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Shutting down analog tv in favor of digital freed up a huge amount of spectrum but aren't the FM and AM commercial radio bands pretty tiny in comparison? Not su

Shutting down analog tv in favor of digital freed up a huge amount of spectrum but aren't the FM and AM commercial radio bands pretty tiny in comparison? Not sure what's the motivation for trying to shut it down especially given the simplicity of the system which would be much more useful in an emergency situation.

ggm 6y ago
Mistaken cost cutting? Mw broadcast energy 24/7 costs money. Also consider repurposed bandwidth with national reach for unidirectional broadcasting of digital data could be useful. Asymmetric networks with differential return path is what direcTV did with sat dishes and modems. The bandwidth is low, but the reach is phenomenal.
nikanj 6y ago
Being able to pull HD radio ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio ) from the side band to the center stage would allow for a massive explosion in radio channels and/or sound quality. FM is simple enough, but not so simple that people could just jury-rig a receiver/transmitter together in an emergency situation. If you need a store-bought receiver, you might as well have a receiver that's not using tech from 1930s.
- reaperducer 6y ago
  HD Radio doesn't exist in the U.K.
- dylan604 6y ago
  In most emergency situation, a receiver is enough just so you can receive information/updates. Transmitting definitely adds a larger layer of complexity. An analog radio receiver is definitely something a lot of people could jury-rigged, as it is a common science experiment for young school kids.
ac29 6y ago
FM radio in the US certainly has less spectrum than TV did, but it has 20MHz of relatively low frequency spectrum which is quite useful: 88-108 MHz. It has excellent propagation characteristics (less power lost over distance compared to higher frequencies) and very good ability to penetrate through obstacles like trees and the walls of buildings, but still has an antenna size that's fairly manageable. For reference, 20 MHz is enough to carry ~3200 voice channels (6.25kHz spacing), or ~1600 data channels of ~10-60 kbps each (12.5kHz spacing).
- throw0101a 6y ago
  > It has excellent propagation characteristics 2-meters FTW! * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-meter_band https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-meter_band
pjc50 6y ago
.. but the analog TV spectrum has not been effectively re used yet.

ggm 6y ago

Mistaken cost cutting? Mw broadcast energy 24/7 costs money. Also consider repurposed bandwidth with national reach for unidirectional broadcasting of digital data could be useful. Asymmetric networks with differential return path is what direcTV did with sat dishes and modems. The bandwidth is low, but the reach is phenomenal.

nikanj 6y ago

Being able to pull HD radio ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio ) from the side band to the center stage would allow for a massive explosion in radio channels and/or sound quality. FM is simple enough, but not so simple that people could just jury-rig a receiver/transmitter together in an emergency situation. If you need a store-bought receiver, you might as well have a receiver that's not using tech from 1930s.

reaperducer 6y ago
HD Radio doesn't exist in the U.K.
dylan604 6y ago
In most emergency situation, a receiver is enough just so you can receive information/updates. Transmitting definitely adds a larger layer of complexity. An analog radio receiver is definitely something a lot of people could jury-rigged, as it is a common science experiment for young school kids.

ac29 6y ago

FM radio in the US certainly has less spectrum than TV did, but it has 20MHz of relatively low frequency spectrum which is quite useful: 88-108 MHz. It has excellent propagation characteristics (less power lost over distance compared to higher frequencies) and very good ability to penetrate through obstacles like trees and the walls of buildings, but still has an antenna size that's fairly manageable. For reference, 20 MHz is enough to carry ~3200 voice channels (6.25kHz spacing), or ~1600 data channels of ~10-60 kbps each (12.5kHz spacing).

throw0101a 6y ago
> It has excellent propagation characteristics 2-meters FTW! * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-meter_band https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-meter_band

pjc50 6y ago

.. but the analog TV spectrum has not been effectively re used yet.