Noise killing AM radio

I found this article on the HuffPo website discussing the noise on the AM bad. The author, Fred Lundgren, talks about firing up his SuperRadio III after the power died and marvel at how clear the AM sounded without all the interference from other devices in the house.

I especially loved this paragraph: "I think it can be successfully argued in a federal courtroom that AM Station licensees and AM listeners have not received “due process”. The FCC, by its failure to regulate interference, has aided and abetted those who are causing the interference. Their inaction has allowed every POS imaginable to take a steaming crap on the sound of AM Radio."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fred-lundgren/what-happened-to-am-radio_b_13876742.html

And don't forget the horizontal sync noise from analog TVs spaced every 15.75 kHz throughout the Ancient Modulation band, beginning after the war. Mostly gone now, replaced by other (and much more) digital hash.

Maybe, but the prohibition against AM interference is in the rules.... just one more thing the FCC hasn't kept up on and, at this point, may be too big an issue for them to tackle.

One has only to drive through downtown Seattle. By themselves, the city's street cars and trolley buses generate enough noise to block out several 50kW signals, transmitting from just a few miles away.

Would the FCC go after the City of Seattle? Probably not.

DavidEduardo said:

The biggest problems with AM began right after W.W. II when cities began their urban sprawl and soon outgrew nearly all the AM stations licensed in the 20's and 30's using power levels adequate for covering a much smaller geography. Then FM came with better quality that put most AM stations to shame, plus the fact that most of them covered much more than all but one or two AMs in the average market and fate of AM was sealed about 45 years ago.

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Major Armstrong had actually proposed that the AM band/transmission be replaced with FM back in the late 30's:
http://www.theradiohistorian.org/Apex/Apex1.htm

Totally disingenuous article.

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How is the article disingenuous? I've experienced the same thing as the author.

I live about 50 miles from NYC, and 45 years ago I could listen to WMCA, WOR, WABC, WCBS, WINS, etc. with virtually no interference. Today, except for WCBS, these stations are a real challenge to listen to.

I recently bought a 2012 car and, right after I took delivery, I found that there's a loud 3-sec. squealing sound on the AM band when I take my foot off the brakes, probably caused by the ABS/traction control emitting RF noise from the car's computer. The dealer and the manufacturer, to their credit, are trying to track it down. Meanwhile, the last time I had it in for service they loaned me a 2016 model and, guess what? -- there's a warbling high-pitch tone on WOR that's so loud the station is completely unlistenable. This kind of stuff didn't exist back in the 1970s.

My first reaction when I heard the noise in my car was, "Oh, s**t, this will never be fixed," and so far I'm correct. AM Radio today is so unimportant, such an afterthought, that manufacturers are turning out cars that create so much interference that they block their own radio's signals. Car dealers are keeping very busy trying to explain all the electronic bells and whistles to customers. AM Radio is way below their radar.

And you know what? During the several months it's taking to try to resolve this problem I'm getting used to listening to TV channels on XM/Sirius instead of talk shows on AM Radio. I've been a huge AM Radio fan for years but enough is enough. Sometimes we have to settle.

Either AM Radio should have been retired years ago or it should have been protected by aggressive interference regulations. The former would have made the most sense, IMO, but I also wonder if the RF interference AM Radio has been exposing for us over the years may have other unintended consequences in the future. Time will tell.

The article points to interference as if it were the sole and unique cause of the decline of AM.

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I don't think so, David. Where did you find that in the article? All he's addressing here is interference, not programming or audience preferences which, BTW, are now negatively affecting FM as well.

And while AM's interference problems began years ago, it's within the past decade that it reached an inflection point where AM radio is unlistenable for many people. It's the so called "hockey stick" graph.

I haven't listened to AM content on the AM band at home for several years - I stream it. But I continued listening in my circa 2000 car until I traded it in for a newer one with electronics that make AM unlistenable. Now I'm done, and I don't think I'm alone.

I do disagree with the author's conclusion:

The manufacturers, distributors and retailers who market AM noise makers have recklessly caused irreparable harm to AM Radio and it’s time for us to fight back as a class and make them pay.

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"Fight back?" That barn door closed years ago. But that's the author's opinion - it doesn't make his statements disingenuous.

DavidEduardo said:

Further, the writer talks about reception of stations from other markets... who would listen to such out of town stations even if they were "listenable signals?"

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Sports fans. I grew up in Pennsylvania but now live in New England. The only way I can listen to "out of market" sporting events is by listening to clear channel stations in the evening.

I don't see the article as disingenuous. It was an honest article about a man who experienced an interference free broadcast medium for a few hours, and admitted it as such.

Sparkplug said:

Sports fans. I grew up in Pennsylvania but now live in New England. The only way I can listen to "out of market" sporting events is by listening to clear channel stations in the evening.

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You can listen online. All, save for the NFL (and all games from this point forward are on Westwood One anyway), are either free or really cheap. TuneIn and the individual league apps/websites are your friends.

The other night I was driving down a rural road 26 miles from a 50 kW 'blowtorch' and I punched it up for the news. Noise level was so high in the 'middle of nowhere' that I went to the FM translator.

