AM Stereo in Indiana?

[jnewkirk77]

My grandmother had one of those "K" cars from the late 80s with an AM stereo. I always enjoyed listening to what I thought was an amazing sound coming in over the AM dial. Usually it would take a second or two for the feed to click in, but once in, seemed a very stable and secure sound. HD radio? HA! What a farce!

Those AM stereo radios were the best part of the K-cars ... if the car blew a head gasket (as probably 90% of 'em did ... both of mine joined that club), at least you had something good to listen to while waiting for the tow truck! HA!!!

Seriously, though, WSON over in Henderson is very much alive and in stereo, sounding really good in the daytime here on the SW side of Owensboro, KY. I remember when WHAS gave it up, still bugs the heck out of me that they did, but when they switched to N/T, I guess it didn't much matter.

I want to say that WITZ in Jasper ran stereo on their AM side for a while, and might still, but I'm just far enough south of there that I can't quite catch 'em.

 

[radiorob2.0]

My grandmother had one of those "K" cars from the late 80s with an AM stereo. I always enjoyed listening to what I thought was an amazing sound coming in over the AM dial. Usually it would take a second or two for the feed to click in, but once in, seemed a very stable and secure sound. HD radio? HA! What a farce!

Those AM stereo radios were the best part of the K-cars ... if the car blew a head gasket (as probably 90% of 'em did ... both of mine joined that club), at least you had something good to listen to while waiting for the tow truck! HA!!!

Seriously, though, WSON over in Henderson is very much alive and in stereo, sounding really good in the daytime here on the SW side of Owensboro, KY. I remember when WHAS gave it up, still bugs the heck out of me that they did, but when they switched to N/T, I guess it didn't much matter.

I want to say that WITZ in Jasper ran stereo on their AM side for a while, and might still, but I'm just far enough south of there that I can't quite catch 'em.

I understand WHAS dropped stereo because their AM stereo exciter gave up and it was decided not to replace or repair so they reverted to mono.

Speaking of Owensboro, WVJS sounded great in stereo. They dropped it just minutes before pulling the plug on music. For what it is worth, the equipment is still in the rack if the decision is made to bring back stereo.

 

[ken speck]

I was there WIRE 1430 for 14 years and when they went stereo it was great sound. FMS never sounded that good. Ken Speck just an old jock.

 

[kirkiefan]

The bad thing about AM stereo was that there were THREE systems approved by the FCC which included Motorola's C-QUAM...and two other systems. GM and Chrysler DID equipe their late 80s-era vehicles with C-QUAM...but since there were three systems that were uncompatible with each other..none of the companies that produced home stereo FM receivers never caught on....which is sad. Blame that one on the FCC for not narrowing it down to one system..in my opinion it should have been C-QUAM.

 

[KR4BD]

Ford also had AM stereo radios in some cars in the mid nineties. In the late 90's, I was doing long-term consulting work in Rochester, NY and had access to a late model LTD with a factory installed AM stereo radio. I used to listen to a Canadian station on 800 from across Lake Ontario that played country music... Boy did it sound GREAT!

Also, during the 1990's, when I worked at WCGW 770 AM in Central KY, we had AM stereo. At that station, we had a "high-end" studio on-air monitor/receiver that I believe was made by Denon that really sounded good.

Back then, I was only able to find one AM stereo radio that didn't break my bank. That was a Sony Walkman, Model SRF-42. Around here, WVLK, WCGW, WHAS and WSM were in stereo and all sound great....even on that little Walkman. Not sure exactly what system these stations used, but the SRF-42 picked them up in stereo.

 

[jnewkirk77]

My grandmother had one of those "K" cars from the late 80s with an AM stereo. I always enjoyed listening to what I thought was an amazing sound coming in over the AM dial. Usually it would take a second or two for the feed to click in, but once in, seemed a very stable and secure sound. HD radio? HA! What a farce!

Those AM stereo radios were the best part of the K-cars ... if the car blew a head gasket (as probably 90% of 'em did ... both of mine joined that club), at least you had something good to listen to while waiting for the tow truck! HA!!!

