How do you tune an AM Radio station?

[TyPope]

“When streaming is down” is a big “if”. You could say that about any app. Yes, the internet is important to today’s tech. If streaming isn’t available we have bigger issues than trying to tune an AM radio.

TuneIn is magic. I’ve been using it for more than 20 years, zero issues, lets me listen realtime to stations from around the country and world (especially good when overseas to listen to sports back in the U.S.). SiriusXM took away some of that joy through streaming rights, so I have that now too.

Sorry, but demanding to maintain legacy hardware for anachronistic tech is a nonstarter when good alternatives exist for identical results.

I understand that and agree. I'm just saying that if everything is reliant on the internet and someone turns that off suddenly, we have no way of finding out what happened unless you drag out an old radio or look for smoke signals, I suppose.

Not a fan of maintaining old tech because that's the way we've always done it.

But, there's a case for having redundancy.

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[TyPope]

The rural-area emergency scenario is probably the most-cited argument in favor of the "AM Radio for Every Vehicle" Act:

And it looks like the bill has a good chance to finally become law this year:

If the bill passes, the President will sign it. Trump reiterated his support in January 2026:

Well, if enacted, and Tesla has to comply, I wouldn't bet against another "side mirror" setup.

Future Tesla vehicle walk around:

"Oh, sir. Here's your AM radio. It plugs into that USB-C port and sits in the cupholder. You'll need these wired earbuds. It doesn't have a speaker and is pretty basic. No sir, there isn't an FM radio option."

 

[PungoteagueDave]

I understand that and agree. I'm just saying that if everything is reliant on the internet and someone turns that off suddenly, we have no way of finding out what happened unless you drag out an old radio or look for smoke signals, I suppose.

Not a fan of maintaining old tech because that's the way we've always done it.

But, there's a case for having redundancy.

Okay, so we should have government regulation requiring hardware that has a cost in materials and engineering? For a feature that well fewer than 1% of consumers would ever use? Just for belt and suspenders? My son had to learn semaphore flags while at USNA too. The Scouts still teach the “skill” to be used in historical reenactments. And some people still use Morse Code. It’s kinda cute but a waste of heartbeats and human resources.

 

[TyPope]

Okay, so we should have government regulation requiring hardware that has a cost in materials and engineering? For a feature that well fewer than 1% of consumers would ever use? Just for belt and suspenders? My son had to learn semaphore flags while at USNA too. The Scouts still teach the “skill” to be used in historical reenactments. And some people still use Morse Code. It’s kinda cute but a waste of heartbeats and human resources.

I agree. I think minimizing the costs to provide a backup communication device is the best way to manage the impending regulation should it come to pass. A quick check shows me tha the cheapest AM radio available is $7.99

As a manufacturer, I'm offering this radio with every car purchase. It will add $7.99 to your vehicle purchase price. It will come new and in it's original packaging. As an unrelated piece of information, Tesla is buying new/unopened AM radios for $7.99 from any new owner who will not use it.

Minimum impact. It meets the letter of the law but not the intent which is to ensure everyone has a way to be informed in the case of a wide internet outage.

 

[mongo]

I agree. I think minimizing the costs to provide a backup communication device is the best way to manage the impending regulation should it come to pass. A quick check shows me tha the cheapest AM radio available is $7.99

As a manufacturer, I'm offering this radio with every car purchase. It will add $7.99 to your vehicle purchase price. It will come new and in it's original packaging. As an unrelated piece of information, Tesla is buying new/unopened AM radios for $7.99 from any new owner who will not use it.

Minimum impact. It meets the letter of the law but not the intent which is to ensure everyone has a way to be informed in the case of a wide internet outage.

The issue is that the EM field from the drive units may swamp any AM signal of interest. So providing a receiver wouldn't necessarily provide the ability to receive AM broadcasts.

I can't understand the need or want for this. Tesla certainly has made the right call to not bother entertaining efforts to keep the dead standard alive.

The biggest need for AM/FM I can think of is local weather warning stations on freeways/ mountain passes/ bridges...

 

[BrockN]

I agree. I think minimizing the costs to provide a backup communication device is the best way to manage the impending regulation should it come to pass. A quick check shows me tha the cheapest AM radio available is $7.99

As a manufacturer, I'm offering this radio with every car purchase. It will add $7.99 to your vehicle purchase price. It will come new and in it's original packaging. As an unrelated piece of information, Tesla is buying new/unopened AM radios for $7.99 from any new owner who will not use it.

Minimum impact. It meets the letter of the law but not the intent which is to ensure everyone has a way to be informed in the case of a wide internet outage.

Except you're forgetting the other half of the equation.

For the cheap AM radio receiver to work, there is still the requirement for transmitters all over the country that are either in operation (likely at a financial loss) or kept reading to be powered up at short notice.

And it's also worth noting that those AM transmitters are incredibly power hungry. If the power is out, you'll need some serious backup generating capability to power it. A bigger station probably draws in the order of 150 kW.

Will there be a follow-up requirement that forces broadcasters to remain on the air, regardless of the economics?

 

[TyPope]

The issue is that the EM field from the drive units may swamp any AM signal of interest. So providing a receiver wouldn't necessarily provide the ability to receive AM broadcasts.



The biggest need for AM/FM I can think of is local weather warning stations on freeways/ mountain passes/ bridges...

Yup. Tracking all. Just showing how to meet the letter of the law. Sort of like "not" installing the light bar. Or, the "cover" I'm using on it for plausible deniability...

 

[YDR37]

If the "AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act" does become law, there appears to be a loophole that EV manufacturers might be able to exploit.

