AM Radio Reception

Submitted: Sunday, Oct 03, 2010 at 10:32

Member - Two and a half Myles

Hello,
I was driving through remote WA (near Karijini) recently frantically trying to tune the radio in to AM so I could listen to the footy. After an hour or so driving around and scanning through all frequencies it was obvious that I wasn't going to pick anything up. When I pulled up next to another vehicle at a camp ground I was surprised to hear the guy next to me had crystal clear AM reception on the same frequency that I was listening to static. Neither of us knew the reason why.

Can someone tell me what I need to have fitted to improve AM reception before summer starts and cricket is on the radio!

I have a GME UHF radio and have fitted a new antennae to suit that. Is it as simple as upgrading to a bigger/better antennae to improve reception of broadcast signals?



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AnswerID: 432024   Submitted: Sunday, Oct 03, 2010 at 10:52

Member - bungarra (WA) replied:

I have had a similar experience to you...........I am sure that some after market radios are better than some of OEM that are fitted..

but I have had a significant improvement by fitting a seperate antennae on the bull bar with a long removable whip and running its lead through to the cab

Fitted a short extension (1m) on the OEM radio so that the bayonet fitting where the original now plugs in can be reached easily.....so when wanting a better reception I simpy unplug the factory lead and plug in the one from the bull bar whip and the result is a significant improvement

when in town I remove the long whip and use all as standard

VKS 737: Mobile/Selcall 1714

Life is a journey, it is not how we fall down, it is how we get up.
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FollowupID: 702843   Submitted: Sunday, Oct 03, 2010 at 11:19

Member - Russnic [NZ] posted:

So Collingwood are the WORLD CHAMPIONS for the year. :-0 :-) Ha Ha.
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AnswerID: 432031   Submitted: Sunday, Oct 03, 2010 at 11:49

Member - John and Val replied:

Most AM radios have poor sensitivity - deliberately so, and not nearly as sensitive as in the "good old days".

When camped, simply extending the aerial by attaching a few metres of insulated wire to it will drag in much more signal. Not much help when the vehicle is moving, but throwing the wire up into a tree when stationary will give very much improved reception.

Cheers

John
J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein
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FollowupID: 702858   Submitted: Sunday, Oct 03, 2010 at 17:55

Member - John and Val posted:

I was a bit rushed when offering the above.

Typically, car radios are spec'd at 20 microvolts or worse - adequate in cities where most people use them, but pretty inadequate in the bush. (They provide adequate performance with 20 microvolts or more of signal from the aerial.)

To get really good long distance results you need a sensitive radio. We've opted for a Degen DE 1103 for remote use. It's a portable (non car) radio capable of tuning the usual AM and FM bands, plus the "short wave" bands up to 30 MHz. Spec'd at 1 microvolt on AM, with narrow/wide bandwidth (narrow reduces noise on very weak signals) it also handles SSB that might be of interest if you want to listen to VKS737 and similar. As mentioned below, there are other portable radios offering this sort of sensitivity too. Don't know of any car radios that do.

Cheers

John
J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein
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FollowupID: 703027   Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 06, 2010 at 02:57

Pete Jackman (SA) posted:

Another vote for the Degen here. They are a great little radio.
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AnswerID: 432035   Submitted: Sunday, Oct 03, 2010 at 12:12

Member - Boobook replied:

Your GME and it's antennas aren't going to help at all.

There are 4 ways to get better reception on AM

1)Get a better radio with better reception sensitivity. As the previous poster says your OE radio is probably not up to what you need. A good option is a Sony high end portable. ( 7600 etc) or replace the radio in the car with one that is sensitive.

2)reduce noise. Are you getting engine noise etc? Use some supressors. This is a bit of a black art and trail and eorr to some extent.

3)Better and bigger antenna. The standard antenna is probably 1.2m tall. When you are stationary clip an few additional meters ( 3 - 4) to it.

4)Listen at night...

I think professional installers ( especially country ones can help you). Don;t let anyone sell you a digital radio. It wont help in remote areas.

200 with 2012 Tvan Canning
VKS Mobile 1128
HF Radio Club 0888
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AnswerID: 432050   Submitted: Sunday, Oct 03, 2010 at 18:05

anglepole replied:

It sounds to me you have a faulty radio or most probably a faulty aerial/connectors/lead.

I do not know how old your radio is but some older types need the antenna trimmer adjusted. Could be as simple as that.

I would get it checked out by a competent car radio place, it is annoying to buy a new radio to discover the aerial lead/aerial/no earth and so on is the cause.

Cheers
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AnswerID: 432051   Submitted: Sunday, Oct 03, 2010 at 18:09

triode replied:

Hello,
If you have internet connection or an iphone and are within phone coverage you can connect to radio stations on line. I have a dgen portable am, fm and short wave radio in which I connect a length of wire to and throw it over a tree branch. You can also as suggested connect your wire to your car antenna . 10 or 20 feet is ample. The am reception is always better at night for long distance listening. You can get a list of AM and FM radio stations on the net on google.
cheers.
Triode
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AnswerID: 432183   Submitted: Tuesday, Oct 05, 2010 at 20:32

Lex M (Brisbane) replied:

Does anyone know of a portable radio that has an external aerial connection that works on AM?
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FollowupID: 703032   Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 06, 2010 at 07:42

Member - John and Val posted:

Yes - the Degen mentioned above is one.

Cheers

John
J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein
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FollowupID: 703042   Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 06, 2010 at 09:37

Lex M (Brisbane) posted:

Is this not correct?

"Out of the box, they offer an AM/SSB tuning range of 100kHz to 30MHz in 1kHz steps, using either the 0.9m whip aerial or an external aerial for HF, and the ferrite loop aerial for MW & LW."
Came from http://ukradio.info/Degen/
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FollowupID: 703045   Submitted: Wednesday, Oct 06, 2010 at 10:02

Member - John and Val posted:

Lex,

Not sure on that one - Although I often add an external aerial to the car radio, I've never had the need to use one for AM on the Degen. The instruction manual refers to using an external aerial to supplement the little whip on SW and FM which does tend to imply that it's not used on LW and AM. I'd be suprised though if there's no provision for it. This is one very impressive radio - in fact its one significant downside is the advanced drivers license needed to make full use of it!

Cheers

John

J and V
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein
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AnswerID: 432197   Submitted: Tuesday, Oct 05, 2010 at 22:31

get outmore replied:

dont forget there is no am radio in that area at all, my car radio is averadge and i couldnt get am around there

its for that reason all the towns near there broadcast radio in FM only
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