AM Radios - HD Radios

[kfbkfb]

I recently noticed 2 RCA portable audio products
(Cassette Player, CD Player) with FM Radios only.

Ignoring the irony of an RCA brand radio without
AM, what does the elimination of AM reception
imply for acceptance of HD Radio?

Kirk Bayne

 

[scanman1]

Also, MP3 players, cell phones that include radios, and even those cheap "Auto Scan" radios are FM only. AM reception seems to be disappearing from many products as of late.

 

[tomservo]

Also, MP3 players, cell phones that include radios, and even those cheap "Auto Scan" radios are FM only. AM reception seems to be disappearing from many products as of late.

Beyond computers, switches, power lines and all that jazz, it seems miniaturization is the next great enemy of AM radio.

 

[KeithE4]

Also, MP3 players, cell phones that include radios, and even those cheap "Auto Scan" radios are FM only. AM reception seems to be disappearing from many products as of late.

Beyond computers, switches, power lines and all that jazz, it seems miniaturization is the next great enemy of AM radio.

That's because it's physically impossible to put a usable AM loopstick antenna into a smartphone (too thin) or an iPod or other MP3 player (too small all the way around). The earbud leads are also used as the FM antenna, and even that doesn't work all that well except in strong-signal areas.

 

[Savage]

The exclusion of AM radio doesn't really imply anything. It does, on the other hand, offer further evidence that the AM version of HD is essentially dead in the marketplace - with an even dimmer future than HD-FM, which is saying something.

It's important to note that the "RCA" brand has nothing to do with the Radio Corporation Of America of yore. It's just a corporate moniker which has been sold to a foreign entity - kind of like how the "Crosley" nameplate these days has no historical connection to Powel Crosley, WLW, the Crosley automobiles or the Cincinnati Reds.

There's also a latter day "RCA" record label employing the famous "meatball/lightning bolt" logo which has nothing to do with the former RCA Victor records. Nor does it have any connection to "RCA" consumer electronic devices.

 

[Casey]

It's important to note that the "RCA" brand has nothing to do with the Radio Corporation Of America of yore. It's just a corporate moniker which has been sold to a foreign entity - kind of like how the "Crosley" nameplate these days has no historical connection to Powel Crosley, WLW, the Crosley automobiles or the Cincinnati Reds.

Zenith, Westinghouse, Philco, and General Electric are the same way. I believe that Westinghouse, General Electric, and RCA are all made by the same company and it is not an American company. They are just names now. They are also a bunch of crap compared to what they were back when the companies actually existed.

Anyway, if people want a decent radio they are better off getting a dedicated radio portable anyway. Sangean and Sony make some nice ones as do other companies. I would however put RCA on the bottom of the list when it comes to quality.

 

[KB1OKL]

It's important to note that the "RCA" brand has nothing to do with the Radio Corporation Of America of yore. It's just a corporate moniker which has been sold to a foreign entity - kind of like how the "Crosley" nameplate these days has no historical connection to Powel Crosley, WLW, the Crosley automobiles or the Cincinnati Reds.

Zenith, Westinghouse, Philco, and General Electric are the same way. I believe that Westinghouse, General Electric, and RCA are all made by the same company and it is not an American company. They are just names now. They are also a bunch of crap compared to what they were back when the companies actually existed.

Anyway, if people want a decent radio they are better off getting a dedicated radio portable anyway. Sangean and Sony make some nice ones as do other companies. I would however put RCA on the bottom of the list when it comes to quality.

It's too bad too, I have a 1937 RCA 811K console I traded an 8 track player for in 1971 and it still works to this day, it was my first DX machine when I was 18.

 

[radiogooroo]

The exclusion of AM radio doesn't really imply anything. It does, on the other hand, offer further evidence that the AM version of HD is essentially dead in the marketplace - with an even dimmer future than HD-FM, which is saying something.

That's some interesting logic you have there Bob. Not having an AM tuner, but having an FM tuner in portable CD and cassette players doesn't really imply anything about AM radio, but it DOES mean HD AM is dead.

Dare I even ask how this tortured logic works? AM isn't important enough to include in a throwback device like a cassette player, and somehow, someway that's a reflection on HD?

 

[Casey]

Not having analog AM has little to do with HD AM.

HD AM is a different beast than analog AM. It may or may not be dying, but to think we are going to see the end of digital on AM is likely incorrect. As much as I wish analog AM would exist forever, the trend to moving to digital of some sort whether it be HD Radio or DRM says otherwise. So if HD AM does indeed die off, DRM will likely appear once the FCC approves it if they haven't already. DRM probably won't go away once it comes.

 

[Casey]

Not having analog AM has little to do with HD AM.

 

[avtosalon]

Zenith, Westinghouse, Philco, and General Electric are the same way. I believe that Westinghouse, General Electric, and RCA are all made by the same company and it is not an American company.

Audio products and A/V accessories under the RCA brand are part of Audiovox Corporation, which is an American company. I'm not sure who owns the actual plants in Asia that build the products.

http://www.audiovox.com/


The RCA brand was broken up by Thomson Consumer Electronics, a French company that purchased RCA (and GE consumer products) from GE.

RCA Records now belongs to Sony. Large RCA TV's are sold and manufactured by ON Corporation. RCA portable TV's are sold by Innovative DTV Solutions, which is the same company that produced some Auvio digital and HD portable TV's for Radio Shack, and as mygoTV which is their own brand.

I would however put RCA on the bottom of the list when it comes to quality.

I wouldn't. Although they make some cheap products, Audiovox/RCA also produces the RCA Superadio III, considered to be one of the best high performance radios available today. The Superadio has great AM reception and the ability to make AM sound nearly as good as FM.


http://www.1800customersupport.com/products.aspx?cid=12&p=81&pn=Portable Audio

 

[Casey]

Zenith, Westinghouse, Philco, and General Electric are the same way. I believe that Westinghouse, General Electric, and RCA are all made by the same company and it is not an American company.

