Slight corrections required here <smile>. AM Stereo was "Pushed" for cars and I can tell you exactly which manufacturers were paid to put Stereo AM into their products as I was working in the car industry myself at the time, never seen so many sales brochures pertaining to one particular topic at any one time. So the manufacturers were Rover, Holden (GM) - in their Berlenia and Kellett Comodore models -, SAAB, Mercedes, Jagua, Nissan - in their Pintara and above - some rebadge Nissan cars sold by Ford, Reindriver.
There are stations still broadcasting Stereo AM in Australia as I reported earlier, the one I know of is 2CA in Canberra. Stereo AM - as Barry says - never took off in Australia because the format really never had a chance to, unlike digital radio Stereo AM was never given any proper launch, all stations were told was that if they wanted to Broadcast in Stereo AM - and many did because of the financial squeeze being placed upon them by the new FM commercial stations - then they could go right ahead from February 1st 1985 and most stations were broadcasting in that format on or by that date. I know that many stations in the Melbourne area were broadcasting in this format long before February 1ST thus these stations had a head start in the game, they were able to Tweak the performance of the transmitter and equipment, experiment with the various methods of Stereo AM around at the time, gage listener feed back from myself and another person I know who I reckon were probably just about the only people who had AM Stereo sets in Melbourne at one stage of the game. The Stereo AM sets were far more expensive than other radios available and were low in stock thus consumers weren't interested, "Why should I pay 5 times the price for a Stereo AM set when the FM one is cheaper and still receives AM which I don't really want to listen to anyway as it sounds dreadful on the radio I have". Then there was the court battle over which AM Stereo method should be used in Australia which - though finally resolved - didn't help matters, as mentioned earlier som manufacturers such as Sony took matters into their own hands. There were also interference issues though I never personally experienced any! in all my time of using Stereo AM sets, things were so bad in Sydney at one stage that Radio 2Uw and others wouldn't transmit in Stereo AM between 7 A.M. and 7 P.M.. Because of the expensive nature of a Stereo AM set other solutions were soon devised and they found their way onto the market. For example, you could buy a "Stereo AM Converter" which you tuned to the Stereo AM frequency and then the converter would transmit that received signal onto a predetermined frequency on the FM band for your car stereo to receive. The cheapest AM Stereo tuner I ever saw was one sold by radio shack, I saw it as low as $50 and it was amazingly simple but yet so amazingly affective and quality was very reasonable, I know many inghusiests still have these tuners to this day and most have had mods done on them of various kinds to make them even better. And finally, the other big problem with Stereo AM was the lack of self-contained systems such as Music Centers and the like featuring Stereo AM, Voxon was the only firm that marketed such devices. To my knowledge, the last AM Stereo unit ever made was by Sony in 1995 which marketed the 25th Anerversary Walkman model which had Am Stereo as part of it, I'm fortunate enough to own one of those sets. A new standard of Stereo AM was proposed but by the mid 90's manufacturers had given the whole idea away completely and this standard meant spending yet more money on completely new chips, I don't know the name of the standard proposed but I do know that the band width was far wider than what we had been used to up until this time. Many people dismiss Am Stereo as "Rubbish" but I certainly do not, with a good radio and a good signal Stereo AM sounded nearly as good - in fact some what better - than many processed FM singnals. As for music stations in Australia, there are still many that transmit on AM - in stereo or not - which still do very well: 2CH in Sydney, Magic 1278 and My MP in Melbourne, Magic 882 and 4KQ in Brisbane, Cruise 1323 in Adelaide and many other country stations, music will always be a part of AM radio in Australia because of the long distances AM is able to travel and be heard. On 8 Apr 2014, at 9:06 am, Barry Chapman <ba...