A very good appraisal. My experiences have been similar. I inherited one
from my grandfather who passed away 15 years go... and he had been using it
for at least 10 years before that. Well worth the $35 he paid for it back
in the '70s.

"Tony Meloche" wrote in message
...
Well, to take a slightly different view than "cuhulin":

The original "Select-a-tenna" is a good value if you are a dedicated
AM DX'er, IMO. It runs on *nothing* (completely passive) and will last
a lifetime. If positioned correctly, it is equally useful with loop or
ferrite bar antennas.
But it cannot do everything, and it does not do it's own thing equally
well in all circumstances. For example:

Nightime DX with a typical AM table radio - it is a help. It "cleans
up" distant stations perceptibly. When not DXing (just getting work
done) in the evenings, I like to listen to an AM station some 275 miles
distant. This is on an ordinary Sony tabletop stereo, hooked to a loop
antenna for AM. The Select-a-tenna cleans up the signal noticeably.

For DAYTIME DX on an AM radio, it is a HUGE help - sometimes it
borders on astonishing. I have seen it change "far fringe" (daytime) to
"local" signal quality on numerous occasions.

Generally, the more basic the AM radio, the better it works with it.
It does not "boost" the signal so much as it "funnels" the signal more
directly to the receiver. Nighttime, it makes a differnce. Daytime, it
makes a big difference.

I've owned one for years - well worth the $45 I paid for it. YMMV,
of course.

Tony