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Chicago Tribune's Motormouth - Pulling the plug on AM

hjames said:
Geeze some of you folks carry a big load of angry attitude!
Just chill - Its not gas vs Electric cars discussion, sheesh!
It's about a bad Chicago column where the reporter mistakenly claimed electric cars were deleting AM radio
because he misread a question about VOLVO deleting AM radio in their new vehicles.

I swear, some of the older folks here know more about new tech than many readers here!
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Sorry Supermod, can you confirm for me, there is actually no EV makers leaving AM out of cars ?

...or maybe link it for me?

As I mentioned earlier AM is our official emergency/disaster public broadcast default in this big brown land.
 
Pio1980 said:
I oddly hadn't considered the effect that switch-mode power control systems would have on an on-board AM radio. Putting AM in cars was quite a challenge in the beginning (early 1930s) with so many noise sources and flakey groundings in the average vehicle having to be addressed.
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I have some 1950s era mobile electronics books and there are chapters on chasing and fixing sources of noise. That was on cars where the only electronics were the radio, but there was stuff on how to fix the pop that happens when stepping on the brakes or using the turn signals. Its also got the usual stuff about ignition system noise including when to put ground bond straps on the hood to basically convert the engine bay into a Faraday cage.

There are also sections of the book about the internal supply in the radio, specifically how to verify the padder caps on the vibrator are good and the right value. If thats too far off the noise from the mechanical switch mode supply is significant and it will swamp the radio signals. Old car radios involve interesting construction, internal shields and boxes to contain noise, bypass caps to filter it, ground bonds all over the place. It all matters too, a slightly crusty contact will make it go from a solid performer to a box that just produces noise.
 
E.Man said:
Sorry Supermod, can you confirm for me, there is actually no EV makers leaving AM out of cars ?
...or maybe link it for me?
As I mentioned earlier AM is our official emergency/disaster public broadcast default in this big brown land.
Click to expand...
Not my job to prove a negative or prove a positive - I quoted the Chicago reporter's Q and A here in the thread,
showing why I think he made a mistake .
I have no idea of Australian sales and equipment.
 
E.Man said:
Sorry Supermod, can you confirm for me, there is actually no EV makers leaving AM out of cars ?

...or maybe link it for me?

As I mentioned earlier AM is our official emergency/disaster public broadcast default in this big brown land.
Click to expand...
Do a websearch.
 
They didn’t mention AM radio but I just heard on my FM radio that Ford is investing the needed dollars or EV’s to be 40% of their production capacity by 2010.

Edit: I am a big dummy, that should be 2030 :rolleyes:
 
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GChief said:
They didn’t mention AM radio but I just heard on my FM radio that Ford is investing the needed dollars or EV’s to be 40% of their production capacity by 2010.
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That was 11 years ago...I wonder if they really did it.....
 
rhodus said:
Umm....what's the title of this thread again?
Click to expand...


It was mistitled by an AK member, based on a misunderstanding by a Columnist, the question was about new VOLVOs not getting AM radios, but "Motormouth" answered as if ALL Electric cars were deleting AM. People have already spoken that Prius and Kia EVs DO have AM radio, so "Motormouth's" premise was just wrong.

https://wheels.rep-am.com/2021/05/motormouth-pulling-the-plug-on-am/


BY BOB WEBER TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Q: I was beginning my quadrennial car search. I’ve had 11 Volvos since 1974 and I’m looking to replace my 2016 XC70 with another Volvo (I might be in a rut), probably the V60 XC. Did I hear my dealer correctly that the 2021’s do not have AM radio built into the standard audio system? How do I listen to my news, traffic, weather and sports talk as I drive in the Chicago metro area or station surf while on driving trips? Say it isn’t so!
B.T., Wheaton, Illinois

AM broadcasting is already suffering from loss of advertising. Electric cars may put the final nail in the coffin. Electric motors generate radio frequency interference (RFI) in the same wavelengths as amplitude modulation (AM) signals. All you would hear from an AM radio is static. (Dreamstime/TNS)
A: It is so. According to InsideRadio.com, AM radio stations reach nearly 58.8 million people during a given week according to the latest Nielsen data based on the ratings company’s June 2017 RADAR estimates. But that is just one in five (21%) radio users. By comparison, Nielsen says 86% of radio listeners tuned into an FM station. AM broadcasting is already suffering from loss of advertising. Electric cars may put the final nail in the coffin. Electric motors generate radio frequency interference (RFI) in the same wavelengths as amplitude modulation (AM) signals. All you would hear from an AM radio is static.
 
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hjames said:
It was mistitled by an AK member, based on a misunderstanding by a Columnist, the question was about new VOLVOs not getting AM radios, but "Motormouth" answered as if ALL Electric cars were deleting AM. People have already spoken that Prius and Kia EVs DO have AM radio, so "Motormouth's" premise was just wrong.

https://wheels.rep-am.com/2021/05/motormouth-pulling-the-plug-on-am/


BY BOB WEBER TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Q: I was beginning my quadrennial car search. I’ve had 11 Volvos since 1974 and I’m looking to replace my 2016 XC70 with another Volvo (I might be in a rut), probably the V60 XC. Did I hear my dealer correctly that the 2021’s do not have AM radio built into the standard audio system? How do I listen to my news, traffic, weather and sports talk as I drive in the Chicago metro area or station surf while on driving trips? Say it isn’t so!
B.T., Wheaton, Illinois

AM broadcasting is already suffering from loss of advertising. Electric cars may put the final nail in the coffin. Electric motors generate radio frequency interference (RFI) in the same wavelengths as amplitude modulation (AM) signals. All you would hear from an AM radio is static. (Dreamstime/TNS)
A: It is so. According to InsideRadio.com, AM radio stations reach nearly 58.8 million people during a given week according to the latest Nielsen data based on the ratings company’s June 2017 RADAR estimates. But that is just one in five (21%) radio users. By comparison, Nielsen says 86% of radio listeners tuned into an FM station. AM broadcasting is already suffering from loss of advertising. Electric cars may put the final nail in the coffin. Electric motors generate radio frequency interference (RFI) in the same wavelengths as amplitude modulation (AM) signals. All you would hear from an AM radio is static.
Click to expand...
So...shouldn't this whole thread be deleted? Or at least renamed?
 
rhodus said:
Please carefully proofread your post. You're KILIING me!!
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I did that’s why I said I have never claimed to not be a dumbass. Apparently my brain thinks “by the end of the decade” means 2010 not 2030. Can’t blame it on fat fingering it there is a 2 in the middle :thumbsup:
 
GChief said:
I did that’s why I said I have never claimed to not be a dumbass. Apparently my brain thinks “by the end of the decade” means 2010 not 2030. Can’t blame it on fat fingering it there is a 2 in the middle :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Its all good! I do worse on a daily basis. These EV threads are hilarious..
 
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