Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting a bit tired of it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky.

thanks !!

James

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 24, 11:55*am, "James" wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. * Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. *I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting *a bit tired of it.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 25, 9:14*am, dave wrote:
Gregg wrote:
On Apr 24, 11:55 am, *wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. * Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. *I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting *a bit tired of it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky..

thanks !!

James

This should be fun to watch:-)

I like radios with continuously variable tuning, or at least ones with 1
kHz or better resolution, so I can off-tune slightly for better
intelligibility or interference mitigation.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

IMHO - a real good radio for the BCB or listening to talk radio should
be a radio that is strictly AM. I know - I know there are some
extremely good receivers that have the SW and FM with the AM but in
most cases there are taking 'something' away to have all three modes.
The only radio I would buy that had the AM and FM for talk radio would
be one of the SR or if you can find a GE P-780 on Ebay, grab it. I
can't count how many hundreds of hours where I have the GE on and
listening to the Reds games or talk radio, it's fabulous for that.
Just my take.ducking beer bottles

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 25, 8:31*am, Gregg wrote:
On Apr 25, 9:14*am, dave wrote:





Gregg wrote:
On Apr 24, 11:55 am, *wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. * Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. *I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting *a bit tired of it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky.

thanks !!

James

This should be fun to watch:-)

I like radios with continuously variable tuning, or at least ones with 1
kHz or better resolution, so I can off-tune slightly for better
intelligibility or interference mitigation.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

IMHO - a real good radio for the BCB or listening to talk radio should
be a radio that is strictly AM. I know - I know there are some
extremely good receivers that have the SW and FM with the AM but in
most cases there are taking 'something' away to have all three modes.
The only radio I would buy that had the AM and FM for talk radio would
be one of the SR or if you can find a GE P-780 on Ebay, grab it. I
can't count how many hundreds of hours where I have the GE on and
listening to the Reds games or talk radio, it's fabulous for that.
Just my take.ducking beer bottles- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Oops - you say no analog and want presets, forget about my post then.
Let us know what you decided but you may want to reconsider it "having
to be" digital with presets, what's the big deal about turning the
knob and having to have stations preset? I never understood that,
especially for the BCB.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Gregg wrote:
On Apr 24, 11:55 am, wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting a bit tired of it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky.

thanks !!

James

This should be fun to watch:-)

I like radios with continuously variable tuning, or at least ones with 1
kHz or better resolution, so I can off-tune slightly for better
intelligibility or interference mitigation.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Gregg wrote:


IMHO - a real good radio for the BCB or listening to talk radio should
be a radio that is strictly AM. I know - I know there are some
extremely good receivers that have the SW and FM with the AM but in
most cases there are taking 'something' away to have all three modes.
The only radio I would buy that had the AM and FM for talk radio would
be one of the SR or if you can find a GE P-780 on Ebay, grab it. I
can't count how many hundreds of hours where I have the GE on and
listening to the Reds games or talk radio, it's fabulous for that.
Just my take.ducking beer bottles
My GE SRIII, bought from Ace Hardware is very good, but the tuning is so
damn touchy! I listen at night to WPHT, great evening talk shows. I am in
S. Florida, so use a Select-Tenna to weed out the Cubans who seem to infest
every channel.
Also use a CCrane with the "twin ferrite" antenna, and several restored
boatanchors, which are really the best for BCBDX!

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Gregg wrote:


Oops - you say no analog and want presets, forget about my post then.
Let us know what you decided but you may want to reconsider it "having
to be" digital with presets, what's the big deal about turning the
knob and having to have stations preset? I never understood that,
especially for the BCB.
That is what BCBDX is all about! Turning the knob to tune in that elusive
station, while the old dial light shines on the bandspread! I still use my
HQ-145XC and Lafayette HE-10, be surprised what the old radios can pull in
on a dark night!

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Gregg wrote:
On Apr 25, 9:14 am, wrote:
Gregg wrote:
On Apr 24, 11:55 am, wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting a bit tired of it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky.

thanks !!

James

This should be fun to watch:-)

I like radios with continuously variable tuning, or at least ones with 1
kHz or better resolution, so I can off-tune slightly for better
intelligibility or interference mitigation.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

IMHO - a real good radio for the BCB or listening to talk radio should
be a radio that is strictly AM. I know - I know there are some
extremely good receivers that have the SW and FM with the AM but in
most cases there are taking 'something' away to have all three modes.
The only radio I would buy that had the AM and FM for talk radio would
be one of the SR or if you can find a GE P-780 on Ebay, grab it. I
can't count how many hundreds of hours where I have the GE on and
listening to the Reds games or talk radio, it's fabulous for that.
Just my take.ducking beer bottles


I listen to Billy Cunningham on WLW via iheartradio.com

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

In article ,
"James" wrote:

Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting a bit tired of it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky.

thanks !!

