[grc] Fwd: [NCRA-Members] Samsung unlocks the FM Chip in Canada and US

[Brian Shiratsuki]

On Fri, Jan 12, 2018 at 7:43 PM, Dan Roberts via grc
<grc at maillist.peak.org> wrote:
> ...those with cell phones that had the ability to receive terrestrial radio were able to hear how close the fire was, even if they had no radio. I am amazed that many people do not have radios, but it is true. The "chip" is a very simple, inexpensive addition to the manufacturing of a cell phone.

it usually isn't even an addition, yet not considered worthy of
mention by the chipmaker for mention on the datasheet.

> Newer iPhones have no headphone port- and the antenna is created by plugging in earphones to the headphone port. I personally have lots of radios, but I installed the free "nextradio" app in a new Samsung phone and it gets good reception...

do you get stereo? the moto g (2014) here disappointingly only
produces monaural.

my set from last october has the same snapdragon 835 as the latest
samsung models, and thus an integrated FM tuner, but only a usb-c port
(24 pins!). unfortunately the headphone scheme for this phone places a
DAC in the dongle (all for only $10), which might make using the
headphone cable for an antenna problematic. the iPhone lightning port
only has eight pins, and they're pretty flexible.

brian s