HD Road trip......

[k9ez]

Over the weekend I had the chance to drive through Chicago and Detroit.. some of the better HD Radio cities...

All I can say is WOW! The choices that are offered are great (and we have just begun here!) How nice was it to listen to say US 99 in Chicago (country). If you didnt like what they had on HD1, push a button and BAM you had a different country song.

I spent a lot of time listeing to WJKM HD-2 (oldies) at night with Dick Biondi. The audio was very nice and the programming was great.

One of the things I was looking for is how far the HD2 signal carried. For WJKM I had the HD2 signal from Kenosha, WI until the Michigan/Indiana State line.

Detroit is loaded up with HD2 signals as well. Quite the choices! Main stream jazz to Farm talk, to alternative Hip Hop and so on.

It left me with a feeling like ya, this is going to work! There were plenty of channels to chose from and it doesnt have a monthly fee. Heck even my wife (who is NOT technically astute) easily understood how to get between channels. She took the truck out during the day and said she enjoyed being able change from a country station to the HD2 channel (yes she is a country fan).

A tip of the hat to the engineers in Chicago and Detroit, as you must have busted your butts getting those on and having them sound so good! Having just put on an HD2 myself, I know what you must have gone through.

 

[Len14043]

> Over the weekend I had the chance to drive through Chicago
> and Detroit.. some of the better HD Radio cities...
>
> All I can say is WOW! The choices that are offered are
> great (and we have just begun here!) How nice was it to
> listen to say US 99 in Chicago (country). If you didnt like
> what they had on HD1, push a button and BAM you had a
> different country song.
>
> I spent a lot of time listeing to WJKM HD-2 (oldies) at
> night with Dick Biondi. The audio was very nice and the
> programming was great.
>
> One of the things I was looking for is how far the HD2
> signal carried. For WJKM I had the HD2 signal from Kenosha,
> WI until the Michigan/Indiana State line.
>
> Detroit is loaded up with HD2 signals as well. Quite the
> choices! Main stream jazz to Farm talk, to alternative Hip
> Hop and so on.
>
> It left me with a feeling like ya, this is going to work!
> There were plenty of channels to chose from and it doesnt
> have a monthly fee. Heck even my wife (who is NOT
> technically astute) easily understood how to get between
> channels. She took the truck out during the day and said
> she enjoyed being able change from a country station to the
> HD2 channel (yes she is a country fan).
>
> A tip of the hat to the engineers in Chicago and Detroit, as
> you must have busted your butts getting those on and having
> them sound so good! Having just put on an HD2 myself, I
> know what you must have gone through.
>
That is really encouraging. When you were listening to the HD-2 stations, were there dropouts between Kenosha and the MI/IN state line, since HD-2 doesn't have an analog backup? Did you check out the reception of the AM IBOC stations?

 

[bossmsx]

Any HD-3s?

Did you hear anyone running anything on their HD-3s, and if so, what was it?

 

[k9ez]

> > Over the weekend I had the chance to drive through Chicago
>
> > and Detroit.. some of the better HD Radio cities...
> >
> > All I can say is WOW! The choices that are offered are
> > great (and we have just begun here!) How nice was it to
> > listen to say US 99 in Chicago (country). If you didnt
> like
> > what they had on HD1, push a button and BAM you had a
> > different country song.
> >
> > I spent a lot of time listeing to WJKM HD-2 (oldies) at
> > night with Dick Biondi. The audio was very nice and the
> > programming was great.
> >
> > One of the things I was looking for is how far the HD2
> > signal carried. For WJKM I had the HD2 signal from
> Kenosha,
> > WI until the Michigan/Indiana State line.
> >
> > Detroit is loaded up with HD2 signals as well. Quite the
> > choices! Main stream jazz to Farm talk, to alternative
> Hip
> > Hop and so on.
> >
> > It left me with a feeling like ya, this is going to work!
>
> > There were plenty of channels to chose from and it doesnt
> > have a monthly fee. Heck even my wife (who is NOT
> > technically astute) easily understood how to get between
> > channels. She took the truck out during the day and said
> > she enjoyed being able change from a country station to
> the
> > HD2 channel (yes she is a country fan).
> >
> > A tip of the hat to the engineers in Chicago and Detroit,
> as
> > you must have busted your butts getting those on and
> having
> > them sound so good! Having just put on an HD2 myself, I
> > know what you must have gone through.
> >
> That is really encouraging. When you were listening to the
> HD-2 stations, were there dropouts between Kenosha and the
> MI/IN state line, since HD-2 doesn't have an analog backup?
> Did you check out the reception of the AM IBOC stations?
>


It depends on the stations. I had one drop out fo WNUA HD2 near Zion, but that was it until the state line. Other than that all stations were solid.

I can get WSCR in Milwaukee so that is a non issue. WRLL covers from the north side of Chicago, but I didnt check to the south side as it was dark and there was no HD Radio then. Next time I get to Chicago I will check it out again.

The Detroit AMs were all solid out to Brighton (NW suburbs) and all sounded pretty decent. I was spending more time with the HD2s. I foudn the DH2 to go about 15 miles west of Ann Arbor. Again it depends on teh station.

 

[k9ez]

Re: Any HD-3s?

> Did you hear anyone running anything on their HD-3s, and if
> so, what was it?
>

I have not heard an HD3 yet. I will keep looking however

 

[JM_pstar]

> Over the weekend I had the chance to drive through Chicago
> and Detroit.. some of the better HD Radio cities...
>
> All I can say is WOW! The choices that are offered are
> great (and we have just begun here!) How nice was it to
> listen to say US 99 in Chicago (country). If you didnt like
> what they had on HD1, push a button and BAM you had a
> different country song.
>
> I spent a lot of time listeing to WJKM HD-2 (oldies) at
> night with Dick Biondi. The audio was very nice and the
> programming was great.
>
> One of the things I was looking for is how far the HD2
> signal carried. For WJKM I had the HD2 signal from Kenosha,
> WI until the Michigan/Indiana State line.
>
> Detroit is loaded up with HD2 signals as well. Quite the
> choices! Main stream jazz to Farm talk, to alternative Hip
> Hop and so on.
>
> It left me with a feeling like ya, this is going to work!
> There were plenty of channels to chose from and it doesnt
> have a monthly fee. Heck even my wife (who is NOT
> technically astute) easily understood how to get between
> channels. She took the truck out during the day and said
> she enjoyed being able change from a country station to the
> HD2 channel (yes she is a country fan).
>
> A tip of the hat to the engineers in Chicago and Detroit, as
> you must have busted your butts getting those on and having
> them sound so good! Having just put on an HD2 myself, I
> know what you must have gone through.
>

Sounds like fun. As I'm not all that familiar with Illinois or Michigan, about how big of an area is it that some of the HD stations covered?

 

[Ai4i]

Re: Any HD-3s?

>
> I have not heard an HD3 yet. I will keep looking however
>

And let us know if HD-3s and 4s drop out the same time HD-2s do and if a lower bitrate is more robust (with analogue, less bandwidth means more range).<P ID="signature">______________
Proud 2 B a pioneering satellite radio subs¢riber
Ai4i is always on the trailing edge of technology
_______________</P>