I took possession of a new Ford Expedition this week, the 2017 I have is nearing 150,000 miles. Still a great truck.
Low and behold, the 2023 Expedition still has AM radio, 2024 Fords won't. The reason -- Ford Motor Company can charge you $10/month for "streaming" iHeart radio and other services. These are complimentary for the first month of ownership.
The Euro imports (MB, Audi, BMW, VW and Vo.lvo) have already eliminated AM
Too bad. In the US 25% of the population listens to AM radio once per day
Low and behold, the 2023 Expedition still has AM radio, 2024 Fords won't. The reason -- Ford Motor Company can charge you $10/month for "streaming" iHeart radio and other services. These are complimentary for the first month of ownership.
The Euro imports (MB, Audi, BMW, VW and Vo.lvo) have already eliminated AM
Too bad. In the US 25% of the population listens to AM radio once per day
Oh, "AM radios in cars are disappearing." I read this article the other day that sort-of explains it.
https://thehill.com/homenews/nexsta...hy-carmakers-are-removing-it-from-new-models/
AM has been a curse on the airwaves for 25 years. We used to have a nice oldies AM music station up the road, but it has been 24 hour politics sports talk and blather since then. Blah blah blah blah.
I tried to listen to some AM music in the desert of New Mexico on I10 5 years ago, from Toronto I believe. The wife made me turn it off and drive in silence, at 10 PM. Yes, AM is staticy. Us old models can hear the music in our head if it doesn't flow properly over the airwaves. No, I won't be tapping satellite radio into my checking account. I don't pay for streaming on cellphone, either. Cellphone speakers sound like a $2 radio and the earbuds squirt out of my ears from the oil.
Gee, remember KRLD AM Dallas in the 70's? All night classical music anywhere in the midwest. I used to listen while I did college homework after midnight. Last time I tuned to KRLD there were 40 minutes of truck accessory commercials and driver recruitment ads an hour. What really shocked me was there was no classical music FM in Atlanta, Chattanooga and other supposed cultural centers when I went to Florida. We're good in Louisville, WUOL which I supporL. Out west public radio alternates a little classical in between NPR news reports. A good reason to stay home, IMHO. .
I tried to listen to some AM music in the desert of New Mexico on I10 5 years ago, from Toronto I believe. The wife made me turn it off and drive in silence, at 10 PM. Yes, AM is staticy. Us old models can hear the music in our head if it doesn't flow properly over the airwaves. No, I won't be tapping satellite radio into my checking account. I don't pay for streaming on cellphone, either. Cellphone speakers sound like a $2 radio and the earbuds squirt out of my ears from the oil.
Gee, remember KRLD AM Dallas in the 70's? All night classical music anywhere in the midwest. I used to listen while I did college homework after midnight. Last time I tuned to KRLD there were 40 minutes of truck accessory commercials and driver recruitment ads an hour. What really shocked me was there was no classical music FM in Atlanta, Chattanooga and other supposed cultural centers when I went to Florida. We're good in Louisville, WUOL which I supporL. Out west public radio alternates a little classical in between NPR news reports. A good reason to stay home, IMHO. .
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Today, not many kids know that there has even been some "AM stereo" that used quadrature modulation (sine and cosine carriers) to give two channels in place of just one.
Another interesting thing is that the "FM stereo" that we know of actually uses an AM technique called double sideband suppressed carrier (DSBSC) to encode the difference (L-R) information to enable stereo broadcast. After reception the stereo decoder (like TEA1330) demodulates the DSBSC to get this difference signal to restore stereo information, while the mono receivers pass the L+R (mono) portion only. Thus, FM stereo, in essence is still an AM technique.
Another interesting thing is that the "FM stereo" that we know of actually uses an AM technique called double sideband suppressed carrier (DSBSC) to encode the difference (L-R) information to enable stereo broadcast. After reception the stereo decoder (like TEA1330) demodulates the DSBSC to get this difference signal to restore stereo information, while the mono receivers pass the L+R (mono) portion only. Thus, FM stereo, in essence is still an AM technique.
Hmm... suddenly I keep thinking of a Trans Am with T top and a Smokey And The Bandit hat.. and the mustache...
BTW, Sally Field looked MAGNIFICENT in those jeans.
No more keying that mike into the 100 watt linear amp...and watching the TV sort of.. hmm... hmm....
Here in LA we used to have two full time AM radio stations... useful for the traffic, but now I can get much better traffic coverage with my car's navi or my cell phone. One of the stations turned into something else. the other is just plain woke "news". I think the only time I've used the AM radio has been when going over mountain passes where the Caltrans/OregonTrans/WATrans operate short range radio stations about road conditions.
Hmm... what are you gonna do without an AM radio when the sign by the side of the road at the base of the climb is telling you to tune to a local AM radio station for weather/road/chain conditions?
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As a note of admiration to a guy who I had the privilege to meet, I will tell this short story. For a time in my life, I lived in a small mining town in southern Arizona. It haunts my dreams even to this day. A friend of mine offered to introduce me to the mountain man of Bisbee, and I gladly accepted. It was a little bit of a hike mostly uphill, so I was winded upon arrival, and at last, the shack stood small in front of us. Ed, my friend called out to the old fella hoping that he was around, and out he popped from his homemade shop. He was hesitant to shake hands, but Ed was always good at making peace. "We came to see the greatest invention that you have today", Ed said, and this was enough to spark for a wave to come on inside to what he called home. Funny, but the shop probably had more room inside than this, I guessed. In the center of the dimly lit room was a fairly large circular rod with a small brass ball on each end. They nearly touched each other, and that tiny distance was adjusted by a string. As I recall, the circular rod was the antenna, and the two little spheres caused maybe a few pico-farads of capacitance for tuning, at least, this is how I remember it being explained. Sure enough he could pick up a few stations as the spheres were adjusted, but mostly just one came in clear enough to listen to. Since we were very near the border, there many AM stations crammed next to each other, each with their own 'accent' for the listeners. I hold that small event in high regard, realizing that the few who knew, were dwindling, but in that rainy afternoon, I met one of the most colorful of all.
Congress is considering action to halt this on the basis of emergency alerting: https://www.axios.com/2023/05/17/am-radio-congress-cars
In Canada AM news/talk remains popular and profitable in large markets. The newest DSP radios can be remarkable performers both in sensitivity and (relative) fidelity. The dirty industry secret is broadcasting the full 10 kHz bandwidth permissible is common.
In Canada AM news/talk remains popular and profitable in large markets. The newest DSP radios can be remarkable performers both in sensitivity and (relative) fidelity. The dirty industry secret is broadcasting the full 10 kHz bandwidth permissible is common.
The replacement for FM radio is internet streaming; paid services such as satellite radio are the premium option. They could have skipped DAB+ alltogheter. It will never catch up because the underlining technology isn't great and it may even work worse than FM, so the functional advantage is gone. And the market is actively rejecting DAB+ due to smaller revenue streams compared to alternatives. As example, on my fairly recent Mercedes both built-in DAB+ functionality and streaming radio functionality are locked behind separate fees. I don't listen to radio in the car for safety reasons because I am too easily distracted, so it does not make a difference for me, but if a choice should be made, DAB+ is clearly not the one: way less content available, and worse radio reception. The car manufacturer choice is logical, because the car built-in eSIM subscription is mandatory to enable internet streaming for the car entertainement center, and it is likely a profit-splitting agreement with the cellular network provider. DAB+ does not give any profit to the car manufacturer after the first sale.
