Beginner DXing AM help needed!

[dovidgreen]

Hi all!

I was hoping to find some help on this forum - my dad was a big time SW Dxer - back in the day even helped start a ppl on 160meters... anyway, he died this past year and to 'honor' him I'm trying to help my son just DX on AM radio... we live far away from my hometown but close enough in theory to get some of the sports/radio channels... I have an old grundig S350 - and watched a youtube about making my own loop antenna (which I did with a tissuebox and about 30 ft of copper wire). I even bought a variable capacitor online https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077T8YYFL?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title to try to attach - but it doesnt seem to work - One station is about 10 miles away an is 1000w, and the other is 70 miles away and is a clearchannel 50k. Any helpful suggestions (also the variable capacitor - it has three prongs and I'm not sure how to connect it to the antenna).... I've attached the antenna to the radio- i've left it unattached and brought the radio close... still nothing.

Any guidance would be a huge help, thank you! Just trying to 'connect' with my dad a bit

 

[trentbob]

My understanding is you're a beginner and you want to listen to AM radio DX. First advice is keep it simple.

You will want an old table top radio or portable radio you can find on the internet that's going to have a Ferrite Rod antenna. That's inside the radio itself, it's coiled wire wrapped around a rod or maybe in a circle on the back panel inside the radio.

It's something that you do late at night. Many radio stations on the am band that are low wattage quit at sundown, others go off at midnight, what you are left with is high wattage Clear Channel Big City radio stations but without all the interference of the smaller low wattage radios.

You can find older shortwave radios that have digital readout or a slide rule dial and you just slowly go up and down the dial.

The picture I show has a loop antenna that has copper wire rolled in it that produces a long length. You press it up against the side of the radio that has your internal antenna and tune it to the frequency you are listening to. You can also rotate the radio itself and improve reception.

You will find a lot of drifting where one city comes in clear for a while and another city you lose it all together but high watt stations are in most major cities, I listen to buffalo, philadelphia, new york, Charlotte etc etc. I use a shortwave radio that has an external copper wire that is grounded and attached to the radio.

If there's a telescopic antenna on an old portable AM/FM or table top that's for FM radio and won't help with AM radio. If you have an old AM FM radio hanging around have fun tonight.

There is an overnight show Coast to Coast AM, have fun

 

[dovidgreen]

Thank you! I tried this set up with my grundig and a home made loop and could not get the clear channel about 70 miles away.... Or the local low powered 10 miles away ... But was able to get two stations over 200 -250.

Any suggestions? miles away

My understanding is you're a beginner and you want to listen to AM radio DX. First advice is keep it simple.

You will want an old table top radio or portable radio you can find on the internet that's going to have a Ferrite Rod antenna. That's inside the radio itself, it's coiled wire wrapped around a rod or maybe in a circle on the back panel inside the radio.

It's something that you do late at night. Many radio stations on the am band that are low wattage quit at sundown, others go off at midnight, what you are left with is high wattage Clear Channel Big City radio stations but without all the interference of the smaller low wattage radios.

You can find older shortwave radios that have digital readout or a slide rule dial and you just slowly go up and down the dial.

The picture I show has a loop antenna that has copper wire rolled in it that produces a long length. You press it up against the side of the radio that has your internal antenna and tune it to the frequency you are listening to. You can also rotate the radio itself and improve reception.

You will find a lot of drifting where one city comes in clear for a while and another city you lose it all together but high watt stations are in most major cities, I listen to buffalo, philadelphia, new york, Charlotte etc etc. I use a shortwave radio that has an external copper wire that is grounded and attached to the radio.

If there's a telescopic antenna on an old portable AM/FM or table top that's for FM radio and won't help with AM radio. If you have an old AM FM radio hanging around have fun tonight.

There is an overnight show Coast to Coast AM, have fun
View attachment 191263

 

[trentbob]

Thank you! I tried this set up with my grundig and a home made loop and could not get the clear channel about 70 miles away.... Or the local low powered 10 miles away ... But was able to get two stations over 200 -250.

Any suggestions? View attachment 191264miles away

Well all I can say is get rid of your homemade Loop. With this radio is there an internal am antenna or are you attaching a wire or your homemade Loop.

Come to think of it I have owned that particular radio and I think you have to attach your own wire, to the AM antenna terminal. It's a long time since I had that radio and I think I had a rotating am antenna on the top of it. I just can't remember anymore.

If there is an internal ferrite rod in that radio just ditch your homemade Loop, get it away from all the wires, try different locations in your room and rotate it to improve reception.

