[78-L] Stereo broadcasting

[DAVID BURNHAM]

I can recall (I think 1959 or 1960) hearing a local (Peoria) "stereo" 
program
broadcast by a station which had both an AM and FM service; they broadcast
one channel on AM and one on FM!

...stevenc

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Toronto at that time, (late 50s), there were several occasions when two local AM stations participated in stereo broadcasts called "simulcasts".  This was a time, of course, when many of us were hearing any kind of stereo reproduction for the first time and since most of us didn't have two identical radios around the house to listen to this on, it meant finding a table radio in one of our bedrooms and setting it up beside the console floor model in the living room, (or, at times, turn on one channel in the bedroom and the other in the living room and listen while sitting on the stairs).  These, of course were not ideal situations for making a case for stereo and I personally was underwhelmed.  At that time, absolute phase was not a consideration in audio reproduction and relative phase is imperative to stereo reproduction.  The chances of both radios being in phase, (or, for that matter, both stations being in phase), was 50/50.  One also has
 to wonder how the second channel got from the stereo source at one of the stations to the other - that would have added timing errors to the product.  The two radios were so mis-matched in sound quality that I usually prefered mono sound, although I was certainly entertained when an announcer on one station was talking to an announcer on the other station so that the two radios were talking to each other.

db

db