Bring back AM stereo CQUAM

Back in the early 90s I bought a Jeep Wrangler that came with a factory AM/FM stereo radio. The only AM stereo station I could receive was KFI, which is a talk station. But I remember how good the music bumps sounded on this radio.

Bronx
 
It is an excellent sound. Takes great engineering to keep it that way, but in doing so, the whole station's "audio plant" is kept in good shape, microphone to transmitters.
 
I just picked up a Realistic TM-152 AM Stereo receiver from a local ham operater in town.

Works like a champ.
 
Those are not bad radios. They will drift, however, so leave it ON at all times for the best tuning. When they get old they get microphonic and taps on them will be heard in your speakers, but...as an AM stereo/AM DX, not a bad receiver. At times, when our Carver has needed service we've used a TM-152 to feed the AM stereo stream. It's not bad.
 
I have a C-Quam exciter and one AM Stereo tuner left in my possession. Technically speaking AM Stereo is superior to FM multiplex stereo in nearly every way, mainly due to the fact FM stereo tech is well over 60 years old with AM Stereo tech only about 30 years old since the last improvements were made. The C-Quam system, unlike FM ST, doesn't reduce a stations effective range. The biggest drawback to C-Quam was platform motion that has since been mostly eliminated.
 
I have a C-Quam exciter and one AM Stereo tuner left in my possession. Technically speaking AM Stereo is superior to FM multiplex stereo in nearly every way, mainly due to the fact FM stereo tech is well over 60 years old with AM Stereo tech only about 30 years old since the last improvements were made. The C-Quam system, unlike FM ST, doesn't reduce a stations effective range. The biggest drawback to C-Quam was platform motion that has since been mostly eliminated.


Tell me about this C-QUAM exciter you speak of.

What brand is it?
 
Well, since the thread is a bit old, we'll add to it with the fact that today the BACKUP Carver receiver went "live" and ready....in case the main goes down for any reason, preserving WION's famous C-quam live stream on the web and mobile devices. With the age of the receivers, finding a good one not in need of upkeep is getting difficult. We've been told of a company that works major AM transmission projects hoping to roll out wideband AM (stereo) /FM receivers maybe this year, more likely next. Fingers are crossed, and we've asked to be a tester of the unit. Analog AM seems to be doing well of late...there's much less "demise" hype in the trades and on the web from the "experts" who love to write about that topic but are not at work in the trenches of radio making AM viable in markets of various sizes across our county.
C-QUAM STREAM TWO TUNERS.jpg C-QUAM TUNER STACK FOR STREAMING.jpg
 
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That article appears to have been written eight years (and two administrations) ago.

The direction of AM radio doesn't seem to have changed much where I live. I still have to use an Internet radio to pick up my local AM stereo station (KBZY) that is located just eight miles away. If the signal can't get out, there's not much point in worrying about the technology underneath it.
 
I know this is an ancient thread. Couldn't resist.

Meduci''s radio (the current model) did sound good when a ham operator came to our station last month and parked in the parking lot. He ran one on his dashboard, and I will say it was good. However, the previoius model had some issues. The owner of that company provided us with one to stream and promote, but it had a whistle in it. Didn't matter if it was offsite or on, we tried it from the Ionia Freefair, and it whistled. He DID take it back, and was very gracious about it, as our original agreement was to help each other through mutual benefit. I will say, on brief listen in a vehicle with the (newer model) radio directly plugged into the sound system the ham had in his car, it was a decent rendering of WION's wideband sound.

Since the postings above, we have ceased using a Carver and are using a professional product called the "Potomac Instruments" AM stereo mmonitor to provide the stream. This is the company that also manufactures the devices we measure our AM signals and arrays' patterns-with. There are plans in the works to tune-up our night 3-tower array to equalize the sound offered and better balance the stereo effects when we're using the array and not the single tower.

If I had to choose a receiver available fairly easily on the secondary market, I'd recommend Denon's TU-680(NAB)...we use those in our main studio, engineering, and have found them to be stable, able to handle high signal levels, good high frequency response, good lows, and no need for a switchable NRSC filter which the Carver had. The Carver was too bright with the NRSC filter "out" and we had to filter it for streaming, and was too "dull" if switched in. It's a joy to hear what the Potomac Instruments' does for our station's stream.

If I think of it, we'll let you know when changes are made. I've been away from Satguys too long, but will be reading more in the days to come.
 
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Is AM Stereo different than AM HD?

I currently have two radios that can tune AM HD. The one in my 2018 Nissan Murano and a Sangean HDR 18 table radio. There is really only one station in the Denver area I care to listen to which is KLVZ 810 (Crawford Broadcasting) a Legends (60's and 70's) station. I still like to listen to AM since I grew up in the 60's with a transistor radio glued to my ear. I used to love to AM DX also but it is harder now with so much interference. Probably my best DX catch was when on vacation in Maui, in 2005, I picked up ABC Radio Emerald, Australia on 1584 AM.
 
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