AM Radio reception - intermittent

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daemoncan

New member
Joined
Feb 19, 2020
Messages
4
2015 2LT w/21000mi

AM radio reception cuts out at random intervals. Not a complete cutoff tho. It's as if the signal strength drops to near zero. Local stations sound far away. Signal will also occasionally return to normal at random intervals. No problems with FM or XM.
 
AM radio stands for "Amplitude Modulation" which means the frequency is broadcasted stronger and weaker. The wikipedia page has a great illustration showing this. You may be in a location that when it gets low it's too low to receive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AM_broadcasting

I did notice the other day that my son's compass does not work in our car as the magnets in the motor are strong enough to disrupt it. There may be a slight disruption from the cars motor/magnets but I think it probably has more to do with how AM is broadcasted and your distance from where it is being broadcasted.
 
I would agree with it being the reception area. I live in the NYC area and have no problems with AM reception.
 
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