messing with a car radio
 

I have an 80s model delco am/fm radio. I'd like to attach an external
long wire AM antenna, an external FM antenna, and rig something up so
I can listen to it with headphones at bedside.

Questions:

1. What do I need to do/build the headphone connection? Can I put
something together using the car radio speaker wires?

2. Is it possible to hook up the long wire antenna without getting too
complicated? Can I use the antenna plug on the radio in some way, or
will I have to get inside the box? I don't know a lot about
electronics. I have a soldering iron and have fixed the occasional
loose wire on things around the house, but not much more than that.

Or should I just forget it and buy a portable receiver? I mainly want
to listen to AM talk at night and a particular FM college station in
the next town. I read on several posts about using a car radio
because of the AM reception.

I've also thought about buying a used Grundig receiver, in particular
the S350. I think having the option of listening to shortwave might
be fun. Does this thing put out good audio via headphones?

Thanks.

"ellisc" wrote in message
m...

1. What do I need to do/build the headphone connection? Can I put
something together using the car radio speaker wires?

You can use the speaker wires, however, the audio used to feed the speakers
will be amplified, and will probably overdrive your headphones. You'll need
to find a way to match the headphones to the speaker output.

2. Is it possible to hook up the long wire antenna without getting too
complicated? Can I use the antenna plug on the radio in some way, or
will I have to get inside the box? I don't know a lot about
electronics. I have a soldering iron and have fixed the occasional
loose wire on things around the house, but not much more than that.

It should be easy to connect a random wire antenna to the jack of the car
radio. Just solder the plug onto the wire antenna. I think they use
Motorola type plugs as a standard. However, an antenna that is good for the
AM broadcast band won't necessarily be good for the FM broadcast band.
However, as you stated below, you just want to listen to an FM station in
the next town, so a random wire antenna will probably work OK.

Or should I just forget it and buy a portable receiver? I mainly want
to listen to AM talk at night and a particular FM college station in
the next town. I read on several posts about using a car radio
because of the AM reception.

Well it all depends on if you're looking to do it easy, or if you want the
challenge of making it work. If you're looking for a technical challenge
then the car radio will fit the bill. You'll need to match the headphones
to the speaker output, attach an antenna, and find a way to power it from
12VDC, either from a battery or power supply. It would be fairly easy to go
buy a decent AM/FM radio for DXing (GE Superradio comes to mind).


--
Tom Sevart N2UHC
Frontenac, KS
http://www.geocities.com/n2uhc

"ellisc" wrote in message
m...

1. What do I need to do/build the headphone connection? Can I put
something together using the car radio speaker wires?

You can use the speaker wires, however, the audio used to feed the speakers
will be amplified, and will probably overdrive your headphones. You'll need
to find a way to match the headphones to the speaker output.

2. Is it possible to hook up the long wire antenna without getting too
complicated? Can I use the antenna plug on the radio in some way, or
will I have to get inside the box? I don't know a lot about
electronics. I have a soldering iron and have fixed the occasional
loose wire on things around the house, but not much more than that.

It should be easy to connect a random wire antenna to the jack of the car
radio. Just solder the plug onto the wire antenna. I think they use
Motorola type plugs as a standard. However, an antenna that is good for the
AM broadcast band won't necessarily be good for the FM broadcast band.
However, as you stated below, you just want to listen to an FM station in
the next town, so a random wire antenna will probably work OK.

Or should I just forget it and buy a portable receiver? I mainly want
to listen to AM talk at night and a particular FM college station in
the next town. I read on several posts about using a car radio
because of the AM reception.

Well it all depends on if you're looking to do it easy, or if you want the
challenge of making it work. If you're looking for a technical challenge
then the car radio will fit the bill. You'll need to match the headphones
to the speaker output, attach an antenna, and find a way to power it from
12VDC, either from a battery or power supply. It would be fairly easy to go
buy a decent AM/FM radio for DXing (GE Superradio comes to mind).


--
Tom Sevart N2UHC
Frontenac, KS
http://www.geocities.com/n2uhc

"Tom Sevart" wrote in message
...

"ellisc" wrote in message
m...

1. What do I need to do/build the headphone connection? Can I put
something together using the car radio speaker wires?

You can use the speaker wires, however, the audio used to feed the
speakers
will be amplified, and will probably overdrive your headphones. You'll
need
to find a way to match the headphones to the speaker output.

This is easily done with a resistor divider... I'd put a load
for the speaker, too. This would look like an 8-ohm 20W
resistor (RatShak sells 'em) across the speaker leads, with
a 500ohm pot across that... your h-phones are tapped
from ground to the center wiper of the pot. Adjust for taste.
__
Steve
KI5YG
..

"Tom Sevart" wrote in message
...

"ellisc" wrote in message
m...

1. What do I need to do/build the headphone connection? Can I put
something together using the car radio speaker wires?

You can use the speaker wires, however, the audio used to feed the
speakers
will be amplified, and will probably overdrive your headphones. You'll
need
to find a way to match the headphones to the speaker output.

