Does AM radio freak anyone else out?

Question

AM radio really freaks me out, with the way it comes in all distorted and makes wierd noises all the time, and usually the shows being played on it are those wierd talk radio shows. Does anyone else get freaked out by AM radio?

Answer 1

It's not so much the AM radio as it is the clueless programmers!

The distortion and weird noises are atmosperic and are a part of the "noise floor" on AM. The signal fades in and out and night because you hear the skywave rather than the ground wave (normally heard during daylight hours.)

If you're listening to Coast to Coast, no wonder you're freaked out..it's like that on AM and FM!

Seriously..I've worked at AM stations for years..the signal works differently than FM but they're not freaky..just expensive to operate!

Answer 2

My AM radio is crystal clear.  Sure, I have static when a thunderstrom brews up because of the lightning.  I find better programs on AM than the rap and c**p on FM.  But I don't listen to Rush!  Most of the time it is on an easy listening station with good music.

BTW, if you find it so freaking, why do you listen to it?

Answer 3

I actually find it soothing.  FM radio seems to be jumping for your attention from DJs, to music, to advertisements it just comes across as chaos to my brain.  During a long drive i can enjoy AM radio as long as the topic is interesting.  I know what you mean about the weird distorted noises...  maybe they are tiny microwaves of cancer swooping in and out of reception.

Answer 4

I listen to AM all the time!

I like KAAM 770 in Dallas!

Answer 5

I just don't discern that much of a difference in sound. Guess I'm just not that audibly sophisticated. As to the programming I listen to Rush when possible. It's nice to have an alternative view to the "other" c**p.

Answer 6

The distorted and weird noises are the mystique of Am radio.

One of the problems is it's so low on the radio spectrum that weather even up to 200 miles away can affect it if the station isn't powerful enough on your radio to come in. Plus since most people don't have AM stereo the fidelity or the highs and lows don't come out as they do on FM broadcast. HD radio says to show promise for AM as the sound is better (more like FM) but is only in experiments.

But anyhow, AM used to be the big band to listen to Just 30 years ago... want to hear your favorite song? Forget FM and listen to it on the AM band where stations like KHJ in Los Angeles and WABC New York ruled the airwaves with top 40.

Fm was considered a waste land and actually no one listened to it as only beautiful music was about the main fare there. However as radios got better, and more people started taking chances in the 1970s, people started moving to FM with top 40 AM basically breathing it's last breath just 25 years ago or so....

Now AM was the dead band, so many stations went up for sale, being bought by people bringing talk radio, ethnic programming and religion to the AM bands as the stations were going for real cheap when just 10 years older they were gold mines. This turned AM into the weird waste land as you call it today.

Personally I still listen to AM radio when I can, if they have a station broadcasting music (mainly country music) and take in the fact that even though AM radio will pick up storms far away and will also pick up any electrical noise, it still goes further than any FM station in the nation with 50,000 watt AM stations being heard 200 miles+ away with no problems especially at night.

Answer 7

Sometimes until the other stations with more tower power signs off, then the local am station comes in really clear Southern Gospel music.

Answer 8

What exactly is weird about these talk shows? Is it the fact that they are actually discussing issues and you have to listen to what they are saying , as opposed to just sitting on your chair drooling like an imbecile while you are force fed the latest song by Amy Winehouse? You know the common practice on FM stations that just feed you track after track of mindless music. Listening to AM radio involves using your brain from time to time. If you think that it's weird and it makes your head hurt, then go back to your John Mayer and Rihanna the rest of us who want to hear something relevant  will listen to our weird talk shows.

Answer 9

I think you need a new radio. Mine is not that new but the A.M. stations come in just fine.