My car radio pulls in a tremendous number of AM and FM stations
compared to my bedside radio. Are there superior portable or table
top am/fm radios with digital programming and presets.

Ronald wrote:

My car radio pulls in a tremendous number of AM and FM stations
compared to my bedside radio. Are there superior portable or table
top am/fm radios with digital programming and presets.


Lots of them, but few have the performance you seek from an
*internal* antenna. Not long ago, someone posted here talking about the
tremendous reception they were getting with one of the Henry Kloss table
radios and a conventional dipole (for FM). But no presets there.

My memory of car radios goes back to the 1950's, and you're right -
they always seemed to have exceptional signal-pulling ability. An
electronic-wizard boyhood friend had an AM radio from a 1953 Buick that
he rigged with a 120AC/12vDC power supply, and with a standing whip
antenna, it got just as good results indoors as it did in the car. I've
often thought about that over the years - but pretty much all car radios
back then had great reception.

Just about the time that car radios stopped being an "extra cost"
feature, is when their overall sensitivity dropped (predictable).
That's why there is a huge trade in "aftermarket" radios for
automobiles, though most of them I have seen (there are exceptions)
emphasize FM performance 'way over AM, nowadays.

Tony


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On Fri, 14 Nov 2003 22:53:28 -0600, Ronald wrote
(in message ) :

My car radio pulls in a tremendous number of AM and FM stations
compared to my bedside radio. Are there superior portable or table
top am/fm radios with digital programming and presets.


Before you spend a buncha money, see if your local RadioShack has any of the
AM loops left. At 9.97U$, ya can't lose. (closeout price)

If you want to get a new radio, I'm one of the boosters of the CCRadioPlus
(from CCrane which is the best support I've seen in about fifteen years).

AM, FM, ch2-13 (yippee..... grin) and weather band.

The AM and FM are what makes the radio exceptional (as does the five presets
for each band and the digital tuning).

The teevee ch 2-13 is on there and - as I said - yippee - I've never used it.

The weather band is excellent //if// you have another Weather Radio which has
SANE (the thingie that means you can set the alarm for your county rather
than - around here - about a third of Mississippi and adjacent Louisiana
parishes. Of course, if you don't have weather ... nudder grin.

You can set it to "go off" (loudly) or have a little LED wink (a double-check
to a SANE radio and, also, before I go to sleep, it's nice to see the wink
and see where bad weather is.

It's pretty much the only radio in this class.

An excellent analog is the GE SuperRadio III (3). It's what I (and others)
recommend for someone who wants to listen to one station that's out of range
of whatever radio is being used. The radio is just too inconvenient - to me-
for any other reason as it's analog tuning isn't the most accurate. If I had
toi use one, I would imagine I'd be using a grease pencil on the dial face.

Stinger and I are both using the CCRadioPlus with the (also from CCrane)
Justive AM Antenna and both of us are very pleased with the combination
(however both of us got our antennas when they had a sale and the price was
50U$ - half of the normal price).

I haven't really played with FM much. I have the automatic on (for an hour)
set for NPR which is about 50 miles away and all I had to do was tilt the
built-in whip (and there's no place for FM antenna as there is for AM).

One of these days, I'll, at least, try a T-Antenna (the 1U$ 300-ohm antenna
that comes with radios that cost 500U$ grin. Also, of course, FM is between
channels 6 and 7 (US TV), so I'm thinking of trying just wrapping the whip
with the 300-ohm lead.



Gray Shockley
-----------------------
DX-392 DX-398
RX-320 DX-399
CCradio w/RS Loop
Torus Tuner (3-13 MHz)
Select-A-Tenna
RadioShack AM Loop
-----------------------
Vicksburg, MS US

Ronald schrieb:

My car radio pulls in a tremendous number of AM and FM stations
compared to my bedside radio.

And the models of either are...?

Are there superior portable or table
top am/fm radios with digital programming and presets.

For AM, not a big problem. But a really good FM part, hmm, that's
tricky, since car radios usually have excellent FM sections. Grundig's
Satellits always had very good FM sections (three cascaded IF filters!),
but are very sought after. The YB400PE and Sangean ATS-909 don't seem to
be too shabby either; DXers apparently prefer to replace the filters by
110 kHz parts in the latter. My own Sony ICF-SW7600G got 110/150 kHz
filters which greatly improved selectivity (and thus the number of
stations to be received), but it still has some trouble with front-end
overload.

Stephan
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Reply to newsgroup only. | See home page for working e-mail address.

