IS THERE ANOTHER COMPANY OFFERING HD TRANSMISSION TECHNOLOGY

[discjockeyjohn64]

I was tuning in the other day to KRWM 106.9 in Seattle on my HD unit, and it was listing some company other than Ibiquity's HD information. Is there another company offering an HD system that is now starting to compete with Ibiquity? Maybe someone with more knowledge on the subject can respond. Hopefully this will not be like the AM Stereo fiasco. I still have the tuner that had a button you'd shift on the side to pick up Motorola or Harris's version of AM stereo.

 

[spunker88]

Not that I know of, the FCC has only approved HD Radio. What was your unit doing that made you think another HD technology was being used?

 

[discjockeyjohn64]

It specifically listed a different company name when it was scrolling its HD technology. I checked wikipedia and apparently there are other versions because Ibiquity that some stations are starting to use, because they don't charge monthly fees to use the service.

 

[Casey]

There is another one called FMeXtra. A mostly compatible, royalty free alternative.

 

[w9wi]

"Scrolling its HD technology" -- on your radio's display?

I'm betting the station is running RDS, a technology that digitally transmits a small amount of text but leaves the audio in analog format. IIRC some RDS encoders scroll the name of the manufacturer if they haven't been programmed properly.

 

[kenglish]

There is also Leonard Kahn's CAM-D system for AM. and the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) system.

CAM-D is still being used occasionally (KDYL in Salt Lake City is one, AFAIK).
DRM is not legal for the standard broadcast bands ("AM" and "FM") in the US, but is perfectly legal for shortwave broadcasting here.

 

[JohnnyElectron]

When WJR first installed their HD, their PAD info used to read "Harris HD Radio", so maybe that's what you're thinking? Several other HD AM & FMs 'advertised' for Harris as well.
Still HD, still iBiquity, just that hardware was built by Harris and there is still the transfer of funds to iBiquity money buckets.

 

[DavidEduardo]

When WJR first installed their HD, their PAD info used to read "Harris HD Radio", so maybe that's what you're thinking? Several other HD AM & FMs 'advertised' for Harris as well.
Still HD, still iBiquity, just that hardware was built by Harris and there is still the transfer of funds to iBiquity money buckets.

Good observation. I think all the early HD gear had a default display of the manufacturer, which most stations programmed over with their name or slogan on setup.

Since iBiquity does not make the HD gear stations install, each manufacturer can decide what they want the default display to say when first booted.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I was tuning in the other day to KRWM 106.9 in Seattle on my HD unit, and it was listing some company other than Ibiquity's HD information. Is there another company offering an HD system that is now starting to compete with Ibiquity?

iBiquity does not manufacture the hardware stations use... that is done by transmitter manufacturers like Harris and Nautel... you may have seen the name of the manufacturer, which stations would normally replace with their own identity upon installation.

 

[Savage]

Yep: "transmitter manufacturers like Harris and Nautel." Soon to be just Nautel.

From what I hear, HD Radio largely contributed to Broadcast Electronics' current money woes. The expense and time involved in support for this glitchy, half-baked system severely overstressed the company's tech resources.