Seriously, though, WSON over in Henderson is very much alive and in stereo, sounding really good in the daytime here on the SW side of Owensboro, KY. I remember when WHAS gave it up, still bugs the heck out of me that they did, but when they switched to N/T, I guess it didn't much matter.

I want to say that WITZ in Jasper ran stereo on their AM side for a while, and might still, but I'm just far enough south of there that I can't quite catch 'em.

I understand WHAS dropped stereo because their AM stereo exciter gave up and it was decided not to replace or repair so they reverted to mono.

Speaking of Owensboro, WVJS sounded great in stereo. They dropped it just minutes before pulling the plug on music. For what it is worth, the equipment is still in the rack if the decision is made to bring back stereo.

That would've probably been around the time I moved away from the area for a while. When I came back, as I recall, they were back to music. Funny that I don't remember them operating in stereo.

 

[radiorob2.0]

That would've probably been around the time I moved away from the area for a while. When I came back, as I recall, they were back to music. Funny that I don't remember them operating in stereo.

WVJS was ready for stereo in 1970 and a test station in the mid seventies. They waited until late 1986 because of the "let the marketplace decide" decision.

Unless I missed it, nobody has mentioned WIBC.

 

[cspotrun]

Back then, I was only able to find one AM stereo radio that didn't break my bank. That was a Sony Walkman, Model SRF-42. Around here, WVLK, WCGW, WHAS and WSM were in stereo and all sound great....even on that little Walkman. Not sure exactly what system these stations used, but the SRF-42 picked them up in stereo.

[/quote]

sony walkman SRF-42, it must have been the last AM/Stereo models made, i special ordered 2 of them through Dayton's dept store in the mid-90's, and never saw another one after that. still have them too! i used them as an on-air headphone monitor when i was working at an am-stereo station, sounded great. and hey, get those HD radio's they could be collector's items someday too!

 

[hipporadio]

I remember 1430 WIRE playing “cosmo-oldies” in AM-stereo... I listened on the Sony “Walkman” receiver and was impressed. In the same year, I listened on the beach to Q-105’s Tampa simulcast on AM in C-QUAM stereo and was equally impressed... This was a good system that didn’t get its chance due to federal lazyness and a consumer electronics market that was “blurred” on the AM stereo offering... SHAME!

C-QUAM works... I own a Meduci 2000 AM tuner with the final generation of C-QUAM inside the "project box"... On my travels to Myrtle Beach, SC—where 910 WNMB kicks oldies out in C-QUAM AM-stereo—they SOUND GREAT... Might we bring this back? It's better than "HD Radio" on AM!

 

[radiorob2.0]

The Sony SRF-42 was the AMAX certified walkman. They were available through Rat Shack and a few other outlets. The SRF-42 had the de-emphasis but I was never impressed with the sound and the unit itself had many quality control issues. The SRF-42 was C-Quam only. Its grand daddy was the SRF-A100 received four systems back in the "Let The Marketplace Decide" days and sounded amazing.

I rented a Mustang in 2004 that had a factory AM Stereo. Today, AM Stereo receivers are available on the international market.

 

[cspotrun]

The Sony SRF-42 was the AMAX certified walkman. They were available through Rat Shack and a few other outlets. The SRF-42 had the de-emphasis but I was never impressed with the sound and the unit itself had many quality control issues. The SRF-42 was C-Quam only. Its grand daddy was the SRF-A100 received four systems back in the "Let The Marketplace Decide" days and sounded amazing.

I rented a Mustang in 2004 that had a factory AM Stereo. Today, AM Stereo receivers are available on the international market.

i too had the arf-A100 until the batteries "fried" the unit, and it was a better piece.
you are correct, the sony srf-42 was a cheap reciever, but it was all i could get at the time but i thought it sounded terriffic, i hooked it up to my home stereo amp and it was amazing. i had a 96' jeep grand cherokee with a factory installed infinity system(am stereo) the best sounding car radio i ever owned.