HD Gets A Boost

[Scott Fybush]

At 04:47 PM 2/2/2006, Matthew Osborne wrote:

>Although this
>would render analog AM obsolete, most people would be
>able to receive the new digital AM signals and the
>receivers could still receive a totally analog AM
>signal until this change is complete.  Would this
>change in signal delivery be possible without changing
>the hardware in every existing IBOC receiver?  Does
>anyone think this is feasible?

There's a provision in the Ibiquity system to do just this. I'm not 
at all sure whether existing HD radios can operate in that 
"all-digital" mode, though, or whether it would require new hardware (again).

Seems to me that the move to digital is making radios more like 
cellphones or MP3 players - the expectation is that they'll be 
obsolete (or at least replaced) every few years, unlike analog 
radios, where the lifecycle is measured in decades.

Even now, how many radios do any of us actually use on a regular 
basis that are older than a decade or so?

s