Those past events are what created the current situation. And they are relevant in analyzing the potential for the future.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - Santayana.
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Those past events are what created the current situation. And they are relevant in analyzing the potential for the future.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - Santayana.
A
Avid Listener
Guest
Yes to some, no to others. There are things that history plays an important part in. There are things where it is meaningless. Wisdom is being able to discern the difference.
There is also a big difference between fundamental causes, and incidental effects. AM Radio is dying right now for many, many reasons. No one particular little hiccup on the path of history from Marconi's first spark-gap transmissions of Morse code to Rush Limbaugh's ranting was the factor that made all the difference. Had AM stereo succeeded, then things might be different today. But it didn't succeed, and it's too late to try it again. So that particular piece of history was irrelevant.
I mean, you're talking about genuinely significant events of great historical meaning, and comparing them to being able to hear a separate right and left channel on an AM radio! If you think AM Stereo was that historically earthshaking, what does that say about those other events?
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Avid - I just wanna know how I can say FM sounded cleaner in my post on here and you said I missed the point that FM sounded cleaner. Thanks for the tactful correction. You are good at making a bad mistake of mine seem totally acceptable. You need to run for political office tomorrow. In another country like David Eduardo's Puerto Rico. The rest will be, uh, goat history. (all in good fun gents)
P.S. David - good quote from Santana. He needs to change his quote which is wrong and make a song about history not really mattering on his next 8-track. It would probably get played into the ground being repeated over and over and over and over because radio only plays 175 songs, mostly all from the Eagles, especially on LA stations.
P.S. David - good quote from Santana. He needs to change his quote which is wrong and make a song about history not really mattering on his next 8-track. It would probably get played into the ground being repeated over and over and over and over because radio only plays 175 songs, mostly all from the Eagles, especially on LA stations.
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R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
I will say it again - if you think AM is dying, just try to buy or put an AM station on the air. Costs are still astronomical, and the band is still jammed. People are still making a living, a good one, with AM stations. Which means they are supported by advertisers, which means people are listening. When stations go dark by the dozens in my area, then I will believe nobody is listening to AM.
The band is jammed with stations few people listen to. That leads to the perception that AM is dead.
If you don't listen to any stations on AM, then for all intents and purposes, the band does not exist or it's dead.
A
Avid Listener
Guest
The equipment still costs what it costs. Erecting a transmission tower is still expensive. But though there are some people making a good living with an AM one or more AM radio stations, the total number of them are much, much fewer than they used to be. When most industries start to reach the end, a common scenario is usually seen. More and more of the smaller players drop out or consolidate down to a shoestring operation, leaving the bigger players with an increasing share of a declining market. Anyone who only looks at how well the leaders are doing is in for shock and disappointment with the bubble bursts, as soon it will for AM radio.
Running the highest rated AM radio station in any market today is like owning the town's biggest horse-shoeing livery stable in 1895. When you're in either of those situation, enjoy 'em while you can, because they won't be around much longer.
Got news for ya AL. There may not be as many farriers as there were in 1895 but what there are sure make good money. REAL good money!
Here's a list of some very successful AM stations, that are working.
WJUS 1310 AM Marion Alabama (Classic Soul) (Has a FM Relay and it holds its own)
WIQR 1410 AM Prattville Alabama (Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson and Spanish Programming) (No FM relay but has found their place, since the Spanish population is growing in Montgomery)
WHBB 1490 AM Selma Alabama (Limbaugh, Jazz, Gospel, Sports and Local Info) (Does very well despite having no FM relay)
WJAM 1340 AM Selma Alabama (Adult Urban) (Has a FM relay and is doing quite well with this format)
Since the foreign language speaking people are moving into Birmingham, it makes perfect sense for some of their AM station(s) to flip to a non english speaking format
WGMP 1170 AM Montgomery Alabama (Alternative) (Has a FM relay and works very well)
WTXK 1210 AM Montgomery Alabama (Sports Talk) (Has a FM relay and works very well)
WRBZ 1250 AM Wetumpka Alabama (Classic Hits) (Has a FM relay and works very well)
WMSP 740 AM Montgomery Alabama (Sports) (Has no FM relay but holds its own) (They have great success when doing Sporting Events, like Atlanta Braves Baseball and Auburn Football)
WKLF 980 AM Clanton Alabama (Southern Gospel) (Has a FM relay and holds its own)
Despite having a weak signal and targeting the oldest people of Montgomery WNZZ 950 AM (Adult Standards and Oldies) seems to be holding its own too.
