Posted by Bob C. on March 26, 2009 at 12:58:48:
In Reply to: WLS HD? posted by theWatcher on March 26, 2009 at 12:58:19:
What a waste HD has been so far! First of all, anyone who's not on Ibiquity's payroll will tell you that the HD technology on AM is simply a failure. You cannot expect to get a free pass from the laws of physics and AM HD did not. So, it sucks at night and isn't all that good during the day either.
As for FM HD, it's potential remains unrealized. For one thing, receivers are few and far between. The proponents will tell you that there are a few new models out there, but none have achieved mass-appeal status. Basically, after 5+ years, few have HD radios to hear the subchannels on.
For those who do, the results are mixed. Around here, if you live within about 15-20 miles of downtown Chicago, then FM HD probably works ok for you. But, if you're like me and live a bit farther out, you find that the HD signals won't decode without a Herculean effort.
Sad to say, in our case, the Insignia HD system that we bought in '07 sits in a corner unplugged. Upon moving here, I hooked it up and found that only 106.7 came in well and decoded the HD. None of the downtown stations came in without static and none decoded in HD. What's worse, the system has a gremlin where it will turn itself on and run a CD without anyone asking it too. That resulted in it's unplugging and disuse.
Too many of the HD radios sold are crap. That doesn't help matters. All in all, the HD radio campaign is as sloppy and ham-fisted of a marketing effort that I have ever seen.