AM radio retrofit?

[EV_Dad]

We're discussing two things here: range and interference.

Regarding range, FM and most "HD Radio" broadcasts are on line-of-sight VHF frequencies. Although those signals do hug the earth a short way over hills and the horizon, they tend to go off into space beyond that point unless helped along by repeaters. Cellular is at even higher frequencies with even shorter range, and as I mentioned it is also subject to load, power, and other reliability issues. AM and other modes on medium- and shortwave travel much further by bouncing between the ionosphere and the ground, especially at night.

As for the interference problems, it's amazing what grounding to the frame, shielding the wiring, and selecting a better antenna can accomplish. But I'm inclined to agree that any legislation on this will likely fail, unless a war or disaster shakes things up. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

Whoa! What's next? A Morse Code receiver?

 

[gt2690b]

Whoa! What's next? A Morse Code receiver?

 

[EV_Dad]

Whoa! What's next? A Morse Code receiver?

Maybe. After the aliens attack.

 

[1965Falcon]

AM has the potential to reach more of the country especially in rural areas (better range)... given that most emergency broadcasts can be done via cellular, however, i doubt the legislation is going to go anywhere

Agreed, somebody has be listening to make it useful. Which nobody hardly listens to radio anymore and upcoming generations don't even know what radio is.

 

[Falcon73]

Our Hyundai Kona has AM radio and it works well enough. Our old Nissan Leaf had it too. But not our old Volvos, C40 and XC40. I see it as a cost savings thing along with AM already appearing to be almost dead in some Western European countries.

We still have something on almost every AM radio channel/frequency here at night, thanks to the considerable DX at night.

However I fear AM is going to continue to slide into irrelevance as shortwave has already done for the vast majority of the Western world. The majority of shortwave broadcasts seem to come from just two countries these days...

 

[Falcon73]

Whoa! What's next? A Morse Code receiver?

Not to nitpick but Morse Code aka CW in the ham world is a mode and it's allowed on all ham frequencies including HF, VHF, UHF and beyond.

However a CW decoder like on an IC-7600 might not be needed for a car.

 

[Falcon73]

-.-. --.-

 

[brkaus]

Agreed, somebody has be listening to make it useful. Which nobody hardly listens to radio anymore and upcoming generations don't even know what radio is.

Lots of talk radio and religious programming on AM. My mother is glued to it.

 

[Yippydog]

There will not be AM radio in EV's. The RF interference from the battery pack renders AM reception impossible for all practical purposes. That's why there's no AM radio currently. It's not a cost savings thing.

Yeah. More like the frequency bandwidth of the motor switching phases. AM radio has long been susceptible to motor controllers or SCR noise. I am not an expert but EMI noise can be shielded and extra filtering done. Extra hardware is a cost and more parts, more weight, etc. so this seems like a dumbass thing to mandate in my opinion. If it is a safety issue, why doesn’t the FCC use all FM for emergency broadcast? Thinking that easing up on things that add extra cost and detracts from efficiency is counter the the goals for carbon neutrality. I admit I haven’t read all the texts on this subject. Just a knee jerk reaction I guess. So apologies for going there…. Beginning to not like Ed Markey as he seems to be punishing Tesla because the are non union

 

[Vicj]

Correct. ANYTHING can be made to work, with enough time, money, engineering, and complexity. But to what end? AM is already dead to most, and has no future. And remember, it's not just EV companies dumping AM

 

[EV_Dad]

If it is a safety issue, why doesn’t the FCC use all FM for emergency broadcast?

Because signals on the "FM band" do not travel as far or get through obstacles as well.

 

[Vicj]

But far more people are listening. And they DO also use FM. My FM station seems to do a test of the Emergancy Broadcast system every day

 

[GSP]

There will not be AM radio in EV's. The RF interference from the battery pack renders AM reception impossible for all practical purposes. That's why there's no AM radio currently. It's not a cost savings thing.

AM worked fine in my Model S. I never used it, except to try it out.

Tesla likely had to jump through hoops to avoid interference though. I doubt it was worth it. Tesla also has data that show exactly how often AM was used by their customers, and that likely was a key reason to drop it for MCU2 and the Model 3 launch.

GSP

 

[Yippydog]

AM stands for “Aging Majestically”
Somewhat dated article(2021) that explains AM and uses. It is refuting that AM is dead of course. Ed Markey does like to listen to Boston Red Sox games in his 1962 Chevy2 I bet

StackPath

 

[gt2690b]

There will not be AM radio in EV's. The RF interference from the battery pack renders AM reception impossible for all practical purposes. That's why there's no AM radio currently. It's not a cost savings thing.

Oops you spoke too soon

Ford reverses course on AM radio, will include it in new cars

CEO Jim Farley just vowed to keep the AM radio in both Ford and Lincoln cars for the foreseeable future.

autos.yahoo.com

 

[Vicj]

Nah. He's just feeling pressure from politicians trying to score Brownie points with senior citizens. You'll see

 

[gt2690b]

Nah. He's just feeling pressure from politicians trying to score Brownie points with senior citizens. You'll see

I mean they stated it's an OTA update so it's already there man

 

[Vicj]

Ok. We'll see. I'm not talking about a few Ford cars. I'm talking about the trend for AM as a whole. It's really no skin off my nose if it sticks around a couple more years. Truly. I'm not invested in AM radio one way or the other. When weather-band (which my 73 Nova had) went away there was hue and cry from politicians as well... it was going to be the end of the world as we knew it. Where, oh where, would people get warnings about severe weather? But it just never seemed to come back. 8-tracks. Cassettes. CD's. Etc. Things change, despite elderly people's aversion to change. AM will just be another forgotton format, sooner or later.
As stated earlier, the AM station owners know this as well. That's why they're piggy-backing on HD Radio so often now, as secondary FM stations. Why they're appearing en-mass on streaming outlets. It's why professionals sports teams are switching to FM broadcasts as contracts expire. It's over for AM. Obviously, there are still some death throes to get through. But over nonetheless.

 

[gt2690b]

Ok. We'll see. I'm not talking about a few Ford cars....