Hondo1 said:

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My radio is on 680AM regularly.
Used to listen to 1460AM, not sure where it went.

When a rare storm passes, it is neat to "hear" the lightning through the radio static.

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I can catch KKYX in Katy

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Perfect summary.

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Thank you.

Normal people see magic in their technology. Engineers see a thick stack of components waiting to fail.

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How very "free" market.

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In the event of a regional disaster, like a hurricane, you may not have AC power in your home for weeks.

But you will probably have a car with a working battery and a radio.

Long ago, the government invested a fortune in hardening a group of AM transmitters at commercial radio stations, so that they will stay on the air through that hurricane and for many days thereafter.

Those stations are called primary entry points. KTRH 740, KLBJ 590, and WBAP 820 are the three that cover most of the Aggie population.

It's a public resource that we hope that we never need. In the event of a serious disaster, they may be the only way to get important information out to people who need it.

In fairness, I am also grim enough in my outlook that I keep paper maps and a magnetic compass in my car.

Ellis Wyatt said:

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Capt. Augustus McCrae said:

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The AM radio hasn't been on in my truck since Rush died

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It's all I listen to.

Libs want to eliminate it because conservatives dominate talk radio. Air America was a colossal flop, so rather than compete, they want to eliminate the medium.

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Same here. Even with Rush gone, it's still a bastion for conservative discussion and thought, and that's why the leftist/establishment types want to take it out of autos. It's the lasting legacy Rush gave to the right, and the left can't stand it.

I did some work in Montgomery, AL this summer. Did you know that on AM radio, you can listen to grown men talk about Auburn and Alabama Football - year round.

Vestal_Flame said:

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Quote:

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How very "free" market.

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In the event of a regional disaster, like a hurricane, you may not have AC power in your home for weeks.

But you will probably have a car with a working battery and a radio.

Long ago, the government invested a fortune in hardening a group of AM transmitters at commercial radio stations, so that they will stay on the air through that hurricane and for many days thereafter.

Those stations are called primary entry points. KTRH 740, KLBJ 590, and WBAP 820 are the three that cover most of the Aggie population.

It's a public resource that we hope that we never need. In the event of a serious disaster, they may be the only way to get important information out to people who need it.

In fairness, I am also grim enough in my outlook that I keep paper maps and a magnetic compass in my car.

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You can get a portable, hand cranked AM radio for like $10 at Walmart. Government mandating a certain product enable AM is exactly the kind of over regulation F16 users tend to frown upon.

BaileyAg said:

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Hondo1 said:

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My radio is on 680AM regularly.
Used to listen to 1460AM, not sure where it went.

When a rare storm passes, it is neat to "hear" the lightning through the radio static.

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I can catch KKYX in Katy

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It's got to cover 80% of Texas. Pretty much everyone but those French Canadians (pan handlers).

Hondo1 said:

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My radio is on 680AM regularly.
Used to listen to 1460AM, not sure where it went.

When a rare storm passes, it is neat to "hear" the lightning through the radio static.

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So True in Georgetown, Tx on May 27th 1997 I saw a wickedly evil thunderstorm to the north. I knew its was a freak. Went to the car changed the stereo from KLBJ FM, who'd NEVER give a news update under any circumstances and went of to AM radio to get news- any news, and ALL I heard was insane static. It was useless, the Storm that would 20 minutes later level Jarrel, was firing so much lightening, thus random radio waves that overwhelmed any AM receiver in the area.

Very frustrating and spooky. No way to get news unless you had cable TV. I'll never forget that day like 9/11 you just remember every detail

Ellis Wyatt said:

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Capt. Augustus McCrae said:

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The AM radio hasn't been on in my truck since Rush died

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It's all I listen to.

Libs want to eliminate it because conservatives dominate talk radio. Air America was a colossal flop, so rather than compete, they want to eliminate the medium.

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The push to keep AM is bipartisan.

TA-OP said:

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Vestal_Flame said:

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Quote:

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How very "free" market.

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In the event of a regional disaster, like a hurricane, you may not have AC power in your home for weeks.

But you will probably have a car with a working battery and a radio.

Long ago, the government invested a fortune in hardening a group of AM transmitters at commercial radio stations, so that they will stay on the air through that hurricane and for many days thereafter.

Those stations are called primary entry points. KTRH 740, KLBJ 590, and WBAP 820 are the three that cover most of the Aggie population.

It's a public resource that we hope that we never need. In the event of a serious disaster, they may be the only way to get important information out to people who need it.

In fairness, I am also grim enough in my outlook that I keep paper maps and a magnetic compass in my car.

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You can get a portable, hand cranked AM radio for like $10 at Walmart. Government mandating a certain product enable AM is exactly the kind of over regulation F16 users tend to frown upon.

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Exactly this.

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You can get a portable, hand cranked AM radio for like $10 at Walmart. Government mandating a certain product enable AM is exactly the kind of over regulation F16 users tend to frown upon.

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You are correct in all of this. That said, it's easier to easier to build the circuit into an existing computer than to convince people to buy radios.

Jason_Roofer said:

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It's interesting to me because I am trying to imagine how bad things must be if AM radio was the only means of receiving emergency communication as some random point.

