Antennae of Yesteryear
 

For those youngsters among us who were not around,
the antennas for automobile radios were not on top of
automobiles until generally around 1935. Where were
they you ask? They were located along and under the
running boards. Generally with a pair of insulators and
an insulated metal band. Trivia..I was there..W6BWY

I was thinking in this direction recently..

Specifically, why do modern AM radios totally SUCK?

I used to sit at the drive in and listen to the LA radio stations, from
Honolulu, with the stock radio and antenna that came with the car. Now I'm
lucky if I can hear four AM stations reasonably well, and this has persisted
through three new cars.

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 21:52:02 -0800, Bill Turner
wrote:


FM, on the other hand, seems to be just what consumers want.


Mhh..
I care for the program content, not the modulation type :-)

w.

"Bill Turner" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 23:20:53 -0500, "Dave VanHorn"
wrote:
Specifically, why do modern AM radios totally SUCK?

It is a conspiracy by the leftist liberals to keep people from listening to
conservative talk radio.

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 20:38:04 -0700, "Spike"
wrote:

For those youngsters among us who were not around,
the antennas for automobile radios were not on top of
automobiles until generally around 1935. Where were
they you ask? They were located along and under the
running boards. Generally with a pair of insulators and
an insulated metal band. Trivia..I was there..W6BWY


Because people aren't willing to pay for a decent AM radio for the
car. They want a CD player and good amps and speakers. The AM part
of the sound system is typically a "one chip" design. The FM tuner
isn't much better either. The old AM radios were horses. They were
multi-tube, multi-conversion designs with selectivity and sensitivity
to spare. It's all there was at the time. Modern cars, in fact all
modern consumer devices are designed to be manufactured as quickly and
as cheaply as possible. When it breaks, throw it away and get a new
one. Besides, it'll be obsolete next week anyway. You will never see
a classic '98 Olds in fifty years, it won't last that long. Of
course, I'm leaving out the whole discussion of "high fidelity" in the
car. Hint: wind noise is the loudest thing in the car at highway
speeds.

Russ

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004 20:38:04 -0700, "Spike"
wrote:

For those youngsters among us who were not around,
the antennas for automobile radios were not on top of
automobiles until generally around 1935. Where were
they you ask? They were located along and under the
running boards. Generally with a pair of insulators and
an insulated metal band. Trivia..I was there..W6BWY


Yep, I had a '38 Chevy with that setup and the whole thing was covered
with dirt and grime.

Danny, K6MHE

Russ wrote:
Because people aren't willing to pay for a decent AM radio for the
car.

How about a decent AM antenna with an IC-706?
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/s5dxp


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For those interested, AM radios can still be top notch. I have a 98 Honda
CRV. I bought this car because it suited where I lived. The AM radio was a
shock. It pulls stations in just fine from hundreds of miles away in the
daytime. I live in North central North Dakota. I can easily listen to French
stations from Quebec. When you push the search button it simply goes to the
next 10 khz spot and there will be a station there. My guess is that whoever
designed this radio used the latest technology to make a very fine receiver.
My Icom 718 with a 60 foot random wire does not work any better for
reception.

The down side of this radio is that during the night, many stations are
competing with each other on the same frequency.


"Spike" wrote in message
...
For those youngsters among us who were not around,
the antennas for automobile radios were not on top of
automobiles until generally around 1935. Where were
they you ask? They were located along and under the
running boards. Generally with a pair of insulators and
an insulated metal band. Trivia..I was there..W6BWY

Hmm, I wonder if I can fit that radio in my '98 Expedition??

The radio in my '84 "fifth avenue" works great. If I get rid of this
car, I'm keeping the radio, and the antenna. Darren





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