WEEI on HD-2 signals of WAAF, WKAF

[Bob Nelson]

HD radio's signals can be spotty, at least on the $40 portable I'd
bought awhile back. To be honest I've never had an HD car stereo or an
HD component unit (with antenna) so I don't know about those, but the
portable (using the headphones/ear buds as the antenna) can
deliver pretty impressive reception of standard FMs (see below) and HD
can come in too, but don't expect miracles, or consistency. Maybe some
who tune in to WKAF or WAAF's HD2s (with WEEI on them) can get good
results but it may depend on where you are,
whether or not the battery has a good charge, and the
headphones/earbuds you're using. For all I know WEEI may have shut off
the
HD2 signals (just testing)--I did get the WKAF HD 2 on Sat night, but
not now (here at home).

For that matter, in the breakroom at work last night (which DOES get
sorta good radio reception) in N. Reading I found I could barely pick
up the main signals of 97.7 and 107.3, and naturally HD2 didn't come
in. If the main FMs can't come in, how can they expect us to pick up
the HD2s? Of course, as I scanned the dial of the HD portable here at
home, I found I could get stations from the Cape like WEEI's sister
station at 96.3; I got Frank FM from Maine at 107.5 and also someone
sounding like Harold Camping (probably recorded!) on
an 88.7 somewhere. I was getting 89.3 from south of Boston (UMass
Dartmouth?), etc. Lots of good reception of FM signals from
all over. Some HD2s came in, including WZLX's (blues), WKLB (classic
country), and  WBZ-FM HD2 (WBCN Classic, I think?) and WBZ-AM on the
HD-3---Steve Leveille show, last night).

Again, this is the portable I'm talking about, and there are various
conditions that may affect reception; some good distant catches and
some HD2s.  (In the meantime, another sign that reception woes can
plague WEEI's
regular 850 signal--a post on Boston Sports Media from someone who was
annoyed at having to switch between several of WEEI's
sister stations and the main signal itself while driving on the Mass.
Pike...after awhile they just switched to 98.5 WBZ-FM which was
consistently good reception-wise. Of course I'm sure they don't cover
as much as some would like, either.

As said before, no doubt Entercom would have put WEEI on 93.7, 97.7,
or 107.3's main signals if not for the fact that all stations
no doubt bill well (with 93.7's low cost factor being a big plus for them)...

Which is the bigger number: those who own HD radios, and those who own
turntables with 16/33.3/45/78 speeds? :)