Jay Allen reviews XHTATA D-808 AM/FM/SW/SSB/Airband Portable Radio

The XHDATA D-808 was born as a result of the sometimes strange state of affairs in Chinese manufacturing today. The story goes that it was derived from the Redsun-designed C. Crane Skywave SSB. 

It is based on the same Silicon labs DSP Chip as the Skywave yet has several differences. It omits the NOAA Weather Band of the Skywave but adds FM RDS. It also is built into a slightly larger cabinet which allows improved sound quality and a larger AM ferrite rod antenna.

Full review at : https://radiojayallen.com/xhtata-d-808-am-fm-sw-ssb-airband-portable-radio/

A Quest to Save AM Before It’s Lost in the Static

By EDWARD WYATT

WASHINGTON — Is anyone out there still listening?

Ajit Pai, the Republican on the F.C.C., called AM radio "the audible core of our national culture."

The digital age is killing AM radio, an American institution that brought the nation fireside chats, Casey Kasem's Top 40 and scratchy broadcasts of the World Series. Long surpassed by FM and more recently cast aside by satellite radio and Pandora, AM is now under siege from a new threat: rising interference from smartphones and consumer electronics that reduce many AM stations to little more than static. Its audience has sunk to historical lows.

More at :

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/us/a-quest-to-save-am-radio-before-its-lost-in-the-static.html?hp&_r=2&

Radio looks to cut through AM’s static

Since a car radio was put in a dashboard in 1930, there's been an AM radio in every automobile rolling off assembly lines. But in the upcoming model year a car will be arriving on dealer lots with an FM-only receiver. It's symbolic of the challenges facing AM broadcasters in 2012.

Read more at :

http://www.insideradio.com/Article.asp?id=2572037&spid=32060#.UKEHeY6flYM