AM Radio Reception

[Audio Newb]

Hi all, I just set up my AVR and everything is working great except I am having a hard time getting AM radio. I really only listen to one AM station and it is only 15 miles away although I do live in a wooded/hilly area. I have connected the AM loop radio that came with the receiver, and as suggested by the owners manual, I also ran a wire outside and suspended it horizontally. I can get the station I want now, but there is quite a bit of static/noise. It is worse than what I get with my cheap old cd player/radio, and worse than what I get in my car. Am I likely getting interference from my power lines or other equipment/wires by the receiver? Is there anything I can do to fix this? I only have my horizontal wire like 7 ft above the ground. Do you think putting it higher would work? Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks!

 

[lovinthehd]

Just tuning for curiosity as last time I tried am for a baseball game had similar experience but found the game on fm and never looked back. I just stopped expecting anything am except when desperate in a car.

 

[Speedskater]

Get an old fashioned battery powered AM radio. At some other location, tune it to a quite spot near the low end of the dial. Then go back to your house and start hunting. It could be as simple as a burnt-out CFL bulb that you think is turned off. Or as tricky as a bad power company insulator.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi all, I just set up my AVR and everything is working great except I am having a hard time getting AM radio. I really only listen to one AM station and it is only 15 miles away although I do live in a wooded/hilly area. I have connected the AM loop radio that came with the receiver, and as suggested by the owners manual, I also ran a wire outside and suspended it horizontally. I can get the station I want now, but there is quite a bit of static/noise. It is worse than what I get with my cheap old cd player/radio, and worse than what I get in my car. Am I likely getting interference from my power lines or other equipment/wires by the receiver? Is there anything I can do to fix this? I only have my horizontal wire like 7 ft above the ground. Do you think putting it higher would work? Any suggestions appreciated. Thanks!

Car radios tend to be the best of the lot. The worst radios as a rule are those in receivers. I'm sure your cheap radio is the better design. Just forget about using a receiver for AM radio. It will be a frustrating waste of time.

 

[Audio Newb]

My receiver has to stay at the location it is at in the house, so it sounds like it is a lost cause? It's not a big deal, but there is one station I like to listen to so I thought it would be nice to be able to play it on my home audio system. If it's not going to work, I will just stop worrying about it though

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

If your “cheap old CD player / radio” has a headphone output jack, you could connect that to an input on your receiver. Alternately you could look into a better antenna. A search offers lots of options, some DIY and some over-the-counter.

https://www.google.com/search?q=am+radio+antenna&oq=am+radio+antann&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.5231j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[TLS Guy]

One of the problems with AM radio is that the wavelengths are so long. That means the antenna has to be long, or a big tuned one.

A straight antenna and a good ground to the radio is best. However the antenna to be 1/4 wavelength needs to be around 130 meters long.

I can remember the time before FM radio came to the UK.

I had one of these.

I was given that AM LEAK tuner after this arrived in the home.

That was an HMV FM tuner, the first one available in the UK.

Anyhow I drove a substantial ground rod and ran a wire antenna over the drive way from a window to the trees.

I could get AM stations from the SE of the UK to continental Europe, especially the Dutch stations, which was the point of the exercise.

You can make equivalent box antennas.

Quite honestly though, I have never listened to AM since I got my first FM tuner. I'm totally amazed that AM transmitters and radios still exist. They are a total waste of space and energy.

 

[MrBoat]

 

[Audio Newb]

Ok I may try just running a single wire a lot longer. I do have the room to run it longer, but not sure if I want to have one of the giant loop antennas laying around. Does the height of the wire make a big difference? Also should it be pointing towards the signal I am trying to get or perpendicular? Thanks!