I need help buying a radio. Please help!!!

I know that sounds stupid, but...I can get AAR in my car (during the day)but I can't get it in the house at all. The radios we have just won't pick it up. So, what should I be looking at? We have a Boze and some receiver thingy.

I'd bet that you just need a better antenna.

If it's AM your trying to receive, sometimes just changing the orientation of the radio helps a lot.

I'll look into the antenna, does it need to be connected? I am not technologically abled at all.

Thanks!

If it's a portable-type radio, just rotate it around a bit. See if the reception gets better.

If you're trying to tune it into your stereo receiver, you might need to connect a wire on the back somewhere (terminal marked "AM"?) and move the wire around.

1 piece of light speaker wire, should be at least 10' long. Attach to terminal/binding post labeled "antenna" or with the symbol that looks like an upsidedown coat hanger.

If your radio has a ground connection as well you can drive a ground rod outside your window, or in a pinch use the center screw that holds the electrical duplex outlet faceplate on.


With AM an external antenna is good for weak stations. Antenna + ground is even better.

And I'd like to listen in other parts of the house. But, I will replace the speakers, I can't just drive around all day, and sitting in the car would look really weird.

$12/month for service; another option would be a directional loop antenna -- the problem with long wire antennas is they have no directivity so you pick up noise and other radio stations on the same frequency. Only a directional loop would allow you to null out other radio stations on the same frequency as well as noise.

send me an email me if you have any questions...

I'm an electrical engineering student. AM transmission is flaky, primarily because it is transmitted on a lower frequency range. The waves that AM signals travel on bounce off of the atmosphere. The problem is that the region of the atmosphere that those signals bouce off of go through slight makeup changes between the night and day. AKA, you might be able to pull in a signal during the day that is not there at night or vice versa.

The reason I go into this is because you have to understand that you just might not be able to pull in an AM signal in certain areas at certain times no matter what you do.

With that being understood, try the antenna the guy above mentioned. The AM antenna (which comes with all new radios) is the black plastic square. The ideal setup is to try to wrap the black wire it comes with around the circle at least once (more if possible). The rule of thumb is that transmission during the day will come in best vertically and at night horizonally.

If you don't get anything with that, you have two options. The first is to pick up some standard wire and increase the length of the black cable attached to the antenna. Just make sure you keep the wires attached correctly if you cut them (pos to pos and neg to neg). Best to cut and attach one at a time to not make a cross wire mistake.

The second option is a larger TV style antenna. Most of them (available from Radio Shack) are designed for TV transmission but will also pick up AM. The attachment to your radio is pretty basic and should be explained in the instructions.

The last option (and the one I suggest) is to scrap the AM/FM bands anyway and go with XM. It is largely cost dependant, but AAR comes in clear as a bell and well worth the monthly cost.

Sorry if any of this was unreadable. I was up all night watching the fiasco.

Yet it's behavior is still dictated by the laws of physics. AM is akin to shortwave radio and as such they behave in a similar fashion.

TV antennas make lousy AM radio antennas. Loop antennas like Roark mentioned have good gain but are highly directional so if it's not pointed in the right direction it doesn't do much.

Personally I use a 50' length of speaker wire under the eves, out the bedroom window. With that I can get AM stations from Mexico Hawaii,Guam and the Philipines from Oregon. On most nights I can get nearly everyone west of the rockies.

But then I'm insane, & I check broadcast stations off a list when I id them.

BCB DXing is FUN! and it's getting towards winter again, prime season!

But It's AM ferrite antenna is internal only. Believe it or not, Both my NAD & Onkyo stereo receivers do better AM than the Grundig, but only with a good ant. & ground.

The grundig rocks for a $99 (on sale) as a direct tune shortwave. Wish I could afford the equipment to play with the big boys.

"But then I'm insane, & I check broadcast stations off a list when I id them."

Good lord. THATS hardcore. ;)

For clarification, some of the TV style antennas come desgined to pick up the AM (and the FM) range. The fifty feet of speaker wire sounds pretty cool. I'm gonna try that now.

I really can't recommened XM enough though. Its really great - and with the large diversity of channels you aren't forced into listening to corporate white noise all day and night.

(quoting Harrad)

I used to do that when I was in high school. No, I didn't have a social life; why do you ask?

I gave up on that years ago. I can't believe it's much fun now, with Clear Channel owning so many stations. Back when I was DXing, at least all the stations sounded different.

The subject of which radio is best for receiving long distance transmissions often arises among radio enthusiasts. One popular radio among that crowd is the General Electric Superadio. Here's a website for it:

GE Superadio

It would help if the radio you want to use has a terminal to which you can attach an external antenna. A suitable external antenna is available at Radio Shack. Radio Shack sells a radio that resembles the GE Superadio, but it is not the same. Maybe, though, as has already been suggested, you're just too far away to get the station reliably.

I do not own a Superadio. I wouldn't mind having one, just to see what they're all about.

Edited to add: sure enough, there's a Yahoo! group.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SuperadioIII/

Here's a link to a commercial website. This is not an endorsement of this dealer specifically. You can find the radio all over the place, for pretty much the same price.

Universal Radio

Another respondent to this thread, Harrad, brought up shortwave radio. You know, if you don't already have one, it might not be a bad idea to get a shortwave receiver now. If you rely only on what is broadcast in this country, you're really not getting the whole story.

There was a thread at DU about shortwave two weeks ago, and I recall the prevailing attitude was "Shortwave Rocks!" I concur. Now, more than ever, I wouldn't want to be without it. I know Michael Powell wants to wipe out shortwave reception with BPL ... oh, there I go again.

Hey, more links:

RadioIntel

Beginner's Guide to Medium and Shortwave DXing

Don't be specific, just a city/town will do. I can find coverage maps and tell you if there's a chance of getting AAR at night.

Then we'll discuss how you can get it better.

I live 70 miles from Chicago and more than 600 from Detroit. I get WBBM and WOR most any time I want.

The radio station is 760 but I don't know the call letters. It comes from someplace north of Denver, near Boulder. Thanks.

760 KKZN in Thornton, CO.

50,000 Watts Daytime, DA (directional antenna)
1,000 Watts Night, DA

Here's the daytime coverage map:


And here's the night-time map:


Bummer.

Looks like indoor reception after dark would not be easy.

Do some google-surfing. Luckily, listening to AM stations from far away is a large hobby, and there's a TON of info out there on how-to.

Good luck!


BTW, I listen to WJR from Detroit. WOR is in NYC...I think it's only about 300 to WJR, too....

Oh, well, what the hell. I'm doing good to remember what RADIO is today!

:yourock: