4 ms·

I've heard of AM radio being audible in non-electric structures, like an old hangar door. Some combination of geometry, metal surface condition (corrosion?), an

I've heard of AM radio being audible in non-electric structures, like an old hangar door. Some combination of geometry, metal surface condition (corrosion?), and proximity to a station.

nimish 4y ago
All you need is a rectifying junction: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxhole_radio https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxhole_radio Primitive diodes.
HideousKojima 4y ago
Poorly shielded wires and speakers can pick up stations as well. My brother's cheap guitar amp would randomly pick up garbled bits of sound from radio stations (while not plugged into any power source)
- julian_sark 4y ago
  SoundBlaster / Cambridge SoundWorks set of subwoofer and satellite speakers with long wires did this, too. Freaked me out when I suddenly heard voices inside my apartment at night. Turned out it had suddenly started to pick up a radio talk program.
- Dalewyn 4y ago
  >Poorly shielded wires That's literally an antenna[1][2], actually. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopole_antenna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopole_antenna [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip_antenna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip_antenna
alex_duf 4y ago
There's an anecdote of someone hearing voices, but it turned out to be AM radio. They found out it was the metal in two cavity filling that made the teeth vibrate and transmitted sound to their ear. Not sure if it's just an urban legend or legit, but I like that story.
- flockonus 4y ago
  Seems accurate: https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-to-hear-radio-stations-if-you-have-titanium-plates-coils-and-screws-attached-to-your-skull-from-surgery https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-to-hear-radio-stations-...
- mk_stjames 4y ago
  Lucille Ball very famously told a story on the Dick Cavett show about hearing radio transmissions in her tooth fillings in 1942 and it leading to the capture of a Japanese spy station. [0]. While the story seems a bit far fetched, having fillings act as diode rectification of an AM signal that is then conducted into sound via the jaw is completely real and has happened to many people, particularly moreso in the past when people more often had metal fillings and very powerful AM signals were more prominent. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Mhl42bu1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Mhl42bu1s
gambiting 4y ago
Well, if you're mad enough and don't care about trivial things like life, you can listen to AM radio by just touching the mast with any random item: https://youtu.be/b9UO9tn4MpI https://youtu.be/b9UO9tn4MpI
- 0_____0 4y ago
  Why am I not surprised to hear the odd «сука» in that video?

I've heard of AM radio being audible in non-electric structures, like an old hangar door. Some combination of geometry, metal surface condition (corrosion?), and proximity to a station.

nimish 4y ago

All you need is a rectifying junction: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxhole_radio https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxhole_radio Primitive diodes.

HideousKojima 4y ago

Poorly shielded wires and speakers can pick up stations as well. My brother's cheap guitar amp would randomly pick up garbled bits of sound from radio stations (while not plugged into any power source)

julian_sark 4y ago
SoundBlaster / Cambridge SoundWorks set of subwoofer and satellite speakers with long wires did this, too. Freaked me out when I suddenly heard voices inside my apartment at night. Turned out it had suddenly started to pick up a radio talk program.
Dalewyn 4y ago
>Poorly shielded wires That's literally an antenna[1][2], actually. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopole_antenna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopole_antenna [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip_antenna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip_antenna

alex_duf 4y ago

There's an anecdote of someone hearing voices, but it turned out to be AM radio. They found out it was the metal in two cavity filling that made the teeth vibrate and transmitted sound to their ear. Not sure if it's just an urban legend or legit, but I like that story.

flockonus 4y ago
Seems accurate: https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-to-hear-radio-stations-if-you-have-titanium-plates-coils-and-screws-attached-to-your-skull-from-surgery https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-to-hear-radio-stations-...
mk_stjames 4y ago
Lucille Ball very famously told a story on the Dick Cavett show about hearing radio transmissions in her tooth fillings in 1942 and it leading to the capture of a Japanese spy station. [0]. While the story seems a bit far fetched, having fillings act as diode rectification of an AM signal that is then conducted into sound via the jaw is completely real and has happened to many people, particularly moreso in the past when people more often had metal fillings and very powerful AM signals were more prominent. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Mhl42bu1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Mhl42bu1s

gambiting 4y ago

Well, if you're mad enough and don't care about trivial things like life, you can listen to AM radio by just touching the mast with any random item: https://youtu.be/b9UO9tn4MpI https://youtu.be/b9UO9tn4MpI

0_____0 4y ago
Why am I not surprised to hear the odd «сука» in that video?