An AM Man Living in an FM World

AM/FM RADIO

Our radio at home was an old Admiral--black, tubes gave an eerie glow, AM only---that connected us to the world. My parents did not have a telephone and indoor plumbing until 1965. I think I was on my first duty assignment in California when I first heard FM radio. I do remember well the FM radio I purchased during that carefree, I can do anything , assignment. (I dearly miss those days!)

For the benefit of young readers of this Post, FM in the mid-sixties was limited. Mostly, news, talk and lots and lots of classical music. Rock and Roll was mainly on AM. Colleges and Public Radio was the source of many of the FM broadcasts.  

Today, FM is the place for all kinds of music (Hard Rock to Gospel) a few news/ sports stations , and some religious stations. Try finding an FM station that has an hourly news broadcast from a major network. I am an unrepentant news addict and know where to find network news on the AM dial at just about anytime---day or night.

AM stations have a much, much longer reception capability---especially at night. This is a product of FCC directivity restrictions and radio wave propagation. I live several hundred miles from Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio; however, on many nights I can hear several stations from that area.

As an amateur radio operator (Ham) I have used FM to communicate locally; but I mostly use AM (SSB) when I want to talk around the country and/or world. Yes, I do listen to both FM and AM on my computer/tablet devices.

Glenn <><

Just West of Yesterday