W242AA

[Eli Polonsky]

-----Original Message-----
>From: Aaron Read <friedbagels@gmail.com>
>Sent: Apr 26, 2010 11:45 AM
>To: Eli Polonsky <elipolo@earthlink.net>
>Cc: boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org
>Subject: Re: W242AA
>
>Eli Polonsky wrote:
>> The HD signal was so weak that even a few blocks
>> from the tower, I was only getting the HD icon 
>> blinking, meaning it was detecting a HD signal,
>> but it was too weak to fully lock on to the HD.
>> It kept trying to load the HD signal, but failed.
>> (snip) 
>> I tried it again a few weeks ago, and W242AA seems
>> to be no longer in HD, there was no more blinking 
>> HD icon, so I don't know what's up with it.
>> 
>
>@Eli: I would suspect that you were getting digital 
>carriers from either adjacent-channel WSRS out of 
>Worcester or co-channel WEII out of Dennis. Both 
>have pretty monster signals that would ordinarily 
>come in fairly well in Kendall Square if it weren't 
>for W242AA. It's entirely possible for a digital 
>signal to start to overlay an analog-only one; 
>I've seen it happen...the radio starts on the 
>analog station and then suddenly blends to the 
>digital one.

That's not what's happening. The Insignia portable
is not sensitive enough to get any sign of the HD
icon on WSRS anywhere in the metro-Boston area. I
have been in places away from W242AA, with higher
ground and better reception, where I can hear the
analog WSRS on the Insignia, but it won't get any
HD icon at all from WSRS until I'm well to the 
west of Route 128. WEII is even less likely. The
area in Kendall Square is low-lying and somewhat
surrounded by concrete and metal buildings, plus
the intermod and desensitization caused by the 
Pru directly across the Charles. Not a favorable 
place for out-of-town reception.

I can (barely) get my Sangean HD home tuner to go
into HD on WSRS from the west facing hill that I
live on in Somerville, but even in that location
the Insignia portable will barely get WSRS at all
in analog. It's certainly not getting HD from WSRS
in low-lying, building-surrounded Kendall Square.

There was no aural evidence of blending at all
when I heard W242AA in Kendall Square with the 
HD light blinking. It was still receiving analog,
a clean but weak signal from W242AA, no blending
with anything else.

The Insignia does not activate HD from adjacent 
channel bleed-over no matter how strong the audio 
of the bleed appears. The light only activates 
when it senses HD on the frequency it's tuned to.
Bleed-over from an adjacent strong station will
turn off the HD even if that station broadcasts
in HD regardless of the bleed-over strength.

When it locks into HD, it can not receive any
blending with anything else. If other stations
blend with the HD station being listened to,
first it will go out of HD into analog, and the
indicator will turn off. Then, you'll hear the
blending in analog, but not before the unit has
lost and deactivated the HD. The light does not
seem to come on at all when it's receiving a 
blending situation. It seems to need a clean 
singular HD signal to activate the HD light

>Or maybe WGBH really did drop a dime on a new 
>HD Exporter for W242AA. But if they did, they 
>never notified the FCC about it and, AFAIK, FM 
>translators still require digital notification.

Perhaps that may be why it was no longer in HD
when I checked back a few weeks ago. Maybe they
were using it during the winter without proper
notification.

EP