On Your Standard AM Dial Trivia Quiz

Answer: Amplitude Modulation

The three incorrect answers are pure fabrication. The other type of commercial broadcast radio is Frequency Modulation (FM).

Answer: 1909

1903 was the Wright Brothers flight; 1912 was the Titanic sinking; 1954 gave us the first commercial transistor radios. See how the correct answer fits in?

Beginning regular weekly broadcasts in 1909, a San Francisco area station became KQW in 1921. Relettered as KCBS in 1949, the station claims to be the oldest broadcasting station in the world. The claim may be arguable; early radio was experimental, and even the term 'regular broadcast" is subject to interpretation. Other cities - such as Montreal and Pittsburgh - also lay claim to "seniority" status.

Answer: 535-1700 KHz

550-1650 Hz is within the range of human speech and hearing. And most of us know that 88-108 MHz is the FM band, simply because we listen to FM so often. Finally, 50 or 60 Hz relates to electrical power source frequencies, not to broadcast bands. You can often hear that ugly "60 cycle hum" when you turn on a fluorescent light.

Answer: W & K

In the early 1900s, American vessels were assigned W or K call signs by the Bureau of Navigation. When the US government started licensing commercial radio, the same letters were retained; eastern stations were assigned W; western locations got the K. The exact demarcation point varied until 1923, when the Mississippi River became the dividing line. Even so, there were exceptions: Pittsburgh PA's KDKA; Fargo ND's WDAY.
If you noticed that the alternate choices are all former US railroads: Norfolk & Western, Chesapeake and Ohio, and Baltimore and Ohio - you should be taking train quizzes!

Answer: avoid interference with distant stations

Although the incorrect answers might be beneficial outcomes of reducing power, the primary reason is to avoid interference. AM radio signals travel much further at night ("sky wave propagation"), and have the potential to "jam" signals from distant AM stations on the same frequency.

As a part of their licensing agreement, many AM stations are required to reduce power or shut down at night, in order to avoid this situation.

Answer: disc jockey

The term "disk jockey" was created in 1935 by the famed radio commentator Walter Winchell. The DJ has evolved over time: starting out with 78 and 33 RPM phonograph records, transitioning to 45 RPM "vinyls," audio tapes, and then CD's. With the "retro" attraction of new vinyl records Is that an oxymoron?), DJ's may really be spinning platters again. I don't have a clue what the next advance in entertainment media will bring!

Answer: transistor

Resistors, capacitors, and coils were essential parts of even the earliest radios. The Hindenburg tragedy was in 1937; Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941. The transistor wasn't developed until the late 1940's. Transistors were smaller, needed far less electrical power, and began operating instantly. The first portable AM transistor radio sets came out in 1954; by 1955 they began appearing in car radios.

A lot of us still remember the long slow wait for an old tube style radio (or TV) to warm up. And a so-called "portable" radio of the era might weigh many pounds - mostly batteries! Those vacuum tubes absolutely devoured power!

Answer: valves

The term "valve" apparently came about because - just as a plumbing valve controls the flow of water - so does an electrical valve control the flow of electricity. A "Thank you" to my NZ teammate for confirming the word usage there.

Wave guides are used in electromagnetic and acoustic applications. Flux capacitors were the power source for the DeLorean super car in the "Back To the Future" movies. Glass thingos is what I called them when I was an electronics maintenance guy in the Navy. Needless to say, I wasn't a maintainer guy very long.

Answer: civil defense

The triangles were small, so the "CD" letters inside could scarcely be read.

During the 1950's the fear of atomic war with the USSR was very real. There was a great concern that Soviet bombers could easily target major cities simply by homing in on AM radio signals. To foil this plan, the "CONtrol of ELectromagnetic RADiation" (CONELRAD) program was developed. Very basically, ALL AM stations would go off the air. Then - one at a time - different radio stations - at different locations - would take turns broadcasting emergency warnings ONLY on the 640 and 1240 frequencies. The bad guys would lose their homing beacons, be unable to find Chicago or New York, and would have to go home. Extremely accurate ICBM's and MIRV's made CONELRAD merely a "pleasant" memory!

Answer: Little Orphan Annie

Remember Ralphie's hunger to acquire the "Secret Decoder Ring?" Just like today's TV soap operas and "reality" shows, radio serials kept the audience coming back for more. Red Ryder was a famous cowboy of radio days from 1942 to 1951. Ralphie wanted Red's carbine action, 200 shot air rifle, but he never listened to Red's show - at least not in the movie. Sky King was a radio series from 1946 to 1954. Howdy was a "TV only" knothead from 1947 till 1960.