Congressman Says Make AM a Mandatory Car Safety Feature

[audiophile]

What ever happened to free market economics? Let the car makers decide which features to include or not include. Continue to require them to accurately disclose on the sticker what is or is not included. If consumers like the product, they'll purchase it. If they dislike the product, they'll go elsewhere.

The notion AM radio is an indispensable emergency management tool is silly. Many AM stations change pattern and have much worse reception across a good chunk of their daytime coverage areas at night. They also perform terribly during lightning storms. I cannot think of any place in the lower 48 that is actually inhabitable where FM radio cannot be easily heard.

The removal of the AM band by some carmakers has absolutely nothing to do with conservative news/talk programming. The same cars that lack an AM band feature Sirius XM, which offers multiple conservative news/talk channels. In many parts of the country, conservative news/talk can be heard on FM, sometimes on 50 kW or even 100 kW signals.

In most places, the bulk of the AM band features ultra niche programming (foreign language, Christian preaching, brokered programming, a syndicated sports/talk network, etc.), much of which is either pre-recorded or non-local.

And by the way, if I'm concerned about obtaining emergency info during a power outage, etc. , chances are - I'll be listening to audio content from my home or workplace, not from my vehicle.

There's no mandate that the NOAA weather band be included in cars for emergency info purposes; why should AM radio receive special treatment?

Oh we're going to play the "Free Market" card?

Electric Car subsidies are not Free Market.

Supply AM radio or no more subsidies...problem solved.

[Turkeytop]

Oh we're going to play the "Free Market" card?

Electric Car subsidies are not Free Market.

Supply AM radio or no more subsidies...problem solved.

YES!

[MWmetalhead]

Oh we're going to play the "Free Market" card?

Electric Car subsidies are not Free Market.

Supply AM radio or no more subsidies...problem solved.

Damn right I am!

I oppose electric car subsidies.

There should be no subsidies for all-electric cars, and there should be no government mandate that vehicles come equipped with AM radio, FM radio or any other form of audio entertainment.

Old geezers who actually care about access to AM Radio programming will likely purchase a car that comes with AM band access. Why force expense associated with AM radio reception capability on other consumers who likely would never touch AM band programming in a million years?

But yeah, let's pretend AM 1270 The Bet or Holy Family Radio AM 1140 is going to be my go-to source for emergency info.

The radio lobby often uses the "vital emergency info" excuse whenever they want the federal government to amend law in their favor. The same line of crap was used in advocating for raising of ownership caps.

[audiophile]

I appreciate your consistency!

In ICE vehicles the AM section cost is near zero as the chipsets and antennas already contain the hardware. Certainly, less than $10, probably under $5.

WJR is the state PEP, FEMA installed an EMP proof generator and transmitter there. Remember electric grid failure took out most radio stations in 2003 after a few days. My landline stopped working too, as the local telco vault has no generator.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/technol ... r-AA19yPKF

[MWmetalhead]

In my neck of the woods, I had access to most of my usual FM stations at all times during the August 2003 blackout. Some were off the air initially but then resumed broadcasting at reduced power.

It's unclear to me why AM would be any more reliable.

Good point regarding phone lines. I cannot recall if it was my landline that worked or if it was my cell phone that worked. At least one of those worked, because I do remember making phone calls.

[Ben Zonia]

Somebody at Consumers near Bay City, an old timer who remembered the East Coast blackout in the 1960s, realized what was happening and disconnected the anastomosing lines between Consumers and DTE, and hence Consumers was spared except briefly. Near Utica, when WQBH/WDTK 1400 was down, and there was no electrical interference, WSAM 1400 was coming in very well.

The late Glen Clark had a company that installed the pulse resistant rudimentary studios and transmitters on 50 some stations according to an administrator on another board. It was called Defarsys. If you can figure out what that was short for, your IQ is likely to be very high.

[Marcus]

Without the electrical interference from a cities power grid AM radio really gets out on a sensitive radio. Some of the Toronto stations were perfectly clear in Sarnia that day on a factory car radio.

[km1125]

I appreciate your consistency!

In ICE vehicles the AM section cost is near zero as the chipsets and antennas already contain the hardware. Certainly, less than $10, probably under $5.

WJR is the state PEP, FEMA installed an EMP proof generator and transmitter there. Remember electric grid failure took out most radio stations in 2003 after a few days. My landline stopped working too, as the local telco vault has no generator.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/technol ... r-AA19yPKF

Not sure if I really care if they drop the AM band on cars, but we probably should maintain the EAS system on the AM band. Where else can you get that amount of coverage in sq miles of territory and be able to pick up the signal with a very basic receiver... even a crystal radio?

