Lawrence Hall, HSG
21 May 2023
AM Radio is the
Best
Some car manufacturers are making a short-sighted and
even dangerous decision to stop including AM radios in new cars. Besides being
a dependable source of entertainment, AM radio is an essential part of all
local, state, and federal emergency systems [Electric cars are ditching AM radio — a critical safety tool
(axios.com)].
Those of us of a certain age (cough) remember when cars
and trucks usually didn’t have a radio, and those that did featured a
rudimentary tube setup that offered only AM tuning. The on/off/volume switch
was on the left of a dial lit only by a dim grain-of-wheat incandescent bulb
and the tuner was on the right.
Because of the radio tubes the set took some time to warm
up and the gadget required so much electrical energy that playing it with the
car switched off was not a good idea.
If the rig were especially fancy there were five square plastic
buttons connected to a complex assemblage of little wires and pulleys for
setting five stations. To set a station you turned the dial to it and then
pulled a button and pushed it back in. When
you later pushed the button, which required some force, the complicated system moved
the dial at least close to the station setting, which was good enough.
This sounds awkward but a positive was that you didn’t
have to take your eyes off the road at all to fine-tune the station. In a modern
car there is a manual on how to program the “entertainment system,” so unless
you’re Sheldon Cooper almost anything you need to do to the radio should take
place while parked in the driveway.
Soon enough car radios were fitted with both AM and FM
stations, and a simple switch allowed you instant access to either mode. I
never understood the difference between AM (Amplitude Modulation) and FM
(Frequency Modulation). My big brother, who was so cool that his record player at
home was a HiFi (High Fidelity) explained the difference while cruisin’ along
and checking his ducktail in the mirror, but the lesson didn’t stick.
Neither did the ducktail; my father ordered it shorn.
What a square, eh?
This Ford Galaxie 500 cruise down Amnesia Lane has been
fun, but is AM radio, a century-old technology, still useful in our day of
complex sound systems?
Oh, yes. The relative simplicity of AM technology means
that it is more likely to work in marginal conditions. If one tower fails the
listener can tune to another station on another tower for weather reports and
emergency news. The frailties of systems that require satellite access are
well-known to us all, and although the sound is great when it works, you have
to pay a fee. AM remains free.
AM radio provides a free alternative to the expensive subscription
systems and is an essential part of this nation’s emergency services. Auto
manufacturers who fail to install AM radios in their new cars are not putting
the safety of their customers first.
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