AM Radio in 40s to 60s.

[frankberry]

Streaming is NOT broadcasting.
There is a streaming bandwidth limit. Not so for broadcasting. Can you imagine what would happen if 100,000,000 people attempted to connect to a streaming website?

Then there is the WOW factor. I once traveled to Ecuador to build a 50,000 watt AM station. After I had completed the job, I flew back to the US and, driving home from the airport, I was able to listen to the Guayaquil, Ecuador station on my car radio in Tampa, Florida.

 

[mgpt6]

Too bad most receiver manufactures make poor AM sections now. Tivoli makes a good radio. Wish one of the tube companies like Jolida or Yaguin from China might make a hybrid tube/solid state AM/FM tuner that used tubes in certain key circuts to give excellent audio sound quality.
In college in the early 70s I bought a used Lafeyette Radio tube FM tuner for $10. What I know now, wish I had kept it. If on EBay today it would go for $100 or more if in good shape.

 

[TomZ]

In days gone by, they searched the ether for whatever they could find.

Now days they search the ether(net) for whatever they can find.... and see.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

If I were to keep a list of the books I read in a years time, you would find the focus pretty narrow. I seldom read fiction. I read to learn some new scientific concept, to learn how to Photoshop pictures better, to edit audio files more effectively, to tame the wild acoustics of houses of worship, and to sort out the political chaos of our nation and world.

My wife's list of books would ALL be fiction other than a few recipe books.

Does that make one of us right and the other wrong? No, we both scratch where we itch.

Listening to audio is the same. I started listening to radio in the 1940s and it brought to me facts and information and dreams from around the world. Listening to radio was like hiking one of the Continental Divide trails. Around the corner will be something you have never experienced before. You get up in the morning expecting a day of excitement and satisfaction.

Today's young people have grown up listening to radio with crappy audio that is like a political campaign: the programming content never deviates from the party platform. And as I read many of the threads in these R-I forums I am amazed how many people tell us they listen to streaming in order to hear sound that is being originated all the way across the continent that is never surprising, but adheres to a format like a fundamentalist sticking to church doctrine.

If I were in my youth today, I don't think radio would capture my attention. But the programming and the challenge to be the best possible in technical achievement turned me head-over-heals for the first career in my life.

 

[KeithE4]

Sorry, but listening on line is not the same as skywave. Although I do listen on line on occasion. Skywave is cooler.

Sorry, but this is not 1925, 1955, or even 1985. There is no "cool" in DXing anymore, and I started DXing 50 years ago when I got my first radio. The novelty has long since worn off. Other than in amateur radio, there is almost no need to "DX" anymore.

And, you can't do that in the car yet. And don't tell me I can do it on my smart phone. That can run into money. And, for tha matter, I don't have a smart phone.

Yes, you're correct. A smartphone or a PC with a connection to your cellular network is required for mobile streaming. Universal access to streaming radio is still a ways away. Home "internet radios" are available but I haven't seen one for the car yet. I give it another year or two, tops.

 

[KeithE4]

Streaming is NOT broadcasting.

Yes it is. Streaming is just as much about sending content to the listener as AM and FM radio are. The only difference is the physical method of transmission.

There is a streaming bandwidth limit. Not so for broadcasting. Can you imagine what would happen if 100,000,000 people attempted to connect to a streaming website?

Right now, with TCP/IP being a two-way connection, there is a problem there. It would be similar to those 100,000,000 people calling them on the phone - each connection requires a separate "line" or IP address/port combo. I'm not familiar enough with one-way internet connections (UDP, multicast, etc.) to suggest something else better, but I do have to guess that it's being worked on by somebody.

Then there is the WOW factor. I once traveled to Ecuador to build a 50,000 watt AM station. After I had completed the job, I flew back to the US and, driving home from the airport, I was able to listen to the Guayaquil, Ecuador station on my car radio in Tampa, Florida.

But hearing your Ecuadorian station in Florida is, at best, a fluke. One does not hear South American AM stations in the United States on a regular basis. If there had been streaming when you built it (and you don't say when that was), then you could listen all the time, Ecuadorian laws permitting.

 

[KeithE4]

Who needs the ionosphere when streaming works better? Those of us (like me) who want to listen to distant radio stations can do so, and much more reliably than in the old days. TuneIn, Radio.com, and iHeartRadio made the ionosphere obsolete.

Well, yes, but not more fun (unless content is your only reason for listening).

Is there any other reason to listen to radio or watch TV? Even when I used to really get into DXing, if the content was not interesting, I didn't stick around. I only sent reception reports to stations I thought were interesting. Boring stations weren't worth it, and they still aren't.

