Looking for best AM reception.

[LostInNewMexico]

Hi, I live in southern NM. Closest AM station about 125 miles away in ElPaso; 10KW and a few mountains away. Bought a Tecsun PL-380 last year. Spotty weak reception at best but much better than my old SONY PLL portable.

I don't care about FM, SW or any other bands. Just best performance on weak AM signals. Pocket size preferred but I will go a little bigger for a real performance increase. Must be portable. DSP, PLL or old fashioned transistors, I don't care. Willing to spend up to about $300 if necessary. If there is anything that is very good in non-current production I am still interested.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[fleef]

Degen/Kaito 1103. It is very portable- CHEAP! I've seen them at 79.00 USD- they have a big 8"(?) loopstick inside. It is the best little radio for the money for sure for AM or as we say MW. The benefit is you can use it for SW/LW/FM if you wanted to. In fact I need to pick up another one it's by far one of my favorite radios made - and I've had a few.

 

[majoco]

Make yourself a tuned loop - bigger the better. Plenty of instructions around here.....

Dave's Homemade Loop Antennas at MAKEARADIO.COM

 

[mmckenna]

GE SuperRadio. Supposed to be one of the best AM portables made.
or,
Try these guys. It sort of what they do:
AM/FM Radios - C. Crane Company (800) 522-8863

 

[majoco]

...but not the GE Superadio 3. Number 2 is the best one, but I'm not sure if it's better than the DE1103 - I haven't done a head-to-head with mine yet! The 1103 can't have an 8" ferrite rod in it, it's only 6 1/2" wide....

 

[Boombox]

In my experience, all three of the GE Superadio models are equally good, as long as they were well aligned at the factory. Some of the SR2's had audio chip issues that developed later on, and some of the later GE SR3's (and apparently most of the RCA SR3's) had poor quality tuning potentiometers. I have all three models and use my SR3 (a 1995 model) the most.

There is an excellent page on the Superadio (as well as some other MW DX radios), by a guy who has modified and fixed Superadios, and it is a good resource if you are considering buying a Superadio:

The GE Superadio Tech Page

To the original poster: I'd get an external loop, like the Terk or Eton loops, and use it with your Tecsun 380. I've read some comments by Tecsun PL-380 owners who use them with loops, and they say it's a great combination.

You could always try out the Sony SRF-59, which is a headset radio but has good MW performance, and only costs $18 at a box store. They have a big rep with some MW DXers, and they work great with external loops.

But if you really want great MW performance, a loop is the way to go -- with any model portable radio.

 

[a29zuk]

If its not too big the Sangean PR-D5 has a 200mm long ferrite rod. It's sold at Universal Radio for $79.95.

 

[ridgescan]

I may as well add the CCrane "Justice" dual coil stick. In the clip, the station is about 160 miles from my QTH and this was in the early evening. These things are impressive. But kinda pricy-what Majoco suggested is to make your own..that would be fun to do, and it would be "portable" depending upon how "on the fly" you need all this. The one in my video is portable-if you haul a 12v battery with ya but for stationary DXing it's awesome.
Twin-Coil AM Radio Antenna - YouTube

EDIT-2 on ebay now.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=ccrane+justice+twin+coil+antenna&_sop=3

 

[greeer57]

Another good radio is a CCRadio EP if you are not too close to a closest AM transmitter. Reason I said that is very strong local AM station on the upper side of the band overloads the radio badly. My CCradio EP pulls in distant AMs quite well when I am in a rural area ; it has 4 coils on its 8" ferrite bar.. Therefore, I think the EP does best where the AM towers aren't too close. Or you can use a tunable loop next to your Tecsun PL-380.

 

[k9rzz]

Another "Need BIG performance but it's got to be SMALL". Sorry, ain't gonna happen.

My question: How well can you hear them on your car radio? No portable is going to beat your car radio unless you go with some sort of external loop or wire (read: won't fit in your pocket).

Understand that the wavelengths of AM radio signals is in the order of FOOTBALL FIELDS in length. Trying to capture those with something that's just measured in INCHES is futile.

Just being realistic.

Make no mistake, we can get you to your goal, but it may be nailed down to A/C power lines.

 

[fleef]

...but not the GE Superadio 3. Number 2 is the best one, but I'm not sure if it's better than the DE1103 - I haven't done a head-to-head with mine yet! The 1103 can't have an 8" ferrite rod in it, it's only 6 1/2" wide....

Duh thank you- you're right and I am going by fantasy memories. It had a biggish rod in it.