US Lawmakers Wait to Vote on AM Radio Legislation

The US House of Representatives is expected to consider a measure that mandates AM radio in all new cars sold in the US, whether they are manufactured domestically or imported. The bill, known as the AM Radio in Every Vehicle Act, moved to the full floor for lawmakers' consideration following a 45-2 vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Observers say that a House vote could happen as early as the next few weeks before the US elections take place in November -- or it would be delayed.

The US Senate version of the bill has already been approved by that chamber's Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. It still awaits a full floor vote but has a majority of lawmakers supporting it on both sides of the aisle.

The issue of AM radio's necessity in vehicles has escalated the debate over public safety, as proponents such as the National Association of Broadcasters and federal emergency officials have advocated in favour of retaining AM radio for its public safety role, especially when carrying alerts in rural areas.

Some manufacturers of electric cars are looking to eliminate AM radio from their vehicles, claiming that RF interference from their cars' electronic systems compromises AM radio reception.

Hamsci Researcher Reports on Space-Weather Monitoring Tool

Scientists and amateur radio operators are proud to announce that a member of the HamSCI scientific team has released a research paper that delves into the development of a low-cost magnetometer system permitting coordinated space-weather monitoring. The author of the paper, Dr. Hyomin Kim, PhD, KD2MCR, is an assistant professor of physics at the Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research, a component of New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Institute for Space Weather Sciences.

The paper is a key example of how HamSCI's work melds the world of professional research with the activities of amateur radio operators. A magnetometer measures changes and anomalies in the magnetic atmosphere of the Earth.More Information - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468067224000749

Dozens of Radio Stations Were Knocked Off the Air by Helene

Hurricane Helene, which has been blamed for at least 90 deaths, also knocked at least 48 radio stations in the southeastern United States off the air, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

Helene made landfall on Thursday. The FCC has released daily summaries of cellular and broadcast station outages based on reporting to its Disaster Information Reporting System.

On Saturday the number of FM and AM stations in the southeast that were off the air was posted at 48. As of Sunday morning, the commission reported, 35 radio stations were off, including 17 in Georgia, 12 in South Carolina and the rest in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia. There were five TV stations off in Georgia and North Carolina.

It’s possible that more stations were knocked off. Reporting to DIRS is voluntary, though a proposal that has been discussed at the FCC this year would mandate that stations participate in DIRS reporting. Broadcasters have pushed back against that idea.