AM Radio is disappearing

I thought the little Bendix AM radio "sounded better" and I'd thought I'd tracked it to the IF strip being different than 455 kHz. One thing I did was adjust the tuner slightly "off center" which brought up the highs and I thought made it sound better.

I've never technically figured out why tuning a station slightly off center made it sound better - does anyone here know what was happening? That technique seems to work best on the Bendix "Sapphire IV" too; other radios didnt give that effect, or, as nicely.
IF bandwidth "should" give you flat response up to 5 kHz but curves are not "brickwall" by any means so real world consumer products stop a little earlier, under penalty of getting "next channel" interference.
Your manual tuning lets you shift bandwidth a little and getting better highs and you decide how much.
As always, Audio "improvement" is a compromise.
I guess you also reduce Bass a little which in the great scheme of things may improve perceived quality.
 
Thanks to Radio Luxembourg on AM I discovered rock’n roll. Ah …. Memories.
In my region, Radio Luxembourg was on SW (6.090 Mhz, if my memory saves me well). And yes, for me as a young kid it simply was Rock'n Roll in the early 1970ies. There were even portable, transistorized radios that had that green »Luxembourg« button.

Anyway, nothing like that on SW anymore. And, as Jean-Paul already stated, no more AM stations here in Germany.

Best regards!
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2008
In the old days, radios had the name of the stations on the dial. Mine had a dot for Radio Lux :)

1685001141049.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
AM radio was the only game in town when I was a kid. FM didn't become common until the mid 1970s. Plus very few cars had FM radios until around 1975 or so.

There was some great music on AM radio in the 1960s and 1970s. Now, even FM stations are nothing but canned music and way too many commercials. I only listen to NPR stations now. I stream them from other cities; WBGO in Newark NJ is tops.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I only listen to NPR stations now. I stream them from other cities; WBGO in Newark NJ is tops.
Streaming doesn't work in your car. The whole west east of California is a radio disaster area. Some club or association should band together, buy some clear channel 50000 watt AM stations, broadcast some real music with minimal commercials. Listener supported. The way public FM band is supposed to work. That way we could again drive late at night & stay awake. One classic rock like WLS was, one country like WSM with less commercials, one standards & ballads, one classical. Would please me better in motel rooms than the ****y cable TV they offer. Not enough money in Rockies & high plains to broadcast any public FM but NPR news & small town sports. Filling your car with CD's is a good way to get your windows broken out.
Mississippi is another radio disaster area. Mississippi public FM was all robo-Christian stations. I'm a Christian but I don't need to be preached at or prostelized 24/7. The commercial FM band in Mississippi was mostly a variety of urban poetry I don't listen to, plus sports talk.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Don't most people these days load a USB stick with driving choons and plug that into the dash?
For one thing I don't know how. My entire music collection is LP's & Cd's, a lot of work to digitize if I did know how. Play them through a 10 m long cable into Audacity? My computer is in a different room than the turntable, to avoid hearing the digital clock whine through the huge hifi speakers.
USB sticks don't work in my classic cars. Plus I hated knowing what came next on the reel to reel tapes I did make back when. Being surprised by something you have forgotten is one of the pleasures of radio. Sirius, each channel has a 50 or 100 song play list, no surprises. Bad as WQMF or WAKY in Louisville with their 50 song classic rock rotation.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I don't drive so no problem there. Plus you can stream radio stations with your cell phone and bluetooth it to most newer car radios so... covered there.

WLS Chicago was the BEST radio station ever. They played rock, R&B, Motown, and pop all on one show; sometimes all in one set. The Who, Tina Turner, Sly and the Family Stone, BTO, and Gordon Lightfoot all in one set. Radio will never do that again, Because Sponsors.

Christians stations are really annoying, and "Contemporary Christian" music just couldn't be more vapid.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Agree with all classic AM radio nostalgics above, also hate braindead 40-50 song radios, my everyday Plan B is to "tune" some good streaming Rock radio such as 1.FM (which actually means 20-30 different channels) plus classic or indie rock "Foreign" stations such as those from Hamburg, Switzerland, Prague, Warsaw, etc. which have personal taste so song lists are NOT all the same, and bring surprises, including excellent local bands, all through Winamp (yes, THAT Winamp) which through its Streamripper plug-in lets me save all songs separate.
I leave it recording while I sleep, I quickly get 1000-2000 different songs, DAYS of nonstop listening, full of surprises as Indianajoe wants, I do NOT know what´s next by any means.
Then loaded in a USB stick of course, but it provides the "random AM/FM radio" experience.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Disabled Account
Joined 2002
Too bad we can’t listen to the past.

John Peel was loved in the Netherlands as well. Great guy with excellent taste in music.

Maybe unknown to you but he had an english spoken (!) program transmitted in the Netherlands for 2 years. Top class radio. When one reads his name the voice automatically comes in the memory.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Rock radio such as 1.FM (which actually means 20-30 different channels) plus classic or indie rock "Foreign" stations such as those from Hamburg, Switzerland, Prague, Warsaw, etc. which have personal taste so song lists are NOT all the same, and bring surprises, including excellent local bands, all through Winamp (yes, THAT Winamp) which through its Streamripper plug-in lets me save all songs separate.
I leave it recording while I sleep, I quickly get 1000-2000 different songs, DAYS of nonstop listening, full of surprises as Indianajoe wants, I do NOT know what´s next by any means.
Then loaded in a USB stick of course, but it provides the "random AM/FM radio" experience.
Someone should make an app for that.
 
Very straightforward on an PC, just install Shoutcast , brings a ton of Add Ons, including StreamRipper and you can add more; just checked on Play Store, they have Shoutcast with same wide access at World programming, but only extra feature is a sleep timer.

Currently listening to Euroradio.fm from Poland and Belarus.

Indie style, last few songs were 2 "American", 1 "slavic", at this moment a French one.
Definitely not your boring "40 song" station ;)
For a free sample, tune Euroradio on its own player:
https://euroradio.fm/jplayer/external/1
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Member
Joined 2018
Paid Member
Someone should make an app for that.
Has been done already: Streamwriter is a great app to record as many streams as your internet connection allows. Sources like radcap (Radio Caprice) provide 24/7 music (all styles / genres available), 256 Kbps AAC free of charge, zero ads or equivalent annoyances.
https://streamwriter.org/en/
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Streaming doesn't work in your car. The whole west east of California is a radio disaster area. Some club or association should band together, buy some clear channel 50000 watt AM stations, broadcast some real music with minimal commercials. Listener supported. The way public FM band is supposed to work. That way we could again drive late at night & stay awake. One classic rock like WLS was, one country like WSM with less commercials, one standards & ballads, one classical. Would please me better in motel rooms than the ****y cable TV they offer. Not enough money in Rockies & high plains to broadcast any public FM but NPR news & small town sports. Filling your car with CD's is a good way to get your windows broken out.
Mississippi is another radio disaster area. Mississippi public FM was all robo-Christian stations. I'm a Christian but I don't need to be preached at or prostelized 24/7. The commercial FM band in Mississippi was mostly a variety of urban poetry I don't listen to, plus sports talk.
I'm in Northern MIchigan. I get up around 0430 for work and regularly check my portable to check propagation via WGN and WBBM in Chicago, and one other in Toronto. Of course these AM stations aren't what they used to be regarding their format but yes I remember WLS, WCFL, Uncle Larry, Fred WInston, etc