The end of AM radio in your car? • Hacker News Board

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#51

Post by quickthrower2 » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 11:16 AM UTC

dctoedt wrote: post #9

AM radio broadcasts can reach somewhat farther than FM (and way farther at night on clear channels); that might matter in an emergency. As a middle-schooler living in the Washington DC area, I would regularly pick up WLS in Chicago, some 700 miles away, on my little crystal set at night.

A crystal set needs no battery power, the signal is enough to power the audio. I had fun making one with those 20 in 1 electronics toys as a kid. I think that one didn't tune so you heard multiple stations at once.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#52

Post by jejones3141 » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 11:40 AM UTC

mgkuhn wrote: post #47

What exactly does he technically want to preserve? Does he really care about amplitude modulation? Or does he care about the frequency band (medium wave, HF) and its propagation properties? Or does he care bout the geographic reach of these stations? Amplitude modulation is a historically important technology, because it was technically very simple to receive in the early history of radio, and because it was more ban…

Agreed about digital modulation, but I recall hearing multipath a lot more on FM, or perhaps it was just more obnoxious there. Traveling around large buildings or under a metal bridge would bring that familiar rapid flutter as the car moved through places where the reflections would reinforce and cancel. (You can drive through a lot more wavelengths per unit time for FM than AM.)

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#53

Post by LeifCarrotson » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 11:43 AM UTC

sempron64 wrote: post #3

guywithahat wrote: post #2

This is the most interestingly line from his letter: > nearly 90 percent of Americans ages 12 and older — totaling hundreds of millions of people — listened to AM or FM radio each week, higher than the percentage that watch television (56 percent) or own a computer (77 percent) Admittedly it seems dubious but if true I'm surprised by basically every one of these numbers

All this requires to be true is that basically all Americans who are in a car weekly turn on the radio when driving, which is very believable. Some people also still have a radio in the kitchen of course.

Is it? It's been years since I, most of my family, or my coworkers have turned on the radio (for non-Bluetooth audio)...my aging FIL insisted on it during a trip back in August (to much good-natured ribbing from his kids) but that's the last time I remember.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#54

Post by darkerside » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 11:52 AM UTC

toss1 wrote: post #4

guywithahat wrote: post #2

This is the most interestingly line from his letter: > nearly 90 percent of Americans ages 12 and older — totaling hundreds of millions of people — listened to AM or FM radio each week, higher than the percentage that watch television (56 percent) or own a computer (77 percent) Admittedly it seems dubious but if true I'm surprised by basically every one of these numbers

Note the "listened to AM OR FM radio each week", emphasis on the "or". I can't say how long it has been since I checked the AM dial while driving (basically hit it by accident), but years it he most appropriate unit. What I heard (northeastern US) seemed to support some data I read that it is mostly taken over by religious and Limbaugh-type right-wing talk radio. So, that strongly left- Sen. Markey is supporting it s…

Makes me wonder if 60% of people listen to FM radio every week, 30% to AM radio, and they incorrectly aggregated them.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#55

Post by datpiff » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 12:26 PM UTC

audiofish wrote: post #24

lormayna wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am an huge fan of DRM, but the lack of receivers it's a good limitation for that.

That is true, although I know of one company close to production of a <10$ module for OEMs to integrate.

Haha me too

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#56

Post by JKCalhoun » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 12:27 PM UTC

no-dr-onboard wrote: post #27

What a shame. I've lived in a rural areas for most of my adult life. FM reception is notoriously poor due to the terrain. AM repeaters were always a nice touch. Also worth noting that AM radio content is absurdly easy to support and transmit.

AM content absurdly easy to receive for; that's for sure.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#57

Post by mikequinlan » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 12:31 PM UTC

RF_Enthusiast wrote: post #39

cwkoss wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No way that's true. Wonder if they're getting selection bias, ex. the 90% of the people who are willing to take an unsolicited survey on their land line phone.

I can't back up the 90%-of-people claim, but as per the industry-accepted audio listening diary survey, a giant 74% share of audio consumption comes from AM/FM broadcasters [1]. So 90 percent is very possible. [1] https://www.westwoodone.com/blog/2022/11/21/edisons-share-of... >

I got a diary from Nielson for radio stations I listened to. I never listen to radio so I entered the stations and programs I wanted to be successful, rather than the ones I was listening to (since I wasn't listening to any of them). (so NPR and the local public radio station got a little boost).

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#58

Post by progman32 » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 12:38 PM UTC

asdefghyk wrote: post #28

RE " ....That crackle apparently just doesn't fly with luxury auto brands. BMW spokesperson Rebecca Kiehne told me, "Electric motors cause interference on AM which is why BMW decided to remove this option. While it could be offered, BMW's performance standards are very high and we don't offer a product that meets less than those high standards."...." Apparently BMW * high standards do not extend to removing EMI* that…

I've toggled the software switch to re enable AM radio in my 2014 i3 electric. Seems to work fine.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#59

Post by ajsnigrutin » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 12:45 PM UTC

I find it funny... here people are afraid their clients (cars) will lose AM support, and in europe, we feer the very-soon coming date when our governments will shut down FM radio, leaving a bunch of cars (those without DAB radios) musicless or tied to some kind of mobile phone connected to AUX ports situation.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#60

Post by blueflow » Tue, Dec 06, 2022, 12:54 PM UTC

cbm-vic-20 wrote: post #25

audiofish wrote: post #20

AM radio is a pretty poor standard considering how much power and bandwidth it uses, due much to the very limited modulation technology available in the 1920s. DRM (no not that DRM--Digital Radio Mondiale) is a modern digital standard that promises much better spectral efficiency, power efficiency and range. See https://www.drm.org/ . It is similar in concept to DAB, using an OFDM carrier, but with more robust error…

Obviously you know this, but AM is absurdly easy to implement. A pencil, razor blade, some wire and an earphone is all it takes to make a crude receiver. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxhole_radio

This sometimes happens on accident. I had circuits turning into AM radios when i touched them at specific screws or pads, with some random frequency hard-tuned in. At night, when the reception was better, you'd hear voices!