No AM Radio Band in Model X

Mark Z · Jan 2, 2016

This thread is to discuss the absence of the AM radio band in the Model X.

While some other forums may argue the issue, let's keep this thread aimed at solutions to enjoy your favorite AM radio programs as follows:

1. Search for HD Radio FM sub-channels that are rebroadcasting AM stations on FM.
2. Find your non-iHeartRadio AM station on Tunein and make it a favorite.
3. Ask Tesla Motors to write or request an iHeartRadio Application for the Tesla Touchscreen.
4. Until an iHeartRadio app appears, use the iHeartRadio app on your smart phone to play through Bluetooth.
5. As a last resort, use a portable radio if necessary.

Here is a portion of the Owner's Manual that shows the absence of the AM choice:

johnnyS · Jan 2, 2016

Major bummer--I listen to sports and news on AM regularly. AM radio works just fine in our model S.

MaxK · Jan 2, 2016

It is curious that the window sticker does indicate that it has AM. Then again, it also says that it has rear facing seats.

petfansNetwork · Jan 2, 2016

It's an unpleasant news for me. I listen to sports and news on AM all the times. Don't like the delay on TuneIn broadcasts. Will need to figure out what's needed for an AM integration before taking a delivery in five to six months.

Mark Z · Jan 2, 2016

MaxK said:
It is curious that the window sticker does indicate that it has AM. Then again, it also says that it has rear facing seats.

Mine shows "Third Row Seats" but you got the "Parcel Shelf". That's one more to add to my list! Thanks Max!

Now to show a solution and notice the FM and XM tabs. No AM tab to be found.

You will need to tune to every FM station in your area and wait for the HD numbers (if any) appear.

Here KFI 640 AM in Los Angeles is being transmitted on FM. What Tesla Motors did right is to allow the HD sub-station to be saved as a favorite or pushbutton. Now the John and Ken show is easy to access. This is one of many stations that are not available using Tunein. It is time for listeners to call their radio stations and urge them to use the FM HD digital bandwidth for retransmission.

Be happy, look what's happening in Norway: Norway Will Be the First Country to Turn Off FM Radio in 2017

TexasEV · Jan 2, 2016

Aren't the AM stations available on TuneIn?

CHG-ON · Jan 2, 2016

I can't imagine the logic behind that decision.

tenstringer009 · Jan 2, 2016

CHG-ON said:
I can't imagine the logic behind that decision.

The BMW i3 also doesn't have AM radio enabled, apparently due to electromagnetic interference. Weird that Tesla was able to have it on the S but not the X.

BMW i3 Electric Car Quirk: No AM Radio--But Why?

JeffS · Jan 2, 2016

The only reason I can imagine for not listening to AM through TuneIn instead of the antenna broadcast would be if you are a frequent caller or try to win contests. There is a delay. But the signal is so much better through TuneIn. Thoughts?

Mark Z · Jan 2, 2016

petfansNetwork said:
It's an unpleasant news for me. I listen to sports and news on AM all the times. Don't like the delay on TuneIn broadcasts. Will need to figure out what's needed for an AM integration before taking a delivery in five to six months.

I don't care for the Tunein delay either. Listening on local AM or another internet station during major national shows allows for checking the delay. (Try this sometime with antenna TV, Satellite and Cable. The results are surprising.) I choose what is delayed the least, and sometimes find a station that is ahead of the live AM band broadcast.

Another option is to find the original channel feed. For months I listened to KIXW 960 from Apple Valley because it didn't cutoff the major feeds with extra commercials. When they disappeared from Tunein for a time, I found the same show feeds with zero delay. Here is a perfect example of a 3 to 6 PM show on KIXW that has a 24 hour source: Radio Free California Network - Twin Peaks, CA - Listen Online

There are many others and when you find them, you can relax about delay and commercial interruptions.

And when I have time, I can post details about Tunein account creation so what you save on your computer will appear on smart phones and the Tesla vehicle. You don't need to search for them again!

robert774 · Jan 2, 2016

JeffS said:
The only reason I can imagine for not listening to AM through TuneIn instead of the antenna broadcast would be if you are a frequent caller or try to win contests. There is a delay. But the signal is so much better through TuneIn. Thoughts?

Certain programming, especially sports programming, is blacked out when listening through TuneIn but is available over AM. For example, in Houston you cannot listen to a Houston Texans (NFL) broadcast through TuneIn but you can listen through your AM on 610AM. This would be a problem for me.

Note that I have a different issue since v7 of the firmware ... I get a major whine on most AM stations as my motor applies power. Very annoying and it did not happen with v6.

MaxK · Jan 2, 2016

robert774 said:
Note that I have a different issue since v7 of the firmware ... I get a major whine on most AM stations as my motor applies power. Very annoying and it did not happen with v6.

