Ford Dropping AM Receivers

[skiwest]

Probably the only advantage on driving an older vehicle. My car has the radio receiver in the trunk, so it's far enough away from the engine and other modules that produce constant interference. On top of that, I can tune to 87.7 FM, which many newer vehicles removed several years ago, though that would only be an issue for the few stations still broadcasting on that frequency.

I am able to tune to 87.7 on my 2016 Hyundai. Of course nothing is there now. What is the lowest FM frequency on the newer vehicles?

 

[snowdog88]

I am able to tune to 87.7 on my 2016 Hyundai. Of course nothing is there now. What is the lowest FM frequency on the newer vehicles?

I believe it's 87.9 FM.

Also interestingly, my Insignia portable HD radio can tune down to 87.5 FM, but I don't know what the reason is.

 

[davideduardo]

I believe it's 87.9 FM.

Also interestingly, my Insignia portable HD radio can tune down to 87.5 FM, but I don't know what the reason is.

Likely the manufacturer uses the same model for export to different countries where the band may be slightly broader. The US only has about 4% of the world's population, so sets are made to cover the needs in many other and different nations.

 

[snowdog88]

Likely the manufacturer uses the same model for export to different countries where the band may be slightly broader. The US only has about 4% of the world's population, so sets are made to cover the needs in many other and different nations.

I was going to mention that, but the U.S. is about the only country that uses IBOC/HD Radio, so it wouldn't make sense to sell this model in other countries, at least for the HD Radio decoding. Maybe the firmware is region locked, and one written for different region would not only extend the band, but perhaps offer a different digital standard (example: DAB) if the chipset so happens to support it.

 

[snowdog88]

Fox 8 just aired a story about auto makers removing AM from vehicles.

Cleveland radio broadcasters reflect on end of AM radio in newer model cars

An iconic sound of American culture, closer to being silenced. But that could soon be a thing of the past.

fox8.com

 

[radiofollower]

I still believe that AM should be an OPTIONAL purchase on a new car. Just like in the earlier days of FM, a radio with FM added back then was an option. The AM/FM package should include noise suppression, probably necessary on an electric vehicle. That's probably behind all of this.....the added expense of noise suppression modification as electric cars become more common. Face it, most people don't listen to AM much (if at all) but those who want to should be offered a package.

 

[radiofollower]

Probably the only advantage on driving an older vehicle. My car has the radio receiver in the trunk, so it's far enough away from the engine and other modules that produce constant interference. On top of that, I can tune to 87.7 FM, which many newer vehicles removed several years ago, though that would only be an issue for the few stations still broadcasting on that frequency.

FM stations just below 88.1 are pretty common outside of North America. Zurich Switzerland has a major FM on 87.7, for example.

 

[johnbasalla]

Some conservative talk hosts are saying that a reason to stop having AM radio in vehicles is an attempt on the part of the leftists to silence, or at least curtail, conservative talk radio.

 

[MediaLover]

Some conservative talk hosts are saying that a reason to stop having AM radio in vehicles is an attempt on the part of the leftists to silence, or at least curtail, conservative talk radio.

Don't the hosts know some of their affiliates are on FM?

 

[davideduardo]

Don't the hosts know some of their affiliates are on FM?

You are crediting way too many of them with intelligence, logic and knowledge.

 

[Mikey Radio]

Some conservative talk hosts are saying that a reason to stop having AM radio in vehicles is an attempt on the part of the leftists to silence, or at least curtail, conservative talk radio.

This just shows the ignorance of those talk hosts, and/or the ignorance of their core listenership, who don't fact-check or look into provably accurate information on their own, and allow themselves instead to be spoonfed misinformation by the radical right-wing hosts whom they idolize. Hopefully their children and future generations are smarter and wiser than they, and develop the ability to independently fact check and think for themselves.

