Greetings Ed!   
      
    RW>>> Clipped from the ARNewsline (found in the HAM echo);   
      
    RW>>> RADIO RULES:  FCC COMMISSIONER PAI WANTS AM REVITALIZATION   
    RW>>> SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY END OF OCTOBER   
      
    EV> -snip-   
      
    EV>> To me it doesn't sound Wise to make Analog AM Broadcast Stations   
    EV>> cease operating.   
      
    RW>> If they were replaced by digital stations, that would mean that   
    RW>> millions of analog radios would be obsolete.   
      
    EV>> Is that what the FCC is proposing?   
      
    RW>> That may be their long range plan, but I don't think it will   
    RW>> happen in our lifetime.   
      
    EV> I began thinking about years ago when the FCC was deciding which of   
    EV> the Color TV Broadcasting System Ideas would become part of the   
    EV> Rules.   
      
    EV> IIRC there was a much better system than the one the FCC finally   
    EV> chose but IIRC it wasn't compatiable with the Black and White TV   
    EV> standard in use so they chose the system that was Compatiable so B&W   
    EV> TV Sets could watch Shows that the studios produced in Color.   
      
    EV> Than would be a tough Nut to crack, I'd think, for a Digital (AM?)   
    EV> Broadcast Band Mode to still allow older Analog Mode Radios to   
    EV> coexist with the new system.   
      
   That is done today in TV, there are still analog stations on the air. I   
   get a channel 44 analog station on my TV that is broadcast out of San   
   Antonio, but with a much weaker signal than it was before the switch to   
   digital.   
      
    EV> I have no technical knowledge of Digital Broadcasting TV or Radio,   
    EV> all of the Digital things I know anything about 74xx Series IC and   
    EV> some things about PCs.   
      
   8^)   
      
    EV> I only got interested in 74xx Series ICs after I read about TTL Chips   
    EV> in a issue of Popular Electronics in the 70's, and found out as   
    EV> Illogical as I am that I could understand some of the simple AND OR   
    EV> NOT Logic after reading the article.   
      
   Which isn't 'digital' per se'...you're talking about voltages on or off or   
   somewhere inbetween using 8,4,2,1 logic. i.e. the Drake UV3s use that   
   logic to control rx/tx frequency. When I was messing around with the   
   radios, I converted one of mine to a LED numbering system using their   
   8.4.2.1 logic on 4011 chips.   
      
   Where they had missed the boat entirely, I reinvented that radio by using   
   their logic scheme to light up a LED to read the logic code or   
   (14)7.030Mhz across the front of the display that formerly had the old CB   
   radio trick of a back-lighted dials with numbers on it. What was really   
   neat about it was that with the LED read out, you could also see the xmit   
   frequency and know if you were on the right frequency to use a repeater   
   with an input offset or on simplex for a one on one xmision. I haven't   
   used it in years, but it is on the table with all of the other radio gear.   
      
   BTW, I no longer needed to know what 'channel' the radio was on, since I   
   could see the LED frequency readout. That project was also my first time   
   ever in making a circuit board that allowed the components to fit and the   
   display to fit in the radio.   
      
       Have a day!   
      
            R\%/itt - K5RXT   
      
   --- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-31012   
   --- D'Bridge 3.99   
    * Origin: HAM Radio, aka Amateur Radio. 804? Over! (1:387/22)