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AM Radio Reception

michael hagerty

michael hagerty

I can't remember the original thread, so I'm starting a new one. A month or so ago, Landtuna was talking about how bad his AM reception was on a drive from Phoenix to L.A. He drives a Hyundai with a shark fin antenna.

This week for TireKicker, I'm driving the new Kia K900, which also has the shark fin, and the AM reception is abysmal. Usually here in Sacramento in the daytime, several San Francisco stations come in like locals, but with the Kia, even the most powerful, KNBR, KCBS and KGO, are plagued with static and fade. Given that Kia and Hyundai are corporate cousins, I'm guessing it's their receivers or the shark fin.
 
Michael, Does the K900 have the Infinity radio? That is the high end unit in my Genesis. There are actually 4 or 5 different antennas in that car. The AM and FM antenna is located on the back window glass.
 
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michael hagerty said:
I can't remember the original thread, so I'm starting a new one. A month or so ago, Landtuna was talking about how bad his AM reception was on a drive from Phoenix to L.A. He drives a Hyundai with a shark fin antenna.

This week for TireKicker, I'm driving the new Kia K900, which also has the shark fin, and the AM reception is abysmal. Usually here in Sacramento in the daytime, several San Francisco stations come in like locals, but with the Kia, even the most powerful, KNBR, KCBS and KGO, are plagued with static and fade. Given that Kia and Hyundai are corporate cousins, I'm guessing it's their receivers or the shark fin.
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I had a Kia Soul which was a "limited edition" (limited, I guess to the number they could actually sell) that had the high end custom audio system. While it never left the Coachella Valley, AM reception was similarly dismal... stations that could be heard nicely at individual locations on the stock radio in my X5 were listenable in less than half the radius on the Kia radio. The car also had a lot of internal system electronic interference on marginal signals.

Of course, this was not a real issue as there is truly nothing I am interested in on any of the AM stations; I likely spend 95% of the time using XM/Sirius or Pandora and Uforia when in that location.
 
landtuna said:
Michael, Does the K900 have the Infinity radio? That is the high end unit in my Genesis. There are actually 4 or 5 different antennas in that car. The AM and FM antenna is located on the back window glass.
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Yes, it's the Infinity. FM reception is as good as anything else I drive, but the AM is awful.
 
DavidEduardo said:


I had a Kia Soul which was a "limited edition" (limited, I guess to the number they could actually sell) that had the high end custom audio system. While it never left the Coachella Valley, AM reception was similarly dismal... stations that could be heard nicely at individual locations on the stock radio in my X5 were listenable in less than half the radius on the Kia radio. The car also had a lot of internal system electronic interference on marginal signals.

Of course, this was not a real issue as there is truly nothing I am interested in on any of the AM stations; I likely spend 95% of the time using XM/Sirius or Pandora and Uforia when in that location.
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For me, it's mainly KCBS, which is a very good all-news station. I sample KGO less often, just to get a sense of what they're doing in an attempt to compete with KCBS, and with the Giants in the World Series, KNBR.
 
In-glass antenna I bet you. Most of them suck really badly.

I used a Toyota Corolla a few years ago to head from Seattle to here (Yakima) and surprisingly, the AM was really good. I could hear CHMB 1320 in Vancouver all the way past Kirkland WA. Could hear it, not completely armchair but it was in.

WAY WAY OFF TOPIC: Michael, have you visited with Bennett Kessler and the folks at Sierra Wave KSRW yet? I know you were heading up that way soon. Would love for them to acquire a real stream instead of that 16kbps crap they have now.
 
crainbebo said:
In-glass antenna I bet you. Most of them suck really badly.

I used a Toyota Corolula a few years ago to head from Seattle to here (Yakima) and surprisingly, the AM was really good. I could hear CHMB 1320 in Vancouver all the way past Kirkland WA. Could hear it, not completely armchair but it was in.

WAY WAY OFF TOPIC: Michael, have you visited with Bennett Kessler and the folks at Sierra Wave KSRW yet? I know you were heading up that way soon. Would love for them to acquire a real stream instead of that 16kbps crap they have now.
Click to expand...

Haven't been back to Bishop since May. Was hoping to make a multi-class reunion in September but got caught in coverage for the King Fire and couldn't go. Probably won't get over there until spring now.
 
It seems to me that I used to get KFRC better in Sacramento than any other San Francisco station. Yes, I know they changed call letters.
 
semoochie said:
It seems to me that I used to get KFRC better in Sacramento than any other San Francisco station. Yes, I know they changed call letters.
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Yep...KFRC (now KEAR) was very strong in Sacramento. I think KNBR and KGO were just as strong, but KFRC's processing gave it an edge in apparent loudness and presence.

