Ocho cuarenta

    As old people go, I'm not as set in my ways as some are. But every time I try to listen to contemporary music, I find myself under assault by Auto-Tune, which just about causes me physical pain and makes my hair stand on end even more than usual. The really odd thing is that most of the singers being autotuned obviously don't need it; they're clearly very competent singers who would benefit from firing their producers and just singing.
    Anyway, I wind up mostly listening to oldies stations for this reason. However, if I could, I would listen almost all the time to La Raza, Ocho Cuarenta, the excellent local Spanish language station at 840 on the AM dial. Unfortunately, like many smaller stations, their signal shuts off every day at sundown. (I'm a little unclear on the whys and wherefores of this, too. A station from Louisville comes in pretty clearly after sundown, but it seems pretty improbably that they would actually pay to get the 840 AM band in Columbia SC after dark; seems more likely a coincidence.)
    But the more confusing part is that their signal comes and goes during the day. Sometimes it's all but inaudible; sometimes it's nothing but static; other times it's strong. Granted I'm in a car and driving around, but I don't really go all that far most of the time. And granted that AM signals seem to get a lot more interference from overhead power lines. But the other AM stations don't have all these problems.
    So color me bewildered. It's a terrific station when they're playing music and I can hear it. But most of the time, I have to stick with the oldies. At least until somebody gives me some Mexican CD buying tips.
    PS: Oh: http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/why-am-radio-stations-must-reduce-power-change-operations-or-cease-broadcasting-night