@bchapman.id.au> wrote: > This is true. However, AM stereo never really took off in Australia, other > than for car radios, although a number of stations either > did or still do use it. I don't actually own an AM stereo receiver. > > These days in Australia, most of the music stations are on FM while the AM > band is mainly for talk stations. In the capital cities > where digital radio exists, all the major AM and FM stations simulcast in > digital stereo, along with other digital only stations. > > Barry Chapman > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Alexandra Grünauer" <al.gruena...@gmx.de> > To: "'PC Audio Discussion List'" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> > Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2014 2:44 AM > Subject: RE: Stereo AM > > > I think it's important if you want to broadcast long distance, especially in > countries like the USA, Canada or Australia where there are people who don't > live in the range of many FM stations. > > Alexandra > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of >> Anders Holmberg >> Sent: Monday, April 07, 2014 6:32 PM >> To: PC Audio Discussion List >> Subject: Re: Stereo AM >> >> Hi! >> But why in the world use AM at all? >> Just curious as i live in Sweden where we don't have much radio stations >> running. >> Those who run runb on fm. >> /A >> 6 apr 2014 kl. 05:20 skrev Barry Chapman <ba...@bchapman.id.au>: >> >>> Hi Dane, >>> >>> From Wikipedia: >>> >>> C-QUAM is the method of AM stereo broadcasting used in Canada, the >>> United States and most other countries. It was invented in 1977 by > Norman >> Parker, Francis Hilbert and Yoshio Sakaie, and published in an IEEE > journal. >>> >>> Using circuitry developed by Motorola, C-QUAM uses quadrature >> amplitude modulation (QAM) to encode the stereo separation signal. >>> >>> Barry Chapman >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> From: "Dane Trethowan" <grtd...@internode.on.net> >>> To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >>> Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2014 12:46 PM >>> Subject: Re: Stereo AM >>> >>> >>> Now a question for you, is this the Motoroller standard? If so then yes, >> that's the main one used in Australia. >>> >>> >>> On 6 Apr 2014, at 12:41 pm, Barry Chapman <ba...@bchapman.id.au> >> wrote: >>> >>>> Yes, Australia used the C-QUAM standard for AM stereo. >>>> >>>> Barry Chapman >>>> >>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>> From: "Gary Schindler" <garys5...@comcast.net> >>>> To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >>>> Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2014 11:52 AM >>>> Subject: Re: Stereo AM >>>> >>>> >>>> Maybe the Melbourne station used SeQuam like the system that was >>>> adopted in the states. Stereo separation was pretty decent and most >>>> of the big gun radio stations in Pittsburgh broadcast in stereo 24 7. >>>> by the late 90's stereo AM went buy the wayside like HD AM is pretty >>>> much done around here now. If KDKA can't make a go or looses interest >>>> in the newest form of transmission, the others follow suit. >>>> >>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>> From: "Dane Trethowan" <grtd...@internode.on.net> >>>> To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >>>> Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2014 8:26 PM >>>> Subject: Re: Stereo AM >>>> >>>> >>>> I think I know the Sony Walkman Stereo AM Walkman you're referring >>>> to, its easily identifiable by the very large band switch on the face >>>> of the radio, I used to call that Walkman the "Biscuit Radio" as the >>>> band switch reminded me of a chocolate biscuit/cookie <smile>. >>>> >>>> The radio was okay though I thought the smaller Sangean Pocket model >>>> had the edge, far better sensitivity to start with though - knowing >>>> Sangean as I do - that's not at all surprising. >>>> >>>> I have a couple of Sony AM Stereo tuners though they had to be >>>> adjusted to get decent clarity out of them, they also exhibited an >>>> annoying trait, you could hear the 25HZ tone which tells the tuner >>>> that the signal is an AM Stereo signal. >>>> >>>> The other capable Stereo AM tuner I have here is one that I had built >>>> for me from the information supplied in the electronics magazine >>>> Silicon Chip back in 1987. >>>> >>>> What I like about Stereo AM is that it can be broadcast at any time >>>> and - if its done properly - the average consumer will not notice any >>>> interference or odd sound from their standard Mono AM radio, some of >>>> the AM Stereo signals I used to listen to did exhibit slight bass >>>> distortion on a Mono set but these signals usually sounded pretty poor >> when listening on an AM Stereo tuner. >>>> >>>> The Melbourne radio station 3UZ had by far the best Stereo AM sound >>>> I've ever heard - along with Canberra's 2CA -, I don't know what they >>>> were using on their transmitter but even the mono signal sounded clean >> and crisp. >>>> >>>> >>>> On 6 Apr 2014, at 5:32 am, Steve Jacobson <steve.jacob...