Audio products and A/V accessories under the RCA brand are part of Audiovox Corporation, which is an American company. I'm not sure who owns the actual plants in Asia that build the products.

http://www.audiovox.com/


The RCA brand was broken up by Thomson Consumer Electronics, a French company that purchased RCA (and GE consumer products) from GE.

RCA Records now belongs to Sony. Large RCA TV's are sold and manufactured by ON Corporation. RCA portable TV's are sold by Innovative DTV Solutions, which is the same company that produced some Auvio digital and HD portable TV's for Radio Shack, and as mygoTV which is their own brand.

I would however put RCA on the bottom of the list when it comes to quality.

I wouldn't. Although they make some cheap products, Audiovox/RCA also produces the RCA Superadio III, considered to be one of the best high performance radios available today. The Superadio has great AM reception and the ability to make AM sound nearly as good as FM.


http://www.1800customersupport.com/products.aspx?cid=12&p=81&pn=Portable Audio

My TV antenna I bought some years back was still made by Thompson, so it must have changed hands not long ago. Thompson at one time made some products under RCA, GE, and Westinghouse. I assumed they still did.

Hmm... I still stand by my point. Yes, it got good AM reception in the first two models of the GE SuperRadio. They had decent sound. That is where it stops being quality. The tuner would drift and become misaligned and the build quality was questionable. There are a lot of radios I would rank above the RCA SuperRadio III, including the GE SuperRadios.

 

[Savage]

Actually, gooroo, you're right. I misread Kirk's post, assuming the device he was citing included HD-FM. On re-reading it, it appears to be just a cassette-player FM-analog only unit.

I THOUGHT it was weird combining an FM-HD Radio with a cassette player, of all things. Guess I got thrown off by the references to the radio-toaster and radio-fridge elsewhere on this board!

If the RCA box included HD-FM and not HD-AM, I would assume that implies abandonment of the AM flavor, but that's obviously not the case.

 

[kfbkfb]

I was thinking that if Radio receiver makers believe a
radio is saleable without AM reception (ignoring the large
number of AM users), what's the incentive to provide
HD reception (with few users).

Kirk Bayne

 

[vacuum tube]

Let's see there was the "market place" decision for AM stereo standard, daytime AM's given secondary night service with little regard to interference, NRSC limiting audio response to 9.5 khz, and IBOC... geesh! how many more "improvements" can the AM band survive????

 

[Savage]

Yes, hence my suggestions for REAL improvements which would un-do alleged "improvements" of the past 25 years: namely, (timely) failure to pick an AM Stereo standard, NRSC, and abandonment of the 1967 AM-FM simulcast limitations. But I left out a key one:

Kill AM-HD. Dead. Gone. If not entirely, then at least after local sunset. And any out-of-market station which can document critical-hours interference should also get relief limiting the interfering station to daytime-only HD, not even during critical hours. A complaint which alleges critical-hours interference should automatically shift the burden to the interfering station to prove it ISN'T causing distant interference, with immediate relief granted pending resolution of the issue.

A rule such as the above proposal would put this idiotic non-starter technology on its proper footing, and preserve local service to many AM listeners who depend on it.

 

[radiogooroo]

I was thinking that if Radio receiver makers believe a
radio is saleable without AM reception (ignoring the large
number of AM users), what's the incentive to provide
HD reception (with few users).

Kirk Bayne

It's easier to provide HD-FM in small, portable, multi-function devices than it is to add AM to them.

Where I live anyway, the AM band is pretty much being simulcast on HD-3 channels anyway. The market leading ones all have a simulcast.

 

[Time Traveler]

I was under the impression that the Superadio 3 was discontinued a couple of years ago...

Zenith, Westinghouse, Philco, and General Electric are the same way. I believe that Westinghouse, General Electric, and RCA are all made by the same company and it is not an American company.

Audio products and A/V accessories under the RCA brand are part of Audiovox Corporation, which is an American company. I'm not sure who owns the actual plants in Asia that build the products.

http://www.audiovox.com/


The RCA brand was broken up by Thomson Consumer Electronics, a French company that purchased RCA (and GE consumer products) from GE.

RCA Records now belongs to Sony. Large RCA TV's are sold and manufactured by ON Corporation. RCA portable TV's are sold by Innovative DTV Solutions, which is the same company that produced some Auvio digital and HD portable TV's for Radio Shack, and as mygoTV which is their own brand.

I would however put RCA on the bottom of the list when it comes to quality.

I wouldn't. Although they make some cheap products, Audiovox/RCA also produces the RCA Superadio III, considered to be one of the best high performance radios available today. The Superadio has great AM reception and the ability to make AM sound nearly as good as FM.


http://www.1800customersupport.com/products.aspx?cid=12&p=81&pn=Portable Audio

 

[Ai4i]

That's because it's physically impossible to put a usable AM loopstick antenna into a smartphone (too thin) or an iPod or other MP3 player (too small...)

Actually, the antenna might fit, but the radio would only be usable with the noise generator turned off (batteries removed).

 

[KB1OKL]

Not having analog AM has little to do with HD AM.

HD AM is a different beast than analog AM. It may or may not be dying, but to think we are going to see the end of digital on AM is likely incorrect. As much as I wish analog AM would exist forever, the trend to moving to digital of some sort whether it be HD Radio or DRM says otherwise. So if HD AM does indeed die off, DRM will likely appear once the FCC approves it if they haven't already. DRM probably won't go away once it comes.

Actually most of the world has already tried some form of digital radio and the trend everywhere is to move away from digital not towards it.