Is it possible that they have made compromises in the motor frequency controller in the S to allow for the AM radio, especially v6 and earlier, that they did not want to make in the X, so they dropped the AM band to give themselves more options in tuning the motors?

NJ Plugin · Jan 2, 2016

Does the X come with Slacker? It is not mentioned in Mark's picture in post #1.

I do believe in a walk through video from Max I heard the DS say the X has commercial free Slacker for only one year. Then a premium package can be bought for commercial free listening. Can anyone else confirm this?

JeffS · Jan 2, 2016

robert774 said:
Certain programming, especially sports programming, is blacked out when listening through TuneIn but is available over AM. For example, in Houston you cannot listen to a Houston Texans (NFL) broadcast through TuneIn but you can listen through your AM on 610AM. This would be a problem for me.

Note that I have a different issue since v7 of the firmware ... I get a major whine on most AM stations as my motor applies power. Very annoying and it did not happen with v6.

Very good point.

Mark Z · Jan 2, 2016

NJ Plugin said:
Does the X come with Slacker? It is not mentioned in Mark's picture in post #1.

I do believe in a walk through video from Max I heard the DS say the X has commercial free Slacker for only one year. Then a premium package can be bought for commercial free listening. Can anyone else confirm this?

Glad you brought up the missing Slacker on the Overview portion on the touchscreen. Perhaps they didn't think that Slacker was like AM/FM/XM and didn't want to confuse anyone.

I never had to pay with Model S, yet.

I remember hearing the one year comment on one delivery training video. Obviously not accurate after seeing the new posts below.

JonathanD · Jan 3, 2016

My recollection for Slacker subscription was 7 years included for Model S.

Some good points have been made about blacked out local programming (sports), as well as iHeartRadio channels not being available on TuneIn. If nothing else for the sports alone I'm surprised they didn't include AM, there must be a good reason.

aronth5 · Jan 3, 2016

JonathanD said:
My recollection for Slacker subscription was 7 years included for Model S.

Some good points have been made about blacked out local programming (sports), as well as iHeartRadio channels not being available on TuneIn. If nothing else for the sports alone I'm surprised they didn't include AM, there must be a good reason.

Agree, on the blacked out programming, particularly sports, but am surprised that major sports are still on AM. In Boston none of the professional sports teams have been on AM for years.

JeffS · Jan 3, 2016

JonathanD said:
My recollection for Slacker subscription was 7 years included for Model S.

Some good points have been made about blacked out local programming (sports), as well as iHeartRadio channels not being available on TuneIn. If nothing else for the sports alone I'm surprised they didn't include AM, there must be a good reason.

I am in the radio business. It's a bit backward to remove AM before FM. That's not intuitive, but it is real. FM is losing listeners exponentially faster than AM. The FM bands are mostly music and the internet/satellite providers do music way better than terrestrial broadcasters.

Traditional AM broadcasters are largely news, weather, traffic and sports. Live and local. Or syndicated shows that have faithful followers.

A bit backward in my opinion to take AM and keep FM.

When car mfrs adopt internet connectivity for free (or nearly free), FM is cooked. And AM will live another 5-10 years if its lucky.

There is a lobbying effort underway by broadcasters to keep traditional radios in cars, and WiFi out. If there are lobbyists...something is up.

RDoc · Jan 3, 2016

At least around here, FM is very well used for NPR and college stations and while they are often available via internet, the 3G reception is often much worse than the FM reception. I never listen to AM, so that's not an issue for me.

bobbykansara · Jan 3, 2016

JeffS said:
I am in the radio business. It's a bit backward to remove AM before FM. That's not intuitive, but it is real. FM is losing listeners exponentially faster than AM. The FM bands are mostly music and the internet/satellite providers do music way better than terrestrial broadcasters.

Traditional AM broadcasters are largely news, weather, traffic and sports. Live and local. Or syndicated shows that have faithful followers.

A bit backward in my opinion to take AM and keep FM.

When car mfrs adopt internet connectivity for free (or nearly free), FM is cooked. And AM will live another 5-10 years if its lucky.

There is a lobbying effort underway by broadcasters to keep traditional radios in cars, and WiFi out. If there are lobbyists...something is up.

Fascinating!! Thank you for this insight.

I listen to sports talk radio almost exclusively. In the past 6 months, I transitioned from listening to it Live(!) with 6+ minutes of commercials between every segment to... Podcasts of the exact same content with commercials removed. It's changed my life. There were some commutes where I got absolutely nothing but commercials. Now, I get non-stop content. Once more people realize this is possible, Radio as we know it may be cooked....

I completely understand the lament of many on this thread who pointed out that live sports is often blacked out on TuneIn radio. But once manufacturer's take out AM/FM radios in cars, it won't be long before the content providers start finding new ways give us that content (and new ways to make us pay for it!). NFL superfan package, anyone..... ?

No AM Radio Band in Model X

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