IBOC operates currently at 1/100 power of the analog signal so HD contour is much smaller.There is proposel to move to 1/10 power.HD does have some imunity to multipath and picket fencing in the city where the signal is strong enough.The upper and lower carrier provides to seperate signals.In Toronto where 2 analogs on the same frequency occurs the analog can be unlistenable but the 1 HD signal can come thru perfect.US reception of HD radio in Ottawa is unlikely unless your using a big antenna on a tower.

I was hoping to snag in some signals with tropo ducting nights perhaps. I know the winter time isn't the best for this, but when in the spring maybe. I guess i will just have to buy an IBOC, put it in the car, and see what new stations appear. And do by experimenting. Or i could get a good quality antenna such as a 5 or 7 element beam, and have it high up aiming towards the south to increase the signal recieve reception level (db).

I was hoping somebody would have a list or come up with stations in canada that may already be testing this. Or we could compile a list together with people who already have an iboc radio an ironically come across a new HD signal.

Also what is the minimum signal strength that an iboc radio can recieve in order to play out the station. I know on FM it can get fuzzy and u can still hear it. But IBOC u either get it or u don't there is no in between.

Also what is the minimum signal strength that an iboc radio can recieve in order to play out the station. I know on FM it can get fuzzy and u can still hear it. But IBOC u either get it or u don't there is no in between.
When a digital station looses lock it drops out, but it drops out to the regular analog FM.
If the signals are in time, you hardly notice except for the limited frequency response. The bad part is when you're listening to the second channel (I like some of the blues on HD2), when that drops out of digital lock, you get the regular FM which has nothing to do with the program I was listening too.
You need a real solid lock on the FM carrier to get the digital lock.

when you're listening to the second channel (I like some of the blues on HD2), when that drops out of digital lock, you get the regular FM which has nothing to do with the programYa, that's so annoying. :eek: I get the same thing with the 24-hour jazz subchannel on KPLU 88.5 in Tacoma when it drops out to NPR News programming on the main station.

I'm a huge jazz fan so getting KPLU is an absolute must! Getting it in HD Radio is even more of a bonus, but not easy or commonplace in the Lower Mainland. On a clear day or night while driving around in a few areas of the Lower Mainland I can get KPLU 88.5's digital subchannels (HD1 is the main program in digital, HD2 is the 24 hour jazz program). Otherwise it is only the analogue programming and often too choppy for listening. When it is in digital it is spectacular. :)

I can almost always get KPLU's Mount Vernon transmitter on 91.1 but only in analogue and sometimes choppy, while I cannot get their Bellingham transmitter on 88.9 which is much closer but not as powerful as the mothership in Tacoma.

There are several other HD Radio stations from SeaTac, as listed earlier in this thread, but I haven't experimented with getting them.

I guess then that most DAB users in Canada are using handheld devices.

Is there anyone in Montreal who is successfully receiving HD Radio from Burlington/Plattsburgh? I see that there are 4 stations broadcasting a total of 7 channels in that market.

STL

Does anybody know of an HD Radio tuner for home? Either stand alone or as an add on would be good.
thanx,
Tom

anybody know of an HD Radio tuner for home?Several of us members have bought this one, and apart from its quirky consumer interface it is absolutely astonishing in its performance:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=94361

Best FM tuner I've ever come across, bar none, regardless of whether its on a standard station or on HD FM.

Thank you,
On the Sony XDR-F1HD, what do you mean about the 'quirky consumer interface'? Is the output analog or digital?

I e-mailed pioneer-usa asking about HD Radio and pioneer canada aswered "Pioneer Electronics of Canada, Inc. does not currently market HD radio receivers for home or car use in Canada"

No digital output, just RCA R-L jacks. The UI issues are with the front LCD always being illuminated, whether on or off, no direct number entry tuning with the remote (you have to scan and commit stations to memory) and with the remote control's IR receiving pattern being very narrow. For a Sony product this one is quirky, making me think it was a special project that wasn't fully hashed out.

My general feeling is that the quality of the reception and audio is so superb that the other stuff doesn't matter to me. We shouldn't discuss that box in this thread though... :)

Is there anyone in Montreal who is successfully receiving HD Radio from Burlington/Plattsburgh? I see that there are 4 stations broadcasting a total of 7 channels in that market.

