Save Our Signal! Politicians close in on votes needed to keep AM radio in every car

[LastDemocratInSC]

79. Software-defined radios are quite flexible and can capture any radio broadcast in any mode - if programmed to do so.

I'm an amateur radio operator and just bought a new SDR transceiver to replace an "older" one from the 1990s. It was 1/3 the price of the older one and runs rings around it in every way. Car makers are making a mistake if they rely on analog radio designs - SDR systems will let everyone have his cake and eat it too. My new SDR system can receive from "DC to daylight" as the saying goes, and can handle any current transmission mode. So, the future has arrived for radio technology.

Regarding commercial AM broadcasts: Just about every station that relies on it's FM side for revenue but still has the left-over AM side wants to ditch its AM systems. The land the tower systems occupy are more valuable than the signal or the equipment. There are some big traditionally AM stations (WSM, WCBS, and others) that will remain for good reasons but the 1000 watt to 5000 watt stations that are just relics today compared to their FM operations are just money-losing albatrosses.

SDR is the wave of the future. Flexibility, low expense, few limitations, and almost infinitely programmable.