James

Best for "you" to stay away from "talk radio", and save what few brain
cells you have left. As is attested to by asking about an AM radio on a
shortwave newsgroup.

If you had a shortwave radio, you may hear broadcasts from other
countries, with commentaries that don't fit into your belief system(?).
Oh, and get headphones, so that you can keep your head stuck in the
sand, and not have to deal with reality.

And why do you hate America?
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3lF5XSUg
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/HZinn_page.html

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 25, 1:44*pm, Billy wrote:
In article ,

*"James" wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. * Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. *I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting *a bit tired of it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky.

thanks !!

James

Best for "you" to stay away from "talk radio", and save what few brain
cells you have left. As is attested to by asking about an AM radio on a
shortwave newsgroup.

If you had a shortwave radio, you may hear broadcasts from other
countries, with commentaries that don't fit into your belief system(?).
Oh, and get headphones, so that you can keep your head stuck in the
sand, and not have to deal with reality.

And why do you hate America?
--
- Billy


So .... how long have you been an @$$h0le?

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

I Agree with the strictly AM radios, for AM radio only.A lot of the old,
old, old strictly AM radios are better than newer strictly AM radios.But
I guess the newer ones are AM/FM radios nowadays.
cuhulin

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 25, 5:33*pm, DEFCON 88 wrote:
On Apr 25, 1:44*pm, Billy wrote:





In article ,

*"James" wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. * Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. *I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting *a bit tired of it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky.

thanks !!

James

Best for "you" to stay away from "talk radio", and save what few brain
cells you have left. As is attested to by asking about an AM radio on a
shortwave newsgroup.

If you had a shortwave radio, you may hear broadcasts from other
countries, with commentaries that don't fit into your belief system(?).
Oh, and get headphones, so that you can keep your head stuck in the
sand, and not have to deal with reality.

And why do you hate America?
--
- Billy

So .... how long have you been an @$$h0le?

Hey! As a fellow @$$h0le, I resent that! :-D

(Obviously, Billy, you hit a nerve - good job! ;-)

Bruce Jensen

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 25, 10:01*am, sctvguy1 wrote:
Gregg wrote:
IMHO - a real good radio for the BCB or listening to talk radio should
be a radio that is strictly AM. I know - I know there are some
extremely good receivers that have the SW and FM with the AM but in
most cases there are taking 'something' away to have all three modes.
The only radio I would buy that had the AM and FM for talk radio would
be one of the SR or if you can find a GE P-780 on Ebay, grab it. I
can't count how many hundreds of hours where I have the GE on and
listening to the Reds games or talk radio, it's fabulous for that.
Just my take.ducking beer bottles

My GE SRIII, bought from Ace Hardware is very good, but the tuning is so
damn touchy! *I listen at night to WPHT, great evening talk shows. *I am in
S. Florida, so use a Select-Tenna to weed out the Cubans who seem to infest
every channel.
Also use a CCrane with the "twin ferrite" antenna, and several restored
boatanchors, which are really the best for BCBDX!

I'm going to make a point sometime this week to see if the Ace around
here has the SR and maybe pick one up. Sometimes it's hard for me to
get past the way these radios are put together. I remember when I was
going to pu the RS that touted that piece as a "long distance" radio.
The knobs and switches were loose and there was just no heft to the
piece for its size. There's no way that particular radio would have
held up to all the hours I would have used it IMO.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 25, 10:51*am, Michael Black wrote:
On Sun, 25 Apr 2010, Gregg wrote:
On Apr 25, 8:31*am, Gregg wrote:
On Apr 25, 9:14*am, dave wrote:

Gregg wrote:
On Apr 24, 11:55 am, *wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. * Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. *I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting *a bit tired of it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky.

thanks !!

James

This should be fun to watch:-)

I like radios with continuously variable tuning, or at least ones with 1
kHz or better resolution, so I can off-tune slightly for better
intelligibility or interference mitigation.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

IMHO - a real good radio for the BCB or listening to talk radio should
be a radio that is strictly AM. I know - I know there are some
extremely good receivers that have the SW and FM with the AM but in
most cases there are taking 'something' away to have all three modes.
The only radio I would buy that had the AM and FM for talk radio would
be one of the SR or if you can find a GE P-780 on Ebay, grab it. I
can't count how many hundreds of hours where I have the GE on and
listening to the Reds games or talk radio, it's fabulous for that.
Just my take.ducking beer bottles- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Oops - you say no analog and want presets, forget about my post then.
Let us know what you decided but you may want to reconsider it "having
to be" digital with presets, what's the big deal about turning the
knob and having to have stations preset? I never understood that,
especially for the BCB.

