Boston-Radio-Interest Digest, Vol 25, Issue 23

Sun Apr 25 18:47:25 EDT 2021

My 2014 Subaru Outback , not an electric or hybrid, has an HD radio with
excellent sensitivity on both AM and FM.

The most incredible thing about this car is the lack of an obvious antenna
and the radio still works so well. There's a small 3-4" plastic piece
sticking out of the roof, but I'm convinced it uses at least, and maybe
more than 1 more antenna source, maybe in the glass like early diversity
recieve models had.

Any manufacturer that leaves AM radio out of their offerings is foolish.
The percentage of total average individual radio listening in cars and
trucks has gone up substantially over the years. AM has programming content
often duplicated on FM, but where the desired FM is out of reach, even
young listeners will often find desired content on AM. The cost is little
to add AM to any car radio.

Manufacturers already must keep electric motor, and other device
interference down, even to recieve FM and Sirius/XM. I almost always have
to unplug my cellphone charger to receive out of town FM signals. And, most
listeners are within range of a few strong AM stations that will come thru
even with some interference.

And, a comment about HD radio. Most of the car radios with HD have superior
sensitivity, especially on FM. It is noticeable both on the Subaru OE HD
radio and the Kenwood aftermarket HD radio. Both are very good on AM also.
AM HD reception varies by the Stations. Some stations appear not to have
their AM HD correctly adjusted (WTIC), and some are excellent (WCBS).

Mark Casey, K1MAP
Hampden, Mass.

On Sun, Apr 18, 2021 at 12:00 PM <
boston-radio-interest-request@lists.bostonradio.org> wrote:

