Ford Offering Update to Keep AM Radio in EVs

[RedfordRob]

AM is still needed, glad it's being kept in cars. I was listening to AM580 today while driving.

agree. AM Radio is important for emergency situations. When the power grid fails for whatever reason like hacking by terrorist, EMP or failure just by the age of our power grid, AM Radio can play an important role for us to obtain information. There will be no internet or cellphone service whatsoever. Look for rolling blackouts and brownouts this year due to the current strain on the power grid today due to the weather and other factors.

Oh gawd, here we go again with the ‘doomsday’ discussion.
No, AM radio is not solely important…RADIO is important. AM, FM, SW, pick a band. Doesn’t matter, all of them do the job of sending information from a single point to many points at one time. RADIO can play a vital role in disseminating information in times of crises. So can print media, community sirens and PA systems.

The issue really is, is that if, God forbid, there a catastrophic crises that disables internet and cellphones, chances are radio and tv will be disabled, too. What then?

Your statement (and most doomsday communication discussions) never acknowledges that in the time since cell phones were introduced, the infrastructure needed to make the cell phone systems reliable has been constantly worked on and improved. Same can be said about the internet.

This “one day AM radio will save the day just you wait and see” discussion is pure nostalgia. AM (in the US anyhow) will continue down the path of (micro) niche broadcasting, until the economics of AM radio broadcasting don’t make sense.

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service proves your argument wrong.

Refresh my memory. Does the ARES operate in the AM broadcast band? (530kHz-1710kHz)

You are missing the point which is Broadcasting regardless of the Band is essential in an emergency.

[sizzlechest]

I keep imagining some twenty-something driving a Tesla accidentally hitting the am/fm button and WJR comes on, and the kid looks at his buddy and says, "what the hell is this?!"

[Deleted User 16173]

AM radio has the distance factor. AM stations can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles at night. If there was an emergency situation in the Eastern part of the country and there was still the possibility that other parts of the country still had power, those 50kw stations could still get info to the areas that are in the regions of the blackout. FM does not have the sky wave element to cover thousands of miles. SW is another great information source because of it being AM. Forget the internet and cellphone, those are useless. Now if you have music downloaded on your smartphone that could be handy for entertainment purposes. Remember the August 2003 blackout? My neighborhood got together and had cookouts because everyone had to clear out the freezer and refrigerator because the food was going to be no good after a day. If I remember that blackout lasted a couple of days. Tuning into the radio was a trip DX’ing was pretty interesting.

[Deleted User 16173]

I keep imagining some twenty-something driving a Tesla accidentally hitting the am/fm button and WJR comes on, and the kid looks at his buddy and says, "what the hell is this?!"

I would imagine that if the power grid failed our streets would become a used car lot for EV's. One thing that an EV can do is power your home for while if you have the capability.

[ShempLives]

I am still an avid listener of AM radio (and FM too, for that matter) as I prefer not to be dependent on a subscription basis if possible. Out of necessity I find myself paying for internet/streaming services via AT&T.

[Deleted User 16173]

I'm starting to backoff on the data usage as well. Data plans are beginning to increase in price because of 5G. I'm listening to less internet radio and a little more terrestrial radio, especially AM Talk Radio. Now that it's election season, time to get into AM Radio. I don’t want to be dependent on internet radio.

[CurlyHoward]

LOL at people thinking AM is going to be useful in the event of the power grid going down. Yeah, I'm sure even in the 2003 blackout people in Michigan got lots of valuable information from WMVP in Chicago broadcasting Tony Kornheiser and Mike & Mike. Or the wildfires in California a few years ago, I'm sure the AM stations people could receive broadcasting George Noory and Ben Shapiro were great at getting valuable local information.

And SHORTWAVE being a source of info?? LMAO. Get out of the 50s already.

[radiofann]

Just a nostalgic AM radio trip down memory lane to share.

I know Jeff Gilbert (WWJ 950) reads this board.
If it wasn’t for AM radio, I would not have discovered classic country WCXI AM 1130 in 1986. I was sick of stale pretentious “classic rock” on FM. Was tuning into honey radio AM 560 for the oldies beginning in 84, then discovered talk radio WXYZ(T). Already knew WJR, WWJ.
Honey radio signed off at sundown, so evenings and overnights led me to try country AM 1130. Johnny cash, willie Nelson, the classics and contemporary hits were a breath of fresh air all night long dusk to dawn.

