Re: Cuthbert AM Stereo C-Quam Transmitter Kit! On-air test update.

Well, late in July I was able to power up the Cuthbert Transmitter and get RF out. The whole RF stage is built either Class D, or E, and for a very high impedance, which is expected for a 10ft wire antenna on MW. Unfortunately, I have very little audio pumping out of it, and the O'scope confirmed (As did my ears.), that practically nothing was coming out of the audio IC, a TDA7284 ALC chip. (You probably have one in an 80's boombox, or even a stereo VCR, that has audio leveling for recording, instead of manual adjustment.) Boomer, of Carrier-Current station AM690, was doing fine with his Cuthbert TX, so I suspected that I had a bad audio IC. So, I really didn't need it, and just bypassed it all together, since I have managed audio feeding it anyway. WOW!!! Even on a low key AM stereo walkman, what a difference from AM mono to AM stereo! As far as stereo separation? Mine is about that of an early BA1404'ed Ramsey FM-10 from 1989, but better AF response. (I've had several of those Ramsey FM-10's over the years from the original to model C.) Testing on 1580kHz from the indoor wire antenna. Even on a mono receiver, that audio has more punch to its quality. And from the indoor wire antenna, on a car stereo, range MAX's out to just over 1/4 mile. Still, for what it is, if you don't have AM Stereo around where you live, it's still a way for you to provide AM Stereo to leftover receivers that you have with that capability. I do see that AM Stations are starting to dump HD Radio for C-QUAM Stereo again. Buffalo, NY's WWKB 1520AM just turned their AM Stereo back on again. Too bad that's sports talk. The next step? I've just bought two Meduci C-QUAM boards for $28.00USD each. Having just a couple of 1990's low scale AM Stereo walkmans just doesn't cut it, so I plan to roll my own AM Stereo receivers via modifications. [www.ebay.com]