A Message From Bob Crane, Founder of C. Crane
Probably because it is a “community” for the U.S. and much of the world. It is free and travels better at night than FM. I still listen to “AM” every day, but I listen via streams over the internet on a CC Radio-3 through the FM Transmitter 3 with a CC WiFi 3 most of the time. It makes no difference to me how I listen. I love my stations and continually learn valuable tidbits that change my life, and it is entertaining.
AM radio is also remarkable during a massive power failure because all static disappears which allows listening to a station 200 miles away or more (if you have a good radio). I suppose it depends on the type of power failure. Most of the big 50KW clear channel U.S. stations have now been hardened to take a nuclear or EMP attack and still broadcast. You may not know that they can also be directly connected to the President if they need to say something important since it may be the only source of information available if the Internet is compromised. Another one you may not believe if you live in California… an earthquake of a certain size (approximately 6.0), automatically cuts all power to that area. In addition, power is also cut if the wind is above a certain speed. I verified both scenarios.
A note about audio in our brain: I was recently reading in Science News (7-15-23) an article about a now famous lady, Elyse G., who was missing a substantial part of her brain responsible for audio. She was considered normal or above normal for all functions. A new audio cortex was found, (or possibly formed), on the other side of her brain which nobody knew was possible. This is amazing but what is most amazing is how important audio must be to us humans to accomplish this.
One more thing on AM… we attended an event some 30 years ago at the then great KGO radio in San Francisco. A crowd formed and when the doors were finally opened about half the crowd stormed our four employees and our two six-foot tables… and were wonderfully out of control. They had come to see us. Then I noticed something I will never forget… about 10% of the visitors were disabled or challenged in some way. Radio gave them a community to love and be loved without judgement.
Bob
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How very true .. Now , in my seventies , I harken back to my childhood days with my Grandfather plying the airwaves through a BC-348 ww2 , AC converted receiver and I’ve never been without a multi band radio since !
I love how AM radio keeps dodging the bullet. I remember back in the 80’s when stereo AM was to be the next big thing for car radios. I never had a chance to buy an stereo AM radio since no stations in my area broadcasted with stereo AM. I did buy a AM/FM stereo receiver while in the Army with a built in Dolby Noise reduction circuit that was activated with a push button. Because in the future all FM radio stations will broadcast in the Dolby format.
I am a SWL from way back, starting with my Dad’s Philco n the 1950’s. I have progressed through a very wide range of RXers over the years and now use a Tecsun PL880, Pl6900 and my favorite, a Radio Shack DX394. AM radio has provided immense enjoyment for me over the last 65 years, and I have now logged 150 countries. Long may it last.
Ken Baird, Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
I love AM radio, I do not listen to the radio anymore for music. I have my own.
I own 2 EP PRO radios, and they are excellent
I’m a former AM station owner and will be again soon. AM broadcast still has viable presence and need. VHF aircraft still uses it for many good reasons. It’s a shame more AMs are not running stereo and it’s a pity you don’t sell AM stereo receivers because there’s a market out there for them. I put WYLD 940 New Orleans in stereo 3 years ago and it sounds fantastic. It’s the crappy receivers that need to be changed, noise blanketers wider bandwidth and stereo! That’ll put it on competition with FM not mono radios.
Chris
“I will never forget… about 10% of the visitors were disabled or challenged in some way. Radio gave them a community to love and be loved without judgement.” -Bob Crane
So true, sir! So true.
Around 1975 I received a transistor radio as a gift that was carried everywhere! Especially on car trips, would hold the radio to my ear and scan for channels for hours. Got my dad’s used clock radio, would listen to AM radio every night. Loved talk radio even as an awkward kid.
Now in 2023, have a wonderful collection of radios, including 7 CCranes collected starting during the Art Bell days.
AM radio has been and still is my best friend after all these years. 24/7 it is there. Especially with these new CCranes, I still love sitting on the porch during cold, crisp nights, listening to stations all across the country and world. Sitting there for hours enjoying time with my best friend.
I was in a thrift store recently and came across a small Magnavox console stereo. My guess is that it was from about the mid to late 1960’s. I turned it on and discovered it was on a local music station. Thinking it was on FM I looked again and it was on AM! I was shocked to hear how good AM sounded on that receiver. No, it wasn’t quite FM quality but it sure was close. This also happened to me several years ago when I looked at a Zenith full size console. It’s this kind of equipment that reminds us old timers that from the 40’s to about the early 70’s, AM mattered, not just at the transmitting end but at the receiving end as well.
On this issue, CCrane actually “gets it.” Listen to their CCRadio 3. On AM you can tune 1 to 3 kHz on either side of the exact station frequency and get a boost in the high frequencies without the “out of tune” sibilance that would occur if you did that with an older analog radio. Since you’re on a sideband, you’ll need to adjust the volume upward a bit, but nonetheless, it’s very effective.
Honestly, I wish the FCC would thin the AM dial a bit. It’s too crowded. In my opinion one of the worst things they did was allow daytime-only stations to have post sunset operation, and I work for one. It really made a mess of the dial for dxing. Since they’ve allowed many of those stations to have FM translators (They call it “AM Revitalization.”), there’s simply no need for them to be on post sunset. Then again, cramming the FM dial with translators hasn’t exactly helped FM’s cause either.
More companies need to get serious about the AM receiver issue. Sangean, for example, has their neat wood cabinet table radios. They sound great on FM but when switching to AM, it sounds like someone stretched a sock over the radio! You’d think that a company so well respected for their shortwave radios could see fit to install a bandwidth switch on the back for those of us who want wider frequency response when listening to stronger daytime stations. Just one extra bandwidth option would be fine.
My thanks to everyone at CCrane and those who contribute to this blog and make it so interesting to read.