I ordered the XDR-F1HD online and will test the FM IBOC reception for the Montreal area this summer. I contacted FM station WBTZ which broadcasts from Plattsburgh, NY about their plans for HD Radio. They said they do have plans, but nothing before another year. I guess the Burlington/Plattsburgh market isn't as fast with the transition to IBOC as they were with the transition to ATSC.

Not sure whether it's worth looking into DAB at this point. From what I understand, its future status is uncertain, its tuners are expensive, and no rooftop antenna, amplification, and cabling seems available (barring custom orders).

STL

The HD Digital Radio Alliance reports that HD has met a couple of milestones: 1,000 HD2 and HD3 subchannels are now on the air, and there are 100 unique HD Radio receivers now available.http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=1235269&spid=24698#Scene_1

For Canadian FM radio stations in border areas I see this as a further pull factor of listeners away from them, especially as HD Radio becomes more commonly integrated into automobile audio.

For sure, I wrung my hands at first as the HD2 and HD3 channels lit up throughout the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellingham (northwest US) listening area.
When KING-FM 98.1 added HD2 and HD3 I thought - here is a first class classical station degrading itself. There would be a slight hit to the S/N compared to a pure HD1-only transmisssion.

We must appreciate our fortune in that only a total of 3 HD steams (or less) are present on almost every Northwest station. It could be worse.

As for the content - maybe to blow it a little out of proportion - this is becoming almost as good as XM radio. These new streams are covering so many music, news, entertainment and other specialities that your chances of finding something good to listen to are really improved.

I ordered the XDR-F1HD online and will test the FM IBOC reception for the Montreal area this summer.

Some preliminary results for HD Radio in Montreal. I have 10 element yagi cut for 206 Mhz [10Y13S] and amplified with a CM 7777 it delivers a 3/3 signal level on HD Radio station WVPS broadcasting from Mt. Mansfield. I am using a Sony XDR-F1HD. I can also confirm the tuner's quality: it is impressive. But this is the only HD Radio station received so far.

Will pick up a 4-element yagi this weekend and will see if more HD Radio stations are received.

STL

STL its interesting that your Channel 13 antenna has almost no gain in the FM band yet you got that station. With a proper FM band antenna I hope you'll get even more.

You are right stampeder, as always! ;) I tried that stock FM T-wire antenna and got similar signal patterns as my amplified ch 13 antenna which is 40 ft off the ground. So WVPS comes in strong even with just that.

The 4-element yagi I am getting is an FM antenna. Winegard 6000 I believe.

STL

I have installed my Winegard 6000 today and reception is indeed better than with either a T-wire FM antenna or an out-of-band ch. 13 antenna.

On the HD Radio side, WVPS-HD is nice and strong. WCEL-HD does also lock at times, but it is not steady. The tuner is very sensitive. If I rotate the yagi by maybe 20 degrees, I get CKLX-FM with a signal level 57.7 dBm higher!!! Very impressive that WCEL would come in at all.

So a Montrealer equipped with a Sony XDR-F1HD and a 4-element FM yagi at 30 ft or higher can expect 1 strong HD Radio station with 3 subs and 1 weak station without subs.

STL

Clay Freewald, K7CR, CPBE, writes a monthly column about TV and Radio broadcasting in the SeaTac area for the Seattle Chapter of the Society of Broadcast Engineers newsletter The Waveguide. His column is carried by Gord Lansdell on his Northwest Broadcasters (http://members.shaw.ca/nwbroadcasters/) site. Clay knows everybody in broadcasting in this part of the U.S. and is highly regarded at the national level as well. On the Canadian side of the border Gord Lansdell knows everybody in broadcasting up here on the West Coast! :)

September's column has some very interesting insider info regarding the future of HD Radio in the U.S., including the testing that is showing no adverse effects of bumping ERP levels higher on the FM band (a common desire of station owners that raised all sorts of technical worries), but Freewald speculates that HD Radio on the AM band might be on the way out due to ongoing adjacent frequency interference issues:

http://members.shaw.ca/nwbroadcasters/clay09-09.htm

As much as I get irritated with the CRTC's and Industry Canada's seemingly excessive caution with ATSC ERP levels and contours during Canada's transition to DTV, I applaud their approach to letting IBOC HD Radio get sorted out south of the border first before giving the green light up here.

I am delighted to get several great digital HD Radio FM stations from the SeaTac area, but it sure will be nice to have the Canadian stations transition when the real world bugs get sorted out.

Hey Stampeder...
Why is K08OU listed as remapping to 73.x etc? Is that an error on the list of the site you provided?