All that's gone now. It's been almost 10 years since 610 went religious. There is no processing to speak of and the signal is a shadow of its former self. Some of it is no doubt increased interference, which has also degraded KSFO, but given how strong KNBR, KCBS and KGO remain, I wonder if ther aren't maintenance issues beyond that for 610.
 
On the east coast we have the same problem with AM reception. It's mainly interference from LED traffic lights and a host of other noisemakers. Great AM receivers and special antennas capture all the noise loud and clear!

I can only see things getting worse. As a heavy listener to AM radio (now on the Internet whenever I'm at home) I can't wait for a way to get reliable, cost-effective Internet in the car.
 
michael hagerty said:
I can't remember the original thread, so I'm starting a new one. A month or so ago, Landtuna was talking about how bad his AM reception was on a drive from Phoenix to L.A. He drives a Hyundai with a shark fin antenna.

This week for TireKicker, I'm driving the new Kia K900, which also has the shark fin, and the AM reception is abysmal. Usually here in Sacramento in the daytime, several San Francisco stations come in like locals, but with the Kia, even the most powerful, KNBR, KCBS and KGO, are plagued with static and fade. Given that Kia and Hyundai are corporate cousins, I'm guessing it's their receivers or the shark fin.
Click to expand...

Coincidence - early this year, I bought a new Hyundai Elanta GT. To quote Car & Driver (or was it Motor Trend?) - "GT" stands for "generous trunk." But it only cost $15,800 with a manual transmission and tons of bells and whistes, so I've overlooked its very few faults. Pardon my diversion...It also has a shark fin antenna. Perhaps because I live IN San Francisco, the AM stations come in fine, but with terrible sound, and a low level hum. I've wondered if its possible that AM sound was always so awful, but I was just used to it back in the days of the Big 610 and MOR KSFO...but I don't think so. As I recall, those stations sounded great, albeit with monaural sound.

AM today is really rather painful to listen to - even talk radio.
 
LKellerIII said:
Coincidence - early this year, I bought a new Hyundai Elanta GT. To quote Car & Driver (or was it Motor Trend?) - "GT" stands for "generous trunk." But it only cost $15,800 with a manual transmission and tons of bells and whistes, so I've overlooked its very few faults. Pardon my diversion...It also has a shark fin antenna. Perhaps because I live IN San Francisco, the AM stations come in fine, but with terrible sound, and a low level hum. I've wondered if its possible that AM sound was always so awful, but I was just used to it back in the days of the Big 610 and MOR KSFO...but I don't think so. As I recall, those stations sounded great, albeit with monaural sound.

AM today is really rather painful to listen to - even talk radio.
Click to expand...

Nobody is processing their audio the way Bob Kanner and Phil Lerza did at KFRC back in the day, but with a good radio, I have to say KCBS, both in standard AM and HD, sounds really good.
 
You know, I have an in-glass windshield Antenna on my 1982 C10 that kicks butt. Even with the ultra crappy aftermarket AudioVox dual knob radio. I have little to no issue pulling in AM or FM far away in the middle of nowhere.
 
michael hagerty said:
Nobody is processing their audio the way Bob Kanner and Phil Lerza did at KFRC back in the day, but with a good radio, I have to say KCBS, both in standard AM and HD, sounds really good.
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Yes, I have read about 610's legendary sound processing back in the day. The hum I speak of is on all AM stations, even KCBS. And since I don't live in the far reaches of the Bay Area, I listen to KCBS on 106.9 FM.
 
I do recall that in the 70s, when I drove old beaters - mostly 60s vintage American land yachts - that AM stations came in very clearly, and after dark, you could easily DX stations from all over the West Coast.
 
LKellerIII said:
I do recall that in the 70s, when I drove old beaters - mostly 60s vintage American land yachts - that AM stations came in very clearly, and after dark, you could easily DX stations from all over the West Coast.
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True. Receivers have gotten worse and there are a kajillion more sources of interference.
 
Car swap today...the Kia went away and was replaced by a Mitsubishi Lancer. HUGE difference in AM reception. KMJ in Fresno is loud and clear....at a distance of 170 miles. Most of the Bay Area stations are like locals here in Sacramento. 610 is still hobbled by engineering that just doesn't care.
 
michael hagerty said:
Car swap today...the Kia went away and was replaced by a Mitsubishi Lancer. HUGE difference in AM reception. KMJ in Fresno is loud and clear....at a distance of 170 miles. Most of the Bay Area stations are like locals here in Sacramento. 610 is still hobbled by engineering that just doesn't care.
Click to expand...

Maybe the ghost of Harold Camping is causing interference.
 
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