Radio World recently posted a brief item about three notices of unlicensed operation to three different persons that the FCC issued in Portland, OR to what is apparently the same station operating on the AM dial. There are a good dozen notices issued every month, and not every one gets reported on by RW. Apparently […]
Tag Archives | AM
Classic Super Radio is available again
Having a nice radio with sensitive tuning and pleasing sound can really make the radio listening experience that much more enjoyable. Thanks to Herculodge I’ve learned that the classic RCA Super Radio III is available again at Amazon for a reasonable price of just under $50. This model is the last one in a line […]
Radio industry journal acknowledges problems with AM HD
Following on the heels of my unimpressive AM HD radio listening test last week, industry stalwart Radio World magazine published a report that comes to terms with the fact that “AM HD radio has stalled.” In fact, I’d say that characterizing AM HD as “stalled” is very optimistic. Instead, reading the same article I come […]
Music on AM: Rebel Radio
I’ve known about this station for well over a decade now. As a metalhead living in Central Illinois I’d occasionally travel north to the Chicago area or Milwaukee to see concerts and encounter banners and fliers for an all heavy metal station on the AM band called Rebel Radio. However, I can only recall hearing […]
HD Radio on AM – Not worth it
One of the supposed advantages of HD Radio is improved fidelity over analog. As I observed in my listening test of HD on FM, there’s almost no real improvement for HD over the analog signal. The advantage for HD on FM, then, is the addition of one or two more channels of audio. However, due […]
AM Radio Goes Bollywood
I really like the idea that someday soon there will be a radio revolution and the FM dial will once again be returned to passionate music-loving DJs playing an eclectic mix of sounds at locally-owned radio stations. In the meantime, I will continue to troll the left side of the dial to hear my fellow […]
The Avenue Offers Chicago a New AM Music Format
One night last week I was tuning around the AM dial here in Chicago before going to sleep when I happened upon a station playing a nice, but unusual mix of vocal jazz standards. The music set was long, interrupted only by an ID for “950 the Avenue.” The next morning I googled the station […]
The Aesthetics of AM Radio
When was the last time that you tuned in to AM radio to listen to music? Although I’m a huge evangelist for the ongoing importance of terrestrial radio (especially non-commercial radio), the AM slice of the radio band is a place that I only turn when I’m in my car looking for news, weather, and […]
College Radio 101: UW-Parkside Station Learns When You Need a License
The University of Wisconsin-Parkside’s student-run station WIPZ has apparently been on the air since the early 1990s, broadcasting on AM, then FM and online. The station has never had a license, presumably operating at very low power under what are known as Part 15 regulations which govern unlicensed operation of devices that radiate radio frequency […]
That Next License Is Going to Cost You
While we commonly accept that broadcast stations and, especially, their licenses to broadcast have a market value, for most of US broadcasting history there was no direct cost to obtain that license. Sure, there were engineer surveys to conduct, lawyers to pay, and so on. But the license itself came at no cost from the […]