FM - no AM - portable CD player

[kfbkfb]

JENSEN Portable CD Player with Bass Boost and FM Radio CD-60 - The Home Depot

Get an excellent addition to hear and enjoy your favorite music without any hesitation with this JENSEN Portable CD Player with Bass Boost and FM Radio.

www.homedepot.com

Here, sports/talk radio is only on AM, I haven't seen too many low priced radios without AM (I didn't think AM was that dead yet).

(I can understand the Sequerra FM only home tuner leaving out AM to concentrate on optimum FM reception):

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/sequerra_fm_tuner_model_1.html

Kirk Bayne

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Here, sports/talk radio is only on AM, I haven't seen too many low priced radios without AM (I didn't think AM was that dead yet).

Then you probably haven't been shopping for portable radios much lately. Not that this is a perfect indication, but searching "FM radio" on Amazon turns up "over 2000" results, and "AM radio" turns up "over 1000" results. While that could be 1997 and 2002, I doubt it.

I've had a bunch of pocket radios over the last 15 years or so - for many years, time, I carried a pocket radio every day. None of them had AM. Probably the last AM/FM tuner I had in a portable was a cassette Walkman, purchased around 20 years ago, and put in the landfill more than 10 years ago.

I also recently bought an alarm clock. It has the option of waking me up to the radio - but only on FM.

 

[kfbkfb]

I bought several Sony ICFP26 radios recently, I made sure what I was buying had AM (Midwest USA weather issues etc., I never know what radio stations will be on the air during severe weather).

I wonder how many (manufacturing) pennies they save by leaving out AM and do the big AM broadcasters have any influence in bringing AM back to most radios?


Kirk Bayne

 

[ZantennaG1]

Such is the reality nowadays. An FM reciver is easier to build, and is more portable, but you can find tiny AM recievers that still work like a charm, just not in a combo with a CD player.
I would by a CD player separate (literally only $15), and then get an AM/FM tuner. (If your sports station is a strong local, a $5-10 tunder will pass, but for better reception, it can get pricy fast. My Midland FM/AM/NOAA was $20, and my Radiwow was $40.)

AM is not dead, but definitely in bad shape thanks to RFI noise and the availability of other options. I wish the FCC had a better plan to save AM than the x-band of the 90's and the fm translators of the 2010's, but actually, we should've been trying to save AM in, like, 1985. It might be too late now.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I bought several Sony ICFP26 radios recently, I made sure what I was buying had AM (Midwest USA weather issues etc., I never know what radio stations will be on the air during severe weather).

If you were specifically looking for something with AM, then you must have realized many portables didn't have it?

I wonder how many (manufacturing) pennies they save by leaving out AM and

It's probably not about the pennies - it's about the tradeoff of including AM, and whether consumers care.
The ICFP26 is pretty large - 7oz (including the batteries), according to BestBuy, and thicker than two decks of cards.
My FM portable is closer to domino size - 2.5" by 1.5" by 0.75", and a weight of about 1 oz. It is smaller and lighter than the key to my car.

do the big AM broadcasters have any influence in bringing AM back to most radios?

The broadcasters have no influence in this matter. Broadcasters don't buy radio receivers, consumers do.

 

[kfbkfb]

If you were specifically looking for something with AM, then you must have realized many portables didn't have it?

Actually, I was looking for quality, there are very few pocket radio brands on the shelves here (Jensen, maybe Family Dollar/Dollar General), all of them had AM and FM, but I thought the quality was questionable, I was pleased to see the aforementioned Sony at Walmart, so I visited several Walmarts and bought several Sony radios.


Kirk Bayne

 

[installLSC]

Hey at least it's better than the hotel situation. Many hotels don't have radios at all (they've been replaced by charging stations that double as alarm clocks), and those that do almost never have AM.

 

[ZantennaG1]

Hey at least it's better than the hotel situation. Many hotels don't have radios at all (they've been replaced by charging stations that double as alarm clocks), and those that do almost never have AM.

