Tuesday, December 28, 2010

AM Digital Service Is Being Studied...

It may not be full-blown digital like FM but it might be close enough. NAB Fastroad has released a document that summarizes an AM Digital Data Service study "developed to define a data transmission service that would enable analog AM broadcasters with added capability to provide text services similar to the RBDS (radio broadcast data system) functionality in FM." Translation: Digital AM. The service enhances the analog audio broadcast with a low-rate text service capability. The AM Digital Data Service is structured to be compatible with HD Radio IBOC (In-band, on-channel) broadcasting on AM and "defined to be implemented in a cost-effective manner"...

The Fastroad report "summarizes system design alternatives, possible transport definitions, and impacts to industry products. Several system design alternatives, possible transport definitions, and impacts to industry products". The document doesn't define a full standard for AM Digital Service nor does it define a commercial implementation. Additional system design work is required to implement and evaluate a commercial AM Digital Service say the report writers. What's clear is that Fastroad will not define the quality of this AM digital service for obvious reasons but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and there aren't too many audiophiles listening to AM radio...

IBOC is a hybrid method of transmitting digital radio and analog radio broadcast signals simultaneously, according to audio experts but it just might be good enough to enhance AM radio listening and that would be a blessing...

10 Timeline Memories:
1.1944] Rocket takes off: Maurice Richard becomes the first NHL player to score 8 points in one game…
2.1945] Pledging our love: Congress officially recognizes the “Pledge of Allegiance“…
3.1956] Curtains: After 5 years on TV, the final “Ding Dong School” hosted by Miss Francis (Horwich) airs on NBC-TV…
4.1958] Frozen in sports history: The Baltimore Colts beat the Giants 23-17 at 8:15 into overtime on a frozen Yankee Stadium field to win the NFL Championship in a thriller. Many call this the greatest NFL game of all-time... 5.1973] Soviet slam: Alexander Solzhenitsyn publishes ‘Gulag Archipelago’, an expose of the Soviet prison system…
6.1981] Going tubular: Elizabeth Jordan Carr becomes the first American test-tube baby. Carr is now a quite healthy 29…
7.1983] “Happy Trails“: Dennis Wilson, the only real surfer in the Beach Boys, drowns while swimming near his boat at Marina del Rey (CA). Dennis was 39…
8.2000] Down for the count: U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it’s going out of business after 128 years…
9.2005] Enron over: Former top Enron Corp. accountant Richard Causey pleads guilty to securities fraud and agrees to help pursue convictions against Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling…
10.2008] Oh for the season: The Detroit Lions complete an 0-16 season, the NFL's worst ever, with a 31-21 loss to Green Bay...

Music Memories:

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Sienna Miller (29), John Legend (32), Seth Meyers (37), Adam Vinatieri (38), Ray Bourque (50), Denzel Washington (56), Gayle King (56), Edgar Winter (64), Dame Maggie Smith (76), Stan Lee (88) & Johnny Otis (89)...

Timeline Countdown: 3 nights until New Years Eve, 11 days until the NFL Wild Card Playoffs, 18 days until the NFL Divisional Playoffs, 19 days until MLK Jr. Day & 26 days until the NFL Conference Championship Games...


Posted by at