The old radios were lousy, not enough calibration marks (even when they
were accurate) and usually no logging scale. *That made it harder to get
back to a station found when tuning up and down the band. *Even something
like the R390, with mechanical digital readout, it took so many turns
of the knob (and maybe multiple turns of the band knob) to get back to
some previous station that it just wasn't great for rapidly tuning the
band. *Today's digitally tuned receivers *provide great precision in
the frequency readout, and usually make it easier to pop around, not only
is there a tuning knob (or up/down switches) but direct entry so you can
enter a few numbers and instantly get back to the general area where you
were previously tuning.

Digitially tuned radios are a vast improvement on the radios of the old
days.

* *Michael- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hey Michael, I'll just add that I don't really feel the same way as
you when you say "the old radios were lousy" or even your last
sentence. Though no doubt, there are pluses to the digital radios - if
it's really that big a deal - you can take care of that - not the
presets of course but having a digital next to you if it's that big a
deal to check the bands would suffice.

The only draw back IMO to my HQ129X was the lack of a digital readout.
I took care of that by having one added on and that was solved. IMO
much of having a specific receiver is how much skill you have in your
particular piece. I got to use the R75 for a little bit with a friend,
I had never used one before and he had never used the 129X with the
added on Q Multiplier...this was before I had the freq counter added
on.

There was nothing he heard on his piece (different antenna) that I
couldn't hear and even he said he liked the audio better on the
Hammarlund. There were two BCB stations though, don't remember what
they were specifically but one was on the most eastern part of
Oklahoma that he couldn't pickup on his receiver that I could on mine.
How much of it was that he only had been in the hobby for maybe a year
and a half and had the Icom for 6-7 months? I don't know. I just
wanted to see if the noise floor on that particular piece was lower
than mine, unfortunately I didn't get to test drive it to find out.

In closing, I really think it helps if you have your receiver
mastered, and I do with my Hammarlunds - specifically the 129X.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 25, 1:44*pm, Billy wrote:
In article ,

*"James" wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. * Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. *I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting *a bit tired of it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky.

thanks !!

James

Best for "you" to stay away from "talk radio", and save what few brain
cells you have left. As is attested to by asking about an AM radio on a
shortwave newsgroup.

If you had a shortwave radio, you may hear broadcasts from other
countries, with commentaries that don't fit into your belief system(?).
Oh, and get headphones, so that you can keep your head stuck in the
sand, and not have to deal with reality.

And why do you hate America?
--
- Billy
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arn3l...Zinn_page.html

He's just looking for a reaction...lol...check his bogus posting
history.rolling my eyes

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Gregg wrote:


I'm going to make a point sometime this week to see if the Ace around
here has the SR and maybe pick one up. Sometimes it's hard for me to
get past the way these radios are put together. I remember when I was
going to pu the RS that touted that piece as a "long distance" radio.
The knobs and switches were loose and there was just no heft to the
piece for its size. There's no way that particular radio would have
held up to all the hours I would have used it IMO.
I think that they are now re-branded RCA,but still the same radio. It is
still pretty solid, not a lightweight. The varactor tuning knob is very
touchy however. The Select-Tenna really helps null out the noise and the
interference, in addition to the ferrite rod in the radio. BTW, I picked up
an old Knight Star Roamer with a wound loop in the back of the radio. With
some tweaking of the controls, it is a good BCBDXer! Four tubes and a
selenium resistor. It was restored by a friend of mine who specializes in
old radios. I am getting overrun with old radios around here! My really
great AM DXer is my Panasonic RF-2200 with the swiveling ferrite rod, can't
beat that baby! Got it at Keesler AFB when I was stationed there in the
'80s.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Gregg wrote:


Hey Michael, I'll just add that I don't really feel the same way as
you when you say "the old radios were lousy" or even your last
sentence. Though no doubt, there are pluses to the digital radios - if
it's really that big a deal - you can take care of that - not the
presets of course but having a digital next to you if it's that big a
deal to check the bands would suffice.