More importantly, their tiny barebones news crew and DJ’s were awesome, DJs hank O’Neil, Katie O’Neil, mike ( forgot his last name, he’s still around), and the news crew of Jeff GilBert, Theresa Tomeo, pat vitale regularly beat their bigger competitors WJR and WWJ for AP/UPI best station awards for news/breaking news. They were first on air to report the northwest flight 255 disaster, and at 3 am they were first to report of the Alberta Easter &sons shootout-murder of the state police in inkster at the bungalow motel. Just a couple of examples of the full service news they provided, in worthy competition with the bigger stations.

Thank you and your WCXI news team for broadening my horizons Jeff Gilbert.

[Deleted User 16173]

Just a nostalgic AM radio trip down memory lane to share.

I know Jeff Gilbert (WWJ 950) reads this board.
If it wasn’t for AM radio, I would not have discovered classic country WCXI AM 1130 in 1986. I was sick of stale pretentious “classic rock” on FM. Was tuning into honey radio AM 560 for the oldies beginning in 84, then discovered talk radio WXYZ(T). Already knew WJR, WWJ.
Honey radio signed off at sundown, so evenings and overnights led me to try country AM 1130. Johnny cash, willie Nelson, the classics and contemporary hits were a breath of fresh air all night long dusk to dawn.

More importantly, their tiny barebones news crew and DJ’s were awesome, DJs hank O’Neil, Katie O’Neil, mike ( forgot his last name, he’s still around), and the news crew of Jeff GilBert, Theresa Tomeo, pat vitale regularly beat their bigger competitors WJR and WWJ for AP/UPI best station awards for news/breaking news. They were first on air to report the northwest flight 255 disaster, and at 3 am they were first to report of the Alberta Easter &sons shootout-murder of the state police in inkster at the bungalow motel. Just a couple of examples of the full service news they provided, in worthy competition with the bigger stations.

Thank you and your WCXI news team for broadening my horizons Jeff Gilbert.

Very well written. Many of us have great memories of AM Radio. I honestly think that AM still has a purpose, what is surprising is there are still some AM stations in parts of the United States that are still going strong in audience and are financially viable. AM is still relevant in many areas of our Great Country. In many other parts of the world AM still is the main broadcast service. Australia is one country that has a large use for AM, especially in the Australian Outback regions. AM will be around for many years.

[CurlyHoward]

AM is DEAD. Its remaining purpose is in niche formats. If WJR, WLS, WABC, etc. are struggling there aren't other financially viable stations in the US. You're just bloviating for the purpose of having 70 posts per day under however many screen names per year, as usual.

[Art Van Damme]

AM is still needed, glad it's being kept in cars. I was listening to AM580 today while driving.

agree. AM Radio is important for emergency situations. When the power grid fails for whatever reason like hacking by terrorist, EMP or failure just by the age of our power grid, AM Radio can play an important role for us to obtain information. There will be no internet or cellphone service whatsoever. Look for rolling blackouts and brownouts this year due to the current strain on the power grid today due to the weather and other factors.

Oh gawd, here we go again with the ‘doomsday’ discussion.
No, AM radio is not solely important…RADIO is important. AM, FM, SW, pick a band. Doesn’t matter, all of them do the job of sending information from a single point to many points at one time. RADIO can play a vital role in disseminating information in times of crises. So can print media, community sirens and PA systems.

The issue really is, is that if, God forbid, there a catastrophic crises that disables internet and cellphones, chances are radio and tv will be disabled, too. What then?

Your statement (and most doomsday communication discussions) never acknowledges that in the time since cell phones were introduced, the infrastructure needed to make the cell phone systems reliable has been constantly worked on and improved. Same can be said about the internet.

This “one day AM radio will save the day just you wait and see” discussion is pure nostalgia. AM (in the US anyhow) will continue down the path of (micro) niche broadcasting, until the economics of AM radio broadcasting don’t make sense.

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service proves your argument wrong.

Refresh my memory. Does the ARES operate in the AM broadcast band? (530kHz-1710kHz)

You are missing the point which is Broadcasting regardless of the Band is essential in an emergency.

Oh I got the point loud and clear.
Amateur radio was not the point of the discussion. It was broadcasting.