@visi.com> >> wrote: >>>> >>>>> I had a Carver TX11 tuner that received AM stereo and also a Sony >>>>> pocket portable that did. There is no doubt that the current HD >>>>> system on AM is quieter and better sounding, but one has to have >>>>> such a perfect signal that I find it pretty annoying. In addition, >>>>> stations that use HD on AM have to restrict their analog audio >>>>> bandwidth. I actually prefer a noisier but more reliable AM stereo >>>>> system as was used here in the US in the 1980's. Even more, that >>>>> system did not interfere with adjacent stations as does the HD system >> does now. >>>>> >>>>> Best regards, >>>>> >>>>> Steve Jacobson >>>>> >>>>> On Sat, 5 Apr 2014 13:09:27 -0400, Tom Kaufman wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> In the 90s. WSM (Nashville, Tennessee) was in AM stereo; we had an >>>>>> AM stereo system in the car (a Lincoln Town Car) I remember riding >>>>>> home from a gig and would have the Grand Ole Opry on one night; if >>>>>> the station would come in just right, the "stereo" would kick in; >>>>>> it sounded great! But my first experience with hearing AM stereo >>>>>> (again it was with WSM) we had traveled to Nashville; we had a >>>>>> Lincoln Town Car; I did not realize that the car was equipped with >>>>>> AM stereo! We had stopped to see about getting rooms (my >>>>>> father and I stayed in the car and WSM was on the radio. But then > I >>>>>> noticed it was in stereo, so I figured "no; that couldn't be WSM!" >>>>>> So just to confirm what I thought my ear was telling me, I asked my >>>>>> father to tell me what station the radio was on! When he said >>>>>> 6500, then I knew and was totally amazed at how good it sounded! >>>>>> Tom Kaufman >>>>> >>>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>>> From: Pc-audio [mailto:pc-audio-boun...@pc-audio.org] On Behalf Of >>>>>> Evan Reese >>>>>> Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2014 12:59 PM >>>>>> To: PC Audio Discussion List >>>>>> Subject: Re: Stereo AM >>>>> >>>>>> Back in the 80s when I was visiting my parents in California, there >>>>>> was a stero AM station. But I didn't have any stereo AM receivers. >>>>>> But I did have two portable radios. I discovered that if you tuned >>>>>> them just right, you could get the stereo sound. >>>>>> Evan >>>>> >>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- >>>>>> From: "Dane Trethowan" <grtd...@internode.on.net> >>>>>> To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >>>>>> Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2014 12:34 PM >>>>>> Subject: Stereo AM >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> Back to the glory days of radio <smile>. >>>>> >>>>>> Actually we do have one radio station in Australia to my knowledge >>>>>> that does >>>>> >>>>>> broadcast in AM Stereo to this day and that's 2CA Canberra, Here's >>>>>> a recording I found on Youtube of a station in the U.S. though I'm >>>>>> not sure when the content was actually aired, quite nice audio so - >>>>>> for those who have never heard stereo AM before - take a moment to >> enjoy. >>>>>> <WCTC in AM Stereo on Denon TU-680NAB> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>> ********** >>>>> >>>>>> Dane Trethowan >>>>>> Skype: grtdane12 >>>>>> Phone US (213) 438-9741 >>>>>> Phone U.K. 01245 79 0598 >>>>>> Phone Australia (03) 9005 8589 >>>>>> Mobile: +61400494862 >>>>>> faceTime +61400494862 >>>>>> Fax +61397437954 >>>>>> Twitter: @grtdane >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ********** >>>> >>>> Dane Trethowan >>>> Skype: grtdane12 >>>> Phone US (213) 438-9741 >>>> Phone U.K. 01245 79 0598 >>>> Phone Australia (03) 9005 8589 >>>> Mobile: +61400494862 >>>> faceTime +61400494862 >>>> Fax +61397437954 >>>> Twitter: @grtdane >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> ********** >>> >>> Dane Trethowan >>> Skype: grtdane12 >>> Phone US (213) 438-9741 >>> Phone U.K. 01245 79 0598 >>> Phone Australia (03) 9005 8589 >>> Mobile: +61400494862 >>> faceTime +61400494862 >>> Fax +61397437954 >>> Twitter: @grtdane >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> > > > > ********** Dane Trethowan Skype: grtdane12 Phone US (213) 438-9741 Phone U.K. 01245 79 0598 Phone Australia (03) 9005 8589 Mobile: +61400494862 faceTime +61400494862 Fax +61397437954 Twitter: @grtdane
