OT improving radio reception

Take a look at what C.C. Crane may have to help you.

HTH,

Jeff

A standard TV antenna with an FM splitter on the downline will get you decent FM reception. I think AM will be a little tougher.

AM radios work well with a long wire antenna. Get a long wire, copper 1/8" cable is good, and string it as straight as you can as long as you can as high as you can, and run one end of it to your AM antenna screw. I've done this and it really works. And remember this well -- you will NEVER get good antenna advice from some minimum wage pimple-faced flunk at Rat Shack! They know NOTHING about electronics! Stay entirely away from Radio Shack and you will be better off for it. I learned this a long time ago when I was going through electrical engineering school and they have gone downhill (waaaay downhill) since then. For advice, go to the Internet. For purchasing, look at reputable suppliers like Mouser, Parts Express, Digikey, or many others. - GWE

I second the motion. I like to listen to distant AM at night and got one of the Twin Coil Ferrite Antennas. It worked wonders on my Nakamichi bedside clock radio which was already way ahead of the typical $20 Wal-mart special.

see

It is a well made, high-quality device that does for me everything the testimonials say about it. YMMV.

Randy

1/8 inch diameter is a bit on the large size. R/S used to sell SW antenna kits iwth the insulators and a feed through. I think they've been discontinued.

Number 14 or 12 stranded wire works pretty well.

One end goes to a tree with an insulator (think cermamic, or piece of plexiglass) and the other end ties off to the house with a similar insulator.

Near the house there's a T-tap on the antenna which leads in to the radio.

I like to put the far end of the longwire through a pulley, and then down to a weight. That way ice storms don't rip them down.

Jim

Car radios have better low signal performance than the average domestic radio--so use a car radio in your house and get a good external aerial.

Yup. AM car radios usually have tuned RF stages, house radios very seldom do.

No physically small antenna will work as well as a long wire on AM. The longer and higher it is, the better it will work. A quarter wave at mid-broadcast-band is 75 meters, so a small antenna just doesn't have much capture.

With the possible exception of tuned loops. Those can be very handy for nulling out local intereference in spite of their low cross section.

Jim

Not in my wife's VW. AM is useless on that car. Factory defect?, dealer wouldn't fix it.

I agree with the long wire antenna, but how many AM radios *have* an antenna screw these days? If the OP's doesn't have one he may still have to use inductive coupling to get the rf into his radio. Unless of course he has the knowledge, skills and tools to open up his set and make an appropriate (and safe) antenna connection.

And remember this well -- you will NEVER get good

Well!!! You wouldn't have said that if you went into one of the less than ten Radio Shack stores in existence circa 1955 and met me (an EE student) working his way through college behind the counter there. I was a licensed ham and I'm sure I would have been able to advise you all about the antennas of the day.

That was back when Radio Shack was still owned by Theodore and Milton Deutschmann, about 9 years before Tandy bought them. The store I worked in was on "lower Washington Street" in Boston.

But, I agree with your comments about the present store staff, they're not much better than what you find in most other retail operations. I consider Radio Shack as a convenient "self service" place where I may be lucky enough to pick up something I need "right away".

Jeff

Andrew

I might be able to assist you. I have a little experience with similar problems in the San Diego Calif. desert. I dont know what your "standard antenna" is. If your radio has no connections for attaching an external antenna, there is little you can do to improve the AM reception.

If you want to get involved in amplified AM antennas, I might be of some help.

Jerry

One way to do this on loopstick radios is to simply put a few turns on the ferrite stick as a link. Or simply wrap a few turns of the lead-in around the set.

The key here is to manage to avoid any "help" from the counter.

It isn't as though they actually *try* to hinder my shopping, but I've spend too much time trying to explain things to them that from now on I just holler "no, thanks, I know what I'm after!" as I go into the back of the store.

Jim

I had a stack of consumer audio gear in my bedroom in 1979, but terrible radio reception. I figured it out:

1) AM radio reception was getting interference from the snap off of the rectifying diodes in the power supply in the power amplifier. Snubbers fixed that. 2) The FM reception was getting interference from the electric blanket regulator. I got a wool blanket.

I have their CC radio - and enjoy the improved range. Don't use it much, but it is within arms reach right now. In a storm, it can watch out for storm alerts and switch over to that signal when one is done.

I think it was a birthday one year... :-) IIRC.

The last time I did this..it changed the freq range of the radio..I was picking up WWV at 5mhz when I was trying to get KABC at 790kc

Gunner

Rule #35 "That which does not kill you, has made a huge tactical error"

I suspect Jerry may be someone yall want to listen to.

Gunner

Rule #35 "That which does not kill you, has made a huge tactical error"

Roger that!

Thanks for the vote of confidence. But, I actually dont know how much improvement the CCCrane add on antenna provides. That might be a 'fix' for the Andrew V's poor reception. I understand their advertisement for their $100.00 Twin ferrite antenna indicates that it will double the reception. I would think doubling the output would be about 3 db. I didnt realize a 3 db gain antenna would be something that would be worth $100.00. I'd like to hear from someone who has tried the CCCrane AM antenna.

Jerry

You can also go to your local farmers co-op and get aluminum electric fence and insulators cheap; the aluminum holds up to ice better than steel or copper and is cheaper to repair/replace.