Newbie Question
 

I'm not an amateur radio guy or anything like that. I recently bought
a Kaito KA1103 Worldband Radio, mainly to get better reception of AM
stations. I sometimes like to listen to discussion shows at night and
the local selection is limited. The reviews seemed to indicate that
the radio has good AM discrimination, etc. Well, so far it doesn't
seem to be any better than my little 20 year old Sony Walkman radio.
I've also scanned through the short wave frequencies and found
nothing, but that was not my main reason for getting the radio.

The radio came with an "antenna" that seems to be one big loop of wire
with a plug at one end that goes into the radio and a plastic clip at
the other end. I'm not sure what to do with it and have read somewhat
contradictory advice on the internet. Nothing that I have tried has
resulted in any better reception. I also see somewhat inexpensive loop
antennas advertised.

Any suggestions for improving AM reception would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.

Newbie Question
 

pixel_a_ted wrote:
I'm not an amateur radio guy or anything like that. I recently bought
a Kaito KA1103 Worldband Radio, mainly to get better reception of AM
stations. I sometimes like to listen to discussion shows at night and
the local selection is limited. The reviews seemed to indicate that
the radio has good AM discrimination, etc. Well, so far it doesn't
seem to be any better than my little 20 year old Sony Walkman radio.
I've also scanned through the short wave frequencies and found
nothing, but that was not my main reason for getting the radio.

The radio came with an "antenna" that seems to be one big loop of wire
with a plug at one end that goes into the radio and a plastic clip at
the other end. I'm not sure what to do with it and have read somewhat
contradictory advice on the internet. Nothing that I have tried has
resulted in any better reception. I also see somewhat inexpensive loop
antennas advertised.

Any suggestions for improving AM reception would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.

First, the external antenna is intended for shortwave, so that's not
going to help.

The reviews I read stated that AM was quite good, better than some
radios that I know are good, but that the AC adapter is quite noisy. If
you are using that, try running just on batteries.

If that doesn't work out for you, locate a GE Superradio or go C Crane
site and get a CC Radio. The CC Radio is the best I've ever used that
has straight AM detection and costs less than $300. Their site is
www.ccrane.com.

good luck
tom
K0TAR

Newbie Question
 

pixel_a_ted wrote:
I'm not an amateur radio guy or anything like that. I recently bought
a Kaito KA1103 Worldband Radio, mainly to get better reception of AM
stations. I sometimes like to listen to discussion shows at night and
the local selection is limited. The reviews seemed to indicate that
the radio has good AM discrimination, etc. Well, so far it doesn't
seem to be any better than my little 20 year old Sony Walkman radio.
I've also scanned through the short wave frequencies and found
nothing, but that was not my main reason for getting the radio.

The radio came with an "antenna" that seems to be one big loop of wire
with a plug at one end that goes into the radio and a plastic clip at
the other end. I'm not sure what to do with it and have read somewhat
contradictory advice on the internet. Nothing that I have tried has
resulted in any better reception. I also see somewhat inexpensive loop
antennas advertised.

Any suggestions for improving AM reception would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.

It looks like the original model CCRadio that I own has been replaced by
the CCRadio-2.

tom
K0TAR

Newbie Question
 

"pixel_a_ted" wrote in message
...
I'm not an amateur radio guy or anything like that. I recently bought
a Kaito KA1103 Worldband Radio, mainly to get better reception of AM
stations. I sometimes like to listen to discussion shows at night and
the local selection is limited. The reviews seemed to indicate that
the radio has good AM discrimination, etc. Well, so far it doesn't
seem to be any better than my little 20 year old Sony Walkman radio.
I've also scanned through the short wave frequencies and found
nothing, but that was not my main reason for getting the radio.

The radio came with an "antenna" that seems to be one big loop of wire
with a plug at one end that goes into the radio and a plastic clip at
the other end. I'm not sure what to do with it and have read somewhat
contradictory advice on the internet. Nothing that I have tried has
resulted in any better reception. I also see somewhat inexpensive loop
antennas advertised.

Any suggestions for improving AM reception would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.


