Poor Talk radio reception in my area

personal observation | 10/25/04 | sunnyside

[SunnySide]

Why? What's with the terrible radio reception for the talk radio station when all the other FM stations come in really clear. It's extremely annoying. Am I the only person noticing this and why isn't it being corrected? Thanks

[tubebender]

This is the radio we use in our home.. CC Crane co

[SunnySide]

cool, I'll look into that since I'm such a novice at this radio stuff.

[yarddog]

Probably just coincidence but the FM station I usually listen to talk radio on (yes it is FM talk) has been nothing but static for the last week.

I don't recall the call letters but it is 93.7, Dothan-Enterprise.

[asgardshill]

I hope you get it figured out. Check out DFU's Post 38 - the Select-A-Tenna is marvelous for pulling weak stations out of the mud. I myself use a CC Crane radio for listening to one small town AM station that carries high school football games for which I have a special interest. The station is far away and their transmit power is miniscule, but the CC Crane radio pulls it right in.

[MissyMa]

That's the radio I want one day, sigh, it's a real beauty!!

I like getting radio on the Internet, but nothing beats getting it on an old fashioned radio.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I'm in Camden County at the Lake of the Ozarks and can not get KWTO 560-AM in the house but it comes in on my car radio. I do get KRMS 1150 AM from Osage Beach and they carry Rush at 11 am.
Something else may have an affect on AM radios this time of year besides the hilly terrain: Local sunrise and sunset FCC rules mandate changes in pattern and signal strength for many AM stations and as the sun comes up later in the morning, you may be trying to pick up a station that is on an overnight restricted frequency.

[RGSpincich]

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/radio-spectrum1.htm

[asgardshill]

Yes, that's the one I have. There's a low power AM radio station that I routinely listen to that's over 200 miles from where I live, and it tunes that station like the transmitter was in my back yard.

[2ThumbsUp]

This flips me out. I have a late model American made auto. I used to get perfect AM and FM reception in the same areas I now (and for the past 8 or more months receive abysmal AM reception. This does not happen in another family vehicle (German). I kept wondering if it was a faulty AM module in my radio, interference (purposeful or otherwise in the area) or a bad connection with the AM antenna. The problem is intermittent. But sometimes (most of the time in the past six months) it's been really, really bad. So I got a NEW radio in my car. The problem still exists. Again, I never had a problem with my radio before.

[Quilla]

No, you're not the only person to notice. My FM talk radio station has been on the blink for the past 10 days. Previously having wonderful reception, all of a sudden I couldn't even tune it in at all. After listened to AM's scratchy reception for a while and checking the FM channel daily, it finally came back on this morning. The two local commentators stated specifically that it was not a nefarious democratic plot, but offered no explanation other than something was down. Sheesh, I'm a member in good standing of the VRWC and know a dirty dem ploy when I see one ;-).

[SunnySide]

"Again, I never had a problem with my radio before."

Makes ya wonder doesn't it. Who me?! cynical?!....nahhhhhh LOL

[Freedom4US]

You have to remember that FM is much less prone to noise and interference. AM can be affected by light dimmers and especially flourescent lights, and reception is likely very poor in office buildings. Modern AM radios are usually fairly poor. The C. Crane radios are fairly good, but for real AM reception try one of the old boatanchors, they are unsurpassed in tone quality and reaching down and separating distant stations.

[tubebender]

The CC Crane radio is very easy on batteries. It uses 4 D cell and they last 3 months with the radio on from 9AM pst to 3PM. Another good radio was the GE "All Radio" and it was less money. Crane co has the AM antennae referred to above...

[asgardshill]

The C. Crane radios are fairly good, but for real AM reception try one of the old boatanchors, they are unsurpassed in tone quality and reaching down and separating distant stations.

I got your boat anchor right here (actually, its in pieces in my basement, waiting on a couple of tubes):

R-390A

[Balding_Eagle]

Same here. My problem occurs at the junction of I-25 and County line. Exit 163 and 3 miles south precisely.

It began about 6-10 months ago, and even though I'm at the top of a 7300 foot hill, above the transmitter, reception there is terrible. So is cell phone reception, and that used to be perfect also.

The DOT put in an electronic scale that weighs trucks as they pass over a plate in the road. I'm guessing they messed with all frequencies as they did so.

[Freedom4US]

Ayiii.. Triple conversion! We're not worthy... We're not worthy...

Ballast "tube" I bet.. 3DTF or something like that?

[edchambers]

Ever heard of Windows Media Player? I too have terrible AM radio reception in my house but I listen to Rush and Hannity on my computers "ya know they put speakers on them things fer a reason" The sound quality is much better than any type of radio reception.If that's not an option I suggest getting an old fashion cable adapter the kind with two "U" shaped connectors on one end and a cable connection on the other and using your TV cable for an antenna.

[Dixie Pirate]

go to
http://wokv.com/

Under "Listen", click "on air broadcast for streaming audio.

[asgardshill]

3DTF or something like that?

That one and a 26Z5 for the power supply. The face has been fully restored and it has all the knobs, but there's some water and insect damage inside one of the corners. I'm going to recable the tuning dial while I've got it torn down.

[MaryFromMichigan]

I tried the CCRadio plus, but when I made a side by side comparison, I preferred the GE Super Radio
Simple.
Good.
Cheap.