Oh yeah. I think the Hampton/Hilton brand does have the AM/FM alarm clock combo, but it's rare to see it in other hotels. There was on hotel I stayed at where the antenna was a small little wire that made strong FM locals spill onto one another, and moderate locals staticky. At least the AM portion was okay, albeit noisy because it was plugged in to the wall. I learned to bring my own equipment 🤣

 

[Kelly A]

AM is not dead, but definitely in bad shape thanks to RFI noise and the availability of other options. I wish the FCC had a better plan to save AM than the x-band of the 90's and the fm translators of the 2010's, but actually, we should've been trying to save AM in, like, 1985. It might be too late now.

How do you think a government agency would be able to save AM? Isn't AM's loss likely because of it's inferiority to just about anything else?
Throwing government money at a small chunk of useless and noisy RF spectrum will benefit no one. A great deal of our taxpayer money already goes to lost causes. There's lots of other ways consumers get news, sports, and music now.

 

[davideduardo]

How do you think a government agency would be able to save AM? Isn't AM's loss likely because of it's inferiority to just about anything else?
Throwing government money at a small chunk of useless and noisy RF spectrum will benefit no one. A great deal of our taxpayer money already goes to lost causes. There's lots of other ways consumers get news, sports, and music now.

And lets not forget that the setting of AM power limits and the licensing of most of the "better" facilities occurred in the earlier 1930's, almost a century ago. The majority of markets got stations that covered the city back then, but most cities have outgrown most of their signals.

Many large markets today don't have a single signal that covers the whole area day and night. Most of the rest only have one or two decent signals, and just a few have more than two.

Add in the reduction of coverage due to heavy construction plus the man made noise, and you have few larger markets that have any chance of attracting listeners to AM any more.

 

[davideduardo]

... we should've been trying to save AM in, like, 1985. It might be too late now.

It would have been too late in 1985. By around 1975, more than half of all music listening was on FM. By 1978, half of all listening of any kind was on FM.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

JENSEN Portable CD Player with Bass Boost and FM Radio CD-60 - The Home Depot

Get an excellent addition to hear and enjoy your favorite music without any hesitation with this JENSEN Portable CD Player with Bass Boost and FM Radio.

www.homedepot.com

Here, sports/talk radio is only on AM, I haven't seen too many low priced radios without AM (I didn't think AM was that dead yet).

(I can understand the Sequerra FM only home tuner leaving out AM to concentrate on optimum FM reception):

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/sequerra_fm_tuner_model_1.html

Kirk Bayne

The problem with multi function radios like a CD player is theres mroe electronics in there.. and it would render AM useless with internally generated interference.

Its why cell phones that have radios in them...windows phone and some androids i think.. have FM only.

 

[ZantennaG1]

How do you think a government agency would be able to save AM? Isn't AM's loss likely because of it's inferiority to just about anything else?
Throwing government money at a small chunk of useless and noisy RF spectrum will benefit no one. A great deal of our taxpayer money already goes to lost causes. There's lots of other ways consumers get news, sports, and music now.

Like David implies, the government already screwed over AM in the 1930's, so I'd imagine it would be up to the FCC to reverse decades of poor policy making. As we have seen, though, they usually are not great at fixing anything. Kelly, you are definitely right that nowadays the internet replaces almost every AM station, and that there is too much noise. Any effort now would just be odd. In the 20th century however, the FCC could have chose to have more regulations about RFI noise, and they could have chosen to adopt C-QUAM when it came out instead of a decade later, and they could have chosen 100kw day power/50kw night power (as an example) to help overcome some of that noise. Today, however, a passive FCC kind of allowed for FM to get more and more incentives, and they would drop AM in a heartbeat if that meant more money from cell phone companies.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Like David implies, the government already screwed over AM in the 1930's, so I'd imagine it would be up to the FCC to reverse decades of poor policy making. As we have seen, though, they usually are not great at fixing anything. Kelly, you are definitely right that nowadays the internet replaces almost every AM station, and that there is too much noise. Any effort now would just be odd. In the 20th century however, the FCC could have chose to have more regulations about RFI noise, and they could have chosen to adopt C-QUAM when it came out instead of a decade later, and they could have chosen 100kw day power/50kw night power (as an example) to help overcome some of that noise. Today, however, a passive FCC kind of allowed for FM to get more and more incentives, and they would drop AM in a heartbeat if that meant more money from cell phone companies.

