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Personally, I’d never buy a car without AM radio. It’s often the only signal available when out in the wilderness, and even within civilization it’s the only re

Personally, I’d never buy a car without AM radio. It’s often the only signal available when out in the wilderness, and even within civilization it’s the only readily accessible chunk of the EM spectrum that seems to still allow free speech. (edit: would love to hear people’s experience with CB/shortwave/ham/etc radio) I don’t know that we need legislation guaranteeing it, but I’d hope the invisible hand of the market sides with me anyways. That said I don’t see myself getting a new car regardless, at least not one made after the law requiring a television screen in your field of view while operating multi ton machinery at 60+ mph was put in place.

amanaplanacanal 3y ago
I’m wondering where you are that there is free speech on AM radio. Stations have licenses granted by the government, and stations get fined if they broadcast anything untoward. Any sort of wired communication has freer speech than that.
- explaininjs 3y ago
  USA. Regarding the government, from 10pm to 6am the only thing prohibited is “Obscene content”, which is that which “appeals to an average person's prurient interest; depicts or describes sexual conduct in a "patently offensive" way; and, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value”. I haven’t yet found myself in want of that sort of material. At least not in audio-only form… https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-profane-broadcasts https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-pr...
- jcalvinowens 3y ago
  I was going to ask the same thing... it's hard to understand that viewpoint, in my mind broadcast radio is one of the least free forms of speech that exists. Most of us would get fined for broadcasting a typical lunch conversation.
  - explaininjs 3y ago
    I was specifically comparing it to other forms of broadcast em radiation, obviously an E2E encrypted signal conversation will allow you to say more, but both the audience and stage are far smaller. Specifically, in the “wild west” hours (10-6) many AM stations will open up the phone lines to start an open dialogue with anyone who cares to join in, regarding just about anything they care to discuss. The types of people that call in and the topics they bring up are often very different from what you encounter online, and certainly miles away from what you’ll see on network television or any other form of mass media.
  - mrguyorama 3y ago
    Probably relevant to this opinion is that AM radio is a cesspool of blatant conservative lies and rage bait. It's what the angriest folks on the right pay attention to. That's why it's "Free speech" despite being the single most regulated form of communication. No other form of "speech" needs a license, yet they think it's the free-ist there is.
    - explaininjs 3y ago
      Amazing. Every word of what you just said was wrong. > AM radio is a cesspool of blatant conservative lies and rage bait That exists to be sure, but it most certainly does not describe the entire spectrum across the entire country. > It's what the angriest folks on the right pay attention to. Some might, but there's plenty online who are much angrier. Do we condemn the whole internet as well? > That's why it's "Free speech" despite being the single most regulated form of communication. I can think of many more regulated forms of communication, for instance any S1 filing. The only thing you can't say on the radio during wild west hours is overtly sexual content. > No other form of "speech" needs a license Plenty of other areas need a license, for instance the entire rest of the electromagnetic spectrum, barring a few small holdouts. > yet they think it's the free-ist there is. It certainly provides the most-channel hours during which the microphone is open to the most people to be broadcast to the most listeners. I openly admit other forms of communication allow for more types of content, but none so freely-accessible to both listeners and speakers.
    - 3y ago
ROTMetro 3y ago
Personally I'd buy whatever car I want and add a radio if I cared that much. I'm not so single issue I would force a limitation on myself like that. But then having grown up in the USA from the 70s to now I love cars way more than I love AM radio.
- explaininjs 3y ago
  Most new cars are so tightly integrated to make replacing the radio a non-option, at least not economically while preserving the same ease of use.
  - callalex 3y ago
    But they all finally have AUX inputs so you can plug in any portable radio you like.
    - explaininjs 3y ago
      Sure, but then you have different knobs for tuning am vs fm, different scan buttons, and you have to find a place to stash the box and antenna. I’d consider going through that for something like CB radio, but if I can have it built in that’s clearly preferable.
kawfey 3y ago
I would buy a car without an AM radio. In fact I'd buy one without FM or AM. I always use my phone (or ham/cb radio) for audio entertainment, and never do i ever turn on the actual radio. that said, a crank AM/FM radio lives in the trunk with my other emergency/contingency stuff (first aid, jumper cables, fixaflat, reflective thingies, etc)
- Spivak 3y ago
  Me too, I think that's the disconnect. The very last thing I expect my car to do is be a "society has collapsed" last resort of communication. I have a bag of emergency supplies in my trunk I've had since my dad got it for me when I was 16 that includes a portable battery/hand crank radio. My radio has sat in every car I've owned. So the trade of having n+1 am radios over my lifetime or 1 comes out better for not including it in the car. I would honestly much rather institutionalize my dad, have cars come with an emergency supplies kit if you don't already have one. Make everyone better prepared and waste less.
diebeforei485 3y ago
> It’s often the only signal available when out in the wilderness I've found satellite / XM radio to be far more reliable when driving in remote mountainous parts of the Sierras.
ianburrell 3y ago
Shortwave is regulated like AM/FM. Supposedly pirate stations appear temporarily. Ham radio is, and always been regulated. No obscenity but they don’t enforce it. Uses of ham radio are limited: no commercial use, no broadcasting, and no encryption. CB is open. It has same obscenity rules but not enforced. They don’t enforce the power limits. But CB has the lowest range of line-of-sight. FCC doesn’t enforce rules because they don’t care, partly cause dwindling numbers use them. If the FCC card, they could enforce heavily. Array of SDRs listening to the whole band and pinpointing problems.
- explaininjs 3y ago
  I’m not as interested in regulation as the overall quality and variety of discussion. CB seems appealing in that regard, though I have no experience with it.

