A “how to” book on building HD Radio broadcasting facilities has just been published by technical book publisher Focal Press,working with the Society of Broadcast Engineering (SBE). Authored by Buckley Broadcasting’s VP and Corporate Director of Engineering Tom Ray, HD Radio Implementation - The Field Guide for Facility Conversion is primarily intended to be read and understood by station engineers, but the liner notes indicate that it is suitable for a wider audience and that after reading, “...the general manager, program director and operations director will be able to understand the nature of HD Radio and how it will affect their facility.”

This new publication complements nicely the other recently-released books dealing with in-band/on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcasting technology (see below for additional information on these other publications). With 224 pages and 71 illustrations, HD Radio Implementation is organized into six chapters and an appendix, briefly described here:

CHAPTER 1 An Introduction to HD Radio Technology – provides the basics of HD Radio technology and explains the details of and the differences between the AM and FM HD Radio signals. Tom also shares some of his insights into the operation of hybrid AM IBOC at night by recounting his experiences with nighttime tests done in 2002 using signals from WLW (700 kHz, Cincinnati, OH) and his station, WOR (710 kHz, New York, NY);

CHAPTER 2 The Studio Facility – each component in the audio chain is considered, focusing on the attributes most important for a successful conversion to HD Radio operation. Included are subsections on source material, routers and audio distribution, analog-to-digital converters, AES clocking, and how to handle the HD Radio system delay;

CHAPTER 3 The Studio to Transmitter Link – covers the various types of studio to transmitter links (STLs) and the advantages and disadvantages of each with respect to HD Radio operation, specifically, telco lines (“dry pair", equalized, T1), microwave links (analog and digital), unlicensed spread spectrum and the Internet;

CHAPTER 4 Audio Processing for HD Radio – discusses the basics of audio coding (HD Radio utilizes a proprietary audio coding scheme developed by iBiquity Digital Corporation called “HDC”) and offers information on how stations can best handle audio processing of the analog audio and digital audio portions of the hybrid HD Radio signal;

CHAPTER 5 Installing AM HD Radio and Making it Work – a discussion on the transmitter and antenna requirements for AM HD Radio systems, and a VERY detailed step-by-step description of getting an AM HD Radio signal up and running;

CHAPTER 6 Installing FM HD Radio and Making it Work – same as Chapter 5 except for FM stations, and including a discussion of the various antenna options available for FM HD Radio systems (single, separate, dual-fed, and interleaved);

APPENDIX Real-life Experiences with HD Radio – Tom’s personal experiences with operating a hybrid AM HD Radio station since October 2002.

HD Radio Implementation is available on the Internet from the Elsevier Web site for $89.95 at http://www.elsevierdirect.com/product.jsp?isbn=9780240810027&ref=CWS1. According to information on the SBE Web page, SBE members will be able to purchase this book at a discount from the SBE Bookstore (for $71.96 plus $6.00 shipping, go to www.sbe.org/store_books.php), however it was not yet available for purchase from this Website at press time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – Thomas R. Ray, III is Vice President and Corporate Director of Engineering for Buckley Broadcasting. He started his career with Buckley stations WDRC and WDRC-FM in Hartford, Connecticut, while a senior in High School in 1977. He has been Chief Engineer of several stations in the Hartford area, such as WTIC AM and FM, has worked as producer/engineer for the Hartford Whalers Hockey organization, and has built numerous radio stations in the Northeast and the Caribbean. He came home to Buckley and WOR in 1997, working his way up to Vice President in 2005. He is one of the leading proponents of the HD Radio system in the United States, and has considerable experience with transmission, studio construction, and data, which culminated in the rebuilding of the WOR studio facility, which is primarily a data based facility. He converted WOR in New York City to HD Radio in 2002, and quite possibly has the most hands-on experience with the hybrid AM HD Radio system in the country. Tom is on the Board of Directors of SBE, the New Jersey Broadcasters Association, and the New Jersey Radio Museum, and is chairman of SBE Chapter 15 in New York.

Other Books on HD Radio Technology

The IBOC Handbook by David Maxson provides an in-depth look into the background, design, and implementation of the HD Radio in-band/on-channel digital radio system, standardized by the National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) in the NRSC-5-A standard. See the August 13, 2007 issue of Radio TechCheck for a complete description. The IBOC Handbook is available on the Internet from the Elsevier Web site for $89.95 at http://www.elsevierdirect.com/product.jsp?isbn=9780240808444.

The NAB Engineering Handbook 10th Edition is the definitive guide to broadcast engineering for radio and television. This latest edition has been fully revised and updated, with 104 chapters containing 2150 pages, an increase of 35 percent over the Ninth Edition. Digital radio-related chapters include NRSC Analog and Digital Radio Standards, Digital Audio Data Compression Technologies, AM and FM IBOC Equipment and Systems. See the April 16, 2007 issue of Radio TechCheck for a complete description. The NAB Engineering Handbook 10th Edition is available on the Internet from the Elsevier Web site for
http://www.elsevierdirect.com/product.jsp?isbn=9780240807515.

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