HD Radio Tuning Instructions... ->(Thanx Cumulus)

[jd]

A 60 dBu signal contour, which, again, is where 95% of listening occurs, normally doesn't extend much beyond 60 miles from the tower.

Actually it's not that far, but you're close. A Class C station operating with maximum power and height has a "service contour" in the range of 57 miles.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

A 60 dBu signal contour, which, again, is where 95% of listening occurs, normally doesn't extend much beyond 60 miles from the tower. In other words, those stations have so few listeners even 80 miles away from the tower, they don't likely care that the signal degrades at that range.

Spoken like a true Easterner. This is not a "digital" case where the signal is on and off. Where listeners investigate where the 60 dBu curve is - "oops I am out of the 60dBu contour I better change stations". The get in the car, drive to work or the mall or whatever, leave the same station or stations on. If they happen to drive where the signal is gone, well they tune another station. But that's not likely, because the station doesn't fall off a cliff or something. Unless it is HD-2, but that is another problem.

I've heard this 60 dBu argument over and over again, but I look at metro areas like Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles - the metro areas go a lot farther than 60 dBu curves do in some cases, yet people start listening and leave the station on as they commute. Looking at former powerhouse KRBE, they are supposed to drop off that cliff north of Conroe, but I know for a fact that just about all the kids up there listen because there isn't another outlet for the format. Except for the kid that likes oldies. Oh by the way Olivia Holt's remake of "These Boots are Made for Walking" comes out on iTunes today or tomorrow. But - no - kids don't listen to or know about oldies. 15 year old Olivia just happened to write it all over again. Off the subject --- but I guess KRBE doesn't have to care about Huntsville, but add Huntsville, Brenham, Bryan, College Station, Beaumont Port Arthur - there is a lot of area inside those concentric rings, and the numbers get significant pretty fast. Each town isn't that big, but add all those little towns together it is big. And since the vast majority of the ads are for Geico, Home Depot, and other things that are nationwide in nature, where the population numbers are doesn't matter nearly as much as it used to, and you better believe the people selling ads want to know the totals from those fringe areas when they present their audience numbers to potential advertisers. If they don't, they aren't very good at their job because 7 million sounds better than 6 million to advertisers with national products. Gallery Furniture wouldn't care, but I don't hear too many local ads like that any more.

I've been to LA, and stations like KIIS and KRTH are listened to all over Southern California no matter what the contours are. They have fiercely loyal listeners who keep them on even in areas where they fade. So - no - that 60 dBu argument is really not very valid the way people really use radio.

 

[JRZFM100]

Some people are so crazy [EMF] they are concerned [EMF] about the 40 dBu.... believing they can get tithes and offerings well beyond the 60! [EMF]

101.7 / Azle provides the perfect backdrop!

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Some people are so crazy [EMF] they are concerned [EMF] about the 40 dBu.... believing they can get tithes and offerings well beyond the 60! [EMF]

101.7 / Azle provides the perfect backdrop!

Not EMF - Calvary Chapel! Specifically KDKR 91.3. Now, it has upgraded and has a decent signal over DFW. But before --- it was a Decatur station that was fringe at best in Ft. Worth, downright deep fringe for Dallas. Thinking back about 8 years - here is a true story for your entertainment:

Calvary Chapel Dallas is actually in Plano, near Alma and Spring Creek right near US 75. They used to have a Christian school, my daughter went there. The school was struggling due to drop in church attendance. Another story. But we had been in radio, and knew how to talk to radio people. Nothing happens without advertising, and that school needed advertising. My wife got on the phone with KLTY, which graciously offered a very reasonable, affordable rate well within the budget the church could afford. But - did Calvary Chapel go for it? NO! They would only advertise on KDKR. Understand that this was a low power station in Decatur, 80 miles from the church and school. So they were telling all these folks in Decatur about a Christian school 80 miles away in Plano. MADNESS!!! We were pretty disgusted after all my wife's work on the project.

Those can be nice folks, when they aren't gossiping about you. I don't bear any ill will, but with decision making like that it is no wonder the school folded. They are so fanatical about the Calvary Chapel radio station that they were producing a bunch of church members DX'er's just so they could get the deep fringe signal from that one station. Like there was something wrong with KLTY - I guess they were suspicious the doctrine wouldn't line up exactly with the list of Calvary Chapel distinctives. Not bad doctrinally - but - really - turned down almost free advertising on a full Class C stick? You got to scratch your head over that one!

I got some of those folks really excited when I showed them my Sony SRF-59, which pulled KDKR in clearly in their low power days.

 

[Kent]

Spoken like a true Easterner. This is not a "digital" case where the signal is on and off. Where listeners investigate where the 60 dBu curve is - "oops I am out of the 60dBu contour I better change stations". The get in the car, drive to work or the mall or whatever, leave the same station or stations on.

You're correct that no one plots out where the 60 dBu signal contour is when deciding what to listen to, but the poorer radios will not reliably pick up a station outside of the 60 dBu. The typical listener is more like my mother than either of us. She won't listen to any station her seek won't stop on. Also, since most people find a handful of favorite stations and stick to them, they're probably not going to seek out a station on a home stereo that they can't reliably pick up in their cars or vice-versa. I've always been told the poorest commonly used radio defines an average person's listening habits.

I've heard this 60 dBu argument over and over again, but I look at metro areas like Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles - the metro areas go a lot farther than 60 dBu curves do in some cases, yet people start listening and leave the station on as they commute.

This is actually more of what killed AM than the superior sound quality of FM. Roughly 15 years ago, I believe it was Sean Ross who wrote an article about how what killed AM 20 years earlier could easily kill FM. His point was essentially that AM directional patterns often excluded suburbs, where more and more of the AM stations' target audience was moving. Since they couldn't hear the AM stations they listened to in the cities clearly, they started tuning to FM, which was mostly non-directional, and even the directional stations had far more circular patterns than most AM's. He went on to point out that commute distances in larger cities were becoming farther than the markets' FM signals could reliably travel.

I've been to LA, and stations like KIIS and KRTH are listened to all over Southern California no matter what the contours are. They have fiercely loyal listeners who keep them on even in areas where they fade. So - no - that 60 dBu argument is really not very valid the way people really use radio.

However, the vast majority of people who commute to the LA area from San Clemente don't listen to KIIS and KRTH at home. Also, keep in mind that the service contours of the Class B LA stations cover all of Los Angeles County and nearly 3/4 of Orange County in addition to a substantial portion of the densest areas of San Bernardino County. The service contours cover the entire LA metro and well beyond. So, it's actually very representative of the way people in Southern California use radio.

 

[JRZFM100]

Quickly... cause I have to go---

IF Kent were a true Easterner... wouldn't he have reverence and respect for the 54dBu contour?

(I grew up 65 miles south of Manhattan... we had only Class A's & B's. And the 54 was very important there)

More madness later. much to ponder / much to respond to.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Quickly... cause I have to go---

IF Kent were a true Easterner... wouldn't he have reverence and respect for the 54dBu contour?

(I grew up 65 miles south of Manhattan... we had only Class A's & B's. And the 54 was very important there)

More madness later. much to ponder / much to respond to.

Forgot all about that 54 dB countour in the East. Actually those contours are ridiculous, the true signal strength varies by orders of magnitude - under overpasses, behind buildings, in valleys, etc. The actual pattern would be so complex with little micro zones nobody could predict anything except statistical trends. Then throw airplanes and tropo into the mix ---

 

[KR913]

FYI...KDKR is not a Calvary Chapel radio station.