.

It reminds me of Michael Copps, who was a minority commissioner under Bush. He'd go out and speak all the time, talk about re-regulating broadcasting, and he never was able to get any consensus among the Commissioners. So it ends up being a nice press release for him, but nothing useful for anyone else.

Chuck said:

I've recently become a fan of AM radio. Properly processed it can sound pretty good. Of course, it is different sounding than FM, but it can still be quite pleasant to listen to. The interference issue is the biggest problem. All kinds of things put out amazing amounts of hash that drown out all but the most powerful stations.

Something I've recently noticed is interference originating from large trucks. That really puzzles me. They are diesels, so there is no electronic ignition system. The hash I hear is not the usual whine from an alternator. The sound is more like a rushing white noise. I've noticed this in the daytime when the LED lights are not on. Perhaps it emits from some of the electronics on board. I haven't taken an actual poll, but it seems to come from Freightliner and International trucks the most. Others may do it too. Whatever causes the interference, it absolutely wipes out AM reception as you go past the truck. It looks like another case of a lack of FCC over-site. Does anyone have any idea what might cause it? Whatever it is does a real dis-service to AM radio.

Click to expand...

How do you know there is no electronic ignition system? All new cars are injected, just as diesels are, and they all have onboard computers running the ignition and fuel mixtures.

Otherwise, your point is well taken. I can listen to local AMers when I take my portable AM in my car (my car stereo is toast), but the onboard computer puts out a bit of hash.

ContinuousWave said:

The AM band is also in the state it is because of:
1) NON existent FCC enforcement of Part 15 rules with computing devices and electric distribution...I USED to be a TVI/RFI investigator for a public utility. When it was bought by a larger one (sound familiar?), they took that job away from the telecom folks and gave it to the Line/Service dept...who has/had NO clue as to RF and what to look for...real smart!!...there are several places I know of that SPEW noise across the entire RF spectrum (in several utilities territories; lack of FCC Field Agents have allowed that to happen) Proposed BPL operations did not help either...most of them, luckily have been shut down since they "discovered" unbalanced 60Hz AC systems was not designed to carry MW-HF signals without causing havoc....geesh everyone knew that....but the FCC is more political than technical these days..(I feel for the poor Field Agents who are overloaded and care about their job but dont have the budget or resources to do what needs to be done)

2) $$$ being saved by manufacturers making horrible AM receivers...No NB, poor audio quality, etc..50 cents per unit saved in parts times several million units improves their bottom line but makes a crappy radio which noone really likes.

Click to expand...

I think many of the AM receivers -- at least portables -- are good. Maybe car AM radios are bad, but I have two Sony portables -- an SRF-59 & an ICF-38 -- which I've gotten over the past two years and they perform well and sound good. Both were purchased at major box stores. You don't need as many parts anymore to make a good radio. One of my Sony's is a one chip radio -- sounds & works great.

Noise is indeed a problem, routers switching power supplies, etc., combined with AM's poor rep among many people don't work in its favor.

boombox4 said:

How do you know there is no electronic ignition system? All new cars are injected, just as diesels are, and they all have onboard computers running the ignition and fuel mixtures.

Otherwise, your point is well taken. I can listen to local AMers when I take my portable AM in my car (my car stereo is toast), but the onboard computer puts out a bit of hash.

Click to expand...

Diesels rely on high compression to ignite the fuel and air mixture. There is no spark plug. It is probably true that the injectors may be computer controlled. Perhaps that is what causes the interference. I don't know, and was hoping that someone who does know might chime in.

I was asking why this happens, not tying to debate how the truck actually works. If the injection computer puts out hash that obliterates AM stations at 200 feet, then it couldn't possibly be FCC compliant.

A couple of years ago, Behringer, the audio equipment manufacturer, got busted by the FCC for non-compliant audio equipment. This is a lot worse, but no action seems to be forthcoming. If nothing else, it demonstrates that the rules are randomly enforced.

Diesel trucks have powertrain control computers (PCM's).

Just do a search on "Freightliner PCM", lots of stuff comes up.

Why they put out hash 200 ft. away I can't answer. I live about 250 ft. from a major thoroughfare, I don't get any noise from trucks. But then I only use portable radios with built in loop antennas (even in my car -- the stereo blew out several years ago), and loops tend to reduce noise, so maybe the noise is there and I'm just not hearing it.

I know my own old 1989 Ford with a PCM puts out hash when I have my radio in the car, I could even hear some of it on the AM band on the car's stereo radio when it was still working. Obviously, even back then filtering of car PCM computer noise wasn't an extremely high priority. When I have my portable in the car with me, I'll hear the hash in between stations, or if the radio's antenna is oriented away from the station. Bzzzzzzzzz. It's not ear killing hash, but it's there.

Which goes back to many complaints about the poorly enforced regulations of RF noise which is harming the AM band.

The exact cause of the noise is still a mystery, but it may very well come from the truck's power train control module. Still it is unacceptable interference. Both of our daily driver cars have computer controlled injection and the AM radio seems unaffected. I also have a diesel powered motor home that uses a Cummins engine. There are several computers on board, but I've never noticed any problem getting the radio to work in it. It's a fairly old motor home. The trucks seem to be fairly new models. Are we relaxing our standards even further? It would seem like it.

boombox4 said:

Which goes back to many complaints about the poorly enforced regulations of RF noise which is harming the AM band.

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The FCC would say that enforcing regulations costs money. And that is the reason why so many regulations that once existed have gone by the wayside. The cheaper solution is simply give out FM translators. Thus, the current "solution."

gr8oldies said:

Which does make one wonder how the FCC is going to manage their new responsibilities in regulating the internet. I file a complaint on an FCC website complaining that Comcast is throttling YouTube and not Netflix? How does that work?

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Having worked for a governmental agency for a short time here is what Tom Wheeler's strategy is all about: agency preservation. As the FCC self-appoints regulating the internet, it can come back to Congress with a bigger budget and a demand for more money. "Downsizing?! Are you crazy?! How are we going to regulate the internet on this budget? We need more staff, bigger facilities."

And since the FCC now controls the internet, with its attendant fees and fines, it can further tout its ability as a Treasury revenue generator. And none too soon as they will soon be losing their ability to collect fees and fines from broadcast television when they destroy the service in the incentive auction.

I'm sure they will have a page for the public to file complaints such as this one: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us

In, fact they haven't wasted any time. It's on there already.

But keep in mind, the FCC needs verifiable proof of illegal activity by ISPs. That may not be easy to get.

Carmine5 said:

As the FCC self-appoints regulating the internet, it can come back to Congress with a bigger budget and a demand for more money.

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Except that Congress is opposed to this power grab by the FCC, and has no intention of giving them any more money.

That's why they've called all five commissioners in to testify before the Commerce Committee in a few weeks.

http://rbr.com/senate-heating-up-the-grill-for-the-fcc/