Joe McSweeney wrote:
This may not be the best pace to post this, but I figured it would be
a good
place to start. I live in Maine and am trying to get a Massachusetts
AM
station can anyone recommend a good AM radio or better alternatives
to the
regular AM antenna that comes with my AM radio from Radioshack? If
there
are other newsgroups to check please let me know.

As far as the antenna, I'd build a small loop. Small, meaning
less than a full wave, which would be huge for MW...
The good part, is you don't even need a direct connection to
the radio to use them, although you can if you want, usually
using a 2nd coupling loop. So it can be used with *any* radio.
Most smaller radios, it will be like adding a dose of steroids..
And the nulls are very sharp, so you can null out noise, or
other stations. You can build one cheap. The variable cap will
cost the most if you buy it, and you can find them in many old
junk radios, and also old stereo receivers. The ones in receivers
are usually pretty good, cuz they have multi gangs, and if you
tie them all together, you can get a pretty large value.
You can also use switches. If you wanted to tune a freq on
the upper range of the loops design, it's handy to be able
to use just a single small gang, and have a low value...
There are a gazillion designs on the web. I have one at
http://web.wt.net/~nm5k/loop5.jpg
using PVC parts you can get at any hardware, or home depot,
etc.. BTW, the loops work pretty well any time of day, but
where they really shine is in the daytime, and you are receiving
ground wave signals. I can listen all over the state, and it's
almost like being local..My main loop is a diamond, 44 inches
per side, using 5 turns of wire. I have it on a floor stand,
and it rotates. I just lean over and grab it , if I want to
change direction. MK