The rule must require all such vehicles to have devices that can receive signals and play content transmitted by AM stations or digital audio AM stations installed as standard equipment and made easily accessible to drivers.

The loophole is "digital audio AM stations", which means HD AM. Supposedy digital AM works better in EVs than traditional analog AM. So if an EV has an HD AM/FM radio, and it gets decent HD AM reception, then it would seem to be compliant with both the letter and spirit of the law.

The catch is that there aren't very many HD AM radio stations out there. Most radio stations that have adopted HD technology are FM. So even if your EV has a functional HD AM radio, there might not be very much to listen to.

 

[CyberGus]

The rule must require all such vehicles to have devices that can receive signals and play content transmitted by AM stations or digital audio AM stations installed as standard equipment and made easily accessible to drivers.

Yeah, but does that mean:

- play content from (either AM stations or digital AM stations)

or

- play content from (both AM stations or digital AM stations)

 

[YDR37]

Yeah, but does that mean:

- play content from (either AM stations or digital AM stations)

or

- play content from (both AM stations or digital AM stations)

The text I quoted originally was from the Senate Bill summary. The full text reads:

SEC. 3. AM BROADCAST STATIONS RULE.

(a) Rule Required.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator and the Federal Communications Commission, shall issue a rule—

(1) requiring devices that can receive signals and play content transmitted by AM broadcast stations be installed as standard equipment in passenger motor vehicles—

(A) manufactured in the United States for sale in the United States, imported into the United States, or shipped in interstate commerce; and

(B) manufactured after the effective date of the rule;

(2) requiring access to AM broadcast stations through the devices required under paragraph (1) in a manner that is easily accessible to drivers; and

(3) allowing a manufacturer to comply with that rule by installing devices as described in paragraph (1) that can receive signals and play content transmitted by digital audio AM broadcast stations.

To me, that final part (3) seems to indicate that HD AM reception is sufficient for compliance. But note that (1) I am not a lawyer, and (2) the text of the draft bill could be amended at any time before a future vote.

 

[REM]

The biggest need for AM/FM I can think of is local weather warning stations on freeways/ mountain passes/ bridges...

sure, but if someone is adamant about that coverage they need to have redundant radio resources anyway, and I'm sure Tesla understands that is probably less than 1% of the population.

 

[TyPope]

The problem is that Teslas can not receive AM radio signals at all right now. We can receive digitally sent copies of AM signals (or a copy of HD AM signals). The bill wants to ensure each vehicle has an AM radio receiver.

"...that can receive signals..."

Merely being able to play the content over the internet is not the same and does not meet the intent of the bill.

To add insult to injury:
You can’t use an AM antenna for FM. The two have separate modulation modes and exist on different frequencies. AM antennas increase the amplitude of a signal, something an FM signal doesn’t need. Using it would create a muddled, low-quality sound.

 

[BrockN]

To add insult to injury:
You can’t use an AM antenna for FM. The two have separate modulation modes and exist on different frequencies. AM antennas increase the amplitude of a signal, something an FM signal doesn’t need. Using it would create a muddled, low-quality sound.

This is completely wrong. Antennas are passive devices and the modulation type is irrelevant to the antenna.

What is correct is the frequencies typically used by the two modes are quite different. Nominally 1 MHz for AM, 100 MHz for FM. Antennas are typically cut for the intended frequency, but that doesn't mean one antenna can't be used for both. As everyone who has owned a car with an AM/FM radio knows, there was only one antenna on the car and the radio worked.

 

[TyPope]

This is completely wrong. Antennas are passive devices and the modulation type is irrelevant to the antenna.

What is correct is the frequencies typically used by the two modes are quite different. Nominally 1 MHz for AM, 100 MHz for FM. Antennas are typically cut for the intended frequency, but that doesn't mean one antenna can't be used for both. As everyone who has owned a car with an AM/FM radio knows, there was only one antenna on the car and the radio worked.

You are absolutely correct. Brain fog. During my early years in college, I had a part-time job installing radios in Georgia State Patrol cars. They were 1992 Mustangs mostly. We also did some undercover cars where the radio was a handheld unit that would unplug from a base that we disguised as an electric seat connection.

I would hide the switch for the in-grill hidden lights (they looked like regular lights but would flash blue) in the trim near the driver's knee. The antennas that I'd install were dual purpose.

They had to work for the AM/FM radio as well as for the police radio. It looked like a regular antenna from the outside but if you'd thump it, it would rattle.

Still remember the old hats closed the trunk on one of the Mustangs, had the oscilloscope going and told me to stop the antenna from shaking. They keyed it and burned my fingers. Ass hats.

I got one of them back by running a wire from the distributor coil, through the firewall, behind and into the driver's seat (with the wire splayed a bit and I wet the seat down a touch). I pushed the car out of the radio shop. Shocked the crap out of the guy when he tried starting the car.

They sure didn't think that was funny. I think I lasted maybe 4 months with my school schedule just too hard to work around. The pay sucked anyway.

 

[BrockN]

The antennas that I'd install were dual purpose.

They had to work for the AM/FM radio as well as for the police radio. It looked like a regular antenna from the outside but if you'd thump it, it would rattle.

I'd wager that they were simply made to look like an OEM AM/FM antenna. If the AM/FM radio remained functional, it likely used an antenna in the glass, or similar, because connecting both it and the VHF transceiver would have toasted the car radio the first time the transceiver transmitted...for the same reason you got the RF burn. Those burns are no joke. At that time, the transmit power was likely no greater than 50 Watts, so you were at least somewhat lucky!

A buddy of mine was the lot boy at a local car dealership one summer in high school. They serviced police cars and used to have chases around the lot with the lights flashing...

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