I still DX occasionally and most recently was able to reliably bring in a S/W station from Australia every afternoon. While their accents and adverts were somewhat interesting the subject matter (gardening) was not. ;D

Those are the type of stations I wouldn't bother with. To me, it was always about content - even some of the commie and religious stations had some kind of decent non-propaganda programming at some time during the week.

 

[bigtom101]

Sorry, but this is not 1925, 1955, or even 1985. There is no "cool" in DXing anymore, and I started DXing 50 years ago when I got my first radio. The novelty has long since worn off. Other than in amateur radio, there is almost no need to "DX" anymore.

I was born in 1988, and I loved DX'ing as a kid - I even would go to junkyards and pull the 80's GM Delco radios out and wire them up for AM DX'ing...and I even kept a log book! I asked for a GE Superadio for my birthday back in 2000, and used to carry it to school with me in my bookbag since there was a local AM station that played oldies/standards until 2006 when it was sold to the Catholic Church.

Listening to KB 1520 and 1530 WSAI when they were kick ass oldies stations, AM 740 and the "All Night Jukebox," CHML 900 and all the old time radio shows...man, it was great. My pap had a 1983 Oldsmobile 98 with the worlds cleanest electrical system, and I would sit in it at night and just band scan and see what I could get.

But these days... there's no more Jack Armstrong on KB at nights....hell, no more big 50kw oldies flamethrowers any more in my neck of the woods. I still listen to AM 740 at night, but aide from that and AM 900, the AM band has nothing to offer. Talk bores me, and the foreign language & religious stuff the same.

Sadly, I can't turn back time - but it would be nice to tamp down the noise and get receivers to have at least 10k of response so that AM is listenable again.

AM DX'ing got me into radio...and I still have a soft spot for it. But I didn't abandon it...it abandoned ME.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

Sorry, but listening on line is not the same as skywave. Although I do listen on line on occasion. Skywave is cooler.

Sorry, but this is not 1925, 1955, or even 1985. There is no "cool" in DXing anymore, and I started DXing 50 years ago when I got my first radio. The novelty has long since worn off. Other than in amateur radio, there is almost no need to "DX" anymore.

And, you can't do that in the car yet. And don't tell me I can do it on my smart phone. That can run into money. And, for tha matter, I don't have a smart phone.

Yes, you're correct. A smartphone or a PC with a connection to your cellular network is required for mobile streaming. Universal access to streaming radio is still a ways away. Home "internet radios" are available but I haven't seen one for the car yet. I give it another year or two, tops.

When my car radio will pick up free streams EVERYWHERE (especially 100 miles from the nearest Interstate highway--that's where I need it most) that I can preset like my standard AM/FM presets, that will be a game changer....one that I personally will welcome.

 

[KeithE4]

When my car radio will pick up free streams EVERYWHERE (especially 100 miles from the nearest Interstate highway--that's where I need it most) that I can preset like my standard AM/FM presets, that will be a game changer....one that I personally will welcome.

The cellphone companies will also have to allow data roaming with no extra charges. I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.

 

[Tom Wells]

Sorry, but listening on line is not the same as skywave. Although I do listen on line on occasion. Skywave is cooler.

Sorry, but this is not 1925, 1955, or even 1985. There is no "cool" in DXing anymore, and I started DXing 50 years ago when I got my first radio. The novelty has long since worn off. Other than in amateur radio, there is almost no need to "DX" anymore.

And, you can't do that in the car yet. And don't tell me I can do it on my smart phone. That can run into money. And, for tha matter, I don't have a smart phone.

Yes, you're correct. A smartphone or a PC with a connection to your cellular network is required for mobile streaming. Universal access to streaming radio is still a ways away. Home "internet radios" are available but I haven't seen one for the car yet. I give it another year or two, tops.

When my car radio will pick up free streams EVERYWHERE (especially 100 miles from the nearest Interstate highway--that's where I need it most) that I can preset like my standard AM/FM presets, that will be a game changer....one that I personally will welcome.

And for me, until such coverage is effective, all cell-phone based technolgies are an also-ran.

Even then, such technologies will have a "provider" within their realm. I still prefer the coverage given by "providence", which sends no
montly charges.

 

[Kent T]

Streaming radio in cars is Pay Radio. Until mobile phone data plans are as cheap as terrestrial plans, and the data cap is less restrictive, not viable.

 

[GeneSavage]

But it WILL happen... think about it: when AOL started, you got 500 hours, 1,000 for free, and then you paid per-hour.

Other providers came along, and blew the wheels off of that business model. Today, you'd be hard-pressed to find a (U.S.) internet service provider who provides home metered service, dial-up or broadband.