This is easily done with a resistor divider... I'd put a load
for the speaker, too. This would look like an 8-ohm 20W
resistor (RatShak sells 'em) across the speaker leads, with
a 500ohm pot across that... your h-phones are tapped
from ground to the center wiper of the pot. Adjust for taste.
__
Steve
KI5YG
..

ellisc wrote:

I have an 80s model delco am/fm radio. I'd like to attach an external
long wire AM antenna, an external FM antenna, and rig something up so
I can listen to it with headphones at bedside.

Questions:

1. What do I need to do/build the headphone connection? Can I put
something together using the car radio speaker wires?

2. Is it possible to hook up the long wire antenna without getting too
complicated? Can I use the antenna plug on the radio in some way, or
will I have to get inside the box? I don't know a lot about
electronics. I have a soldering iron and have fixed the occasional
loose wire on things around the house, but not much more than that.

Or should I just forget it and buy a portable receiver? I mainly want
to listen to AM talk at night and a particular FM college station in
the next town. I read on several posts about using a car radio
because of the AM reception.

I've also thought about buying a used Grundig receiver, in particular
the S350. I think having the option of listening to shortwave might
be fun. Does this thing put out good audio via headphones?

Thanks.

It would be easier to buy a normal radio. For AM a CCRadio or GE
Superadio 3 would work. The best FM reciever there is is the Tivoli
Audio Henry Kloss Model One, but be prepared to plunk down mucho dinero
for one ($100 last time I checked) and it's not that great on AM. I'd go
with a SR3, or you can try to get an SR2, which some think had better
build quality, but since it's (obviously) an earlier, out of production
model it's hard to find.

ellisc wrote:

I have an 80s model delco am/fm radio. I'd like to attach an external
long wire AM antenna, an external FM antenna, and rig something up so
I can listen to it with headphones at bedside.

Questions:

1. What do I need to do/build the headphone connection? Can I put
something together using the car radio speaker wires?

2. Is it possible to hook up the long wire antenna without getting too
complicated? Can I use the antenna plug on the radio in some way, or
will I have to get inside the box? I don't know a lot about
electronics. I have a soldering iron and have fixed the occasional
loose wire on things around the house, but not much more than that.

Or should I just forget it and buy a portable receiver? I mainly want
to listen to AM talk at night and a particular FM college station in
the next town. I read on several posts about using a car radio
because of the AM reception.

I've also thought about buying a used Grundig receiver, in particular
the S350. I think having the option of listening to shortwave might
be fun. Does this thing put out good audio via headphones?

Thanks.

It would be easier to buy a normal radio. For AM a CCRadio or GE
Superadio 3 would work. The best FM reciever there is is the Tivoli
Audio Henry Kloss Model One, but be prepared to plunk down mucho dinero
for one ($100 last time I checked) and it's not that great on AM. I'd go
with a SR3, or you can try to get an SR2, which some think had better
build quality, but since it's (obviously) an earlier, out of production
model it's hard to find.

tommyknocker wrote in message ...

It would be easier to buy a normal radio. For AM a CCRadio or GE
Superadio 3 would work. The best FM reciever there is is the Tivoli
Audio Henry Kloss Model One, but be prepared to plunk down mucho dinero
for one ($100 last time I checked) and it's not that great on AM. I'd go
with a SR3, or you can try to get an SR2, which some think had better
build quality, but since it's (obviously) an earlier, out of production
model it's hard to find.

The superradio isn't fm stereo, is it? I want stereo for fm listening.

tommyknocker wrote in message ...

It would be easier to buy a normal radio. For AM a CCRadio or GE
Superadio 3 would work. The best FM reciever there is is the Tivoli
Audio Henry Kloss Model One, but be prepared to plunk down mucho dinero
for one ($100 last time I checked) and it's not that great on AM. I'd go
with a SR3, or you can try to get an SR2, which some think had better
build quality, but since it's (obviously) an earlier, out of production
model it's hard to find.

The superradio isn't fm stereo, is it? I want stereo for fm listening.

"ellisc" wrote in message
m...
I have an 80s model delco am/fm radio. I'd like to attach an external
long wire AM antenna, an external FM antenna, and rig something up so
I can listen to it with headphones at bedside.

Questions:

1. What do I need to do/build the headphone connection? Can I put
something together using the car radio speaker wires?

2. Is it possible to hook up the long wire antenna without getting too
complicated? Can I use the antenna plug on the radio in some way, or
will I have to get inside the box? I don't know a lot about
electronics. I have a soldering iron and have fixed the occasional
loose wire on things around the house, but not much more than that.

Or should I just forget it and buy a portable receiver? I mainly want
to listen to AM talk at night and a particular FM college station in
the next town. I read on several posts about using a car radio
because of the AM reception.

I've also thought about buying a used Grundig receiver, in particular
the S350. I think having the option of listening to shortwave might
be fun. Does this thing put out good audio via headphones?

Thanks.