The fight for the survival of AM radio is playing out not only on Capitol Hill but across America. I went deep in the heart of #Texas to give a listen. Here's my VOA News reporting: https://www.voanews.com/a/am-radio-fights-to-stay-on-car-dashboards/7202566.html

@w7voa Not that my opinion matters, but AM radio in cars should absolutely be retained. The electronics to do it is trivial. In fact the function is surely built into the radio's chip already and costs nothing.

In cars is exactly where you want AM radio. It's wonderful when driving long distances to entertain yourself with it, especially at night when faraway stations are easy to pick up.

If I found myself owning a car without it, I'd install a separate radio with AM.

@shuttersparks @w7voa
The cost is the antenna, ferrite filters, antenna amplifier, cleaning all other electronics in the car to not interfere on AM(called emc and is probably the most expensive part), software and the place on the screen to switch radio band. US is one of several markets.

I thought everyone were either streaming or listened to satellite radio?

@dtelder @w7voa Electrical noise (spark plug wires, etc.) have to be cleaned anyway, at least in the U.S. A car, the same as any modern device, must not be an unintentional radiator.

There are also microprocessor upsets to be avoided, especially in the ECU. Consideration must also be given to cars in police or emergency service that will be equipped with additional radios and myriad microprocessor-based electronics. Ignition noise would be most unwelcome in those settings as well.

In any case, they'll do as they wish. Quieting down an ignition system or suppressing alternator whine was something we sometimes had to do in the 1960s. Ultimately, the electrical noise problem should disappear along with ICE vehicles.

@shuttersparks @w7voa
There are regulations for what emissions a vehicle is allowed on all frequencies. For AM in a car is the problem that the antenna is actually equally directed into the car (in case of window antennas, if you have a rod antenna on the roof, this is less of a problem).
So the signal level needed to interfere with the AM-radio is much less than the legal requirement.
Secondly, since the radio is following the total signal level, a very weak interferer can make annoying sounds.

@dtelder @shuttersparks @w7voa

I live in the UK, and listen to Radio Caroline on AM quite often - the entertainment system in my car (a VW Polo) - although it is petrol rather than electric - is good at keeping out the interference on AM. I am sceptical that modern EV manufacturers can't keep out the interference as EMC compatibility has been a requirement for lots of electronics for decades - this is just driven by cost cutting and greed...

@vfrmedia @dtelder @w7voa Wow, I haven't thought about Radio Caroline in decades. It was a popular topic in magazines of the 60s and 70s. Pirate radio is a romantic topic. Haha. Long ago I was an avid SWL and listened to Radio Swan Island and Radio Havana among many others. The latter wasn't pirate radio but was a bit unusual for someone in the USA to listen to -- I think. On the other hand, listening to shortwave radio was unusual in the USA. Today, nobody even knows what it is. Never heard of it. This makes it extra difficult to explain what ham radio is.

I would have guessed Radio Caroline no longer existed because the Internet kind of eliminates the need for pirate radio.

Modern cars like my Corolla are completely quiet as far as I can tell. No radio interference throughout the HF bands. As a ham radio guy it's been a very long time since I've heard a car pass by on the radio, bzzzzzt. In the 70s it was pretty common. The engineers seem to have it figured out.

@shuttersparks @dtelder @w7voa

Radio Caroline got a legal licence in 2017, UK commercial broadcasters and some BBC services vacated AM (similarly across Northern Europe) freeing up frequency allocations for community broadcasters, short term events stations etc. Caroline transmit with 4kW (and TX powered by solar panels during sunny days!) - I can drive to visit relatives in Reading (130 miles / 209 km ) away from my hometown of Ipswich and the signal is strong for most of the journey...

@vfrmedia @dtelder @w7voa Nice! Are they still operating from a ship? Operating over saltwater is advantageous.