Weird satellite radio question

[vanbeat]

This is a general question, but I've included some location specifics for anybody in the LA area...

Every day when driving to (5am) and from (3pm) work and listening to 88.1 fm, I get some "bleed" from Howard Stern's satellite broadcast. Usually only a few seconds and always in the same two areas - Westwood/Sepulveda Pass and 405/118 interchange. I don't know much of anything about broadcasting, but is it because 88.1 is the first available fm frequency, and satellite broadcasts somewhere below that? I'll get a bit of static, 3 to 5 seconds of yammering, then static, then back to kjazz.

What the hell?

Thanks.

[rostasi]

How can I subscribe to Weird Satellite radio?

[Indestructible!]

This is a general question, but I've included some location specifics for anybody in the LA area...

Every day when driving to (5am) and from (3pm) work and listening to 88.1 fm, I get some "bleed" from Howard Stern's satellite broadcast. Usually only a few seconds and always in the same two areas - Westwood/Sepulveda Pass and 405/118 interchange. I don't know much of anything about broadcasting, but is it because 88.1 is the first available fm frequency, and satellite broadcasts somewhere below that? I'll get a bit of static, 3 to 5 seconds of yammering, then static, then back to kjazz.

What the hell?

Thanks.

Hey Van,

I experience exactly the same thing, at those two very places you talk about! KKJZ drops out at both of those places, to be replaced not only by Howard Stern, but other programming at other times of the day. I think it also happens (but not as frequently) when I get on the 118 at Tampa.

I thought I was going nuts, but it sounds like it's not just me!

Cheers,

Shane

[jazztrain]

You're not alone with this problem. The station that I'm on (WMBR) is also at 88.1 Mhz, and we have been receiving increasingly frequent reports of this sort of interference.

Here's the URL for an article that describes the problem:

http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2006/...me_fm_stations/

This is a general question, but I've included some location specifics for anybody in the LA area...

Every day when driving to (5am) and from (3pm) work and listening to 88.1 fm, I get some "bleed" from Howard Stern's satellite broadcast. Usually only a few seconds and always in the same two areas - Westwood/Sepulveda Pass and 405/118 interchange. I don't know much of anything about broadcasting, but is it because 88.1 is the first available fm frequency, and satellite broadcasts somewhere below that? I'll get a bit of static, 3 to 5 seconds of yammering, then static, then back to kjazz.

What the hell?

Thanks.

[BeBop]

I haven't been to South California in about eight months, but I spent a considerable portion of 2005 there, commuting between Thousand Oaks and Woodland Hills. Deja vu. And sometimes, I'd pick up some TV show broadcasting around 87.9

[vanbeat]

Jazztrain: That's what I was after. Thanks for doing the legwork...

Indestructible: I thought I was losing it too. Wonder what's happening in those areas?

[jazztrain]

Van:

The issue boils down to the use of low power wireless transmitters. They are supposed to have a very limited range, but there is a suspicion that many of the devices used in conjunction with satellite radio receivers in automobiles exceed limits on power and range with the result that they interfere with FM reception in nearby vehicles.

Here's a far more detailed article on the problem:

http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/spe...RF_mods_2.shtml

Jazztrain: That's what I was after. Thanks for doing the legwork...

Indestructible: I thought I was losing it too. Wonder what's happening in those areas?

[WD45]

I haven't been to South California in about eight months, but I spent a considerable portion of 2005 there, commuting between Thousand Oaks and Woodland Hills. Deja vu. And sometimes, I'd pick up some TV show broadcasting around 87.9

TV audio is actually transmitted as frequency modulated [a.k.a. FM]. 87.7 FM is actually a TV frequency as well -- channel 6 to be exact! You probably had some bleed from that on 87.9 FM. More here.

[vajerzy]

I have XM and I use 106.9 and 88.3 on my radio and I work in an office park with a lot of traffic........I've wondered if I'm stopped at a light with alot of other cars around me, can I pick up a broadcast from other cars?? I'm going to try it tomorrow and see what I get. I work with people who have both XM and Sirius.

I can have my Delphi XM2GO upstairs in my bedroom and I can pick up the broadcast using a transistor radio outside at a distance of at least 50 feet.

Stern is on Sirius so you're getting their broadcast

[medjuck]

106.9 and 88.3! Are you in the Santa Barbara area?

[vajerzy]

Nope- in Powhatan VA (near Richmond)- those frequencies don't have any radio broadcasts on them.

[vanbeat]

KKJZ recently switched to HD... could this have anything to do with it? It seems to be a fairly recent occurrence, though I haven't really been tracking it.

I was under the impression that satellite was more "self contained". Obviously I know nothing about it, and thanks to all for the info.