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> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Boston-Radio-Interest digest..."
> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Re: No AM radio on 2021 VW? (George Allen)
>    2. RE: No AM radio on 2021 VW? (aerie.ma@comcast.net)
>    3. RE: No AM radio on 2021 VW? (Gary's Ice Cream)
>    4. RE: No AM radio on 2021 VW? (Dave Doherty)
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: George Allen <geo.allen@comcast.net>
> To: boston-radio-interest@lists.bostonradio.org
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2021 13:16:24 -0400
> Subject: Re: No AM radio on 2021 VW?
> No - I have an EV [Chevy Bolt] and AM is fine.  Not having AM in the
> car is strange - there are still very rural places where there's not
> much FM.  I suppose there's always SiriusXM if you pony up for
> it.  And of course music on your phone or thumb-drive or
> whatever.  Yes, AM is dying, but it's not dead yet.
>
> GM car radios don't have HD-FM [well, my 2017 doesn't], since they
> want to sell you SiriusXM.....
>    George
>
>
> Ron Bello rbello@belloassoc.com
> Fri Apr 16 18:06:41 EDT 2021
> Could it be that the electronics / motor(s) generate so much electrical
> noise that the AM band is unlistenable ?
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 6:00 PM dw <dav2149@comcast.net> wrote:
>  > According to a review on Jerry Reynold's CarPro USA site for the 2021 VW
>  > ID.4 First Edition all-electric SUV,
>  > "If you listen to AM radio, you better hope your favorite station has an
>  > FM HD alternative, because there is no AM band on the ID.4, but there
> is HD
>  > and Sirius/XM."
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: <aerie.ma@comcast.net>
> To: <boston-radio-interest@lists.bostonradio.org>
> Cc:
> Bcc:
> Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2021 14:12:46 -0400
> Subject: RE: No AM radio on 2021 VW?
> I have a 2019 VW Atlas. Although the radio does cover the AM band, there is
> so much static that really only WBZ and WRKO can be listened to, and then
> not for long. The FM and satellite sections are fine. I think it's because
> there is only the satellite antenna. My previous car had both a whip
> antenna
> and the satellite antenna on the roof. The Atlas has only the satellite
> antenna. So I listen to WBZ on 107.9 HD2, and WRKO on 100.7 HD2.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Boston-Radio-Interest
> <boston-radio-interest-bounces@lists.BostonRadio.org> On Behalf Of George
> Allen
> Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2021 1:16 PM
> To: boston-radio-interest@lists.BostonRadio.org
> Subject: Re: No AM radio on 2021 VW?
>
> No - I have an EV [Chevy Bolt] and AM is fine.  Not having AM in the car is
> strange - there are still very rural places where there's not much FM.  I
> suppose there's always SiriusXM if you pony up for it.  And of course music
> on your phone or thumb-drive or whatever.  Yes, AM is dying, but it's not
> dead yet.
>
> GM car radios don't have HD-FM [well, my 2017 doesn't], since they want to
> sell you SiriusXM.....
>    George
>
>
> Ron Bello rbello@belloassoc.com
> Fri Apr 16 18:06:41 EDT 2021
> Could it be that the electronics / motor(s) generate so much electrical
> noise that the AM band is unlistenable ?
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 6:00 PM dw <dav2149@comcast.net> wrote:
>  > According to a review on Jerry Reynold's CarPro USA site for the 2021 VW
>  > ID.4 First Edition all-electric SUV,
>  > "If you listen to AM radio, you better hope your favorite station has an
>  > FM HD alternative, because there is no AM band on the ID.4, but there is
> HD
>  > and Sirius/XM."
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Gary's Ice Cream" <gary@garysicecream.com>
> To: "'Ron Bello'" <rbello@belloassoc.com>, "'dw'" <dav2149@comcast.net>
> Cc: <boston-radio-interest@lists.bostonradio.org>
> Bcc:
> Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2021 18:58:53 -0400
> Subject: RE: No AM radio on 2021 VW?
> That is the issue with Tesla.
>
> Gary F.
> Gary’s Ice Cream – Chelmsford Creamery, Inc.  Chelmsford, MA
> garysicecream.com
> Ice Cream College – classes in Massachusetts and Florida
> icecreamcollege.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Boston-Radio-Interest <
> boston-radio-interest-bounces@lists.BostonRadio.org> On Behalf Of Ron
> Bello
> Sent: Friday, April 16, 2021 6:07 PM
> To: dw <dav2149@comcast.net>
> Cc: boston-radio-interest@lists.bostonradio.org
> Subject: Re: No AM radio on 2021 VW?
>
> Could it be that the electronics / motor(s) generate so much electrical
> noise that the AM band is unlistenable ?
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 6:00 PM dw <dav2149@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > According to a review on Jerry Reynold’s CarPro USA site for the 2021
> > VW
> > ID.4 First Edition all-electric SUV,
> > "If you listen to AM radio, you better hope your favorite station has
> > an FM HD alternative, because there is no AM band on the ID.4, but
> > there is HD and Sirius/XM.”
> >
> > David Wilson
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Dave Doherty <dave@skywaves.net>
> To: "'Gary's Ice Cream'" <gary@garysicecream.com>, "'Ron Bello'" <
> rbello@belloassoc.com>, "'dw'" <dav2149@comcast.net>
> Cc: <boston-radio-interest@lists.bostonradio.org>
> Bcc:
> Date: Sat, 17 Apr 2021 20:34:44 -0700
> Subject: RE: No AM radio on 2021 VW?
> I think it's just that they don't want to put the effort and cost per
> vehicle into quieter electronics.
>
> I'd love to see what a good lab would report with respect to Part 15
> interference thrown off by a Tesla or any of the others.
>
> I have a new Toyota Camry Hybrid with AM, FM, HD, and Sirius-XM. We have
> no AM HDs around here, so AM reception is all analog. There isn't a trace
> of vehicle noise on the AM. Lots of outside noise, of course, but it's not
> coming from the vehicle, whether in EV or gas mode, even under heavy
> acceleration, which assumes substantial current being delivered to the
> electric motor.
>
> As for antennas, there's the usual roof-mounted puck/fin, and some
> odd-looking traces on the rear window and rear side windows.
>
> -d
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Boston-Radio-Interest [mailto:
> boston-radio-interest-bounces@lists.BostonRadio.org] On Behalf Of Gary's
> Ice Cream
> Sent: Saturday, April 17, 2021 3:59 PM
> To: 'Ron Bello' <rbello@belloassoc.com>; 'dw' <dav2149@comcast.net>
> Cc: boston-radio-interest@lists.bostonradio.org
> Subject: RE: No AM radio on 2021 VW?
>
> That is the issue with Tesla.
>
> Gary F.
> Gary’s Ice Cream – Chelmsford Creamery, Inc.  Chelmsford, MA
> garysicecream.com
> Ice Cream College – classes in Massachusetts and Florida
> icecreamcollege.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Boston-Radio-Interest <
> boston-radio-interest-bounces@lists.BostonRadio.org> On Behalf Of Ron
> Bello
> Sent: Friday, April 16, 2021 6:07 PM
> To: dw <dav2149@comcast.net>
> Cc: boston-radio-interest@lists.bostonradio.org
> Subject: Re: No AM radio on 2021 VW?
>
> Could it be that the electronics / motor(s) generate so much electrical
> noise that the AM band is unlistenable ?
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 6:00 PM dw <dav2149@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > According to a review on Jerry Reynold’s CarPro USA site for the 2021
> > VW
> > ID.4 First Edition all-electric SUV,
> > "If you listen to AM radio, you better hope your favorite station has
> > an FM HD alternative, because there is no AM band on the ID.4, but
> > there is HD and Sirius/XM.”
> >
> > David Wilson
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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