The Magnavox PMX, Harris Corporation V-CPM, and Motorola C-QUAM (Compatible—Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) were all based around modulating the phase and amplitude of the carrier, placing the stereo information in the phase modulated portion, while the standard mono (L+R) information is in the amplitude modulation. The systems all did this in similar (but not completely compatible) ways. The original Harris Corporation system was later changed to match the Motorola C-QUAM pilot tone for indicating the station was in stereo, thus making it compatible with all C-QUAM receivers.

Harris System

This system, known as V-CPM for Variable Angle Compatible Phase Multiplex, was developed by Harris Corporation, a major manufacturer of radio/TV transmitters. It incorporated a left minus right component which was frequency modulated by about 1 kHz. Harris is the successor to the pioneer Gates radio line, which has changed its name in 2014 to Gates-Air. The Harris system eventually changed their pilot tone to be compatible with C-QUAM, after C-QUAM became the more popular and eventually, the FCC approved standard. CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, Canada (also serving nearby Detroit, Michigan) was among the first stations to broadcast in Harris AM stereo. The Harris system is currently no longer used in its original form.

Magnavox System

This system was developed by electronics manufacturer, Magnavox. It is a phase modulation system. It was initially declared the AM stereo standard by the FCC in 1980, but the FCC later declared that stations were free to choose any system. As with the Harris system, it was popular in the 1980s, but most stations stopped broadcasting in stereo, or downgraded to the C-QUAM system as time went on. 1190 WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana was the (then) 50,000-watt clear channel Magnavox flagship station.

Motorola C-QUAM

C-QUAM was developed and promoted primarily by Motorola, a longtime manufacturer of two-way radio equipment. It became the dominant system by the late 1980s, and was declared the official standard by the FCC in 1993. While many stations in the USA have since discontinued broadcasting in stereo, many still have the necessary equipment to do so. C-QUAM is still popular in other parts of the world, such as Canada, Japan, and Australia which it was declared the official standard.

QUAM uses quadrature phase and amplitude modulation: the phase of the audio is rotated ahead or behind the carrier and the amplitude of each phase is also changed; thus giving 16 points for reference (used also in dialup modems to get past the 9600 bit/s limit on analog lines). The QUAM signal (left minus right, or "L-R", information) is then phase modulated on the transmitter (the QUAM exciter replaced the crystal in the AM transmitter) and the left plus right (or "L+R") still modulated the transmitter as it had in the past. C-QUAM is a modified QUAM and thus called "compatible" (the "C-" in "C-QUAM").

C-QUAM has been long criticized by the Kahn-Hazeltine system's creator, Leonard Kahn as being inferior to his system. First generation C-QUAM receivers suffered from "platform motion" effects when listening to stations received via skywave. Later improvements by Motorola minimized the platform motion effect and increased audio quality and stereo separation, especially on AMAX certified receivers in the 1990s.

Kahn-Hazeltine

The Kahn-Hazeltine system also called ISB was developed by American engineer Leonard R. Kahn and the Hazeltine Corporation. This system used an entirely different principle—using independently modulated upper and lower sidebands. While a station using the system would sound best with proper decoding, it was also possible to use two standard AM radios (one tuned above and the other below the primary carrier) to achieve the stereophonic effect, although with poor stereo separation and fidelity compared to a proper Kahn system AM stereo receiver. One of the best known stations to use the Kahn system was 890/WLS, Chicago. WLS still transmits in AM stereo today but uses the Motorola C-QUAM system instead.

However, the Kahn system suffered from lower stereo separation above 5 kHz (reaching none at 7 kHz whereas FM stereo has 40 dB or more separation at 15 kHz) and the radio antenna array on directional AM (common on a lot of nighttime and some daytime stations) had to have a flat response across the entire 20 kHz AM channel. If the array had a higher reactance value (leading to a higher Standing wave ratio) on one side of the frequency vs the other, it would affect the audio response of that channel and thus the stereo signal would be affected. Also, Kahn refused to license any radio receivers manufacturers with his design, although multi-system receivers were manufactured by various companies such as Sony, Sansui, and Sanyo, which could receive any of the four AM stereo systems.

Nonetheless, this system remained competitive with C-QUAM into the late 1980s and Kahn was very vocal about its advantages over Motorola's system. Kahn filed a lawsuit claiming that the Motorola system did not meet FCC emission bandwidth specifications, but by that time, C-QUAM had already been declared as the single standard for AM stereo in the USA.

Kahn's AM stereo design was later revamped for monaural use and used in the Power-Side system, in which a decreased signal in one sideband is used to improve coverage and loudness, especially with directional antenna arrays. Power-Side became the basis for CAM-D, Compatible AM Digital, a new digital system being promoted by Leonard Kahn and used on several AM stations.

Kahn receiver chips have also been used as an inexpensive method for providing high frequency (world band) receivers with synchronous detection technology.

Belar System

The Belar system was used in limited number of stations, such as WJR. The Belar system, originally designed by RCA in the 1950s, was a simple FM/AM modulation system, with an attenuated L-R signal frequency modulating the carrier (with a 400 µs pre-emphasis) in the extent of +/- 320 Hz around the center frequency, and the L+R doing the normal "high level" AM modulation (usually referred to as plate modulation in transmitters using a tube in the final stage, where the audio is applied to the plate voltage of the tube; in solid state transmitters, various different techniques are available that are more efficient at lower power levels). The Belar system (by the company of the same name) was dropped due to issues with its design though it was much easier to implement than the other systems. It and the Kahn system did not suffer from platform motion (which was a killer for AM stereo at night; platform motion is where the stereo balance would shift from one side to the other and then back to center) but the use of low level frequency modulation did not permit a high separation of L and R channels.

Prev:When Is a Non-Directional FM Antenna Directional

Next:FM revenues to reach Rs 3,900 crore by 2020?

Leave a message

Message List

Comments Loading...

Products Category

Products Tags

Fmuser Sites

What are broadcasting systems of AM stereo

Leave a message

Message List