Driving Tales (With HD Radio In Full Effect)

I took the long way around to get to New Brunswick for the Melody Reunion (about which you'll be hearing much more in the coming days) because I figured it was a great opportunity to get out on the road with my pocket HD radio and see just how big a tract of land the new Altrok 90.5 HD2 signal can legitimately call its own. From Freehold, I picked up Route 33 and headed east, then east-north-east on Route 66, and then picked up Route 18 in Ocean Township and headed north, then west, then northwest to New Brunswick.

HD works better when you're standing still than it does when you're moving...which is a bit annoying when it comes to driving around with a portable player jacked into your car stereo with a wire long enough to do double-duty as an antenna. Note that a properly installed car HD Radio would likely have a much better antenna array to receive with. But it did work, and here's what I found:

• I started by moving my car to a spot on my somewhat-distant-from-the-Lincroft-transmitter driveway that I know gets me an HD signal from 90.5. Tuning in, you first get 90.5 The Night's FM signal, and after a few seconds the radio picks up the HD signal and locks on. From there, you can click up to 90.5 HD2, where our little experiment in broadcasting resides. "Locking on" is important for this experiment, because I know I'll be traveling through areas that the signal won't reach - and when that happens, the radio goes silent. (Honestly, it takes a little getting used to, but if this is what it takes to bring Modern Rock back to the Jersey Shore, so be it.)

• Route 33 seems to form the southernmost boundary for getting the station when you're not moving. As I tooled along 33, the 90.5 HD2 audio popped in and out as expected, with the signal finally getting fairly reliable near the Garden State Parkway before chopping up again further east. (As I said, a choppy signal in the car translates to a signal that you'll be able to receive reliably at home, once you find a spot in your home that you get it from.)

• Same results heading east on Route 66; a somewhat choppy listening experience, getting a bit better when I started heading north on Route 18...

• ...until I hit the Deal Road exit. At that point, dropouts ceased and I got a nice, consistent listening experience heading north on 18...

• ...past the Eatontown interchange...

• ...on up to Route 34...

• ...past Route 537...

• ...and then it started getting choppy about a mile from the Route 79 exit on Route 18. Since by this time Route 18's path took me directly away from the broadcast tower, the degradation accumulated quickly. The last squawk of the station I was able to hear was around the Route 9 intersection with Route 18.

So, in summary, it's not exactly a border blaster from days of yore, but in today's extremely conservative programming climate, it'll do quite nicely. Very importantly, your mileage may vary, but I found that with a long enough wire connecting the pocket radio to whatever you're listening to it with, you can get the most signal possible. Red Bank, Eatontown, Ocean Township, Tinton Falls and Long Branch seem well-covered by the signal, and folks living there shouldn't have too many problems listening in. Asbury Park, Ocean Township, Wall, Howell, Freehold, Manalapan and Marlboro are choppy at best in the car, but a stationary radio placed carefully should bring it in. North of the tower, the hills throw the signal for a loop, so I don't expect nearly as much consistent (or even predictable) coverage in that direction.

Help may be on the way from the FCC, who recently announced an increase in power available to digital broadcasters; if 90.5 can take advantage of it, the map may fill in nicely. We'll keep you posted on our progress.

In the meantime, you probably don't have an HD Radio yet, so you're more than welcome to listen in using our Internet station. You may have noticed me pointing out discounts on HD radios...though the two cheapest are now sold out (watch this space, though, for some other deals when we can find them) and now you know...the rest of the story.