...And last but not least despite having a weak signal and targeting the Traditional Gospel crowd WMGY 800 AM Montgomery Alabama is still having success. May I add, they're Montgomery's oldest Gospel radio station. They had their start, as a Gospel player, back in the 1970s. (Now if AM was dead, why would this station still be doing their thing very well) (And they don't have a FM relay)
Same could be said about WMER 1390 AM in Meridian Mississippi. Their Gospel presentation goes back to 1987 and still they carry on. (And yes they do have a FM relay)
Those are great examples of some AM stations, that still work and do very well.
To say AM is dying, won't pass my test.
Those examples are serving their targeted audience and doing quite well with it.
Dan <><
WJUS 1310 AM Marion Alabama (Classic Soul) (Has a FM Relay and it holds its own)
WIQR 1410 AM Prattville Alabama (Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson and Spanish Programming) (No FM relay but has found their place, since the Spanish population is growing in Montgomery)
WHBB 1490 AM Selma Alabama (Limbaugh, Jazz, Gospel, Sports and Local Info) (Does very well despite having no FM relay)
WJAM 1340 AM Selma Alabama (Adult Urban) (Has a FM relay and is doing quite well with this format)
Since the foreign language speaking people are moving into Birmingham, it makes perfect sense for some of their AM station(s) to flip to a non english speaking format
WGMP 1170 AM Montgomery Alabama (Alternative) (Has a FM relay and works very well)
WTXK 1210 AM Montgomery Alabama (Sports Talk) (Has a FM relay and works very well)
WRBZ 1250 AM Wetumpka Alabama (Classic Hits) (Has a FM relay and works very well)
WMSP 740 AM Montgomery Alabama (Sports) (Has no FM relay but holds its own) (They have great success when doing Sporting Events, like Atlanta Braves Baseball and Auburn Football)
WKLF 980 AM Clanton Alabama (Southern Gospel) (Has a FM relay and holds its own)
Despite having a weak signal and targeting the oldest people of Montgomery WNZZ 950 AM (Adult Standards and Oldies) seems to be holding its own too.
...And last but not least despite having a weak signal and targeting the Traditional Gospel crowd WMGY 800 AM Montgomery Alabama is still having success. May I add, they're Montgomery's oldest Gospel radio station. They had their start, as a Gospel player, back in the 1970s. (Now if AM was dead, why would this station still be doing their thing very well) (And they don't have a FM relay)
Same could be said about WMER 1390 AM in Meridian Mississippi. Their Gospel presentation goes back to 1987 and still they carry on. (And yes they do have a FM relay)
Those are great examples of some AM stations, that still work and do very well.
To say AM is dying, won't pass my test.
Those examples are serving their targeted audience and doing quite well with it.
Dan <><
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A
Avid Listener
Guest
Has anyone ever said that there weren't some very successful AM stations? Can you show a post where anyone said that there were NO successful AM stations? Does posting a list of a handful of AM stations successful at reaching niche audiences proves that overall, in general, the listening audiences of AM radio are getting older and older and slowly dying off? Or that some you mention that "Has a FM relay and works very well" might do just as well if the lost the AM and only had the FM relay?
What part of "Anyone who only looks at how well the leaders are doing is in for shock and disappointment with the bubble bursts, as soon it will for AM radio." did you not understand?
Got news for ya landtuna. Those successful farriers are located in certain areas where there's demand. There aren't successful farriers scattered all over the country. It's now a specialty field, not a common career path for many people.