[Art Van Damme]

AM radio has the distance factor. AM stations can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles at night. If there was an emergency situation in the Eastern part of the country and there was still the possibility that other parts of the country still had power, those 50kw stations could still get info to the areas that are in the regions of the blackout. FM does not have the sky wave element to cover thousands of miles. SW is another great information source because of it being AM. Forget the internet and cellphone, those are useless. Now if you have music downloaded on your smartphone that could be handy for entertainment purposes. Remember the August 2003 blackout? My neighborhood got together and had cookouts because everyone had to clear out the freezer and refrigerator because the food was going to be no good after a day. If I remember that blackout lasted a couple of days. Tuning into the radio was a trip DX’ing was pretty interesting.

You’re missing a word there in your diatribe: reliable.
The ionosphere is not a constant. Hence, it is not always going to get your signal to wherever you need it to go. You maybe shooting your 50k omnidirectional blowtorch and your message goes to Norway instead of the intended emergency destination. And the ionosphere is not active during daylight hours.

During power failure we had last year, (3 or 4 cold days), my cellphone never lost service. In fact, I could access the internet, too (even though we have always had abhorrant coverage because we live in a cell dead zone)

Yea, about that blackout. While you were bbq-ing, I was helping keep a couple of FMs on the air. Some FM stations were on low power but were still heard throughout the metro due to the antenna height. The ones that were off the air were only off for an hour or two until their generators kicked in. (And yes some stations around here were run too cheaply to invest in a generator and still don’t have one).
No one was getting their info from out of town from WLS or WLW even at night.

I’m not coming after your dx-ing fun. Enjoy it while it’s still here. AM radio is eventually going the way of shortwave: dark.

[Deleted User 16173]

AM radio has the distance factor. AM stations can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles at night. If there was an emergency situation in the Eastern part of the country and there was still the possibility that other parts of the country still had power, those 50kw stations could still get info to the areas that are in the regions of the blackout. FM does not have the sky wave element to cover thousands of miles. SW is another great information source because of it being AM. Forget the internet and cellphone, those are useless. Now if you have music downloaded on your smartphone that could be handy for entertainment purposes. Remember the August 2003 blackout? My neighborhood got together and had cookouts because everyone had to clear out the freezer and refrigerator because the food was going to be no good after a day. If I remember that blackout lasted a couple of days. Tuning into the radio was a trip DX’ing was pretty interesting.

You’re missing a word there in your diatribe: reliable.
The ionosphere is not a constant. Hence, it is not always going to get your signal to wherever you need it to go. You maybe shooting your 50k omnidirectional blowtorch and your message goes to Norway instead of the intended emergency destination. And the ionosphere is not active during daylight hours.

During power failure we had last year, (3 or 4 cold days), my cellphone never lost service. In fact, I could access the internet, too (even though we have always had abhorrant coverage because we live in a cell dead zone)

Yea, about that blackout. While you were bbq-ing, I was helping keep a couple of FMs on the air. Some FM stations were on low power but were still heard throughout the metro due to the antenna height. The ones that were off the air were only off for an hour or two until their generators kicked in. (And yes some stations around here were run too cheaply to invest in a generator and still don’t have one).
No one was getting their info from out of town from WLS or WLW even at night.

I’m not coming after your dx-ing fun. Enjoy it while it’s still here. AM radio is eventually going the way of shortwave: dark.

By the time that AM will be dead, I’ll be gone before that happens. Not my concern anymore at that point.

[TC Talks]

I'm starting to backoff on the data usage as well. Data plans are beginning to increase in price because of 5G. I'm listening to less internet radio and a little more terrestrial radio, especially AM Talk Radio. Now that it's election season, time to get into AM Radio. I don’t want to be dependent on internet radio.

It's well known that radio is for people who can't afford data. Do you think they are attractive to advertisers? Less and less.

And for $30 you can get a solar usb-c charger that doesn't need the grid. Cellphones won't go dead.

[Ben Zonia]

A number of Clear Channel (usually 50000 watt Class As, roughly 50 remaining stations, though many have downgraded like WOWO) have installed bunkers and EMP resistant studios and transmitters for communications during an attack. I have never heard of an FM station that did that. In the past these stations were part of a national defense network which served a distance of hundreds of miles.

I think the NCE-FM Snobs here are very naive if they think cell phones and internet would work during an attack. For one thing the AMs with such bunkers still use vacuum tubes.