“Does the radio provide better reception than an analog FM radio? I live in a mountainous area. Is the reception any better than that of an analog FM radio? I live on the periphery of the listening area of the station I prefer. Recepton with my FM stero receiver is often poor.”
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With digital HD Radio it is like this: You either pull in the signal if it is above the required minimum and your audio is always crystal clear (no static) or if the signal is too weak your radio cannot decode it at all and you are limited to static analog signals. This Insignia HD Radio can do both, analog FM and digital HD on the FM band. Whether it will work in your specific location will need to be tested out. My testing has shown that this radio is remarkably good at utilizing bad and weak radio signals. This radio comes with an antenna wire that you can mount anywhere you like and helps if the telescopic antenna doesn't suffice. So if this doesn't work in your location then probably nothing else will either - except for building an tall external antenna and connecting this radio to it, which you can actually do with this unit.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.The reception is fairly typical for a small tabletop FM radio. It is not quite as sensitive as a quality FM tuner that you would use with a stereo receiver. So do not expect this to improve your FM reception. But for stations in HD, if you have a good signal, the digital audio is noise free and a little better than the analog signal for most stations.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.Yes, the FM reception of this radio is among the best of any radio I have ever used. HD Radio signals are harder to pick up than analog signals, owing to lower-power transmitters, but analog reception on this radio is highly impressive. I can get stations 70-90 miles away very clearly.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.If HD stations are available in your area or if your car gets reception, then it will work well. I don't find that it is more powerful in receiving signals, but it has functioned very well for our purposes of listening to HD radio in our home. Sorry if that isn't as helpful since you live in a more remote area, but I figured knowing how it worked for us could help some at least.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.I'd be skeptical of it working well in this case. Typically, I need the FM station to have three bars or four bars (by its own signal measure) to get it to "convert" over to the digital feed, so if you're on the peripheral, the signal might be just short of strong enough.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.The radio will receive analog as usual and then digital HD 1,2,3 which are transmitted with less strength.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.If you live on the fringe of a regular FM broadcast it's highly questionable if you'd be able to maintain a quality digital signal (it might go in/out). If you're truly far away from your radio & TV stations I'd recommend getting an outdoor long range antenna that will substantially help the signal over the internal antenna or wire extender.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.It's not likely that you will get better reception as the HD signal being broadcast with the analog signal is lower power. The base analog signal needs to be fairly strong before any HD radio can lock onto the digital signal. If, however, your station sends the same signal out on the analog and digital side you might get clearer sound IF the station's power is strong enough for the radio to lock onto the digital signal. This is because the digital signal either works or doesn't work, and when it does there is no noise and/or interference. The nice thing with this radio is that it works with both the standard analog and the HD radio digital stations.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.My experience is that HD reception is harder to get than regular FM. HD just has more information. I listen to some stations that have both, and HD goes in and out depending on location.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.Only you can answer that, buy it and return it if you're not happy. Having said that, the analog reception in my home was not great, with lots of static. I was even considering installing a roof antenna. When I bought this radio and tried it in my kitchen, I was just plain surprised at the great quality of the sound. NO STATIC, CLEAN CLEAR CRISP MUSIC! Make sure to attach the included pigtail antenna to the back of the unit. So, I'd say give it a try.
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