GS,

"One of these days, I'll, at least, try a T-Antenna (the 1U$ 300-ohm
antenna that comes with radios that cost 500U$ grin. Also, of
course,
FM is between channels 6 and 7 (US TV), so I'm thinking of trying just
wrapping the whip with the 300-ohm lead."

With both the GE Superadio and teh CCRadio the 'external' Antenna and
Ground Terminals are mainly designed for AM/MW Reception. Most basic
'portable' AM/FM Radios do not have external antenna terminals or
inputs.

Using the common Folded Dipole Antenna (made of 300 Ohm TV Twin Lead)
with them becomes a matter of both HOW? & WHY?

The simpler and better solution is to constuct your own Single Wire
"T" Antenna to Clip-On to the radio's Whip Antenna for Improved FM
Reception.

* Take a 14 Foot 3 Inch piece of Insulated Wire for your Antenna Wire
Element.

* Attach a Alligator Clip to one end of the Antenna Wire Element.

* Measure and Mark-Off these points on the Antenna Wire Element from
the Alligator Clip end: 1st=34", 2nd=34", 3rd=68", and 4th=34"

* Collapse the Whip Antenna (Leave just enough of the TIP of the Whip
Antenna 'extended' to Clip-On the Alligator Clip.)

* Have three(3) plastic Push-Pins: Ready to Use.

* Attach the Alligator Clip to the TIP of the Whip Antenna.

* Find the 1st=34" Mark and stretch-out the Antenna Wire Element to a
point Straight-Up/Vertically on the wall. Place your First Push-Pin
and secure the Antenna Wire Element at the 1st=34" Mark.

* Find the 2nd=34" Mark and stretch-out the Antenna Wire Element to a
point to directly to the Right/Horizontally on the wall. Place your
Second Push-Pin and secure the Antenna Wire Element at the 2nd=34"
Mark.

* Find the 3rd=68" Mark and stretch-out the Antenna Wire Element to a
point to directly to the Left/Horizontally on the wall. Place your
Third Push-Pin and secure the Antenna Wire Element at the 3rd=68"
Mark.

* Find the 4th=34" Mark and stretch-out the Antenna Wire Element to a
point to directly to the Right/Horizontally on the wall. You should
be back at your First Push-Pin and secure the End of the Antenna Wire
Element to this Push-Pin.

IMHO: This Single Wire "T" Antenna connected to the radio's collapse
Whip Antenna performs better that the 300 Ohm TV Twin Lead Folded
Dipole connected to the radios external antenna terminals for Improved
FM Band Reception.


iane ~ RHF
..
..
A SHOUT-OUT to the C. Crane Company.
- - - The "BEST" AM (FM?) Radio in the World (@ $160).
Deserves two sets of Dedicated Antenna Connectors:

* AM = HI-Z (500 Ohm) Antenna & Ground Terminal

* FM = LO-Z (75 Ohm) "F" Connector
..
IMHO: Grundig (Tecsun) got this Functional Design Concept
'right' in the Grundig S350 (Tecsun BCL-2000) "Super Radio".
..
..
= = = Gray Shockley
= = = wrote in message s.com...
On Fri, 14 Nov 2003 22:53:28 -0600, Ronald wrote
(in message ) :

= = = = = S N I P = = = = =

An excellent analog is the GE SuperRadio III (3). It's what I (and others)
recommend for someone who wants to listen to one station that's out of range
of whatever radio is being used. The radio is just too inconvenient - to me-
for any other reason as it's analog tuning isn't the most accurate. If I had
toi use one, I would imagine I'd be using a grease pencil on the dial face.

Stinger and I are both using the CCRadioPlus with the (also from CCrane)
Justive AM Antenna and both of us are very pleased with the combination
(however both of us got our antennas when they had a sale and the price was
50U$ - half of the normal price).

I haven't really played with FM much. I have the automatic on (for an hour)
set for NPR which is about 50 miles away and all I had to do was tilt the
built-in whip (and there's no place for FM antenna as there is for AM).

One of these days, I'll, at least, try a T-Antenna (the 1U$ 300-ohm antenna
that comes with radios that cost 500U$ grin. Also, of course, FM is between
channels 6 and 7 (US TV), so I'm thinking of trying just wrapping the whip
with the 300-ohm lead.



Gray Shockley
-----------------------
DX-392 DX-398
RX-320 DX-399
CCradio w/RS Loop
Torus Tuner (3-13 MHz)
Select-A-Tenna
RadioShack AM Loop
-----------------------
Vicksburg, MS US