Re: AM radio law opposed by tech and auto industries is close to passing

On a sunny day (Thu, 2 May 2024 12:20:53 +0100) it happened Martin Brown
<'''newspam'''@nonad.co.uk> wrote in <v0vsuq$3qneh$1@dont-email.me>:

On 02/05/2024 06:24, Jan Panteltje wrote:

AM radio law opposed by tech and auto industries is close to passing
  https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/05/am-radio-is-a-lifeline-lawmakers-say-tech-and-auto-industries-disagree/
A recent test of the emergency alert system found only 1 percent got it via AM.

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This is one of those bonkers US lawmakers laws. I expect the geriatric
senator proposing it has a crystal set manufacturer in his state.
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They will be demanding compulsory use of semaphore next.
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Strange. most is FM these days, or digital?

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Most in car radios are generally FM or today DAB/FM. AM never really got
on well with the spark transmitter under the bonnet of most petrol cars.
When I worked in radio astronomy all of our cars were doctored by the
local RF electronics guru to help suppress vehicle RFI on site. That had
the side effect of making AM radio much more useful.
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Something to do with Soros buying radio stations ;-) ?

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More likely the antediluvian politicians wanting stone age technology.
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To some extent they *DO* have a point for AM/FM analogue vs DAB digital.
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A typical DAB radio in an emergency situation with no mains power will
last about 8 hours on a full set of batteries. A basic AM/FM radio will
last for about a month used 8 hours a day under those conditions.

I have a simple Tecsun PL360 AM FM radio,
measure about 60 mA at 4.2V with 3 1900 mAh Eneloop batteries in series
So 1900 / 60 makes about 31.6 hours...
With volume low.
My big Tecsun PL600 AM / FM / SSB shortwave / mediumwave / longwave radio runs on 4 1900 mAh Eneloop cells
and draws about 47 mA with backlight off.
So that makes 1900 / 47 is about  40.4 hours.
A month is a bit longer...
 But on AM medium wave you could use a crystal radio and that would last forever...
 
I have some other small rechargeable FM radios from ebay, gave one away to somebody for her kids a while back.
Maybe those use less power, but have a lot less battery capacity, last a few hours at most on a charge.