It's funny I owned that radio and I just can't remember anything about it. I've been getting rid of a lot of stuff.. again look for a tabletop radio for an AM/FM portable that does have an internal antenna.

The height of my AM dxing and swl was from 1965 when I was 13 till the mid-90s. LOL

I started with 200 ft of copper wire well grounded that was outside.. we also didn't have all of the interference then from all the towers etc etc.

If you want to go to Home Depot and purchase some copper wire by the Foot you can do that and string it around your room, around the ceiling but it's important that it be well grounded. It's also going to be very noisy.

Keep it simple. I'm sure others will come in with their opinions, I'm not leaving out the old table top amfm radio with a ferrite rod antenna.

There is no Rhyme or Reason when you dx, it depends on conditions.

 

[kc2asb]

If there is an internal ferrite rod in that radio just ditch your homemade Loop, get it away from all the wires, try different locations in your room and rotate it to improve reception.

It's funny I owned that radio and I just can't remember anything about it. I've been getting rid of a lot of stuff.. again look for a tabletop radio for an AM/FM portable that does have an internal antenna.

(snip)
Keep it simple. I'm sure others will come in with their opinions, I'm not leaving out the old table top amfm radio with a ferrite rod antenna.

There is no Rhyme or Reason when you are dx, it depends on conditions.

I agree with Bob. Just try using the radio with the internal ferrite rod. Tune carefully, rotate the radio to peak the signal, and keep a log of the stations you receive. You'll be surprised that when tuned to a quiet channel and the radio is rotated, sometimes a station will just pop in seemingly out of nowhere.

I have tuned in distant AM stations on nothing more than a small pocket radio. My father gave me his early 70's vintage Panasonic AM/FM pocket radio, the one he listened to baseball games on when he took me out in the carriage when I was an infant. For such a small radio, it pulls in distant stations almost as well as some larger portables.

Also, as Bob mentioned, reception conditions vary from day to day. Sometimes, a station you can hear one day will not be there the next.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[dovidgreen]

I agree with Bob. Just try using the radio with the internal ferrite rod. Tune carefully, rotate the radio to peak the signal, and keep a log of the stations you receive. You'll be surprised that when tuned to a quiet channel and the radio is rotated, sometimes a station will just pop in seemingly out of nowhere.

I have tuned in distant AM stations on nothing more than a small pocket radio. My father gave me his early 70's vintage Panasonic AM/FM pocket radio, the one he listened to baseball games on when he took me out in the carriage when I was an infant. For such a small radio, it pulls in distant stations almost as well as some larger portables.

Also, as Bob mentioned, reception conditions vary from day to day. Sometimes, a station you can hear one day will not be there the next.

Good luck and have fun!

Thank you both! Oddly, the radio gets much worse reception without the external antenna.... I'm wondering if the Internal one might simply be busted. I have no idea if that's an issue that happens with these radios.

Well keep plugging away! Thanks for the ideas!

 

[trentbob]

Thank you both! Oddly, the radio gets much worse reception without the external antenna.... I'm wondering if the Internal one might simply be busted. I have no idea if that's an issue that happens with these radios.

Well keep plugging away! Thanks for the ideas!

Number one give the exact model number of the radio I think there were a few different manufacturers and variations, you may not have an internal AM radio antenna. I had a variation of that radio but it had a ferrite bar antenna on top of the radio that you could rotate.

If you have AM antenna terminals on the back of the radio, Maybe with a red clamp and one with a black clamp take any wire and touch the red terminal and if you hear an improvement on AM radio then that's where your external antenna is going to go. Any telescopic antenna isn't going to make any difference. That's for other bands like shortwave.

If you want Google the model radio that you have and look at the owner's manual and see if it has its own internal am antenna.

 

[trentbob]

Okay, that is a Grundig S350 and it does have an internal ferrite bar antenna for am reception only.

 

[dovidgreen]

Okay, that is a Grundig S350 and it does have an internal ferrite bar antenna for am reception only.

Yeah, so I'm wondering why it's barely picking anything up on its own... And improved greatly when I put the copper wire into the red clamp. I'm wondering if the ferrite rod is just broken/not working

 

[PDXh0b0]

Check section 18

S350 manual

 

[kc2asb]

Yeah, so I'm wondering why it's barely picking anything up on its own... And improved greatly when I put the copper wire into the red clamp. I'm wondering if the ferrite rod is just broken/not working

Sorry to hear about your continued reception issues. It is strange that reception is poor off the internal ferrite rod. I'm not familiar with the Grundig, but does it have a switch for internal vs external atenna? Most portables I've come across do not, but it's worth a look.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

 

[trentbob]

Yeah, so I'm wondering why it's barely picking anything up on its own... And improved greatly when I put the copper wire into the red clamp. I'm wondering if the ferrite rod is just broken/not working

Yes that is strange it should be working fairly well. AM radio is subject to a lot of interference. You may have a nearby source of interference, do you live near any towers?