 

[Yabadabado1]

I still believe that AM should be an OPTIONAL purchase on a new car. Just like in the earlier days of FM, a radio with FM added back then was an option. The AM/FM package should include noise suppression, probably necessary on an electric vehicle. That's probably behind all of this.....the added expense of noise suppression modification as electric cars become more common. Face it, most people don't listen to AM much (if at all) but those who want to should be offered a package.

I'm old enough that most of the cars I bought [used, I was a poor teenager] had only AM radios in them. Matter of fact, one car had a combo tube/transistor type radio in it that I would kill for to have today. I think that thing could have hauled in stations from the Andromeda galaxy. Wasn't until late 70s that I ended up hooking up an FM convertor in one of my cars and from then on it was FM all the way. Now.....it's almost back to AM cause I've aged out of the FM demos so they are no longer interested in having me listen. So there are a few AMs that have gone back to music that I more or less grew up with and I listen to them, when I can pick them up.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Some conservative talk hosts are saying that a reason to stop having AM radio in vehicles is an attempt on the part of the leftists to silence, or at least curtail, conservative talk radio.

Which is hilarious, because the company that set this whole thing in motion (Tesla) is run by someone who clearly would not be identified as a leftist.

 

[johnbasalla]

Don't the hosts know some of their affiliates are on FM?

I would think that they do, but the majority of affiliates are probably on AM radio. Additionally, a number of the FM's are small-wattage translators with limited coverage. One time I was driving through downtown Elyria, and WEOL's (in Elyria) FM translator was unlistenable. I believe their tower/transmitter is in Grafton.

 

[radiofollower]

Some conservative talk hosts are saying that a reason to stop having AM radio in vehicles is an attempt on the part of the leftists to silence, or at least curtail, conservative talk radio.

Ridiculous nonsense. Elon Musk is one of the people behind this movement. Hardly a leftist. Yah, like all these car companies had big meetings and said "OK folks, how can we screw right wing talk shows?" Come on.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I'm old enough that most of the cars I bought [used, I was a poor teenager] had only AM radios in them.

Myrtle Beach SC once had a radio station intended for that audience. It was assumed they had classic cars and liked oldies from the 50s and 60s.

 

[JJSPC]

This just shows the ignorance of those talk hosts, and/or the ignorance of their core listenership, who don't fact-check or look into provably accurate information on their own, and allow themselves instead to be spoonfed misinformation by the radical right-wing hosts whom they idolize. Hopefully their children and future generations are smarter and wiser than they, and develop the ability to independently fact check and think for themselves.

There are radical left-wing hosts who do the same thing and have idolizers, but there are less of them due to the fact liberal talk formats generally don't do as well in the ratings. We don't have to have knee jerk right-wing, left-wing comments here all the time. Let's just say bad radio is bad radio no matter which side, or no side of the aisle it promotes. Ford is dropping AM merely because they feel there is no demand for it, and in the majority of people's lives there isn't. Simple as that.

 

[johnbasalla]

Ford is dropping AM merely because they feel there is no demand for it, and in the majority of people's lives there isn't. Simple as that.

Well, successful AM stations prove Ford wrong. There are small and mid-size stations, outside of the major markets, that super-serve their communities, and as a reward, they are doing quite well, indeed.

 

[davideduardo]

Well, successful AM stations prove Ford wrong. There are small and mid-size stations, outside of the major markets, that super-serve their communities, and as a reward, they are doing quite well, indeed.

Nearly all of those "successful" AMs in smaller markets have translators and the AM is only kept on the air to keep the translator legal.

 

[mightynine]

Cars would be required to keep AM radio under new bipartisan bill

EVs could interfere with AM radio broadcasts.

www.theverge.com

From the article:

But Markey, Cruz, and their cohort argue that AM radio is irreplaceable. AM radio operates at lower frequencies and longer wavelengths, enabling it to pass through solid objects and travel further than other radio waves, a feature not shared by FM broadcasts. As a result, FEMA’s national Integrated Public Alert & Warning System, through which FEMA delivers critical safety alerts to the public, operates through broadcast AM radio stations.

Funny, I thought that was those blue EAS boxes that every station should have that handled that, not AM stations.