Hi "Ted"

If you wanted AM stations in the 0.5 to 2 MHz band, you might be happy
with a tuned loop. I went "overboard and made a big multiturn loop that can
be located outside but tuned and rotated from inside, It gets too
complicated to both rotate and tune a big, outside AM Loop antenna. But,
that really works well for reception of AM radio from long distances. You
might find something in this site http://www.mindspring.com/~loop_antenna/

Jerry KD6JDJ

Here what you ight consider doing;
The additional wire should, hopefully, increase the signal you capture. If you have window close to where you listen to your radio, stretch the wire around the room , at the highest level you can INDOORS. I use cup hooks to supend the wire. This will improve the shortwave signals. To improve the MW signals in the AM band, do some researach at some of the Yahoo groups on MW natennas and it has much more infor mation than I can list here. The 1103 is good portable, but DO NOT hook it up to an outside atenna. It will overload and you will get false signals everywhere. A good loop antenna or a Select-Tenna will improve the MW section. Hope this helps. Email me if you have questions. KE5LDO.

Newbie Question
 

On Jun 29, 4:09*pm, pixel_a_ted
Any suggestions for improving AM reception would be greatly
appreciated.
___________

Medium-wave AM reception can be difficult in an indoor environment due
to shielding provided by nearby wires and especially from the steel
frame of a building. Radio noise from light dimmers, touch lamps etc
nearby (yours and/or your neighbors) can limit AM reception, also.

This Kaito radio has a built-in ferrite antenna that is used for AM
broadcast reception. It is directional with best reception when the
longest dimension of the radio is perpendicular to the direction to
the station it is receiving. The telescopic whip is used for short
wave and FM broadcast reception, only.

According to the Operation Manual at http://www.ccrane.com/instruction-ma...1103-radio.pdf
, this radio needs a field strength as high as 1 mV/m on the AM
broadcast band. That is rather high, but some of the 50,000 watt AM
stations like WJR (760), WLW (700), KMOX (1120) etc can produce
nighttime fields that high or higher over wide areas of the US.

The "Local/DX" switch probably should be in the DX position when
listening to distant stations, unless you are located close to an AM
station with a very strong signal at your location (experiment).

You might take your radio outside to see if reception improves. If it
does you may need to use an external MW antenna such a "long wire" or
the C. Crane unit at http://www.ccrane.com/antennas/am-an...m-antenna.aspx
.. Unfortunately, the Crane antenna costs more than you paid for your
Kaito radio, probably.

RF

Newbie Question
 

tom wrote:
The CC (Crane) Radio is the best I've ever used that
has straight AM detection and costs less than $300.

I read rave reviews so I bought one and the display
failed. I only use the memory channels now. It's
also not any better than my Yacht Boy 400.
--
73, Cecil, IEEE, OOTC, http://www.w5dxp.com

Newbie Question
 

Cecil Moore wrote:
tom wrote:
The CC (Crane) Radio is the best I've ever used that has straight AM
detection and costs less than $300.

I read rave reviews so I bought one and the display
failed. I only use the memory channels now. It's
also not any better than my Yacht Boy 400.

Sorry to hear that. Mine is running strong at about 10 years old.

Never played with a Yacht Boy. My experience with Grundigs is with the
smaller/cheaper models which aren't impressive and the giant ones that
are way too expensive for the performance they give. The big ones
aren't bad, but not close to the performance of what I could buy a used
amateur rig for the same price, so I've stayed away.

tom
K0TAR

Newbie Question
 

On Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:54:34 -0500, Cecil Moore
wrote:

tom wrote:
The CC (Crane) Radio is the best I've ever used that
has straight AM detection and costs less than $300.

I read rave reviews so I bought one and the display
failed. I only use the memory channels now. It's
also not any better than my Yacht Boy 400.

The display in my original CCRadio failed, too -- I sent it back to
the Crane folks and they put in a new display for $25, one that has
much better longevity, they say. Still going strong after several
years.

Bob
k5qwg

Newbie Question
 

Bob wrote:
The display in my original CCRadio failed, too -- I sent it back to
the Crane folks and they put in a new display for $25, one that has
much better longevity, they say. Still going strong after several
years.

Thanks Bob, maybe I should do that.
--
73, Cecil, IEEE, OOTC, http://www.w5dxp.com

Newbie Question
 

On Jun 29, 4:09 pm, pixel_a_ted
Any suggestions for improving AM reception would be greatly
appreciated.
___________

I have employed a certain technique with success. It takes a longwire
antenna, preferably strung high and clear. Bring the free end of the wire
into the house and wrap it around the radio about a dozen times and then
ground the end. You have wound a crude RF transformer. If you have hum or
buzzing, you may be able to cure it by repositioning the longwire.

You might not know how the rod antenna is mounted inside the case;
experiment to get the optimum improvement. In a radio with a big case, you
can locate the antenna rod with any remote control. Simply hold the remote
control at different places around the radio and press a button. Where the
remote makes the most noise, that's where the rod is. You can test a remote
for dead/alive this way, too.

