I'm presenting trying to get Tesla to give me an AM radio tuner in my new (and 2nd) Model S I picked up on 8/15.
First the inside sales consultant never told me about the lack of an AM tuner. Had I known I would have seriously considered not leasing a 2nd Model S from Tesla. It's hard for me to envision buying an $85K car and having no access to my favorite sports teams (SF Giants and SF 49ers). Games are transmitted on KNBR 680 and KGO 810.
A hopeful solution appeared to be downloading the TuneIn app to my iPhone and listening through the Phone connection in the car. According to TuneIn, I can get these SF AM stations if I'm in the SF area. However, Los Gatos is not considered the local area! When a Giants game comes on the air, TuneIn switches the game on 680 with the talking heads on KNBR 1050. So to work around that you have to spend $99 for an annual subscription to the premium service. But if you get out of the local area they still block the game. Here is what TuneIn told me:
"TuneIn on Tesla has all the free offering that Free TuneIn carries, including KNBR. On TuneIn you can play KNBR in Australia if you want cause it's internet, not AF/AM. However, the GAMES of SF teams are restricted to the SF area on KNBR. So, you were listening to KNBR and driving along, then it was game time, but drove out of range, so KNBR served you other content reserved for non-local listeners. When game is over, no matter where you are, KNBR resumes with its normal programming. Only its SF team games follow this regional/local logic."
BTW, KNBR 680 has one of the strongest AM signals around. You can get games in Sacramento which is 90 miles from SF. This means that if I have an AM radio I can get the game in Sacramento, but if I'm a premium subscriber to TuneIn. I'm out of territory.
With an AM tuner I can usually find an SF Giants affiliate which transmits the game on another frequency in another area; like Central California (San Luis Obispo). In this way I can still hear the game.
The only way I see out of this is to insist that Tesla provide me with an older module that contains the AM radio tuner. If anyone out there has another solution, I'd love to hear it.
First the inside sales consultant never told me about the lack of an AM tuner. Had I known I would have seriously considered not leasing a 2nd Model S from Tesla. It's hard for me to envision buying an $85K car and having no access to my favorite sports teams (SF Giants and SF 49ers). Games are transmitted on KNBR 680 and KGO 810.
A hopeful solution appeared to be downloading the TuneIn app to my iPhone and listening through the Phone connection in the car. According to TuneIn, I can get these SF AM stations if I'm in the SF area. However, Los Gatos is not considered the local area! When a Giants game comes on the air, TuneIn switches the game on 680 with the talking heads on KNBR 1050. So to work around that you have to spend $99 for an annual subscription to the premium service. But if you get out of the local area they still block the game. Here is what TuneIn told me:
"TuneIn on Tesla has all the free offering that Free TuneIn carries, including KNBR. On TuneIn you can play KNBR in Australia if you want cause it's internet, not AF/AM. However, the GAMES of SF teams are restricted to the SF area on KNBR. So, you were listening to KNBR and driving along, then it was game time, but drove out of range, so KNBR served you other content reserved for non-local listeners. When game is over, no matter where you are, KNBR resumes with its normal programming. Only its SF team games follow this regional/local logic."
BTW, KNBR 680 has one of the strongest AM signals around. You can get games in Sacramento which is 90 miles from SF. This means that if I have an AM radio I can get the game in Sacramento, but if I'm a premium subscriber to TuneIn. I'm out of territory.
With an AM tuner I can usually find an SF Giants affiliate which transmits the game on another frequency in another area; like Central California (San Luis Obispo). In this way I can still hear the game.
The only way I see out of this is to insist that Tesla provide me with an older module that contains the AM radio tuner. If anyone out there has another solution, I'd love to hear it.
