[net.records] FM SCA

wmartin (07/29/82)

The best source of FM SCA information and decoders is the FM Atlas people,
address: FM Atlas
         4515 Avenue "E"
         Kearney, NE  68847

They sell a range of radios with built-in SCA decoders, add on SCA units
and kits, plans to modify many radios, and they will custom-modify your
radio. The book, "FM Atlas" is THE guide to North American FM stations,
and tells which broadcast SCA signals, and what they are. If you ever
do any FM DXing, that book is a vital necessity. It's also very handy
if you drive cross-country a lot, as you can find what stations in which
areas broadcast classical (or rock, or country, or religious, or
whatever). I think its about $6.00 single-copy these days.

I've bought SCA radios from them and they work fine. I recommend them.

The most interesting stuff on SCA is the services for the blind, which read
papers and books, and the Physicians Radio Network, which inundates you
with feature stories on odd afflictions, medical research, and simply
ENORMOUS numbers of ads for the pharmaceutical industry, which pays for
this service.

Regards, Will Martin

smb (07/31/82)

I heard an interesting item about SCA on "All Things Considered" last
week.  It seems that according to their charter and the FCC, NPR stations
are only allowed to sell their SCA to non-profit groups.  Currently, many
such channels are used to broadcast reading matter for the blind.  But --
given the budget crunch NPR and PBS are experiencing -- they're seeking
permission to sell the bands to private industry; it would be used to
broadcast digital signals to computers, etc., and the non-profit groups
would be relocated to a 68K hz subcarrier -- one which is apparently
unsuitable for the digital transmissions.