HD Radio Special Report #4

Should your station go HD or not?

By Bert Goldman -

It’s been about 15 years since the idea of digital broadcasting first was uttered in connection with US broadcasting. During that time we have struggled with new band options, a number of in-band options but at long last, we have closed in on a standard to be used for digital broadcasting in the United States. Many stations have converted to HD Radio both for AM and FM and many are in the process, but as uncomfortable as it may be to admit, while certainly the right thing for most stations, a conversion to HD Radio at this time may not be in the best interest of some stations.

While there has been significant testing and analysis of the interference from a new digital transmitter to an analog station, there is not as much information on what to expect from a digital receiver in the presence of other analog and digital interfering stations.

In many cases, there just isn’t much information available yet. This article is meant to look at what you might expect from your digital station so that you won’t be disappointed when you flip the switch and only pertains to FM IBOC. I have also kept the text purposely non-technical for those who don’t spend all their time on engineering matters.

Click the pdf download link below to read the full report.