The only draw back IMO to my HQ129X was the lack of a digital readout.
I took care of that by having one added on and that was solved. IMO
much of having a specific receiver is how much skill you have in your
particular piece. I got to use the R75 for a little bit with a friend,
I had never used one before and he had never used the 129X with the
added on Q Multiplier...this was before I had the freq counter added
on.

There was nothing he heard on his piece (different antenna) that I
couldn't hear and even he said he liked the audio better on the
Hammarlund. There were two BCB stations though, don't remember what
they were specifically but one was on the most eastern part of
Oklahoma that he couldn't pickup on his receiver that I could on mine.
How much of it was that he only had been in the hobby for maybe a year
and a half and had the Icom for 6-7 months? I don't know. I just
wanted to see if the noise floor on that particular piece was lower
than mine, unfortunately I didn't get to test drive it to find out.

In closing, I really think it helps if you have your receiver
mastered, and I do with my Hammarlunds - specifically the 129X.
Gregg, I couldn't have said it better myself! Digital is nice with all the
bells and whistles, but I'm sure even John Plimmer would say that it is the
antenna and the operator that make up over 90% of the listening and DX'ing!
Are you in OK? I am originally from OKC, mother, brother, daughter(and now
granddaughter) son and step-father live in Midwest City. Oh, the days in my
old room with that Sears bought S-120!

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 26, 5:01*am, sctvguy1 wrote:
Gregg wrote:
I'm going to make a point sometime this week to see if the Ace around
here has the SR and maybe pick one up. Sometimes it's hard for me to
get past the way these radios are put together. I remember when I was
going to pu the RS that touted that piece as a "long distance" radio.
The knobs and switches were loose and there was just no heft to the
piece for its size. There's no way that particular radio would have
held up to all the hours I would have used it IMO.

I think that they are now re-branded RCA,but still the same radio. *It is
still pretty solid, not a lightweight. *The varactor tuning knob is very
touchy however. *The Select-Tenna really helps null out the noise and the
interference, in addition to the ferrite rod in the radio. *BTW, I picked up
an old Knight Star Roamer with a wound loop in the back of the radio. *With
some tweaking of the controls, it is a good BCBDXer! *Four tubes and a
selenium resistor. *It was restored by a friend of mine who specializes in
old radios. *I am getting overrun with old radios around here! *My really
great AM DXer is my Panasonic RF-2200 with the swiveling ferrite rod, can't
beat that baby! *Got it at Keesler AFB when I was stationed there in the
'80s.

LOL - great post - I sense your excitement with this stupid outlandish
hobby.:-) I've always heard of the Knight Star but have never had the
priviledge to take it for a drive.

What radios do you have? Also, what state are you in if you don't mind
me asking. I've seen many a pics and writeups on your Panasonic,
definitely a Cadillac from what I gather. When is enough - enough in
having too many radios...lol.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 26, 5:06*am, sctvguy1 wrote:
Gregg wrote:
Hey Michael, I'll just add that I don't really feel the same way as
you when you say "the old radios were lousy" or even your last
sentence. Though no doubt, there are pluses to the digital radios - if
it's really that big a deal - you can take care of that - not the
presets of course but having a digital next to you if it's that big a
deal to check the bands would suffice.

The only draw back IMO to my HQ129X was the lack of a digital readout.
I took care of that by having one added on and that was solved. IMO
much of having a specific receiver is how much skill you have in your
particular piece. I got to use the R75 for a little bit with a friend,
I had never used one before and he had never used the 129X with the
added on Q Multiplier...this was before I had the freq counter added
on.

There was nothing he heard on his piece (different antenna) that I
couldn't hear and even he said he liked the audio better on the
Hammarlund. There were two BCB stations though, don't remember what
they were specifically but one was on the most eastern part of
Oklahoma that he couldn't pickup on his receiver that I could on mine.
How much of it was that he only had been in the hobby for maybe a year
and a half and had the Icom for 6-7 months? I don't know. I just
wanted to see if the noise floor on that particular piece was lower
than mine, unfortunately I didn't get to test drive it to find out.

In closing, I really think it helps if you have your receiver
mastered, and I do with my Hammarlunds - specifically the 129X.

Gregg, I couldn't have said it better myself! *Digital is nice with all the
bells and whistles, but I'm sure even John Plimmer would say that it is the
antenna and the operator that make up over 90% of the listening and DX'ing! *
Are you in OK? *I am originally from OKC, mother, brother, daughter(and now
granddaughter) son and step-father live in Midwest City. *Oh, the days in my
old room with that Sears bought S-120!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Born and bred in Cincinnati,Ohio. Oklahoma, specifically the most
eastern part was a station I was logging. I can't remember the
specific station because I couldn't get a top of the hour ID, but it
was a lower powered AM station - it was one of those that "got away"-
I had some old notes on the lowered powered midwest stations at one
time. They were talking about something going on in Stilwell and later
on mentioned a place called Sallisaw so I looked up those areas and
figured it out. Maybe one day she'll magically appear again.

