[BC] to the editor of the NY Times

[Clive Warner]

If you don't agree with the comments in the NY Times then why don't you
write to them like I just did.
Perhaps if enough mail arrives from engineers they might take note.
- Clive.
Copy below:

FOR PUBLICATION
==============

Sir -

The piece "revolution on the radio" is puffery rather than egineering fact.

"HD radio" is all about the rich stations getting richer, and to hell with
the 'mom and pop' stations.

Ibiquity is locking the US broadcasting system into a monopoly controlled by
themselves (they are the only company with the rights and knowledge of a
propietary 'codec' used for transmission). It's as if Microsoft were given
the sole right to supply computers to the US.

Thomas R. Ray III, director of engineering for Buckley Broadcasting, is
quoted:
" In AM, this avoids having signals fade in short tunnels and will prevent
noise from electrical motors. It gets rid of the majority of problems with
AM radio."

In AM the situation caused by so-called 'HD' radio is appalling. Every
station that adopts this system immediately wipes out a good portion of
neighbor stations reception areas due to the horrible 'buzz saw' noise that
IBOC (HD) creates in adjacent channels. Night-time reception will become
unusable.

Next, the radios. There are hardly any in existence. And even those that
exist cost a fortune. A minimum price of $259 for a radio? No thanks. I'd
rather buy an iPod and an iTrip and have change left over, AND be able to
play what I want, when I want, rather than listen to someone else's tiny
restricted playlist with guaranteed-no-naughty-words.

Even in Europe where digital radio broadcasting (DAB) has been around for
quite a while, there are no portable receivers. This is because digital
receivers require chips that consume lots of power  - far too much power for
battery-operated devices. So those people who enjoy being able to listen to
the radio on portable devices will turn to iPods and the like. Radio
audiences will decline even further.

Radio listeners have been deserting the medium because of poor programmes,
often originated from 'voicetracked' studios hundreds of miles away. They're
sick of the blocks of advertising, the restricted playlists, the payola.
'HD' will be the final nail in radio's coffin.

-( Clive)