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Listen to AM radio?


DubWolf

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I listen to radio at work. Changing tapes/records etc is distracting (especially the choosing of them. I guess I could record some long tapes, but those would get old quickly. 

I sometimes listen to radio at home too, especially when I am doing something and do not want to be distracted by the need to change a tape etc, it depends on my mood though. Records need to be changed too frequently, but a tape can play for 45 minutes or longer, so it's OK. Also, it depends on the time of night, since one station plays music that I like a lot until about 04:00, then switches to music I like but only in moderation.

When preparing my receiver for use at work, I removed the tube that's only used for AM, since I won't be listening to AM there, so why wear the tube out for no reason?

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  • 2 weeks later...

AM broadcasting is obsolete and is largely phased out since FM radio finished it off in the 90s, it's why you will rarely ever hear anything on the AM spectrum except noise. The fact of the matter is, the sound quality is poor and the signal was so vulnerable to interference, it was barely audible in big cities.

I live right beside an AM station in my town (like 4 blocks), it plays everything from the 60s to the 90s, from The Hollies to the Blues Traveler (even some really rare gems from ELO), it was my station of choice and I never wanted to return to FM. However, no matter how good I tune in to it, there will always be that whine or whistle and if I manage to snuff it out, I sacrifice the "stereo" sound for something that sounds like a TV from the 80s.

But yeah, I loved AM radio, before I moved to the suburbs right beside the aforementioned AM station, I was in the mountains far from civilization and I was utterly fascinated by the strange signals I picked up with my old Magnavox radio. I heard mostly really old gospel songs and folk music that sounds like it pre-dates the 50s, and I even picked up a steady beeping noise.

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  • 2 years later...
On 2019-09-11 at 11:40 PM, Windseeker said:

AM broadcasting is obsolete and is largely phased out since FM radio finished it off in the 90s, it's why you will rarely ever hear anything on the AM spectrum except noise. The fact of the matter is, the sound quality is poor and the signal was so vulnerable to interference, it was barely audible in big cities.

 However, no matter how good I tune in to it, there will always be that whine or whistle and if I manage to snuff it out, I sacrifice the "stereo" sound for something that sounds like a TV from the 80s.

Come to the praries with a radio from pre 1990 or pre 1980. AM is king here as you can get it in anywhere and it's clear. The noise you describe is a hallmark of newer AM radios and nearby interference(or something internally wrong with the radio). Out here we even have AM stereo(yes it's a thing) that rivals AM and definitely rivals XM's....reliability, if that's what you want to call its random cut outs.

Plus with our "magnetic" soil, it's fun to DX at night when everything comes in clear. During certain times in Sun's cycle I've gotten over seas radio stations in addition to just about anywhere in the US(including Alaska), Canada, and Central America. 

Otherwise FM is basically dead here. Limited range and limited selection and all owned by the same company, so if they're covering one event, all the FMs are covering that. But once you go a ways one way then FM becomes a competitor again, until you run out of range again. 

Edited by TheGleaner
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