I've drove through there (Okl.) before, beautiful state and ever nicer
people is what I came away with.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 26, 5:01*am, sctvguy1 wrote:
Gregg wrote:
I'm going to make a point sometime this week to see if the Ace around
here has the SR and maybe pick one up. Sometimes it's hard for me to
get past the way these radios are put together. I remember when I was
going to pu the RS that touted that piece as a "long distance" radio.
The knobs and switches were loose and there was just no heft to the
piece for its size. There's no way that particular radio would have
held up to all the hours I would have used it IMO.

I think that they are now re-branded RCA,but still the same radio. *It is
still pretty solid, not a lightweight. *The varactor tuning knob is very
touchy however. *The Select-Tenna really helps null out the noise and the
interference, in addition to the ferrite rod in the radio. *BTW, I picked up
an old Knight Star Roamer with a wound loop in the back of the radio. *With
some tweaking of the controls, it is a good BCBDXer! *Four tubes and a
selenium resistor. *It was restored by a friend of mine who specializes in
old radios. *I am getting overrun with old radios around here! *My really
great AM DXer is my Panasonic RF-2200 with the swiveling ferrite rod, can't
beat that baby! *Got it at Keesler AFB when I was stationed there in the
'80s.

Crap, I just called the nearest Ace Hardware to me and the guy checked
and said all they carry is an AM/FM clock radio and a Coby. He asked
why I thought they carried that specific radio and I explained it to
him and he said he could order it....lol...I thought "well I can order
it also."

I have a feeling it's going to take me just driving around specific
stores and looking for myself. I want to actually have it in front of
me and check everything out before I buy it. Who knows, maybe check
out a couple thrift stores that happen to be close to that Ace and see.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

sctvguy1 wrote:
Gregg wrote:


I'm going to make a point sometime this week to see if the Ace around
here has the SR and maybe pick one up. Sometimes it's hard for me to
get past the way these radios are put together. I remember when I was
going to pu the RS that touted that piece as a "long distance" radio.
The knobs and switches were loose and there was just no heft to the
piece for its size. There's no way that particular radio would have
held up to all the hours I would have used it IMO.
I think that they are now re-branded RCA,but still the same radio. It is
still pretty solid, not a lightweight. The varactor tuning knob is very
touchy however. The Select-Tenna really helps null out the noise and the
interference, in addition to the ferrite rod in the radio. BTW, I picked up
an old Knight Star Roamer with a wound loop in the back of the radio. With
some tweaking of the controls, it is a good BCBDXer! Four tubes and a
selenium resistor. It was restored by a friend of mine who specializes in
old radios. I am getting overrun with old radios around here! My really
great AM DXer is my Panasonic RF-2200 with the swiveling ferrite rod, can't
beat that baby! Got it at Keesler AFB when I was stationed there in the
'80s.

Those radios are all built in Asia by Thomson Multimedia.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Sun, 25 Apr 2010, Gregg wrote:


Hey Michael, I'll just add that I don't really feel the same way as
you when you say "the old radios were lousy" or even your last
sentence. Though no doubt, there are pluses to the digital radios - if
it's really that big a deal - you can take care of that - not the
presets of course but having a digital next to you if it's that big a
deal to check the bands would suffice.

But a lot of the old radios were lousy. Yes, if you spent a lot of money
you got good radios, but a lot of people were using low end radios. When
I got a Hallicrafters S-120A in the summer of 1971, I couldn't afford
anything better, not only was it lousy in terms of reception
(completely lacking in sensitivity, it overloaded too much, couldn't
receive SSB because the BFO was too weak, horrible backlash on the tuning,
and on and on), but for calibration it was like "well, the pointer [which
was terribly wide anyway) is closer to the 10.5MHz mark than the 10MHz
mark, and even then it might not have been on 10MHz when the pointer was
on that mark.

A lot of people had that level of radio, you just have to look at the
pictures in the old magazines.

Even when I got an SP-600 a year later, that was still fairly vague in
the resolution department, though it had a good logging scale and no
blacklash on the tuning so I could have built up a tuning scale built on
that logging scale.