Not sure why the internal antenna is not working properly but experiment, take the radio out of the environment you're in. Maybe take it outside. Take it for a ride to the other side of town and sit in a park and try it out.

That is the radio I owned and I was confusing the rotating am antenna on top with another radio. I remember the internal ferrite rod working okay but attaching a an external antenna to the red clip is going to improve performance. A copper wire might do better for you.

I unfortunately am getting ready to leave for a doctor's appointment but should be back later today.

Your situation might be environmental, try different environments.

Over the years, like when I lived in a dorm room I used to use copper wire antennas outside with a insulator and a jumper that went to the radio.

I would secure the end of the copper wire to a rock and throw it over a tree branch. Remember to ground the radio to the black clip.

Keep at it.

 

[kc2asb]

Thank you! I tried this set up with my grundig and a home made loop and could not get the clear channel about 70 miles away.... Or the local low powered 10 miles away ... But was able to get two stations over 200 -250.

Any suggestions? miles away

Reading this through again and had a thought.......since you were able to get two stations over 200 miles away, it sounds like the loop might be doing the job.

Have you tried tuning to the clear channel or the local low power station and rotating the homemade loop? If not, give it a shot. The loop might be oriented in such a way that those two stations are nulled out.

 

[MiCon]

You didn't say how old your son is, or if he has any interest at all in AM DXing, or radio at all, so I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to accomplish. However ........

As has been mentioned, try to keep it simple. Most 'tips' have already been mentioned. An external antenna will usually provide a vast reception improvement over an internal antenna, but it doesn't have to be elaborate. A simple wire strung along the ceiling might be a big help, but your radio does need to be equipped with a connection for an external antenna (unless you're capable of connecting the external antenna internally yourself).

The internal antenna is directional, thus the tip about rotating the radio for best reception.

Evening, night, and early morning are prime times for AM DXing. Using only a portable radio and it's internal ferrite core antenna, I've logged stations 1,200 miles away at night. But, as mentioned, station signals fade in & out. It might be there one moment and gone the next. And you might hear so many signals one one frequency that you can't legibly make out any one of them.

As a source of identifying stations you hear, try Radio-Locator.com. Most stations identify within a few minutes of on-the-hour, but some don't use their call letters, just their moniker. Also, listen to the ads, and traffic & weather reports, they might give the general location of the station.

Patience is a requirement for any DXing.

Good hunting.
<>< Mike

 

[ka3jjz]

If you are really interested in getting into MW DXing, there are clubs that are devoted to the hobby. Assuming you are in the US there are 2 - the International Radio Club of America and the National Radio club. Both are excellent places to get tips and things about the hobby.. Both have a great reputation in the hobby. There are other clubs, too...

MW DXing and Broadcasting - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Mike

 

[Boombox]

If you want to build a MW loop that works, about 110 feet of wire wrapped around a plastic milk crate will work. You clip the ends of the loop to a tuner capacitor with alligator clips, and it should work. I made one of those in 2011 and still use it a lot. I got the milk crate at a box store, in the home goods section of the store, where they have stuff for storage.

Being that you have the variable capacitor, you just need some more wire to get about 110 ft, and the milk crate. With MW tunable external loops, the larger the loop, the better.

 

[dovidgreen]

If you want to build a MW loop that works, about 110 feet of wire wrapped around a plastic milk crate will work. You clip the ends of the loop to a tuner capacitor with alligator clips, and it should work. I made one of those in 2011 and still use it a lot. I got the milk crate at a box store, in the home goods section of the store, where they have stuff for storage.

Being that you have the variable capacitor, you just need some more wire to get about 110 ft, and the milk crate. With MW tunable external loops, the larger the loop, the better.

Yeah I bought a 100ft wire and thought I'd need only half of it... so I may try to get the longer wire and 'start over' with the loop wire. thanks for the suggestions - is there a major difference in the size of the 'loop' or hole? meaning right now I have it over a tissue box, but would upgrading to the 'milk carton' size box make a big difference if the wire length is the same in both?