I have also opened up a radio, wound a small coil (again, just a few turns)
around the antenna rod and brought the two ends out of the radio, grounding
one and connecting the other to the longwire antenna in para 1.

Properly employed, this absolutely works.

When I was in the Navy on a ship in Pearl Harbor, my longwire antenna was
the telephone wiring for the ship. I got a few clicks and pops from dialing
pulses, but I also got to listen to AM radio in my bunk. A small cap
isolated the phone's DC. On another ship, I had a single piece of hookup
wire that ran out on deck through a convenient door near my berthing
compartment and I wrapped it around some piping on deck. I was questioned
about it a few times, but I got to keep it. (It's good to be the Chief.)

Best ever was my office desk on the aircraft carrier Oriskany. I snaked a
coax cable up near the top of the island structure to the antenna patch
panel of the meteorologists. I shared their 35' whip through an SRA-12
band-splitting filter. (They never used the BCB outputs, anyway.) I
bummed my very own patch cord from the radiomen, coded it with yellow tape
and asked the meteorologists if they minded that I added a patch cord to
their patch panel. They didn't. (It's good to be the Chief.)

With the weather-guessers' whip, I got KNX-1070, Los Angeles between Hawaii
and Guam, about 3700 miles. (Wish I'd sent them a reception report but I
didn't; I called the bridge and got our LAT/LONG.)

Sal

Newbie Question
 

Thanks all for the comments and suggestions. I appreciate you taking
the time to answer.

Newbie Question
 

Sal M. Onella wrote:
On Jun 29, 4:09 pm, pixel_a_ted
Any suggestions for improving AM reception would be greatly
appreciated.
___________

I have employed a certain technique with success. It takes a longwire
antenna, preferably strung high and clear. Bring the free end of the wire
into the house and wrap it around the radio about a dozen times and then
ground the end. You have wound a crude RF transformer. If you have hum or
buzzing, you may be able to cure it by repositioning the longwire.

You might not know how the rod antenna is mounted inside the case;
experiment to get the optimum improvement. In a radio with a big case, you
can locate the antenna rod with any remote control. Simply hold the remote
control at different places around the radio and press a button. Where the
remote makes the most noise, that's where the rod is. You can test a remote
for dead/alive this way, too.

I have also opened up a radio, wound a small coil (again, just a few turns)
around the antenna rod and brought the two ends out of the radio, grounding
one and connecting the other to the longwire antenna in para 1.

Even easier is using a flat piece of plastic sheet (from an old bleach
bottle or something similar) perhaps 1" x 3 or 4". Wind it full of
hookup wire held in place by duct tape. One end of the winding to
ground and the other to an end fed wire antenna which is highly unlikely
to be a longwire. Tune in a distant Medium Wave signal with the
built-in antenna then begin moving the new winding about on the back of
the radio's case until the signal peaks up. Either tape it in place or
use a couple of pieces of Velcro to attach it to the back of the receiver.

Dave K8MN

Newbie Question
 

Bob wrote:
The display in my original CCRadio failed, too -- I sent it back to
the Crane folks and they put in a new display for $25, one that has
much better longevity, they say. Still going strong after several
years.

Out of the blue, I just received this email from C.Crane Co.

"I read online that you have a display problem with your CCRadio. Upon
looking into your account I can see it is a CCRadio Plus which is far
easier to put our newer display technology into than an original
CCRadio. In fact we can do this at no charge. We would only need you
to send the radio to us. We take care of shipping the radio back to
you. John Wilder, Customer/Product Support, C. Crane Company, Inc."
--
73, Cecil, IEEE, OOTC, http://www.w5dxp.com

Newbie Question
 

Cecil Moore wrote:
Bob wrote:
The display in my original CCRadio failed, too -- I sent it back to
the Crane folks and they put in a new display for $25, one that has
much better longevity, they say. Still going strong after several
years.

Out of the blue, I just received this email from C.Crane Co.

"I read online that you have a display problem with your CCRadio. Upon
looking into your account I can see it is a CCRadio Plus which is far
easier to put our newer display technology into than an original
CCRadio. In fact we can do this at no charge. We would only need you
to send the radio to us. We take care of shipping the radio back to
you. John Wilder, Customer/Product Support, C. Crane Company, Inc."

WOW!

Now that's customer support.

I am officially impressed.

tom
K0TAR