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Insignia "Desktop Portable" HD Radio?

J

JohnnyElectron

My BestBuy doesn't have any of the HD portables, but they do finally have a few of the $50 minidesktop FM-HD radios on the shelf!
Any comments from the crew here? Is it just the same as the 1st generation or 2nd generation HD FM portable with a 30MW audio amp?
Stick with the portables, or just a waste of money? Unfortunately, they missed added AM to these units.
 
Shhhh! Don't tell anyone. Everyone has given up on HD AM. No station conversions in 3 years; no more new radios.

Move over, C-QUAM....AMax....Kahn-Hazeltine......
 
Back to the original question, is this just the same circuitry as the portable Insignia HD-FM radio? Quality same as Generation 1 or Generation 2 model?
 
Uhhh.....the Kahn system was "moved over" clear back in the 80s! Where've you been the last ±25 years, Savage?
 
Where have I been the past 25 years? Hmmm...let's see. Wrapping up 15 years in major market radio, getting my law degree and passing the bar exam in less than 3 years, getting grants for four radio and two TV stations, building four of them from scratch, founding a weekly newspaper, syndicating a regional political talk show.....you know, that kind of thing.

What have YOU been doing for the past generation?

PS: I am somewhat aware of the trajectory, and the history, of Kahn-Hazeltine AM stereo. I was music director and jock at WWDJ Hackensack/NYC in the mid 70s when the station was using the system, and extensively listened and tested. I also had numerous conversations, some of which were even cordial, with the irascible Leonard Kahn over the years, the last of which was several months before his passing. The point of my "move over" comment was to the effect that it is time for HD Radio to start gathering dust on the shelf of forgotten and unsuccessful radio broadcasting ideas.
 
I guess the "sarcasm" packets I had sent along with that post must have gotten dropped by somebody's router somewhere along the transfer....
 
Sorry. Didn't see any emoticons. ;D

One of these days I've gotta get rid of this XP computer. ;) I keep having to change the 12AX7A on the audio card.
 
The difference of AM Stereo vs HD radio was that the Kahn and CQuam systems both worked exceptionally well on skywave at night to provide stereo hundreds of miles away. Enjoyed listening to reliable decent stereo from WSM, WQXR, WNBC, WLS, CKLW, WJR, WOWO, CFRB, KDKA, WSPD, WTVN, WCCO, 'pre-WOGL', WBZ, WGN, WBAP and the late night music from KMOX. It worked, and it worked without disturbing its neighbors on the dial. Very quick recovery from static crashes, and the 3rd generation CQuam chip from Motorola/ON Semiconductor, had an excellent blend to mono and eliminated 'platform motion'.
Availability and penetration of AM Stereo was outstanding compared to HD, with over 10 million CQuam chips shipped. The Big 3 all offered AM stereo (Ford last) as well as Mitsubishi and Toyota. The GM/Delco "UX-1" model was outstanding, as was the 2nd generation Chrysler with 5 band EQ. Chrysler even had AM stereo STANDARD on all models from 1985-1991; something you can't say about HD radio. Aftermarket auto radios included a knockout wideband AM radio offering from Concord, Kenwood & Sony, along with dual bandwidth rig from Clarion, and some average Joe AM stereo radios from Radio Shack, Jenson, and several models from Sherwood.

Sony's best analog portable of all time, the SRF-A100 had about a 12KHz audio bandwidth and decoded all AM stereo modes.

Even JC Penney had a home CQuam tuner(MCS/Technics), Sony had several home receivers (mostly available in Canada and Oz though), and Radio Shack had a crippled analog tuned AMS tuner (that could have been better with a few tweaks). The big difference was that the programming on AM was worth tuning into as well!
 
No question about it. With a resource commitment of about 10% of what has been "invested" (blown) on HD, C-QUAM could potentially have had a nice impact on resuscitating AM. Instead we have a semi-digital stereo system which, if anything, has contributed to and accelerated the band's decline. I still think C-QUAM sounded better than FM stereo back in the 80s, and it was definitely better than what is commonly heard on FM today.

Actually it's fortunate for AM that HD has stiffed as badly as it has. I don't think AM radio could withstand anything like "success" for this botched, cobbled idea.
 
This topic is way off track. People should stick to the original topic or say nothing or start a new topic. No one has even answered the question.

If you are referring to the Insignia NS-HDRAD that is $50 plus tax at Best Buy it is a good HD radio. A lot of the HD radios I have like the Insignia NS-BHDIPO1 lose all presets and lose HD sub-channels when unplugged or turned off. That is very annoying. But this radio stores HD sub-channels in pre-sets and does not forget then when unplugged. It also has better HD reception than the Insignia NS-BHDIPO1. So it is a big improvement over some of the faults of older designs. It also comes with a whip antenna or a plug in wire antenna which is nice.

The negatives are no remote as I like having a remote for all radios and since its small the sound is not very good. But that can be expected for a small radio. Being small has a lot of advantages in being portable or being used in small spaces. I use it on the counter in the bathroom since it takes up little space. There it gets better reception than the Insignia NS-BHDIPO1 did. My reception is solid with no dropouts. I like to listen to classic music in the shower and the only local Classical music station is on an HD2 when I live.

Since it has 3.5mm out it can be connected to a better stereo system for better sound. It is definitely worth buying.
 
They finally put one on display at my local BB so I could play with it and extend the whip all the way, but I noticed on the one HD2 a lot of 'darth vader' digital artifacts - not dropouts, but metallic sounds - think it is just that station, or the radio?

Couldn't get HD lock on two of the 3 50KW stations 11 miles away - didn't know if that was because of being in the store, or a sensitivity issue?

Display has a lot more info than I expected - that was nice. Audio okay for a mini portable and has an aux in; however, still not sure about getting this one yet or not.
 
JohnnyElectron said:
They finally put one on display at my local BB so I could play with it and extend the whip all the way, but I noticed on the one HD2 a lot of 'darth vader' digital artifacts - not dropouts, but metallic sounds - think it is just that station, or the radio?

Couldn't get HD lock on two of the 3 50KW stations 11 miles away - didn't know if that was because of being in the store, or a sensitivity issue?
Click to expand...

If its anything like the Best Buys we have up here (they are all probably very similar in design with a few exceptions) the building is made of masonry blocks and a metal roof with those noisey overhead lights. Terrible for picking up anything in analog or digital! FM is usually no better than AM as most stores don't even bother to attach an antenna to the display model. Terrible service and people who don't really know much about anything related to antennae or radios and how they work together. They don't need to know much, honestly...you were probably the first people to really play with that floor model...

Radio-X
 
Like the above post you get terrible radio reception inside most stores including Best But so you can not judge its reception until you get it out of the store. I can assure you that is picks up HD station very well. So if you want an HD radio it is a good choice.
 
Savage said:
No question about it. With a resource commitment of about 10% of what has been "invested" (blown) on HD, C-QUAM could potentially have had a nice impact on resuscitating AM. Instead we have a semi-digital stereo system which, if anything, has contributed to and accelerated the band's decline. I still think C-QUAM sounded better than FM stereo back in the 80s, and it was definitely better than what is commonly heard on FM today.

Actually it's fortunate for AM that HD has stiffed as badly as it has. I don't think AM radio could withstand anything like "success" for this botched, cobbled idea.
Click to expand...

C-Quam had another advantage over FM radio, the range was much better at night and it came in in stereo at 100's of miles from the transmitter.
 
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