Except that some analog tuning shortwave receivers are creeping in, like
the S350, you can get digital tuning at all price levels. The radios
behind those digital dials may still be lousy, but at least you can tune
in the strong signals, just like that S-120 from almost forty years ago,
but now you know what frequency you are tuned to.

An important consideration is that the circuitry is now cheap, and it's
easier to automatically solder in extra components than it is to calibrate
a dial, especially when those analog radios would all be mildly different
so all had to be adjusted to match the dial. Hand calibrating/adjustment
is costly, the extra parts for digital tuning isn't. Likewise, a ceramic
filter is cheap in large quantities, and does away with multiple IF
transformers, and the need to align them. Sometimes complicating a design
makes things easier to produce.

For AM broadcast band DXing, any old table radio was a good start, they
were sensitive enough. But they all had lousy dials, leaving that same
issue I previously explained, not being sure where you are, having
problems getting back to that previous frequency.

The Delco digitally tuned car radio I use by the bed has the best FM
reception I've seen (admittedly limited to what I've actually tried).
Good sensitivity, good selectivity, and virtually no overload. And yes,
if it hadn't been digitally tuned, I likely wouldn't have heard that
Mississippi station some years back here in Montreal, because I wouldn't
have automatically tried the not quite local station in the preset and
found reception exceptional, so I tuned the band and found that
Mississippi station and some others not so distant. And it was gone
almost as soon as it began. You want digital tuning and presets under
those circumstances, because you don't have the time to tune up and
down the dial.

Michael

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Michael Black wrote:

But a lot of the old radios were lousy. Yes, if you spent a lot of
money you got good radios, but a lot of people were using low end
radios. When I got a Hallicrafters S-120A in the summer of 1971, I
couldn't afford anything better, not only was it lousy in terms of
reception (completely lacking in sensitivity, it overloaded too much,
couldn't receive SSB because the BFO was too weak, horrible backlash on
the tuning, and on and on), but for calibration it was like "well, the
pointer [which
was terribly wide anyway) is closer to the 10.5MHz mark than the 10MHz
mark, and even then it might not have been on 10MHz when the pointer was
on that mark.


Hey, I had the Helen Keller Signature model version of the S120a.

Other than crystal radios I built as a kid, I'm not sure I've ever had
another radio with that level of performance.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

"Gregg" wrote in message
...
On Apr 25, 9:14 am, dave wrote:
Gregg wrote:
On Apr 24, 11:55 am, wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used
mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. Inclusion of a
shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. I do want digital tuning,
and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting a bit tired of
it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky.

thanks !!

James

This should be fun to watch:-)

I like radios with continuously variable tuning, or at least ones with 1
kHz or better resolution, so I can off-tune slightly for better
intelligibility or interference mitigation.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

IMHO - a real good radio for the BCB or listening to talk radio should
be a radio that is strictly AM. I know - I know there are some
extremely good receivers that have the SW and FM with the AM but in
most cases there are taking 'something' away to have all three modes.
The only radio I would buy that had the AM and FM for talk radio would
be one of the SR or if you can find a GE P-780 on Ebay, grab it. I
can't count how many hundreds of hours where I have the GE on and
listening to the Reds games or talk radio, it's fabulous for that.
Just my take.ducking beer bottles

Talk radio and sports don't mix, they preempt talk radio with
those stupid baseball games!
Now I'm ducking beer bottles
Yea, I have a couple of GE SRs too.
Mike

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

"Michael Black" wrote in message
ample.net...
On Sun, 25 Apr 2010, Gregg wrote:

On Apr 25, 8:31 am, Gregg wrote:
On Apr 25, 9:14 am, dave wrote:





Gregg wrote:
On Apr 24, 11:55 am, wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used
mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. Inclusion of a
shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. I do want digital tuning,
and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting a bit tired of
it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is
flaky.

thanks !!

James

This should be fun to watch:-)

I like radios with continuously variable tuning, or at least ones with 1
kHz or better resolution, so I can off-tune slightly for better
intelligibility or interference mitigation.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

IMHO - a real good radio for the BCB or listening to talk radio should
be a radio that is strictly AM. I know - I know there are some
extremely good receivers that have the SW and FM with the AM but in
most cases there are taking 'something' away to have all three modes.
The only radio I would buy that had the AM and FM for talk radio would
be one of the SR or if you can find a GE P-780 on Ebay, grab it. I
can't count how many hundreds of hours where I have the GE on and
listening to the Reds games or talk radio, it's fabulous for that.
Just my take.ducking beer bottles- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Oops - you say no analog and want presets, forget about my post then.
Let us know what you decided but you may want to reconsider it "having
to be" digital with presets, what's the big deal about turning the
knob and having to have stations preset? I never understood that,
especially for the BCB.


