A.M. Radio Antenna for Tuners

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by ZB79, Aug 4, 2020.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. ZB79

    ZB79 Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Fountain Valley
    So back in the day, a little wire and no problems.
    Today with routers - wireless - blue tooth- Death Ray (just kidding :)
    Quality and reception not good.

    What do you use or recommend.

    Thanks.
     
  2. Uglyversal

    Uglyversal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney
  3. Joel S

    Joel S Forum Resident

    Sneaky Pete and Tullman like this.
  4. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    50-100 feet of longwire installed outside, with proper lightning arrestor.
     
    The FRiNgE and ZB79 like this.
  5. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    Most receivers come with a loop antenna which is fine for receiving local AM stations. Note that on some tuners, this loops forms part of the tuned circuit, so it is required to be connected even if you intend to use a longwire antenna.

    The Terk AM Advantage is an excellent indoor antenna, great for receiving distant stations. The disadvantage is that you need to retune it whenever you switch to a different frequency.

    Also note that amplified AM/FM antennas are normally only amplified on FM, so their AM performance is usually no better than the aforementioned standard loop antenna.
     
  6. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    Homebrewed is what a friend uses. Camping he strings a 50' wire, literally this stuff AM Antennas | C. Crane Company
    I'm not sure there's really better than the loop, and then the "North Slope" [Alaska] tuning coil which wow has gotten pretty pricy at $119. What are you using for a tuner? As in automotive, I think AVRs have probably costed out any smidgen of AM performance whatsoever...
     
    ZB79 likes this.
  7. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    That Terk AM advantage that is sold by C. Crane linked on the above post works great. I have one.
     
    ZB79 likes this.
  8. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found

    Location:
    AZ
    Is it powered, and have a power adapter? (my Terk FM antenna is powered).

    Also, do you notice a big improvement in the AM reception over the cheap loops that come with most gear? My home AM reception is bad just like the OP's. I have outdoor FM antenna's (actually two) but need something to bridge that works well for AM until I get around to installing outdoor AM (which may be never).
     
  9. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    It is not powered but you do have to tune it into the station. There is a wire to plug it into your antenna terminal but it can also work if you just put it next to a small desktop AM radio. I don’t know how it works but it does. It’s much better than a plain loop.
     
    TheVinylAddict likes this.
  10. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Innocent Bystander

    This. The higher the better, and the longer the better. Years ago I had a 100' longwire on the peak of my house, after dark in Baltimore I regularly listened to upstate New York, Chicago, and once in a while even west of the Mississippi.:righton:
     
    The FRiNgE and McLover like this.
  11. Doug G.

    Doug G. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, MN USA
    Turn off all the digital stuff.

    :D

    Doug
     
    The FRiNgE and sotosound like this.
  12. ZB79

    ZB79 Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Fountain Valley
    Additionally - Grew up with a

    Nederlands Grammofoon Genootschap

    had a 100ft copper wire outside with lightning arrestor. (ah the good ol days! :)
    I have a Trek for Fm works great.
    I'm using a old sharp boom box for great AM that dials in up North and South from where I'm at about 100- 300 miles. But it's bulky and a hassle.
    I'm using a Yamaha Tuner ( Goodwill find) that has fine tuning for my small set up.
    I can turn off my digital feedback machines , but can't do anything about the neighboring apts and complexes.

    Cheers
    ZB79
     
  13. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    If you don't have space for a directional long wire, then a loop antenna is for you. The best of all AM loop antennas is the Kiwa air-core loop, they're a bit technical to operate, and long out of production, but they occasionally appear on Ebay.
     
  14. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    If you don't have powerful AM stations nearby, a long wire antenna can bring in stations from overseas, as well as most of North and Central America, and the Caribbean.
     
    moonshiner likes this.
  15. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    My power at home has been out since 1 PM Tuesday due to Tropical Storm Isaias, and it's made for some great AM radio listening -- no electrical interference!
     
    The FRiNgE and ti-triodes like this.
  16. ti-triodes

    ti-triodes Senior Member

    Location:
    Paz Chin-in

    Good luck. Half of my neighborhood is still out. We never lost power even though we lost a lot of tree branches around our power line.
     
    vwestlife likes this.
  17. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    They claim the power should be restored by 11:30 PM tonight. They did finally restore power to the center of town today, and clear several roads that were blocked by fallen trees. I saw utility trucks from Indiana here in NJ helping get the work done.
     
  18. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    i never had good luck with any indoor amplitied antenna of any kind for any band. always had great success with a long wire strung the length of the attic.
    i am betting that a typical am loop antenna would also perform well in the attic.
     
  19. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    My first radio gig was my hometown AM station. We lowered our power at night, but we did have this big advantage: the transmitter location was grandfathered-in, to sit our tower into the riverbed. That helped our signal get out further than was normally-allowed.
     
