[AMRadio] AM Radio Mobile

[Rob Atkinson]

The EV thing popularity probably depends on where you live.  Big
cities popular, everywhere else not so much.  Where it gets cold in
winter folks are finding out that those quoted 300 mile ranges drop
down to about 1/3 that because cold temperatures and running a heater
in the car drags down the distance between charges.  So in S. Calif.
and Fla. they're probably okay but even there they are second cars I
bet.  Around here I think most folks who have spent the money for one
have another gas powered car.  The EV isn't the one and only car they
own.  For folks who can only afford to have one vehicle they are just
not affordable and practical.

I bought a 2012 Nissan truck two years ago and was pleasantly
surprised at how good the AM radio was.  My experience has been that
radio performance deteriorates over time because contact points
fatigue.  Three vulnerable areas are the bonding to the body panel
from the antenna mount, feedline shield at the radio jack (the plug
used usually has these spring banana plug type ground contacts) and
grounding between the radio and the car firewall.  In my old 1997
Camry I'd have to pull the radio out every two years and rework the
feedline plug spring contacts to re-ground the line, otherwise I'd get
ignition interference on weak stations, and I liked to be able to get
far away stations via groundwave in the daytime with no noise.
Overhead h.v. power line noise or re-radiation of broadcast signals
was something that happened all along; I remember noticing it as a boy
when my parents would have the radio on and we'd go under them.  That
was in a 1963 Ford station wagon.  It could be that the power lines
were a giant antenna and the car antenna would briefly couple to the
power lines as we went under them.

73
Rob
K5UJ