Washington - Oct 26, 2006 - According to a story on the Baltimore Sun's website, National Public Radio (NPR) has asked the FCC to recall the FM modulators that consumers use in their cars to receive satellite radio and play Ipods.

At the end of July, NPR Labs released the results of a study of modulator interference. The results showed that 40 percent of the devices on the road were producing signal levels higher than the FCC mandated limit. With millions of FM modulators being sold each year in the United States alone, this signal excess, the study claimed, could be resulting in interfence with FM broadcast services.

To read the full NPR Labs study analysis, visit www.nprlabs.org/public/research/FMModulatorUsage.pdf.

NPR's study findings are similar to a previous study conducted by the NAB. The NAB study, delivered to the FCC at the end of June 2006, found that 76 percent of the devices it tested violated the power limits. One device transmitted a signal that was 20,000 percent stronger than allowed by FCC rules.