A few, like Cox Cable, have "caps," but the caps mainly affect people who are downloading tons of movies. I watch Netflix nearly every night, stream audio and YouTube videos for hours on end... I've never bumped up against the cap.

It may not be today, but soon the service will face competition that will FORCE us back into unmetered wireless. More than that, the bandwidth will open up (through new technologies, or WiMAX or something similar) that will keep unmetered high-speed wireless from breaking the backs of the wireless companies.

Ignore the web stream brands plotting to steal your broadcast audience at your own peril. You may be OK for 5 years or so... I wouldn't count on being safe much beyond that!!

 

[BobOnTheJob]

When my car radio will pick up free streams EVERYWHERE (especially 100 miles from the nearest Interstate highway--that's where I need it most) that I can preset like my standard AM/FM presets, that will be a game changer....one that I personally will welcome.

The cellphone companies will also have to allow data roaming with no extra charges. I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.

Therefore my carefully worded statement "When my car radio will pick up free streams EVERYWHERE". When my car radio gets free (the entire path from the source of the audio to my speakers) stations (using a loose definition of that term) on every country road I travel with no more drop outs than I get on AM or FM on that same country road, then it will have reached the level of service that will become viable. Like you KeithE4, breath is not currently in the hold mode.

Turnpike Tuner...my dad knew how fascinated with radio I was by the time I was 10 (in 1963). He took me out to the county park where there was no power line noise (that's one thing that did exist 50 years ago) and he gave me free reign of the radio. His 1960 Buick radio didn't overload...we were less than 1 mile from 5KW 1360 WSAI and except for 1340-1380 (back when AM had 15K response, even if it may have been down a few db), the reception during the day there was amazing. WIL 580 Champaign, IL at 200 air miles was quite clear. And you mentioned AM 740 from Toronto...what great audio they have to this day. Granted, we're in the minority but the things that are being done to AM in the name of progress are serving an even smaller minority while simultaneously alienating the existing larger minority...and that my friend is a disgrace.

 

[BobOnTheJob]

But it WILL happen... think about it: when AOL started, you got 500 hours, 1,000 for free, and then you paid per-hour.

Other providers came along, and blew the wheels off of that business model. Today, you'd be hard-pressed to find a (U.S.) internet service provider who provides home metered service, dial-up or broadband.

A few, like Cox Cable, have "caps," but the caps mainly affect people who are downloading tons of movies. I watch Netflix nearly every night, stream audio and YouTube videos for hours on end... I've never bumped up against the cap.

It may not be today, but soon the service will face competition that will FORCE us back into unmetered wireless. More than that, the bandwidth will open up (through new technologies, or WiMAX or something similar) that will keep unmetered high-speed wireless from breaking the backs of the wireless companies.

Ignore the web stream brands plotting to steal your broadcast audience at your own peril. You may be OK for 5 years or so... I wouldn't count on being safe much beyond that!!

I think you're right especially in your last sentence. Any station that doesn't have a stream that sounds at LEAST as good as their over the air signal is walking the plank-and planks do have ends.

Most listening is still done in cars and with the entertainment sources available now, I don't see the home becoming an epicenter of radio listening again. Whatever the method of delivery of said streams, it needs to be everywhere (just like AM/FM radio, but with the ability to drive cross country rather than across a couple of counties) and it needs to be rock solid (or at least a lot more solid than what we have now with streaming over the web and especially over smartphones). The cell companies are closest to meeting that model now, but even with no data caps, it's still not ready for prime time.

 

[Kent T]

Problem here is in cars, you get to deal with cellular. And cellular data plans are the most capped of all. So, streaming gets limited.

 

[Kent T]

At home, I have Comcast basic internet, my data is capped at 250 GB, without the risk of overage.

 

[KeithE4]

Problem here is in cars, you get to deal with cellular. And cellular data plans are the most capped of all. So, streaming gets limited.

Mine (Verizon Wireless) isn't...yet. I still have the unlimited data plan (grandfathered when I changed phones) but I know that's supposed to be changing soon. In any case, I rarely use more than 1 Gb of data, and IIRC the cap will be 2 or 3 Gb before extra charges kick in.

 

[KeithE4]

Streaming radio in cars is Pay Radio. Until mobile phone data plans are as cheap as terrestrial plans, and the data cap is less restrictive, not viable.

I'm paying Verizon $30 for my mobile data plan. Ygnition Networks is charging me $50 for home internet service.

 

[HadYourPhil]

Keith, what you say is your opinion. I still enjoy hearing an AM station from far away, and I see I am not alone. The internet will get there at some time, I am sure. But to me, listening to a station far away on line is just not the same as picking it out of the air, maybe by accident.