  20. Doctor Fine

    Doctor Fine "So Hip It Would Blister Your Brain"

    Outdoor longwire is best but be careful!
    Birds get caught in them because they don't see them.
    Hanging wire across your yard into a tree is definitely a bad idea.
    Just below the top edge of your roof is better for the birds as they won't try to land on that spot.
    I did a number on a great white owl one night 50' up in a tall oak tree.
    Called the Bird Sanctuary and it took the guy hours to save the owl.
    He had to climb the tree like a telephone lineman using cleats in his boots.
    That giant owl had some BIG talons and I have no idea how the guy escaped without being clawed.
    What a mess.
    Gave them all the money I had to say thanks for fixing my screwup.

    Plug if you ever get hit by lightning you will be sorry.
    Lightning arrestors only do so much.
    I have seen lightning jump the arrestor and burn a house down.
    Totally disconnecting the wire during storms was the best I could do and even then the wire still scared me half to death.

    I have tried the C Crane indoor/outdoor powered antennas but had three of them and they all stopped working after a couple months.
    Tunable "accessory" loops like the Alaskan Pipeline types help but the static is pretty bad.
    A home made antenna "loom" on a pole that turns would be pretty good but talk about ugly.
    Terks and little loops and such are pretty limited in comparison.
    Nothing is as good as a long wire.
    Of course nowadays you can get most AM radio over the internet with no static.
    It's a lot better signal and quite safe by comparison.
    Sure I miss the old days as much as anybody but some things I just don't use any longer.
    Not trying to be a nervous Nancy---just wanted to let you know my experience.
     
    The FRiNgE likes this.
  21. vwestlife

    vwestlife Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    ZB79 likes this.
  22. Doctor Fine

    Doctor Fine "So Hip It Would Blister Your Brain"

    This thread caused me to re-examine my own options for an indoor window AM antenna.
    These are a simpler alternative to trying to build a safe UL approved outdoor antenna where grounding and lightning arresting become a very serious issue.
    And all the other gripes I mentioned previously.

    In a previous post I detailed my own forays into an indoor window FM antenna setup or two.
    But AM?
    Forgot all about it.
    So.
    Indoor .
    Window. (so it can pick up through the glass better than a solid wall).

    The Terk AM Advantage works pretty well in my window sitting on a convenient ledge.
    It needs some zip cord extension to make for a neat install---but overall the thing works OK within limits.
    And it is tunable so that helps.
    Terk AM Advantage
    Just spent a pleasant hour checking up on AM blather using my own Terk Advantage (it was found in my storage room under some junk, practically unused).
    Hooking it back up and fooling with it got me all excited which is what this hobby is all about.
    Whoopee!
    AM!
     
  23. ZB79

    ZB79 Active Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Fountain Valley
    Great responses;

    Ground is in issue that has come up about getting good reception moreover;

    Most of this falls into nostalgia with me.

    Having the benefit of an ol’ Blaupunkt that had short wave, I was able to hear BBC and various AM stations when there was no corporate programming ownership,
    (It all sound the same wherever you’re at).

    While listening to a San Diego station that has a weekly 30’s -50’s programming. Home some great comedies.

    I guess it’s trying to go back to the past but, (as with many hobbyist) :),

    Just can’t get into the whole internet radio thing, I’ve listen to some wonderful programming from around the world,
    listening to internet radio and the occasional pod cast but there’s something to the whole stereo - radio paradigm.

    I can read a book on my computer but it’s not the same as a hard bound book just like a computer with a DAC might sound great
    but I don’t get the same kick as an ol’ iron horse receiver/amp. I guess it’s a generational thing. (I like Stereos) ;)
    I guess I'll rig up some computer/stereo hybrid so I can go back.


    Cheers;
     
  24. teched87

    teched87 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Floral Park, NY
    [​IMG]

    A single run of 18 ga. speaker wire (i.e., split the 2-conductor cord in half), wound around an empty Q-tip plastic box. (Plus, the lip around the edge of the Q-tip box supports the thing if you wedge it into where a shelf meets the wall.)

    Works great with my Onkyo tuner. I made it because I bought the tuner for $10; when I went looking for a cheap am loop antenna, the cheapest I could find was $8. I thought it would be insane to essentially double what I had paid for the tuner cause I needed to stick a piece of wire on the end, so I made the loop myself. Cost of materials: zero. The lack of any ferrous material in the middle seems not to be a problem. I am in a major metro area, so of course I have strong signals coming in, I'm not saying this is a dx antenna or anything, but it works pretty well.
     
  25. Doctor Fine

    Doctor Fine "So Hip It Would Blister Your Brain"

    Since becoming "shamed" into re-hooking up actual antennas and DX-ing for some over the air radio---I understand completely.
    There is something "magical" about voices coming to you from out the "darkness" of the airwaves.
    My computer in comparison is just an appliance.
    It is not "magic" the way an old fashioned radio signal can be...
     
    ZB79 likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine