Tag Archives: AM Radio

A Review of Two Medium Wave Signal Boosters

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By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM

It was the survey that Thomas, our Maximum Leader, conducted that got me to thinking about this.

The survey revealed that portable radios were used 38.6% of the time by SWLing Post readers as their “daily driver.” I like portable radios, too, and use them frequently. Hold that thought for a moment.

I also like medium wave DXing (content DXing, really, I enjoy tuning around for unusual programs) because, as Gary DeBock once put it: “It’s a target-rich environment.” With that in mind, I was exploring the CCrane website and found a couple of items – the Terk AM Advantage and the Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna Signal Booster that looked like they might help portable radio listeners who want to pull in medium-wave signals better. I asked the CCrane folks if they would like to review both products, and they sent them to me without charge.

Bottom line: they both work for boosting reception of medium-wave signals.

The Terk AM Advantage is a nine-inch tunable loop encased in plastic, and it requires no power supply. Simply place it near your portable receiver and just the dial to the desired frequency, and you could get up to a 20 dB gain in the signal you want to hear. The loop of the Terk AM Advantage inductively couples with the ferrite antenna inside your portable radio, although the unit comes with a direct wire connector that can be used with some radios.

I tried the Terk AM Advantage with my CCrane Skywave SSB on an AM that was coming in with a lot of static at my location. Without the AM Advantage, I had 3 bars of signal strength. As soon as I placed the AM Advantage close to the Skywave and adjusted the tuning knob, the signal strength increase to 5 bars, and the audio was much easier to hear with less noise.

With my Tecsun PL-880, which has a numerical signal strength meter, signal strength was 11 without the AM Advantage, but with the AM Advantage, signal strength increased to 14, and it was much easier to hear. The Terk AM Advantage definitely provides a modest boost in signal strength and clarity, is easy to use, and requires no batteries or external power supply.

The Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna Signal Booster is more complicated. It consists of an antenna element that measures 8.5″ W x 2.5″ H x 1.25″D, a tuner unit that measures 3.25″ W x 4.25″ H x 1.25″ D, a small ferrite stick, and some patch cords. It comes with an AC adaptor and can also be powered by a 9-volt battery. For radios with external antenna connectors, package also includes a RCA female patch cord to two bare wire ends.

Set up is pretty easy: connect the tuner unit to the antenna element with a patch cord; connect the tune to the ferrite stick with another patch, and provide power through either the AC adaptor or 9-volt battery. (I used a battery).

Here are C.Crane’s directions for how to use The Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna Signal Booster with a portable radio:

  • Place the Tuner Control in a comfortable location relative to your radio. Place the Antenna Element a few feet away. If the Antenna Element is placed too close to the radio, it will cause noise on your radio.
  • Place the Ferrite Stick on top of the radio near the center. Placement will vary depending on where the internal AM antenna of the radio is located.
  • For testing purposes, tune your radio to any weak AM station. It is important that the station be weak so you can clearly detect the improvement in reception.
  • Rotate the Fine Tune control, it will click on and the red LED indicator light will come on. Turn the Coarse Tune control knob slowly and you will likely notice a change in reception at some point on the dial. Adjust the control knob until you notice the most improvement on your signal. Now you can use the Fine Tune control for further refinement.
  • Move the Ferrite Stick around the radio to find the position that affects the signal the most. This position is the “sweet spot”, or the best position. Again, adjust the Fine Tune on the Tuner Control for the best reception possible. (I used rubber band to hold the Ferrite Stick in place, but the unit comes with some double-stick foam tape to hold it in place.)
  • Now you can orientate the Antenna Element for best reception. In most cases, the Antenna Element does not have to be adjusted again. When radio noise is a problem, try rotating the Antenna Element in the direction which reduces noise to a minimum.

And The Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna Signal Booster works like crazy! With same station on my CCrane Skywave SSB, it boosted signal strength from 3 bars to full scale. With my Tecsun PL-880, it increased signal strength from 11 to 38.

In my view, although The Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna Signal Booster costs twice as much as the Terk AM Advantage and is more complicated to use, it is more than twice as effective in boosting medium-wave signals.

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PSA: Your (new) radio’s filters may be wider than you think

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AM bandwidth confusion: IF Filters today vs. yesterday

by 13dka

Whether or not a radio is a joy to listen to, or apt for difficult DX is decided to a large part by the last IF filter stage. Most radios of the past didn’t come with many IF filters to begin with, their quality varied a lot and harsh compromises had to be made in multi-purpose radios. With the advent of digital filtering and inexpensive DSP portables, we got spoiled by a rich choice of selectivity settings that came with an idiosyncrasy I had to wrap my head around first, namely a shift in how some (digital) filters are labeled now.

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Radio Waves: AM in Ford Commercial Vehicles, History of Hornby Site, A23 DRM Broadcast Schedule, and AM Radio Importance and Action

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Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Paul, and Dennis Dura for the following tips:

Ford to drop AM radio in new models, except commercial vehicles (Detroit Free Press)

Ford Motor Co. plans to stop putting AM radio in new gas-powered and electric vehicles beginning in 2024, including the all-electric Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning pickup, the Detroit Free Press has confirmed.

“We are transitioning from AM radio for most new and updated 2024 models,” Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood told the Free Press. “A majority of U.S. AM stations, as well as a number of countries and automakers globally, are modernizing radio by offering internet streaming through mobile apps, FM, digital and satellite radio options. Ford will continue to offer these alternatives for customers to hear their favorite AM radio music, news and podcasts as we remove amplitude modulation — the definition of AM in this case — from most new and updated models we bring to market.”

Commercial vehicles will continue to offer AM radio because of longstanding contract language, Sherwood said.

Drivers often turn to AM radio for live traffic updates and weather reports, as well as emergency communication. [Continue reading…]

The history of the Hornby AM radio site, our oldest operational transmission site (CBC/Radio-Canada)

Did you know that one of our AM radio stations can also be used as a bunker? What’s more, the opening of this station was of such importance that King George VI addressed the nation during its inaugural broadcast in December 1937? Considered an engineering feat in its time, the Hornby AM radio site is the oldest transmission site owned and operated by CBC/Radio-Canada. Here are some interesting facts.

Listen to the King’s First Empire Christmas Greeting:

A little bit of history

Located in Hornby, Ontario, this AM radio site was built in 1937 for the CBL radio service (the ancestor of CBC Radio One) one year after the creation of CBC/Radio-Canada. The station contained a 50-kilowatt transmitter and a 640-foot tower, making it the tallest structure in Canada from 1937 to 1954. That’s more than twice the height of Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower, London).

Already a technological feat in itself, the site then added a second radio service (CJBC) in 1944 and became one of the rare AM sites to broadcast two services from one tower. The joint CBL-CJBC signal was so powerful that people could hear the program simply by putting an ear on nearby wire fences.

All about the bunker

Between 1946 and 1948, Canadians were seeing the beginning of the Cold War and, with it, the threat of nuclear attacks. As a result, the site underwent a “wartime expansion” during which the existing underground bunker, a reinforced underground shelter built for protection, was installed. Continue reading →

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Radio Waves: G4 Solar Storm, AM for Car Safety, AI DJs Next Month, and NYC Pirate Fined $2 Million

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Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Troy Riedel, Dennis Dura, and Richard Cuff for the following tips:

Strongest solar storm in nearly 6 years slams into Earth catching forecasters by surprise (Space.com)

The powerful solar storm supercharged auroras as far south as Colorado and New Mexico.

The most powerful solar storm in nearly six years slammed Earth today (March 24), but strangely, space weather forecasters didn’t see it coming.

The geomagnetic storm peaked as a severe G4 on the 5-grade scale used by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to assess the severity of space weather events. The storm’s unexpected ferocity not only made auroras visible as far south as New Mexico in the U.S., but it also forced spaceflight company Rocket Lab to delay a launch by 90 minutes.

Geomagnetic storms are disturbances to Earth’s magnetic field caused by solar material from coronal mass ejections (CME) — large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun’s atmosphere. It turns out that this particular geomagnetic storm was triggered by a “stealth” CME which — as the name suggests — is rather tricky to detect. [Continue reading…]

Congressman Says Make AM a Mandatory Car Safety Feature (Radio World)

Gottheimer also supports federal spending on AM infrastructure to assure continuity of service

A congressman from New Jersey wants the government to add AM radio to the list of safety equipment that carmakers must include in their vehicles.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer has called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to “add AM radio to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to require that all automakers, including EV manufacturers, include AM radio as a stock feature in their vehicles. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards are the minimum safety standards that a manufacturer must meet when making a vehicle — including requirements related to airbags, brakes, seatbelts, tires, controls and displays.”

The National Association of Broadcasters welcomed his effort.

Gottheimer, a Democrat who represents a district along the state’s northern border, held a news event next to a Tesla dealership in Paramus, N.J., along with New Jersey Broadcasters Association Executive Director Jordan Walton. [Continue reading…]

AI-generated DJs are coming to radio stations in the US and Canada next month (Business Insider)

An AI-generated radio DJ could be coming to your local radio station.

RadioGPT, a GPT-4-powered radio content generator from media company Futuri, is set to debut next month in radio stations in the US and Canada, Axios Cleveland reported.

Powered by the same tech that ChatGPT draws upon, RadioGPT aims to man radio airtime spots with AI-generated scripts and voices, as well as tailored local news content.

You can listen to a demo from the company that gives you a preview of what the AI-generated DJ voices sound like — which tell listeners that they are, in fact, fully AI — sprinkled between curated songs. The page includes snippets of RadioGPT-generated voices presenting news, weather, and traffic updates.

“Anything a radio human can do, I can do better,” one of the AI hosts can be heard saying in between songs. “Every voice you hear is 100% AI.” [Continue reading…]

FCC Fines 15 Year-Old Pirate Radio Station in NYC $2 Million (Vice)

The FCC is using its new powers to ask from the maximum fine from an Ecuadorian pirate radio station that’s run for more than 15 years.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is using a new law to fine a pirate radio station operating in New York City for more than $2 million. For 15 years, Impacto 2, which has been operated by two brothers, has broadcast Ecuadorian news, culture, sports, and talk-radio on 105.5 FM in Queens. The feds have tried to shut it down repeatedly, but have never succeeded.

The FCC announced the fine in a press release last week. “The Commission proposed the maximum penalty allowable, $2,316,034, against brothers César Ayora and Luis Angel Ayora for pirate radio broadcasting in Queens, New York,” the release said. The FCC also said it was trying to seize $80,000 in equipment from a man broadcasting pirate radio in Eastern Oregon.

The Ayoras have been on the FCC’s radar since 2008 when they started broadcasting Impacto 2 for the Ecuadorian community in Queens: “The brothers César and [Luis] Angel Ayora in September 2008 founded the first Ecuadorian FM radio station in New York City. . . The station never sleeps, because a team of communication professionals are working for you 24 hours a day,” their website, which is currently down, said. The station is broadcast over the internet and has moved around the FM spectrum several times over the years. [Continue reading…]

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Radio Waves: Exploring a Super Tower, Former BBC HQ, OTA Radio When all Fails, and Saving Historic Radio

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Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Dennis Dura, Rich Cuff, Ron Chester, and David Iurescia for the following tips:

Exploring a 1 Million Watt Broadcast Tower (Radio World)

The father and son team of Joe and Jeff Geerling have teamed up on radio-related projects before.

Joe is a broadcast engineer, working into his fifth decade in the St. Louis market. He was market chief for CBS Radio for 20 years and today is the director of engineering for Covenant Network.

