Re: [PLUG] AM bye bye

[Steve Litt via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

jeffv via plug said on Fri, 8 Jul 2022 14:13:07 -0400

>On 7/8/22 13:54, Walt Mankowski via plug wrote:
>
>> Interesting! I hadn’t heard that Europe was phasing out AM radio.
>> But what do you have against FM?  
>
>broadcast radio is dead. 

I hope not.

> It just hasn't realized it yet.
>Philly radio is a prime example. One group owns most of the stations. 

This is a problem. At one time the FCC limited how many stations one
organization could own, but those days are gone.

>The classic rock station plays the same songs by the same artists til 
>the end of days. There is one rock station. Music gets pre-empted for 
>sports. Too many HOT HITS stations. Commercials forever.

All the preceding is true, and it's a dirty shame.

>AM is highly susceptible to noise and dropouts - nature of the beast.

Plus AM is nothing but 24/7 religion, 24/7 politics, and 24/7 sports.
Almost all the strong shortwave stations I receive here in Orlando FL,
on my MFJ-8100K regenerative shortwave radio, are 24/7 ultra-religion. 

>It's a little thing, but now my car has BlueTooth/Aux in, so I can 
>listen to my own choices. It makes the ride pleasant.

I see all your valid points, but have two counterpoints:

1) I've found pure music to be boring, I guess because I grew up with
   "Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY, at beautiful US 30 drag strip, see..." and
   it got me excited.

2) Radio is the last communication medium that anybody can get into the
   game, as a listener or a speaker, without having to pay a
   corporation like Comcast or Facebook for the privilege. In this
   country anybody can buy or build a radio and listen for free. Don't
   try that with the Internet.

   Also think of this: After SHFT, the person who can haul his 12 volt
   battery operated transmitter-receiver out of a couple concentric
   metal garbage cans will have a very valuable resource. The batteries
   can be recharged with an alternator driven by a bicycle. This sounds
   hokie now, but a lot of things, like growing and bottling food,
   hunting rabbits, eating snakes and insects, and water distillation
   will be the order of the day, and giving your kids a couple extra
   squirrels to eat so he/she can pedal the bicycle and recharge the
   battery won't seem so strange. After SHTF, it could be years before
   a reliable Internet is available, and years before affordable
   computers can be had, and years before a reliable power grid will
   exist.

SteveT

Steve Litt 
Summer 2022 featured book: Making Mental Models: Advanced Edition
http://www.troubleshooters.com/mmm
___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug