AM radio reception

Has anyone devised an antenna that will provide good AM radio reception in an RV?  The supplied loop antennas just don't cut it.
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Are you talking the AM radio in the dash or the AM radio in a surround sound system?

An AM radio typically uses a "long wire" antenna. The loop is for FM.  Does your radio have an AM antenna jack or screw/lug connector? If so, you can add several feet of antenna wire and string it out somewhere.

My experience is that practically nobody make a good home radio anymore.  Most are just junk!  A few years ago I broke down and bought a nice Grundig.  It works great and has a telescopic antenna.   

We are not carrying it with us on this trip.  As it turns out, most car radios do a pretty good job.  That is on advantage of a MH over a TT, you have a good radio built into the dash board.

    You did not say for mobile or stationary operation. Below is based on my using it while driving.

    I'm a talk radio listener and drive 6-10 hours a day. Having Listened to different radios in different vehicles, I felt that radios out of upper end autos offered better reception than the  ones usually found in RV's and that focus more on sound than reception.

    I purchased a used Jeep radio and mounted it by my CB. I connected it to an antenna within 8'. I have had good luck with this combination when traveling, even in the sparse states of the southwest.

    The only other thing I might suggest is coax to the roof and then a wire from the front of the roof to the rear, avoiding the a/c's. This, of course, would be directional and could get snagged by low hanging branches. In all cases, make sure you have a good ground for any antenna you use even if you have to run a dedicated ground wire down to the frame.

RV Roamer said:

An AM radio typically uses a "long wire" antenna. The loop is for FM.  Does your radio have an AM antenna jack or screw/lug connector? If so, you can add several feet of antenna wire and string it out somewhere.

Click to expand...

There are two styles of AM radio antennas common on "House" type radios.. One is the old ferrite rod, this is a powdered metal rod (IRON) with wire wound around and around and around it.. It is a tuned coil to roughtly 1MHz (1000 KHz)

It is further tuned by the radio as you turn the knob.

The other is a flat cardbord thing with loop after loop of wire glued to it's face

Both are rather poor antennas

now if you really want great AM.. let's see 1MHZ is 300 meters, so take a wire about 75 meters long, more or less

one end you stake in the ground with a proper ground rod.. Then you take 2 turns around whichever antenna is on your radio, and then you run it at least 15 feet up in the air (So people can drive under it)

Of course the campground will complain about you stringing it over trees (usually)

And which direction you run it will affect reception (Strongest off the sides, same as the batwing)

And if anyone in the park is using a MSW inverter... Forget AM completly

Allow me to join this debate, I'll try to dredge all my the info I go by regarding AM reception.

  All this assumes you have an in-dash, fairly good quality radio with a standard antenna. The standard automobile fender type (about 4' long) or the rubber duckey type on the roof ( about 8-10" long). Also assumed is that the cable is in good shape in either case.

  I will rule out any AM reception with an in-house type stereo system. My thinking is....forget it. Save that for when being stationary.

  AM radio stations are located all over the country. The big boys that carry most talk radio stations are located primarily in large metropolitan ares (big or medium size cities). Some are even on FM, but few.

  When you are in the boonies you'll be lucky to get a few lo-power stations. Great if you like farm reports, religious programs and sometimes great or not so great music.

  I have found that the big boys hi-power stations, fade out after about 50 miles from the transmitting antenna (In daytime). What happens then is that powerline noise, alternator and misc. other interfering signals will make listening a pain. Time to hit the Search button.

  I live in a fringe area for all of the above (except lo-power stations listed above). My favorite station is on FM, only about 40 miles away. Depending on the weather, propagation paths, sunspot cycles and whatever else affects reception. When that signal fades a multitude of other station creep in and overpower the wanted signal. Not much can change that with antenna selection.

  My AM reception from big stations 60-70 miles away is virtually zilch, even with a wire antenna; only the noise level goes up. I suppose that the actual signal strength at your location is the big factor. I live at a high point in Florida, so I am not in a geographical hole, and have tried many times. I am using a special radio, digital, the best sensitivity and capture radio I could find.

  Crossing the Great Plains in an RV, you can go for hours without a desirable signal. I have done that many times...I live with it.

In a congested areas like Florida there are many (FM) frequencies shared, hence most FM stations are limited to power output.

  I think my rant is long enough. Feel free to ask questions.

Carson FL





   

Carson,

If you want to listen pretty much anywhere get an old Motorola car radio from about 1950 or so and enjoy almost everywhere!!

Now to reality,

A change to the RV antenna to the auto type  does wonders for receptions especially along with a good AM coax to that antenna, preferably one long piece with NO junctions along the way.  Then change the radio to a high quality AM HD radio and it will improve even more.  We  did all these things except the new coax last year in CA before coming home.  We were able to get our programs almost everwhere except in the bottom of canyons as we drove through norhern CA, OR, WA, ID and western MT.  Many times we did have to manually tune as the search button would skip over "good" stations.

I do turn off the inverter charger as it makes a real racket on AM and to fix it just cost too much since it is not in the design of the inverter charger.  Add-ons for RF interference reduction can get expensive so it is easier to turn off the offending items.  The solar charger is also a problem but I haven't added a switch for that yet as it does not interfere with my FM Ham radios.  I'll get serious about that when I start using the HF radios in the MH next year.   

What is this "A M" radio you guys are referring to??    ;D

Boy, I haven't listened to AM in so long I can't even remember.  I'm not sure I know how to get it to play on my radios.  Very cool reading this thread though.  Ahhhh, the memories.

Jim,  such memories..

get an old Motorola car radio from about 1950 or so

Click to expand...

  In 1950 my radio still had tubes and a vibrator to generate plate voltage.

  Compared to radios today...they were terrible...Did you forget that?  ;D


  I have about 14 radios in my home and cars*... guess I like radios.  It's in the genes... ;D


* 3 ham radios...3 car radios...3 entertainment radios and 5 portables (most still work) ...sounds like overkill to me.

  Can you beat that?

Carson FL  92.8?

The radio I am referring to is a Sony bookshelf unit installed in my fiver ,which uses a loop antenna with the two leads going to connections on the back of the radio.  FM for music is great, but I like to listen to "The Savage Nation"!

See my reply.. I have the same antenna on my Pioneer by the way

Like I said, 75 meters of wire (Less will work) loop twice around the loop, one end to a ground rod, the other end over trees.

NOTE; you likely can get by with a wire the length of your rig, bring it in, loop as described and run to chassis.

But no matter what antenna you use a nearby MSW inverter till kill AM big time.

OH, turning that loop so the flat side faces the station.. Might help too. (or perhaps the edge, depending on a few things.)

I gave up on the dash radio years ago, too much noise from the inverter.

Now I subscribe to a bunch of podcasts and loaded them on an ipod at first, then switched to an ipad. This has a bigger screen, making it easier to change "channels".

Thanks for the answers folks.  Today I decided to play with it a bit, and found a solution that worked.  The antenna connections at the back of my radio form top to bottom are  1.  FM antenna, 2 ground, 3 ground and 4 AM antenna.  I jumpered together the 2 grounds, then connected the existing whip antenna lead to the AM connection, then jumpered it to the FM connection.  Works great!