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Horse population in USA: 1915 (peak) 26 million, 2003 9.3 million. Figures from American Horse Council Foundation and U.S. Dept. of Ag.
Horses are spread out across the USA and are relatively common except in some intense urban areas. A farrier was always a specialty field as blacksmiths performed hoof maintenance the majority of the time but with over 9 million horses "still on the road" neither the horse nor the farrier are going away any time soon. And, as any horse owner can tell you the "few" farriers still working get top dollar for their trade. Kinda like DJ's don't you think?
With all the Videos on YouTube I see about AM stereo
Sound more cleaner then FM to me
Sound more cleaner then FM to me
Before AM stations were limited to a 10kHz high frequency response, many had a high frequency response which exceeded 15kHz.
In the old analog tuner days, you could tune very slightly above or below the station's frequency and the high frequency response was dramatically improved.
C-QUAM AM stereo could easily pass audio up to 15kHz. The channel separation was primarily limited by the IPM (incidental phase modulation) of the AM transmitter.
In my experience, our Continental 317C was able to achieve a channel separation figure of about 42dB.
In the old analog tuner days, you could tune very slightly above or below the station's frequency and the high frequency response was dramatically improved.
C-QUAM AM stereo could easily pass audio up to 15kHz. The channel separation was primarily limited by the IPM (incidental phase modulation) of the AM transmitter.
In my experience, our Continental 317C was able to achieve a channel separation figure of about 42dB.
Here is a 1981 Proof of Performance for a smaller AM in Texas. It shows an AM transmitter down by only 1.1 db at 10 kHz. Many transmitters could get to 14 to 15 kHz and be down less than 3 db.
http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-The-Crypt/KKYR-OoP.1981.pdf
Comparisons with FM are hard, as the typical FM proof showed the 15 kHz down about 14 db due to the preemphasis used in FM.
I wish I had a copy of an old proof from WGTO, Cypress Gardens, Florida. As I recall, the response was down about 1dB at 15kHz. It's even more impressive because the station operated at 540kHz.
Yep, that ship is on the bottom of the ocean. Back in the 80's I spent some time in the field with Bob Carver, who was developing his tuner for AM stereo. Because of numerous reasons including: inadequate transmitter interfacing of AM stereo exciters, non-linear antenna systems, audio processing including asymmetrical modulation, we just couldn't obtain lab specifications or the promise of AM stereo even coming close to FM stereo specifications. In the end, Bob figured the exercise was a waste of 36 months of work.
The fact remains; if consumers aren't buying new radio tuners, why would anyone expect them to be interested in some antiquated idea like AM stereo? Frankly I'm just tired of a debate between a handful of hobbyists and revisionist history buffs when the debate, from a practical standpoint, is completely bogus to begin with.
Regardless, after all these years, at 7 every single morning my clock radio comes on and on weekdays the announcer says "WZKY 1580 AM Stereo". This station has always made a big deal about being AM stereo. Its format was classic hits but now it's oldies from the 50s through the 70s with no DJs most of the time. The morning show includes mostly local news and simulcasts another AM which has Rush Limbaugh and apparently Mitsiu Kaku.
It may be true that AM Stereo is an antiquated idea NOW, but I recall there being a good deal of excitement about its possibilities when it was introduced. But due to multiple and incompatible systems and the lack of the kind of industry push that brought FM Stereo to the market, it never reached its potential.
Part of this might be blamed on the laissez-faire attitude of the Reagan-era FCC. or on the manufacturers' failure to develop a standardized system as they did for TV. You can call the debate "bogus" now if you wish, but it was not bogus then, and the radio landscape might be a different one today.
Originally, the FCC was to pick from the field of five systems and issue an approval no later than the beginning of 1978. Disputes and the Kahn Laboratories suit delayed this for about 5 years and ended up being a marketplace solution.
In 1977 or 1978 there was enough AM listening... about half of it... to stabilize the declines of AM and to preserve music formats. 5 years later, it was too late.
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