amanaplanacanal 3y ago

I’m wondering where you are that there is free speech on AM radio. Stations have licenses granted by the government, and stations get fined if they broadcast anything untoward. Any sort of wired communication has freer speech than that.

explaininjs 3y ago
USA. Regarding the government, from 10pm to 6am the only thing prohibited is “Obscene content”, which is that which “appeals to an average person's prurient interest; depicts or describes sexual conduct in a "patently offensive" way; and, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value”. I haven’t yet found myself in want of that sort of material. At least not in audio-only form… https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-profane-broadcasts https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/obscene-indecent-and-pr...
jcalvinowens 3y ago
I was going to ask the same thing... it's hard to understand that viewpoint, in my mind broadcast radio is one of the least free forms of speech that exists. Most of us would get fined for broadcasting a typical lunch conversation.
- explaininjs 3y ago
  I was specifically comparing it to other forms of broadcast em radiation, obviously an E2E encrypted signal conversation will allow you to say more, but both the audience and stage are far smaller. Specifically, in the “wild west” hours (10-6) many AM stations will open up the phone lines to start an open dialogue with anyone who cares to join in, regarding just about anything they care to discuss. The types of people that call in and the topics they bring up are often very different from what you encounter online, and certainly miles away from what you’ll see on network television or any other form of mass media.
- mrguyorama 3y ago
  Probably relevant to this opinion is that AM radio is a cesspool of blatant conservative lies and rage bait. It's what the angriest folks on the right pay attention to. That's why it's "Free speech" despite being the single most regulated form of communication. No other form of "speech" needs a license, yet they think it's the free-ist there is.
  - explaininjs 3y ago
    Amazing. Every word of what you just said was wrong. > AM radio is a cesspool of blatant conservative lies and rage bait That exists to be sure, but it most certainly does not describe the entire spectrum across the entire country. > It's what the angriest folks on the right pay attention to. Some might, but there's plenty online who are much angrier. Do we condemn the whole internet as well? > That's why it's "Free speech" despite being the single most regulated form of communication. I can think of many more regulated forms of communication, for instance any S1 filing. The only thing you can't say on the radio during wild west hours is overtly sexual content. > No other form of "speech" needs a license Plenty of other areas need a license, for instance the entire rest of the electromagnetic spectrum, barring a few small holdouts. > yet they think it's the free-ist there is. It certainly provides the most-channel hours during which the microphone is open to the most people to be broadcast to the most listeners. I openly admit other forms of communication allow for more types of content, but none so freely-accessible to both listeners and speakers.
  - 3y ago

ROTMetro 3y ago

Personally I'd buy whatever car I want and add a radio if I cared that much. I'm not so single issue I would force a limitation on myself like that. But then having grown up in the USA from the 70s to now I love cars way more than I love AM radio.

explaininjs 3y ago
Most new cars are so tightly integrated to make replacing the radio a non-option, at least not economically while preserving the same ease of use.
- callalex 3y ago
  But they all finally have AUX inputs so you can plug in any portable radio you like.
  - explaininjs 3y ago
    Sure, but then you have different knobs for tuning am vs fm, different scan buttons, and you have to find a place to stash the box and antenna. I’d consider going through that for something like CB radio, but if I can have it built in that’s clearly preferable.

kawfey 3y ago

I would buy a car without an AM radio. In fact I'd buy one without FM or AM. I always use my phone (or ham/cb radio) for audio entertainment, and never do i ever turn on the actual radio. that said, a crank AM/FM radio lives in the trunk with my other emergency/contingency stuff (first aid, jumper cables, fixaflat, reflective thingies, etc)

Spivak 3y ago
Me too, I think that's the disconnect. The very last thing I expect my car to do is be a "society has collapsed" last resort of communication. I have a bag of emergency supplies in my trunk I've had since my dad got it for me when I was 16 that includes a portable battery/hand crank radio. My radio has sat in every car I've owned. So the trade of having n+1 am radios over my lifetime or 1 comes out better for not including it in the car. I would honestly much rather institutionalize my dad, have cars come with an emergency supplies kit if you don't already have one. Make everyone better prepared and waste less.

diebeforei485 3y ago

> It’s often the only signal available when out in the wilderness I've found satellite / XM radio to be far more reliable when driving in remote mountainous parts of the Sierras.

ianburrell 3y ago

Shortwave is regulated like AM/FM. Supposedly pirate stations appear temporarily. Ham radio is, and always been regulated. No obscenity but they don’t enforce it. Uses of ham radio are limited: no commercial use, no broadcasting, and no encryption. CB is open. It has same obscenity rules but not enforced. They don’t enforce the power limits. But CB has the lowest range of line-of-sight. FCC doesn’t enforce rules because they don’t care, partly cause dwindling numbers use them. If the FCC card, they could enforce heavily. Array of SDRs listening to the whole band and pinpointing problems.

explaininjs 3y ago
I’m not as interested in regulation as the overall quality and variety of discussion. CB seems appealing in that regard, though I have no experience with it.