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KEXP Buys KREV

Mark Roberts said:
This is probably the first time that KALW has been to the right of anything.
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LOL!
Mark Roberts said:
Also, KALW dropped HD several years ago.
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I am aware, sir. But in the "HD delay" race, little KALW always comes in first, by ~10 seconds.

And on a day where KXJZ's signal reaches here cleanly - like just this morning - their processing is much easier on my ears than KQED's. The music themes and buttons sparkle. (KQED, aurally, is flat as a Florida pancake.)
 
Weiserguy said:
LOL!

I am aware, sir. But in the "HD delay" race, little KALW always comes in first, by ~10 seconds.

And on a day where KXJZ's signal reaches here cleanly - like just this morning - their processing is much easier on my ears than KQED's. The music themes and buttons sparkle. (KQED, aurally, is flat as a Florida pancake.)
Click to expand...

how can there be an hd delay race if they dropped HD? Is KALW still running an HD1 but no sub channels?
 
The HD delay is precise and fixed.

The reason you hear different delays on each station is because of everything else in the air chain that also can delay the signal now. For the most part, live NPR programming is usually delivered by satellite, but there's an Internet backup that can be delayed.

Then there's the studio transmitter link which can add more delay, audio processing, and on and on.
 
fybush said:
The HD delay is precise and fixed.

The reason you hear different delays on each station is because of everything else in the air chain that also can delay the signal now. For the most part, live NPR programming is usually delivered by satellite, but there's an Internet backup that can be delayed.

Then there's the studio transmitter link which can add more delay, audio processing, and on and on.
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i found out the hard, stupid way one day that internet stream back up built into the satellite receivers works real well.... woops. ill make sure i double check what's on the air before i unplug something
 
Weiserguy said:
LOL!

I am aware, sir. But in the "HD delay" race, little KALW always comes in first, by ~10 seconds.
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When KQED finally turned on its HD-2 channel, which I think was around 2021, it was a simulcast of the main channel, delayed by about 5 seconds! The BBC World Service on HD-2 was added only last year.

By the way, how is your reception of KKUP? (91.5) I could just barely get it in the Oakland hills on my most sensitive receiver (Tecsun PL-380).

The story I heard was that KALW's HD sidebands were interfering with reception of KKUP on the Peninsula and KKUP persuaded KALW somehow to turn it off. KALW only ever ran HD-1 anyway.

Weiserguy said:
And on a day where KXJZ's signal reaches here cleanly - like just this morning - their processing is much easier on my ears than KQED's. The music themes and buttons sparkle. (KQED, aurally, is flat as a Florida pancake.)
Click to expand...
KQED almost sounds as if they're not compensating for the pre-emphasis curve, but I'm sure they must be.
 
Mark Roberts said:
When KQED finally turned on its HD-2 channel, which I think was around 2021, it was a simulcast of the main channel, delayed by about 5 seconds! The BBC World Service on HD-2 was added only last year.
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Yes, I remember hearing that in my wife's car. (My Ford Fusion has no HD that I can locate a setting for.)
Mark Roberts said:
By the way, how is your reception of KKUP? (91.5) I could just barely get it in the Oakland hills on my most sensitive receiver (Tecsun PL-380).
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Where I live, KKUP comes in fine. Though once I head down the hill, it starts to evaporate before I'm at sea level. It's not the strongest of signals, Mark, but my side of the hill has line-of-sight to most of the South Bay stations.
Mark Roberts said:
The story I heard was that KALW's HD sidebands were interfering with reception of KKUP on the Peninsula and KKUP persuaded KALW somehow to turn it off. KALW only ever ran HD-1 anyway.
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I heard that same story. (From Mr. Higdon on ba.broadcast, IIRC.)
Mark Roberts said:
KQED almost sounds as if they're not compensating for the pre-emphasis curve, but I'm sure they must be.
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Don't know. But on mornings like today, when 90.9 booms in from Sacto, the difference in sonic quality is unmistakable. It's like 'QED has all the octave bands in their sound processor set to minimum.
 
Radiopaw said:
I can confirm KALW has no HD — their signal suffers out here from it (you get “static”) but they still sound pretty good.
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KALW is in mono during daytime programming. Stereo pilot's off until they go into their music block at 8 pm. Everything off the satellite (NPR, BBC, CBC, etc.) goes out in monaural, which actually helps them push a clean signal as far as possible. They're only pumping out 1900 watts from Twin Peaks (not Sutro Tower) at a HAAT of 919 ft. By comparison, KOIT does come off Sutro Tower, 24,000 watts at 1575 ft. Huge ERP difference.
 
Weiserguy said:
(re: KALW's discontinuance of HD.)

I heard that same story. (From Mr. Higdon on ba.broadcast, IIRC.)
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It takes some effort to find the now-frozen Google Groups archives but I managed to find at least some ba.broadcast Usenet archives. I couldn't find an article specifically about KALW's decision to drop HD, but I did see references to it beginning in 2011, so it probably happened around that time. I was a KALW subscriber at the time and recall no announcement from the station that it had dropped HD support.
 
Weiserguy said:
KALW is in mono during daytime programming. Stereo pilot's off until they go into their music block at 8 pm. Everything off the satellite (NPR, BBC, CBC, etc.) goes out in monaural, which actually helps them push a clean signal as far as possible. They're only pumping out 1900 watts from Twin Peaks (not Sutro Tower) at a HAAT of 919 ft. By comparison, KOIT does come off Sutro Tower, 24,000 watts at 1575 ft. Huge ERP difference.
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All true, but I don't think KALW airs much CBC programming any more. They killed off their broadcast of As It Happens, first dropping it from its longtime 5 pm slot to make room for their own local newscast, then pushing it later and later into the evening. It went off the schedule altogether when they started running music in the later evenings. Also, they never ran it on Fridays. I complained at least twice...in writing...but to no avail. I gave up and quit subscribing.
 
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