I'm curious who your provider was on the telco issue. Most landline installations had battery backup systems (-48VDC) what would last for a LEAST two days. It may have gone down, but it could have been a failure mode and not as it was designed (or could have been poorly maintained).

In my neck of the woods, I had access to most of my usual FM stations at all times during the August 2003 blackout. Some were off the air initially but then resumed broadcasting at reduced power.

It's unclear to me why AM would be any more reliable.

Good point regarding phone lines. I cannot recall if it was my landline that worked or if it was my cell phone that worked. At least one of those worked, because I do remember making phone calls.

It was most of the radio stations going off-air in 2003 that clued me in that it was a much bigger thing than just a local power outage. I was able to get on the road and make it all the way across town with little traffic problems because I got on the road right away. Had I waited any length, it would have doubled my trip as everyone else started meandering around without power.

Most of the landlines still worked but cell towers got quickly overloaded with traffic. While they were still working for at least a day, you still had trouble connecting and making a call. Lots of those tower sites did run out of battery though, because not all had backup generators.

[TC Talks]

Why don't we shift the EBS funding to stabilize cell towers?

[edj]

Problem is, many cars that do have AM skimp on quality. They’re not wired properly either so plugging anything into the cigarette lighter causes interference.

I was out of town during the blackout of 2003 so all of the stories from people are interesting. I would have loved to explore the band and see what was coming in.

[Mega Hertz]

Problem is, many cars that do have AM skimp on quality. They’re not wired properly either so plugging anything into the cigarette lighter causes interference.

I was out of town during the blackout of 2003 so all of the stories from people are interesting. I would have loved to explore the band and see what was coming in.

The only thing I can really remember is I was driving when it happened. I remember noticing traffic and stoplights out, so when I scanned the dial to see if any station had a traffic report, it just kept rolling and rolling, stopping on no certain frequency. Eventually it stopped on 104.3 and that's when I heard the wonderful news

[audiophile]

I appreciate your consistency!

In ICE vehicles the AM section cost is near zero as the chipsets and antennas already contain the hardware. Certainly, less than $10, probably under $5.

WJR is the state PEP, FEMA installed an EMP proof generator and transmitter there. Remember electric grid failure took out most radio stations in 2003 after a few days. My landline stopped working too, as the local telco vault has no generator.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/technol ... r-AA19yPKF

Not sure if I really care if they drop the AM band on cars, but we probably should maintain the EAS system on the AM band. Where else can you get that amount of coverage in sq miles of territory and be able to pick up the signal with a very basic receiver... even a crystal radio?

I'm curious who your provider was on the telco issue. Most landline installations had battery backup systems (-48VDC) what would last for a LEAST two days. It may have gone down, but it could have been a failure mode and not as it was designed (or could have been poorly maintained).

In my neck of the woods, I had access to most of my usual FM stations at all times during the August 2003 blackout. Some were off the air initially but then resumed broadcasting at reduced power.

It's unclear to me why AM would be any more reliable.

Good point regarding phone lines. I cannot recall if it was my landline that worked or if it was my cell phone that worked. At least one of those worked, because I do remember making phone calls.

It was most of the radio stations going off-air in 2003 that clued me in that it was a much bigger thing than just a local power outage. I was able to get on the road and make it all the way across town with little traffic problems because I got on the road right away. Had I waited any length, it would have doubled my trip as everyone else started meandering around without power.

Most of the landlines still worked but cell towers got quickly overloaded with traffic. While they were still working for at least a day, you still had trouble connecting and making a call. Lots of those tower sites did run out of battery though, because not all had backup generators.

At the time, Verizon formerly GTE. It went out very soon after power outage.

[MWmetalhead]

I was out of town during the blackout of 2003 so all of the stories from people are interesting. I would have loved to explore the band and see what was coming in.

I do remember WJLB was one of the stations off the air longer than most locally. WNCI from Columbus or WGRD from Grand Rapids would faintly pop thru on occasion. (Portions of the Grand rapids and Columbus areas never lost power.)

There is nothing noteworthy I can remember regarding long-distance reception. It was a very dead period in terms of DX-ing conditions.

[Ben Zonia]

Speaking of WGRD, WGRD 1410 with 1000 watts used to come in in Genesee County on a really good radio when WAMM 1420 was off the air. Strangely to some of you, it came in stronger than WOOD 1300 with 5000 watts nondirectional Day. I think being further East and possibly in a sweet spot of conductivity was the reason. It also was stronger to the East, like around Ionia, back in the Day, than WMAX 1480 with 5000 watts from the dump site where WLAV/WJRW 1340 and WFUR 1570 are still located.

[Marcus]

On FM the old 91.3 WSGR Port Huron was off the air so I heard CJAM Windsor when it was on 91.5 that evening.