Cquam long term wouldnt have made a hill o beans difference. You cant shove crap in and get diamonds out.

Its nice to have, but i really dont think long term it would matter to anyone but the geeks.. the average listener i dont think would notice a difference on the radios that.. the average consumer would have.

If AMs in the US had super power in the 50s 60s 70s 80s.. youd see it starting to drop like flies.. skywave coverage.. or that even 100 miles away doesnt matter much anymore these days

 

[ZantennaG1]

Cquam long term wouldnt have made a hill o beans difference. You cant shove crap in and get diamonds out.

Its nice to have, but i really dont think long term it would matter to anyone but the geeks.. the average listener i dont think would notice a difference on the radios that.. the average consumer would have.

Then surely all those people who moved to FM wouldn't notice if we tinker with the schematics

If AMs in the US had super power in the 50s 60s 70s 80s.. youd see it starting to drop like flies.. skywave coverage.. or that even 100 miles away doesnt matter much anymore these days

We both like skywave, but my post was about making the groundwave more resistant to noise by upping the overall mv/m in the city itself. Any extra coverage would be icing on the cake.

 

[oldradiotapes]

Oh yeah. I think the Hampton/Hilton brand does have the AM/FM alarm clock combo, but it's rare to see it in other hotels. There was on hotel I stayed at where the antenna was a small little wire that made strong FM locals spill onto one another, and moderate locals staticky. At least the AM portion was okay, albeit noisy because it was plugged in to the wall. I learned to bring my own equipment

Well, last time I stayed at the Red Lion in Pendleton, in 2018, they still had the huge boxy vintage late-1970s (maybe early 80s?) Zenith SOLID STATE clock radios that they've likely used in that property since it opened (Pietz & McClaskey era). They have external bar aerials for mediumwave and 300-ohm screw terminals on the rear.

I know I've successfully DXed CBU, KKOH and maybe even "Sunny 910" on those units back in the day using just the bar antenna. They tend to have fairly hot tuners.

I'm sure they've probably all been retired by now.

 

[gr8oldies]

It would have been too late in 1985. By around 1975, more than half of all music listening was on FM. By 1978, half of all listening of any kind was on FM.

The only thing that could have been done in 1985 would have been a second FM band (there were rumblings about "FM2" that would have displaced the 220 mHz ham band, among others). 1985 with a transition period would have worked........then. But that was then, this is now.

 

[Kelly A]

And lets not forget that the setting of AM power limits and the licensing of most of the "better" facilities occurred in the earlier 1930's, almost a century ago. The majority of markets got stations that covered the city back then, but most cities have outgrown most of their signals.

Plus, as we've discussed before: skywave/out of market coverage is useless. Utilities and upkeep of 50kW facilities that used to have usable skywave are now just expensive to operate, aka; money losers.

Many large markets today don't have a single signal that covers the whole area day and night. Most of the rest only have one or two decent signals, and just a few have more than two.

Even then, noise from things like LED and florescent light bulbs, computer monitors, and switching power supplies make even localized listening difficult. That's assuming the station already puts at least 10mV/m into that area.

Add in the reduction of coverage due to heavy construction plus the man made noise, and you have few larger markets that have any chance of attracting listeners to AM any more.

Not to mention the inherent lack of audio quality. AM is a muddy pig in a room full of prized horses.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

Hey at least it's better than the hotel situation. Many hotels don't have radios at all (they've been replaced by charging stations that double as alarm clocks), and those that do almost never have AM.

The last hotel I stayed in, which was over two years ago prior to the onset of COVID, the room had a Marshall bluetooth speaker which sounded amazing. No radio.

 

[Kelly A]

Then surely all those people who moved to FM wouldn't notice if we tinker with the schematics

Sure, go out and buy yourself some beleagured AM station and tinker-away. Hopefully you have the disposable income to support such an expensive hobby.

We both like skywave, but my post was about making the groundwave more resistant to noise by upping the overall mv/m in the city itself. Any extra coverage would be icing on the cake.

If that coverage is outside the market, it's meaningless.