But, presets are also useful for listening to distant stations. I have
a Delco digitally tuned car radio as my bedside radio.

Michael

I have a car radio that use as my bedside radio too. I did it mostly for
the presets, much easier in the middle of the night to just push a button,
then to turn a knob. I use a pillow speaker and just recently I added a
volume control on the pillow speaker so I don't need to roll over to adust
volume.
BTW, what do you use for your antenna on your car radio? I just used a
regular
car antenna, but would like to get a better AM antenna outdoors. This brings
up several problems as the input is both AM and FM. Any idea about impedance
matching for the antenna input on a car radio?
Mike

I still have my Icom R-71a which I'll use occasionally

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 26, 12:45*pm, "amdx" wrote:
"Gregg" wrote in message

...
On Apr 25, 9:14 am, dave wrote:





Gregg wrote:
On Apr 24, 11:55 am, wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used
mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. Inclusion of a
shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. I do want digital tuning,
and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting a bit tired of
it.
Good sound, but quality control is awful, and digital readout is flaky.

thanks !!

James

This should be fun to watch:-)

I like radios with continuously variable tuning, or at least ones with 1
kHz or better resolution, so I can off-tune slightly for better
intelligibility or interference mitigation.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
IMHO - a real good radio for the BCB or listening to talk radio should
be a radio that is strictly AM. I know - I know there are some
extremely good receivers that have the SW and FM with the AM but in
most cases there are taking 'something' away to have all three modes.
The only radio I would buy that had the AM and FM for talk radio would
be one of the SR or if you can find a GE P-780 on Ebay, grab it. I
can't count how many hundreds of hours where I have the GE on and
listening to the Reds games or talk radio, it's fabulous for that.
Just my take.ducking beer bottles

* Talk radio and sports don't mix, they preempt talk radio with
those stupid baseball games!
* * Now I'm ducking beer bottles
Yea, I have a couple of GE SRs too.
* * * * * * * * * *Mike- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Ha! I don't know if you really feel that way or was just trying to get
a reaction. I'll play. ;-)
Actually here in the Nati' - talk radio preempts baseball. I feel
lucky to reside in Cincinnati for many reasons but the one I feel most
gracious for and actually take for granted is the talk radio. I'm sure
every city has talk radio but from the afternoon with Bill Cunningham
all the way through to the midnight show with Steve Somers and The
American Trucking Network - it's just real good listening and everyone
is local.

That's why I like to tune to other cities and listen to their
homegrown talent, you learn alot about those areas by their talk radio
IMO.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Michael Black wrote:


For AM broadcast band DXing, any old table radio was a good start, they
were sensitive enough. But they all had lousy dials, leaving that same
issue I previously explained, not being sure where you are, having
problems getting back to that previous frequency.

That's absurd. We were quite able to tune a 5 tube All-American from
540 to 1600 in the twist of the wrist. KTAR next to the first triangle,
KRIZ was next to the second triangle. KUPD was in the middle. Nobody
had any trouble knowing where on the dial "their" station appeared.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 27, 8:44*am, dave wrote:
Michael Black wrote:

For AM broadcast band DXing, any old table radio was a good start, they
were sensitive enough. But they all had lousy dials, leaving that same
issue I previously explained, not being sure where you are, having
problems getting back to that previous frequency.

That's absurd. *We were quite able to tune a 5 tube All-American from
540 to 1600 in the twist of the wrist. *KTAR next to the first triangle,
KRIZ was next to the second triangle. *KUPD was in the middle. *Nobody
had any trouble knowing where on the dial "their" station appeared.

I've read what Michael has said in some other posts about why he
didn't like the older radios. I couldn't really put myself is his
place because I only have experience in the specific Hammars I own and
some of my older but newer analogs. But I didn't really understand
when he said about losing your spot or however he said it.

I never had a problem finding the exact same spot after I left a
specific freq - only took a second or two - and now with the freq
counter it's exactly the same....spot on as having a digital. I know
it doesn't take long to spin my wheel and I'm there. I'm not familiar
with some of the pieces he was speaking about - maybe they just flat
out sucked and gave him a bad taste?