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AM is capable of travelling very long distances when the government isn't restricting wattage, particularly at night. A couple of years ago on a Saturday night my sirius XM radio was tuned to Willie's Roadhouse which simulcasts the Grand Ole Opry from Nashville. I got to thinking about how we would chanel surf the AM dial at night back when I was a kid and occasionally pick up some of the blowtorch stations around the country. WSM from Nashville was one of them.

I switched the tuner over to AM 650 and was able to hear a faint signal coming in and out of the same Grand Ole Opry show I was listening to on Sirius.

I am old but not old enough to have heard Wolfman Jack blasting out of Mexico.

I think the reason car makers are opposed to this is all the shielding that will be required in an electric vehicle. I guess it's sort of like how your AM radio turns to static when you drive near an electrical transmission line?

80085 said:

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isnt the real outcome that automakers need to continue clamping EMF instead of saving a few bucks and sharting all over the radio spectrum?

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This is the key issue.

Without AM radio in cars, a huge public good with a massive amount of value is going to get privatized, and entrenched rent-seekers need to stop that to protect their existence.

AM radio waves are very, very valuable, and underutilized.

I dunno.

My distributor broadcasts on all 8 cylinders.

Martin Cash said:

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Now put CD players back in cars.

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Burn your CDs to a USB flash drive, then plug that in to your car audio system USB. You can have a large CD collection on one flash drive, and don't have to change CDs.

Jason_Roofer said:

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Yes, you can pick up AM from further away due to groundwave propagation. It allows the signal to essentially 'curve' with the earth. At night, signals can skip which means you can hear even further away. FM has a lot more shortcomings due to frequency/wavelength which means its primarily line of sight.

How that's a huge deal when we have Starlink, I don't know, but I do enjoy a static buzz from an old car stereo and AM. As stated already, not much on AM anymore though.

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A former sports reporter for WTAW (I think) had previously worked at KOMA in Oklahoma City. He told me once that when he worked there, KOMA was the number one radio station at night in a city in Arizona. I don't remember if it was Phoenix, Tuscon, or Flagstaff.

twk said:

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Martin Cash said:

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Now put CD players back in cars.

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Burn your CDs to a USB flash drive, then plug that in to your car audio system USB. You can have a large CD collection on one flash drive, and don't have to change CDs.

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Yep.

I have a USB drive in my car that has many of the old Jean Shepherd radio shows.

For a while, I switched to the old Tales of the Texas Rangers shows from 1950 to 1952, but once I had listened to them all, I switched back to Jean Shepherd.

TexasRebel said:

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I dunno.

My distributor broadcasts on all 8 cylinders.

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Solid dad joke. That registers at a 6 of 10 on my sighsmograph.

TexasRebel said:

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I dunno.

My distributor broadcasts on all 8 cylinders.

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When I was a kid, we could turn on the radio to see if the electric fence was working.

Good. I was tired of getting texts about it.

Count me also as one that believes there is value to AM radio

It appears that AM radio programming consists of approximately fifty percent commercial content. Furthermore, the media personalities engage in product promotion. Consequently, AM radio does not merit audience attention.

doubledog said:

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It appears that AM radio programming consists of approximately fifty percent commercial content. Furthermore, the media personalities engage in product promotion. Consequently, AM radio does not merit audience attention.

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My experience back in the 1990s as a National Guardsman living in Austin and drilling in Brady, San Angelo, Coleman and Brownwood. You'd be thankful for anything you could get on the radio.

You could usually count on three genres - Christian, Country and Tejano. I still have the Clint Black cassette that I bought at a gas station because I was desperate for anything that wasn't staticky.

During the past 2 years, between my father's declining health and passing away plus having a newly disabled friend (stroke) in Fort Worth, I've put in a lot of miles between Galveston, Waco and DFW in my fancy 7-Series BMW.

I've got Sirius, I've got a CD changer (2014 year model) and I've got a hard drive plus obviously I've got Bluetooth streaming off my phone. No shortage of content.

But... sometimes when you've listened to the Sirius XM channels to the point where they start repeating, listened to the same podcasters until you need a break, it's nice to have an option to switch over to AM and hear talk about - Finance, Sports or Politics.

I will say that you're dead on with most of the Financial/Retirement planner programs. They have a couple of useful things but they never really tell you anything you can use but they do give you how to contact them (for a fee obviously).

Depending where I am in the journey, I can usually count on - 740 KTRH, 590 KLBJ, 820 WBAP or 1620 WTAW.

Jugstore Cowboy said:

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zephyr88 said:

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I was being a bit sarcastic... but the last time I was trying to find a local sportscast on AM, I thought I was either in Mexico or South Asia.

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I think you can get Cardinals updates on KMOX (1120 AM) almost anywhere on a clear night.

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Ive always been fascinated with communication over long distances with something as simple as a CB radio. Now I can do it on a whole amateur band at 100W. It's pretty neat knowing someone in Norway can hear me from Texas and we can talk. I know...we have cell phones...that's fine...but there is a nerd aspect to it that appeals to me. Plus, I can send email to people via my HF radio with nothing but a marine battery, which really appeals to my wannabe prepper side.

That's nothing. Now on X/Twitter, I have all these very attractive young women with very few followers sending me friend requests. I am very honored all these hot women are seeking me out to be my friend.