How to Improve your radio's AM FM & SW Reception

In this episode of Tuner Tips I explore three items to help extend the reception of your portable radio.
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Overall the best investment for me was the FM/SW wire antenna. Inexpensive and has enormous potential on picking up more of those fainter signals. The Loop has become a secondary tuning tool for my AM radios. Some of my radios are benefiting very well with this device.

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[johnacord]

I live in a tin box. The AM wavelength won't go through the windows. FM radio does. I made a coil of 22 GA insulated stranded wire one end to a 102" CB whip I had for years. The other end to earth ground. I am able to pull in stations as far North as Seattle and far East at Omaha. The key to any radio reception is a decent antenna.

[jamesbarclay]

Hey! I made one of these loopers when I was a Boy Scout in the 1960s. Later, Radio Shack sold an AM one and it was moderately popular. I still have mine.

[dutchbeef]

What an utterly delightful and magical thing that tecsun loop antenna is

[cjespers]

Thanks for the video. Read your bio, reminded me of my youth, started with cats whisker, moved to a diode, then the rocket radio, and heathkit Gr-64 kit.
Then after a hiatus cb, and finally a ham license. Good times.

[marlinus]

I got this radio delivered today. I took it outdoors tonight and wow! It did extremely well on FM, AM and SW. It sounds great for it's size and honestly in my opinion it outprformed my Retekess V115, at least in my location. The headphones sounded great as well. For the price, I highly recommend. It might not compete with a higher end radio more expensive but I am very pleased. It would be nice to have a lighted dial, but otherwise it's a win for me.

[sdne]

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Just ordered the FM extender for a "problem" radio I've been dealing with for MANY years.

LOVE the very simple "installation", and even if it ends up not being the exact solution to my problem, WELL worth the "risk" at only $6.99, including shipping!

THANK YOU very much for making me aware that a great (from all indications) product like this even exists!

.

[zy]

I have been using the tecsun loop for sometime now, even with my scanner, and believe me the difference it makes is amazing, I never thought of using 2 of them, but will have to try that now ... thanks for a interesting vid

[tomjones]

The Tecsun loop has helped me null out horrible static from our satellite receiver box and improve my listening considerably on my favorite daytime and nighttime AM stations! Thank God! Early evening listening has been very frustrating lately but now the problem is solved. It boosts the weak daytime station a lot when I go into another room away from the static so these things do work very well for their size. It also helps to null the static and make the daytime station listenable in my room when I turn it at an angle and tune it off frequency. I was also able to pull in 710 KEEL out of Shreveport today and normally I can`t hear it at all here near Alexandria over 100 miles away and this was INDOORS!

[Buglet]

This video proves, one can always learn something. I've got 2 loops. I've never thought of using the loop's tuner to help null an adjacent station. I've always treated the null as something to avoid & went right for the signal enhancement aspect.

[tomweickmann]

When I was a kid back in the early to mid 70s I ordered a Spy Pen Radio, I think either from Honor House or Johnson Smith.
Germanium diode, with a clip I could attach to the window frame or anything grounded, the "pen" tip slid in and out for tuning.
Great late night listening from Boise I could pick up Night Sounds from Elgin Illinois.
Came with a crystal earphone piece that was popular in many devices and you could also buy at Radio Shack (remember them?).
Sparked a healthy interest in electronics for many of my generation.
Hard to find a good walk in electronic parts store these days.
And the ferrite a cheap radio into a power house instantly.
Highly recommend C. Crane Company.

[whitneywilliams]

Thank you! 🙏 I have a tradition of listening to FM radio specifically at Christmas time so that I can hear the local Christmas station. But I live in a 100-year-old solid plaster house and we can barely pick up a signal. So hopefully this will work for us!

[AEZAEZEL-]

I have bought a XHDATA D808 Shortwave radio together with a DESHIBO GA-450 Active Loop Antenna which works very well on Shortwave. I highly recommend the DESHIBO GA-450 Loop Antenna Thanks for making this video and sharing it!👍

[sincerelyyours]

I've had the Grundig version of the AN-200 for years. Works a treat, but it can overload the antenna inputs of some radios when the included wire lead is attached. Inductive coupling, however, works fine. Did not know about the other two antennas. Will keep an eye out for them. Same with the Tecsun 9012 SW receiver. It gets good reviews online and is available at the usual sources for under $25.

[pokepress]

I wanted to thank you for covering the Tecsun loop antenna. I bought one a few years ago, and recently it’s come in handy for getting better audio for the AM audio AI enhancement model I’ve been working on. The transmitter I have is so low power that I’ve needed extra help to get the best results.

[philiphexter]

I've just got a Tecsun AN -7 antenna extension, and am impressed. I live in a block of flats and reception is very poor. With the extension I could get 23 SW stations in my kitchen and 32 in the communal garden, which is surrounded by buildings. It cost $9.95 0n eBay UK, Similar hits on FM.

[wfs]

Just ordered the Kaito from Amazon. Thank you!!!

[benmeyer]

3:31 you explained exactly how I do it, I use an alligator clip with speaker wire going out my window that then runs along the length of my house, works well without damaging my antenna

[jaimesk]

After hunting down...and not eliminating....all the am noise sources in my house and street (found a few noisy led bulbs, swapped for quieter led bulbs). I took an interesting tack: A 4x4foot tent (kids teepee, walmart, $20) 40 ft outside the house, in the woods. With Sangean DT-200X: major improvement in sound quality (which is already very good). With SONY ICF-P26: better audio quality, many more the in-radio antenna/bar was more directional (??). So...add a bug-proof/rain-proof pup tent to the list of things to improve AM reception (near the woods)!

[Mcman-nfdz]

Another great contribution by todderbert! I just got a Kaito T-1. Thanks a lot!

[tomjones]

I solved the satellite box static in the house. It was the box in my room. I unplugged it. Now I have no more static to deal with. I can hear 710 out of Shreveport now (over 100 miles away) and New Orleans 870 at 168 miles away using a Tecsun AN-200 loop. Anyone who`s serious about AM radio should get one of these. They have all sorts of uses from boosting signals to nulling out static in the home to nulling out other strong stations that interfere with weaker ones. They also kill display interference when using digital radios.