I read your June editorial called An IBOC Roadblock.

I followed the attempt to bring in AM stereo, including the Khan-Hazeltine and C-QUAM systems. When I first listened to AM stereo, I was impressed that the quality of the sound nearly doubled a mono signal. I found it sad that it had taken the FCC an exorbitant amount of time to determine which mode would become the standard, as many radio stations were restraining from making capital equipment purchases since they did not want to be stuck with material that may not be authorized in the near future.

As noted at two websites, users.hfx.eastlink.ca/~amstereo/index.htm and www.amstereoradio.com, as conglomerate buyouts of smaller stations started happening, C-QUAM AM was turned off as often, though not the only reason, the conglomerates were complaining that AM stereo signals did not travel as far as monaural signals so the stations were losing their listening audience. (I thought this sad because AM stereo was a very interesting concept that seemed to be working very well.)

Up starts a company, now known as Ibiquity, that in the early 1990s claims it can produce a better AM and FM quality sound. I am game for improvements. I followed the concept, but had not heard the product until 2001.

I was not impressed with the first hearing if IBOC at NAB 2001. I figured it was only the first roll-out and that improvements would be made to the overall quality.

I listened to it again at NAB 2002 and still was not impressed with the signal.

I attended the SBE Ennes Workshops at the 2002 NAB Radio Show in Seattle, which included a day's worth of presentation of how IBOC worked and how to sell it to your customers. During the technical aspect of IBOC, the presenters stated that there was a compromise to sound to be able to send both digital and analog signals out, and to keep both signals within the authorized bandwidths.

Now, in 2003, when at NAB again, the product was [supposedly] finished. As I listened to the signals, they still did not sound as clean as the current analog AM and FM broadcasts. The AM sounded bright but harsh, as if much of the audio harmonics were chopped off. The FM was brighter, but I could still hear a seashell whooshing in the final product. It also sounded harsh with so many audio harmonics cut out. I was not impressed at all, and made sure I had told Ibiquity when I visited their booth.

I was also not impressed with 8.5 second delay. At a real-time broadcast, such as a baseball game, the batter could be sliding in to second base before you would hear the announcer say the batter had even hit the ball. Fans at a game with the radio for commentary would not be happy with this.

The switching from analog to digital to analog also presents problems.

This is quality improvement?

Yet the same conglomerates that decided that C-QUAM AM stereo diminished AM quality and reception are now embracing IBOC. Why? Because they can pass more information to the consumer. Translation: they can pass more commercials to the consumer to make more money for themselves.

The four stations I work with are somewhat relieved that the NRSC has suspended its evaluation because of the quality factor. I had told my clients my opinions of IBOC. My clients were also aware of the IBOC problems and were somewhat apprehensive to converting.

So, to state in my opinion, as asked for in the June 2003 issue of Radio magazine, I vote to leave FM radio alone, and re-evaluate AM C-QUAM stereo. Even though three of the four AM Stereo stations I can receive in Reno from other states and Canada sound primarily as if they are sending the 25Hz pilot signal and running mono, these stations sound much better even over the hundreds to thousands of miles they travel at night compared to the local mono signals I get from my local area - even the 50kW omni in the daytime. Gregg E Zuelke Silver Springs, NV

Chriss:

After reading your editorial in the June issue, I decided to record and send you an audio sample. The short MP3 that I sent is a standard C-Quam analog AM station, received in Toledo, OH, using just a loop antenna. Toledo is 82 air miles from the CFCO 10kW transmitter site in Chatham, ON, Canada. Toledo is not in CFCO's primary area of coverage. The audio was received on a Fanfare FTA-100 tuner and recorded directly to a Philips home CD recorder without any equalization. Despite using the loop antenna, I was quite impressed with the relatively low noise level and decent stereo separation, as well as the frequency response.

After listening to CFCO and WJR in AM stereo on this tuner, I'm convinced that if all the effort devoted to creating a broadcast system with dial-up Internet quality audio - the IBOC scheme - was instead invested into making a decent AM receiver, broadcasters would be saved a ton of money. Broadcasters should consider putting their money into purchasing a tuner/radio manufacturer that could produce superb AM radios, just like Crosley Radio did while owning flame-thrower WLW-AM (hint, hint Clear Channel). The broadcaster's company could build a tuner with an AM section similar to the Fanfare with frequency response to the 10.2kHz limit with a 10kHz whistle filter, throw-in a noise-blanker, stereo AM, and then work on DSP decoding to further improve noise issues, as is done with the Motorola Symphony or Omega chipsets.

If the developers still want to go proceed with IBOC on the FM band, they could make a tuner/radio that would include the new "HD-AM" with features listed above and an IBOC-FM. To help current AM stations avoid wasting money on their experimental IBOC/HD Radio hardware, Ibiquity could write the software code to generate C-Quam with the existing IBOC hardware, thereby keeping their broadcast system compatible with the millions of existing Chrysler minivan soccer-mom car radios listening to Radio Disney in AM stereo. John Pavlica systems engineer Innovative Controls Corporation Toledo, OH

Hi Chriss,

You want my thoughts on IBOC. How much time do you have?

There are many issues that have not been addressed, which I believe are very important, not the least of which is the cost and availability of receivers. Over the years, one of the reasons for the popularity of radio has been the low cost of receivers. You can buy one for ten bucks that looks like Mickey Mouse and hangs in your shower; you can buy one for $2.95 that fits in your ear while you jog; you can buy a nice little clock radio to put by your bed for $15 or less. What's going to happen when people have to start shelling out big bucks to buy a receiver to listen to their favorite station? I'll tell you what's going to happen, they will spend that same money for a new CD player or perhaps a satellite radio system where they can listen to their favorite music without putting up with commercials. People will not pay big bucks for a new radio, just as they won't pay big bucks for a new television for HDTV. That is a proven fact. Only the elite - the yuppies - the audio perfectionists who like cute toys will buy IBOC receivers.

Furthermore, an independently owned and operated station such as ours here in Madison, MN (population 1,767, with a potential audience of 39,000), will have to spend thousands of dollars for IBOC equipment and we will never get that money back - not in a million years. Our listeners listen for obituaries, lost and found dogs and cats, the local high school ballgame, our evening storytime with the local librarian, for the extension report, for weather watches and warnings and for a variety of other reasons, as they have for the past 20 years since we built this station. They could give a rat's behind whether that information is delivered in an analog or digital mode - they listen for the content.

When are the nation's "broadcasters" going to start concentrating on the information they broadcast rather than the mode through which it is transmitted? The sooner satellite radio and digital downloading kill off the big music stations and we all get back to serving audiences with local information the better off our medium will be. I'm not saying we shouldn't pursue new technologies, one cannot stand still, but to rush into something as complex as IBOC for no good reason but to save "music radio" (which isn't really "radio" anyway) borders on lunacy.

Radio right now is, for the most part, a joke; a big, lousy jukebox run by accountants and lawyers who are intent on dragging the real broadcasters down with them. It is regulated by an FCC that consists of people who probably never heard of comparative hearings to determine which license applicant will best serve the public. This FCC determines who best serves the "public interest" by checking out highest bidders, and then holds licensees to some kind of public interest standard to which they don't adhere themselves.