Introduced by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) in response to automakers removing AM radio from some new vehicles. My man Pallone gets his emergency scoreboard alerts from 66 WFAN too
Introduced by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) in response to automakers removing AM radio from some new vehicles. My man Pallone gets his emergency scoreboard alerts from 66 WFAN too
On one hand, fuck AM radio. All the worst right wing talk shows are there.
On the other, in the event of a crisis AM radio just keeps on trucking.
Our department of transportation gives updates over AM radio and it’s easier to do while driving vs going into the 511 app to see what’s up. And since it’s statewide it’s pretty useful. That’s the only thing I use AM for. They’ve got signs in major corridors that flash to tell you there’s a new message. Old school, but reliable.
That’s a good point, there are still a lot of those information/alert radios around and they’re basically all a low powered AM station. That could be important for people driving by and not having that option reduces safety. I have a hard time believing that AM receivers are that expensive for cars that it’s really worth the trade-off. It’s probably not something that gets used often, but when it’s needed you want people to have it.
Its not about the cost of the radio, the hardware for a digital am receiver at this point is pennies… The issue is electric and hybrid drivetrains generate a lot of very strong localized EMI from the motors and motor inverter drives, and AM is inherently bad at rejecting EMI so it usually wipes out most stations unless they are very strong. It gets really expensive trying to reduce or filter that out.
Didn’t know about that, although it makes sense. That does complicate things!
This is the correct reply. AM is trash, but we even have highway signs that mention AM stations for certain road condition alerts and stuff. Most places don’t rely on it, but when you’re in the mountains it’s useful.
Hell, even here in CA we only barely started getting cell signals in places like Malibu pass and the like. I can usually get cell service and FM on the 5 or PCH but the moment you leave those, all bets are off.
I wonder what it would cost to balance that out by broadcasting secular and left-wing media. Wouldn’t it be rad if AM was transformed into something great? Of course even as I’m typing this I can just see the future where some startup sees a monetization strategy in AM and does something shitty with it, like filling it up with LLM generated talk shows, especially if it’s low cost.
Good point. If Brandan Carr or whatever the fuck the cuck in charge of the FCC is named requires talk shows like Kimmel to do equal time for both candidates, it’s only fair that we have both sides forced onto AM.
Sure, it’ll be a bunch of ranting talking heads at 6 AM, but like others have said, you don’t have to listen.
This will probably end up backfiring when Stephen Colbert or Matt Stone/Trey Parker take over AM radio with guest spots, using clips of Alex Jones on 55 AM “The Frog”.
AM radios are also dead simple to implement compared to FM radios too, which is great if you’re the prepper kind.
How do we listen to am radio on our phones?
Man that’s one thing they should have never taken from phones, AM/FM radio. So now you can’t just tune to a station, you gotta download their fucking app that’s filled with extra ads.
There are still phones with FM radios. They’ve gotten harder to find since they need wired headphones to use as the antenna. I’ve never seen one with an AM radio though. The antenna in a pocket AM radio is thicker than a modern phone.
Does the app require internet? If there’s a catastrophe, the first thing to go out is internet and phone reception because of high demand.
In the event of a crisis, the only thing I need isn’t radio. The last thing I need is to be told “everything is under control & being handled by the best people” right before “the best people” destroy the planet.
You should re-evaluate your crisis planning. Communication is a key safety item, even if it is one-way. I’ve got a pair of GMRS walkie-talkies that can pretty reliably broadcast a little over a mile. Put them in scan mode and you can pickup chatter from other sources. This has fuck all to do with an AM radio, but they also have the ability to pick up the automated weather reports from the airport. So when it looks real stormy out, I turn one on (to test it) and to get continuous updates directly from the weather station instead of waiting for the news to catch up. Communication in a crisis, even if it’s just one way, is still a critical lifeline.
If I was 10 years younger, sure; I’d be worried about this.
I’m old enough now to know that I’ve already done the best things I could do & I did them before the apocalypse.
You’ll thank me when you find 20 Terabytes of data collected over 25 years, buried in lead containers at the location I sent out 12 years ago.
… consider it a side quest.
(But in all honesty, you seem to have your shit together when it comes to this. Hopefully dire situations need not arise or require this knowledge, but I’m glad you have it.)