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Panasonic quality went to Crap! on a Panasonic RF-2600 AM/FM/Shortwave
radio I bought new at a Service Merchandise store.A few years after I
bought that radio it got to where it won't stay on station, tune in a
station and you can see the tuning knob physically move, off
station.Then, it got to where it won't turn on at all unless I wedge a
little bitty piece of something between the earphone jack and the
plastic case.
Panasonic, HUMPH!
I still have that radio too, I hardly ever use it though.
Panasonic, HUMPH!
cuhulin

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

I have some old tube type car radios.Those old AM car radios from the
1950's are some of the best AM radios.Mount one inside of a metal box
and use a 12 volt battery and you have a good AM radio to use in your
home.
cuhulin

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On 28/04/2010 1:09 AM, wrote:
I have some old tube type car radios.Those old AM car radios from the
1950's are some of the best AM radios.Mount one inside of a metal box
and use a 12 volt battery and you have a good AM radio to use in your
home.
cuhulin

Why not use one of those old CB radio power supplies? Should be plenty
of them around from the CB days. Even have one out in the garage
somewhere when the kids were into that sort of thing about 35 years back.

From memory they output around 14 volts and should have enough current
to drive an old valve radio. I might even have one of those old valve
radios around here somewhere as well.

Most of the AM stations around here are just talk radio now. Only one
worth listening to is ABC Melbourne on 774. The topics under discussion
are often quite interesting. The rest of the stations are just plain dull.

Krypsis

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

http://www.wonderbarman.com

He works on old car radios.

I used to read Gus Wilson/Model Garage stories when they used to be in
Popular Science magazines.One time Gus Wilson fixed a vibrator by
zapping it with 110 volts of electricity.
cuhulin

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 24, 11:55*am, "James" wrote:
Am looking for the best choice of a portable AM radio, to be used mainly to
listen to talk radio, both local and national stations.

Audio sound quality and decent tuner are a must. * Inclusion of a shortwave
band would be nice, but not a requirement. *I do want digital tuning, and
station presets.

Have had a CC Crane radio for five years, and getting *a bit tired of it.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On 4/27/10 13:51 , DEFCON 88 wrote:




Although it lacks synch, the Panasonic RF-3100 (no longer made) is
very nice for MW listening. It has decent sensitivity, acceptable
audio, and is just plain fun to use.


I bought one of these new when released. Still use it. Fun. Nice
performance, though not exactly a Drake. Good desktop for dragging
to the cabin.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Thanks for all the posts. I have read 43 replies, and I don't think a
single one has recommended a portable am radio, currently in production.

Maybe I am stuck with the Crane.

James

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

James wrote:
Thanks for all the posts. I have read 43 replies, and I don't think a
single one has recommended a portable am radio, currently in production.

Maybe I am stuck with the Crane.

James



I favor Sangean, not necessarily the C. Crane flavor.

I apologize for contributing to the ego spooge.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...angean&x=0&y=0

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 27, 1:28*pm, wrote:
http://www.wonderbarman.com

He works on old car radios.

I used to read Gus Wilson/Model Garage stories when they used to be in
Popular Science magazines.One time Gus Wilson fixed a vibrator by
zapping it with 110 volts of electricity.
cuhulin

That's a great link, I've spent the last hour going through his site.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

On Apr 27, 10:43*pm, "James" wrote:
Thanks for all the posts. *I have read *43 replies, and I don't think a
single one has recommended a portable am radio, currently in production.

Maybe I am stuck with the Crane.

James

Last post on the 398/909 James. Here's the actual link for the "Super
398/909."
I wished I had just bought mine from them to begin with but I got my
radio basically before they started modding them.http://
http://www.radiolabs.com/products/re...s/super909.php

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

D. Peter Maus wrote:

On 4/27/10 13:51 , DEFCON 88 wrote:




Although it lacks synch, the Panasonic RF-3100 (no longer made) is
very nice for MW listening. It has decent sensitivity, acceptable
audio, and is just plain fun to use.


I bought one of these new when released. Still use it. Fun. Nice
performance, though not exactly a Drake. Good desktop for dragging
to the cabin.
Is it as good as the classic RF-2200? My 2200 is awesome with its turnable
ferrite rod antenna, and very good calibration after over twenty years.

Best AM Radio for Talk Radio ?
 

Gregg wrote:

I'm sure
every city has talk radio but from the afternoon with Bill Cunningham
all the way through to the midnight show with Steve Somers and The
American Trucking Network - it's just real good listening and everyone
is local.

That's why I like to tune to other cities and listen to their
homegrown talent, you learn alot about those areas by their talk radio
IMO.
I agree about having LOCAL talk show hosts, I am getting so sick of the
national syndicated stuff. The local host knows the concerns of the callers
and talks about local issues along with national issues.