Radio Score

[danemodsandy]

Hydraulique:

I'm sorry you have no AM to listen to, but that's the way it seems to be in major markets like L.A. nowadays. Atlanta had gotten to be that way before I left. Here in the heartland, we still have some viable AM choices, not classical of course, but oldies are on AM for the listening.

Does anyone know if AM stereo is still around? For a time, Lincoln was pushing it hard on their cars, but I've heard nothing about it for a long time.

Will - I did get your PM, and was delighted by it. I've PM'ed you back. Many thanks.

 

[classiccaprice]

I ponded looking into am am transmitter. I know for a while some realtors had them to talk about the houses that people were driving buy for sale. I think one for in home use could be great for vintage radios. I have gotten rid of most of my am only radios, but I know I still have a couple. It would be nice to have more options to use them.

 

[kb0nes]

AM Stereo

Seems to pretty much be done now. It struggled through the 80's since there were a few competing formats. It wasn't until the early 90's when when the C-QUAM system became the standard. By this time most music stations had moved off to FM making AM stereo advantages more meaningless.

The final nail was likely the arrival of IBiquity's HD radio which is an In-Band On Channel (IBOC) digital system that can co-exist with the standard analog broadcast in the standard channel allocation for both AM and FM. Unfortunately the transmission of AM HD and AM stereo are mutually exclusive so they have to pick one. Many of the large clear channels that had adopted AM stereo have now moved to AM HD.

I've had an HD radio for about 3 years now and I'm quite pleased with the usability in my area. Many of the FM channels are more or less commercial free since the analog FM programming seems to pay the bills. On AM its interesting when you tune in a station and it sounds like AM with atmospheric noise and fading etc. After the digital buffer is full then BANG, the signal is quiet and basically perfect.

I still love the sound of vintage double sideband AM, especially received on an old tube receiver, but for day-in day-out listening the HD radio is pretty cool and I'd take it over AM stereo any day.

 

[norgeway]

RE AM

In the dim and distant past I had a 5 tube bakelite Admiral, I used to love to lay in bed at night and see how many far away stations I could get in the early morning hours...KDKA, WSM, WLW,WBT,but my favorite was 1510 WLAC, Nashville..in those days, 70s and 80s, they played all sorts of religious programs, and their has never been any better comedy on air,..Such as, This is Roosevelt Franklin, The original Georgia prophet, coming to you from Macon Georgia,,if someone has put a hooo doo on you or a hex, write to me, and send 1 tsp full of table salt so I can run the seven holy keys on your life!!LOL, Then their was Mother Truth, Rev Dr Ray.." Ive got the mojo to get rid of the hoo doo!", My Mother would occasionally stick her head in my room and tell me to "Turn that sillyness down!" I guess I have a strange sense of humor, but I still to this day can remember some of that bizarre stuff and laugh!

 

[twintubdexter]

Interesting comparison...

This Crosley Spartan Sleigh Radio reproduction can still be found online for less than $200. It receives AM & FM and has a hidden CD player under the top. I saw one of these in a mall museum store and it was very impressive. An original sold 3 days ago on ebay for $1,681.88 plus $95.99 for shipping. The front glass silvering was not all that great. Just to have and enjoy, the Crosley works for me.

Crosley & original

 

[firedome]

Thye did a nice job of reproduction,

and much more practical for actual use than a vintage AM, the only good thing on AM anymore are the baseball games, and even those are getting rarer on the Amplitide band... I'd love one in Aqua...congrats on a very nice find Sandy!

 

[danemodsandy]

Roger (firedome):

So far as I know, the Crosley CR-51 reproduction was only ever available in Ebony, not the other colors seen on original Coloradios.

Of course, that does not mean that an enterprising soul couldn't paint one....