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KBAQ Phoenix - is noise due to IBOC from HD Radio?

In Chandler I get a strong signal from both KBAQ and KJZZ but KBAQ is noisier. The noise goes away in mono.

I've experienced this on both tube and solid-state tuners, three of which are freshly aligned. I'm suspecting in-band-own-channel noise due to HD radio, but I don't have the instrumentation to confirm this. If any RF experts out there have data, I'd really like to know. I'm planning on building an FM decoder and the design depends on the answer.

I wasn't listening to FM much when HD radio got turned on; did anyone in the Phoenix area notice a change? Please let me know.

I've volunteered for both stations, they're in the same building; I don't
believe the source quality is different. KBAQ's online stream is quiet but not the high bitrate I would like.

Have others experienced this problem with KBAQ? Another FM user here in the East Valley reports KBAQ is noisier on several tuners he has tried. Another user in Pinnacle Peak says he does not have that problem.

Thanks for your observations!

Regards, HG
hifigeezer

Showing 1 response by rok2id

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rok2id
7,859 posts
 
I had a similar problem here in central Texas. The local PBS station came in perfectly for several yrears, then for no reason the signal became very noisy. This was the case on all my receivers and seperate tuners, Even the table radios in other parts of the house. The station said they had no signal problems. I read a post on an audio site and a person said the answer was the Sony XDR F1HD tuner. For $100, I took a chance, and wow, all noise disappeared instantly. I check every so often to see if it's still on the other tuners. It is. The Sony is a HD tuner, but the station does not broadcast in HD.
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