So I decided to splurge on a portable radio, something that I haven’t had for probably 20 years. I wanted one that’s HD capable, which narrows the choices really fast.<\/p>\n
I bought the HDR-14 from Sangean from Amazon for about $70. Walmart.com has it\u00a0 for $137 (free shipping!).\u00a0 Lowe’s claims to have it for $76 (pickup in the store in a day or two).\u00a0 Note that it is AM and FM only, it’s not a shortwave receiver.\u00a0 You really have to love radio to pay these prices.\u00a0 A cheap non-HD portable can be bought for $10-15.<\/p>\n
Note that HD does not stand for high definition, it stands for hybrid.\u00a0 The radio has a very tinny weak speaker, which should not be a surprise. So if you’re buying a portable HD radio thinking you’re going to hear something in high fidelity, you’re seriously mistaken.<\/p>\n
I am toying with the idea of allowing people to report radio stations they can hear over the air, and possibly more importantly – the radio stations that are not broadcasting, but have not told the FCC.<\/p>\n
The “radio near me” link at the top of the blog will take you to the “near me” radio listing.\u00a0 It does not currently have a reporting function, but the list is more accurate and intuitive than it used to be, especially if you happen to be listening for AM radio stations after dark (DXing).\u00a0 By default, it shows you the stations that should be the strongest at the location you enter. You can enter a city name rather than GPS coordinates.<\/p>\n
Of course, I wanted to see if my data was accurate, so I started looking over the radio stations that can be heard in Greensboro North Carolina. I’ve lived here almost a year, and have never turned on a radio.<\/p>\n
Back in the 1970s, WSJS-AM (Winston Salem) was the only serious competitor to WBT in Charlotte in Piedmont NC.\u00a0 It was affiliated with a TV station and it had an actual news staff.<\/p>\n
So I pointed to the 600 kHz frequency, and there was nothing but static. It allegedly is a sports talk station, and their signal is directional pointing right at Greensboro. It should have been booming in.<\/p>\n
Well that’s disappointing. But it turns out WSJS has an FM translator in Greensboro and simulcasts on two other AM stations. I switched to FM and went to the FM translator frequency, and there is a signal there because it’s silent – but there’s no actual programming.<\/p>\n
Then I went to the website and tried to stream the station, and the stream started but is silent.<\/p>\n
Then I went to their Facebook page, and the last update was in March of last year.\u00a0 I called the phone number on the Facebook page (admittedly at 4 AM) and it just rang.\u00a0 No voicemail.\u00a0 I see now that I was calling the phone number to be on the air. The business office only answers their phones from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.<\/p>\n
If a radio station dies in a forest, does anyone care?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
So I decided to splurge on a portable radio, something that I haven’t had for probably 20 years. I wanted one that’s HD capable, which narrows the choices really fast. I bought the HDR-14 from Sangean from Amazon for about … Continue reading