A controversial bill that would require all new cars to be fitted with AM radios looks set to become a law in the near future. Yesterday, Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass) revealed that the “AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act” now has the support of 60 US Senators, as well as 246 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, making its passage an almost sure thing. Should that happen, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would be required to ensure that all new cars sold in the US had AM radios at no extra cost.
Til am radio is still a thing? I know lots of fm radio stations but always wondered why every radio has an am setting, while there is no am stations available.
In some places you’ll see those giant electric warning signs over interstates.
And some times they’ll say “tune to AM 84.2” or whatever, because what drivers need to know can’t be read off a sign.
Sometimes I flip to that while traveling just for fun. Has a kind of spooky feeling.
AM radio is also used for time keeping and weather transmissions for embedded systems that don’t need Internet or heavy computing power (like a clock on your desk or a watch). It’s also good for emergencies. All of which can be passed in analog audio or digitally modulated (or both). Probably not exciting for music, but the fact that it’s there and you can tune into it to find out the weather or traffic is useful.