"J&D Schnoor" ) writes:
Obviously this is off-topic because what I am looking for is not necassarily
a shortwave radio, but it may be. I am looking for an inexpensive AM/FM
broadcast band radio that is both sensitive and selective on the FM
broadcast band. My application is for using it in a barn. I am
transmitting from the house on a Panaxis ACC100S very low power on 88.1 mHz.
The transmitter and receiver will be about 150 feet apart. I am hear it
with a vehicle radio parked next to the barn. but most of my home radios
cannot hear it even with an external antenna because they hear images,
intermodulation, etc. Right now I am using an orininal C Crane Radio and it
hears it fine, but I want to use that elsewhere eventually. I am giving
some thought to finding a used GE Superadio III, but I thought I would check
hear to see if there are any other suggestions for this application. I
would like to spend under $50, if possible. Also, if there is a source for
old component receivers that would work well please advise. Some have
suggested that the Kaito KA1103 is both sensitive and selective on FM
broadcast. Also, a provision for an external antenna would be a plus.



It's not off-topic, for the simple reason that this newsgroup was never
intended to merely be about shortwave listening, but about "distant
reception" no matter the frequency.

The reason the car radio works is because car radios are generally
better designed. They have to deal with both weak and strong signals,
so they have to receive those distant stations and yet not overload
when you drive past the radio transmitters.

The average radio is often designed for "good sensitivity" with no
convern about the overload that comes with that sensitivity. Ironically,
a receiver that overloads might as well be insensitive, because while
it would no longer overload, the overloading prevents distant signals
from being received anyway.

So you get a car radio, and get or make a power supply to run it,
and that's going to beat a lot of radios. And it will be pretty
cheap, since you can get plenty of car radios at garage sales and
the like.

I've been using a Delco digitally tuned car radio as my bedside
radio for a decade, and it is one of the better AM/FM receivers I've
had. On FM, it doesn't overload, and the adjacent channel selectivity
is pretty good. AM isn't as spectacular, but it still beats a lot of
radios.

There's little sense in buying something better, given that your
problem seems to be overload rather than lack of sensitivity.

Michael