The Congress is now exercised over the issue of AM phaseout in car
radios. Ford has backed down from its phaseout plan and stated that
they will continue to offer AM reception, at least for the time being.
But for anyone familiar with the RFI situation and the rising noise
floor that's been worsening for decades, it is interesting how the
Congress and FCC were fairly inactive on this until recently.
The reason why, based on observation, offers some instruction to radio
stakeholders when it comes to getting action from government. The
Congress got interested in the AM reception issue because when it came
to EVs, it was simple conceptually and allowed members to communicate
a clear and concise position, with a simple path of action: Call on
car manufacturers to reverse their decision. They were bolstered by
other agencies involved with safety and emergency preparedness. This
was bipartisan, because who is against safety? Big win for
politicians.
The noise floor is much more vague and nebulous as an issue. It has
slowly become more of a problem for years. And the causes are many
and varied. You can't just point a finger at one entity and fire
everyone up into action. But the AM-EV issue offers an opportunity to
broadcasters and hams to communicate to interested members of Congress
that the AM problem goes beyond certain manufacturers not wanting to
deal with it. Noisy imported and domestic appliances are a start.
Let's not waste this opportunity.
Rob
K5UJ
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