AM Radio Reception?

[Sawyer Rob]

Every year at renewal time it was a fight to keep the fees from more than doubling. I held firm with keep it under $100 or cancel. And they made canceling difficult too. Four years later and I still get renewal offers.

I haven't had to fight at all...

I keep track of when my year ends, call them and negotiate the renewal price. I just did it, and I'm paying $60 bucks for the next full year. It's easily worth that much to me, as I have it in the house and my pu, so it's on quite a bit!

My wife has it in her car too, but I think she is paying $75 for a year. She could get that lowered, but she's just not a really good negotiator, and says she doesn't mind paying a bit more.

SR

 

[k0ua]

And now we can actually put a name to the person that invented this spawn of the Devil the switch mode power supply that causes so much of the worldwide pollution of the RF spectrum.


Robert Boschert: A Man Of Many Hats Changes The World Of Power Supplies | Electronic Design.


Of course switch mode power supplies which have almost totally in the last few years replaced conventional linear power supplies in almost every electrical product made worldwide CAN be made electrically quiet. BUT that would require from a few cents to a few dollars worth of extra components added to them at manufacture. And manufactures are all about saving a few cents per unit on costs. Especially in shall we say in some countries where regulations are even more lax.

 

[jaydee325]

I'm gonna date myself. Who remembers those AM transistor radios from the 60's?

I had one similar to this:



We were on the fringes of stations that played rock and roll. So, you had to place the radio at just the right angle, right height, and maybe hold your mouth just right and you could bring in some R&R!!

 

[ultrarunner]

total lack of FREE music is why I don't use XM [I also don't have cable tv, etc.]
There is nothing happening on XM that is worth money to me.

In the same camp... family members have been hounded after the free period ends.

 

[ultrarunner]

I'm gonna date myself. Who remembers those AM transistor radios from the 60's?

I had one similar to this:

View attachment 672427

We were on the fringes of stations that played rock and roll. So, you had to place the radio at just the right angle, right height, and maybe hold your mouth just right and you could bring in some R&R!!

Sounds like the rabbit ears for the Living Room TV.

If the antenna moved just a hair the reception degrades and it doesn't take much for no signal.

I still have one of the early Zenith transistor radios but it does need batteries.

 

[JethroB]

I'm gonna date myself. Who remembers those AM transistor radios from the 60's?

I had one similar to this:

View attachment 672427

We were on the fringes of stations that played rock and roll. So, you had to place the radio at just the right angle, right height, and maybe hold your mouth just right and you could bring in some R&R!!

Similar experience in the mid 70s. Local AM station changed to Rock from Country music & Ag reports at 3 pm on weekdays. Then at sundown they signed off the air after playing the Gone With The Wind theme song and national anthem. Brought to you by a local sawmill. Ah the memories. Thankful I still have them, the memories, I think.

 

[bunyip]

We had a country station that read obituaries every morning and at about 7.30pm Peter Possum would tell the kids to go to bed.
Enthralling stuff.....

 

[JethroB]

I haven't had to fight at all...

I keep track of when my year ends, call them and negotiate the renewal price. I just did it, and I'm paying $60 bucks for the next full year. It's easily worth that much to me, as I have it in the house and my pu, so it's on quite a bit!

My wife has it in her car too, but I think she is paying $75 for a year. She could get that lowered, but she's just not a really good negotiator, and says she doesn't mind paying a bit more.

SR

Perhaps more irritating and I feel a shameful business model. I received another renewal offer today in the mail for $4.99 a month (plus $2 in fees) for twelve months with credit card required. Then $16.99 a month if I didn’t call to renegotiate. Onus on customer. They really played games when I went to cancel.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Connie Smith - Tiny Blue Transistor Radio - YouTube

I always loved this song.

I always hated when people, typically using abreviations referred to a transistor radio as a "transistor".

Funny, radios sometimes were advertised as to how many transistors they had. I heard there was a brand that had a transistor (to up the count) that wasn't actually connected.