You can draw several conclusions from the above, most of which have been drawn in previous posts. Just a horrible example here.

KeithE4 said:

You can listen online. All, save for the NFL (and all games from this point forward are on Westwood One anyway), are either free or really cheap. TuneIn and the individual league apps/websites are your friends.

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That's precisely what I do when I'm home. But when on the road I listen to the radio when propagation is good. Streaming via cell phone is just too expensive (and inconsistent).

"which is the most efficient form of point to multi point communications ever created in the history of the world"

Now that's what I call disingenuous.

I love the AM radio, many auto makers put crap AM radios in cars, it's kinda sad. As for the usage of the band, if I plug my AM radio into the wall in my six year old house I only get the in town locals and static. If I use batteries it's much better, if I go outside it's even better. Maybe we could relocate the stations, or something, but still, that article is disingenuous at the least.

brettbutlerisok said:

" Maybe we could relocate the stations, or something, but still, that article is disingenuous at the least.

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They should know that relocating AM stations so anyone get better indoor reception, ain't gonna happen. Medium Wave (AM) stations, require a lot of expensive land for ground and antenna systems.

From a listener perspective, because of the increasing terrestrial noise levels even 50kW class A stations no longer "cover" 60% of their originally designed contours, especially at night. Keep in mind that 99% of the stations are still making their designed field strength, it's just that the noise floor overruns that signal at the receiver, especially when listening is indoors where building materials attenuate that signal. Add-in local noise from consumer product power supplies and lighting which represent a much higher signal level in the home than a station 20 miles away.

KeithE4 said:

You can listen online. All, save for the NFL (and all games from this point forward are on Westwood One anyway), are either free or really cheap. TuneIn and the individual league apps/websites are your friends.

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TuneIn is rife with geo-fencing. I don't know how many times I've used it to listen to a station in another metro, and after hearing their commercial was greeted with the friendly "we're sorry, this stream is not available in your area" message. I don't even use it anymore.

brettbutlerisok said:

"which is the most efficient form of point to multi point communications ever created in the history of the world"

Now that's what I call disingenuous.

I love the AM radio, many auto makers put crap AM radios in cars, it's kinda sad. As for the usage of the band, if I plug my AM radio into the wall in my six year old house I only get the in town locals and static. If I use batteries it's much better, if I go outside it's even better. Maybe we could relocate the stations, or something, but still, that article is disingenuous at the least.

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I plug in my radios into the wall I can hear out-of-town stations on most channels, save for a couple that have RFI from my router. If the radios are near my computer, the monitor puts out RFI on about 5-6 channels. The locals are clear. No static. On all my radios, including boomboxes.

AM may not be the "most efficient", but FM has its issues also. Move the radio a few feet or angle the antenna wrong and you hit a silent spot. Drive around town and enjoy the picket fencing and terrain shadows. But it does usually sound clearer, that is true.

The biggest deal with AM -- that the article hinted at -- is that it's more important in cases of major disasters.

For example, when the Cascadia quake hits, local stations may still be on the air, or they may not be on the air for days or weeks. FEMA says everything west of I-5 will be "toast". That includes radio infrastructure. AM may be the only means of information available. It is the only regular broadcast media that crosses mountains and state lines.

I can hear Portland and Vancouver AM stations every night, and some of them during the day. Some FM stations from just 30 miles away (in the same metro) don't come in well, unless the antenna is angled just right and the radio is in just the right corner of the room and you don't walk in front of the window.

I think that was the guy's point. Perhaps his choice of words in that single sentence you picked out wasn't the best.

Kelly A said:

They should know that relocating AM stations so anyone get better indoor reception, ain't gonna happen. Medium Wave (AM) stations, require a lot of expensive land for ground and antenna systems.

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Yeah, I was talking about on the band, like to an expanded FM band or digital or something. Certainly not moving the towers closer to peoples houses so they can hear them better.

For example, when the Cascadia quake hits, local stations may still be on the air, or they may not be on the air for days or weeks. FEMA says everything west of I-5 will be "toast". That includes radio infrastructure. AM may be the only means of information available. It is the only regular broadcast media that crosses mountains and state lines.

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Yeah AM in California is nice that way, between KFBK, KSTE, KMJ, KFIG, KERN, KNZR the whole state is covered by 50,000 watt stations east of I-5. I wonder about LA and south, would KNZR do the job with all of the other stations down? Also how many people under 30 jeez maybe 40, know how to find these stations?

brettbutlerisok said:

Yeah AM in California is nice that way, between KFBK, KSTE, KMJ, KFIG, KERN, KNZR the whole state is covered by 50,000 watt stations east of I-5. I wonder about LA and south, would KNZR do the job with all of the other stations down? Also how many people under 30 jeez maybe 40, know how to find these stations?

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When the big one hits, one could make the safe assumption that probably even 50% of those stations will be knocked off line. Anyone using the argument justifying the existence of Class A AM stations for the purpose of long-distance broadcasting isn't thinking through why AM stations can't even be heard in large swaths of their designed coverage areas at night. Noise.