His son Jeff has spent nearly 15 years as a software architect and developer. He founded Midwestern Mac LLC and is active in many open-source software communities. Jeff recalls that one of his first web programming projects in the late 1990s was to construct an interface to display the current song on 98.1 KYKY(FM)’s initial website for his dad.

Last February, Joe appeared on a video on Jeff’s YouTube channel to install a Raspberry Pi IP KVM in a Covenant Network studio. That collaboration went so well that commenters on Jeff’s videos began clamoring for more appearances by the senior Geerling.

Over a family vacation, Joe and Jeff came to the realization that the iconic Crestwood Master Tower in Shrewsbury, Mo. — nicknamed by its original engineering community as “the Supertower” — would make for a perfect showcase for a new Geerling Engineering YouTube channel.

Given Joe’s expertise with the site, the idea for a video was a natural. In fact they ended up making two. [Continue reading…]

Amancio Ortega is testing the purchase of a former BBC headquarters in London for almost 90 million (West Observer)

The investment activity of Amancio Ortega in the United Kingdom does not stop. Pontegadea, the group that manages the equity investments of the founder of Inditex (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka…) and the richest man in Spain, is negotiating the purchase of a new office building in London, as revealed on Wednesday by the specialized website CoStar News. This, citing market sources, indicates that the operation would be around 80 million pounds (89.7 million euros, at current exchange rates). The building, originally a printing press built in the twenties, is close to the BBC headquarters and, in fact, for years served as offices for the commercial division of British public broadcasting.

The property, renovated in 2015 by the construction company Kier and the firm Brimelow McSweeney Architects, currently houses a business of coworking (flexible office rental). Of the more than 3,000 meters built, 2,100 are available for rent, according to the building’s commercial brochure. Some websites advertise their tables for a price that exceeds 840 euros per table per month. It offers, in addition to parking for bicycles or changing rooms, a kitchen, private offices, meeting rooms or terraces on the upper floor (the fifth) and on the roof. To this we must add a privileged location in the center of the British capital, in the Fitzrovia neighborhood. The building is close to Soho, the British Museum and Regent’s Park. [Continue reading…]

What’s Going To Happen To Legacy Broadcast Bands When The Lights Go Out? (Hackaday)

Our smartphones have become our constant companions over the last decade, and it’s often said that they have been such a success because they’ve absorbed the features of so many of the other devices we used to carry. PDA? Check. Pager? Check. Flashlight? Check. Camera? Check. MP3 player? Of course, and the list goes on. But alongside all that portable tech there’s a wider effect on less portable technology, and it’s one that even has a social aspect to it as well. In simple terms, there’s a generational divide that the smartphone has brought into focus, between older people who consume media in ways born in the analogue age, and younger people for whom their media experience is customized and definitely non-linear. Continue reading →

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RNZ: “Signal to noise – is AM radio really under threat?”

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Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Connor Walsh, who shares the following piece from Radio New Zealand:

Signal to noise – is AM radio really under threat? (RNZ)

Old-fashioned AM radio was an information lifeline for many during Cyclone Gabrielle when other sources wilted without power. Now a little-known arrangement that puts proceedings of Parliament on the air has been cited as a threat to its future. But is a switch-off really likely? And what’s being done to avoid it?

“Government websites are a waste of time. All they’ve got is a transistor radio – and they need to actually provide a means for these people who need the information to damn well get it,” Today FM’s afternoon host Mark Richardson told listeners angrily on the day Cyclone Gabrielle struck.

He was venting in response to listeners without power complaining online information was inaccessible, and pleading for the radio station to relay emergency updates over the air.

Mobile phone and data services were knocked out in many areas where electricity supplies to towers were cut – or faded away after back-up batteries drained after 4-8 hours. In some places FM radio transmission was knocked out but nationwide AM transmission was still available.

“This will sharpen the minds of people on just how important . . . legacy platforms like AM transmission are in Civil Defence emergencies,” RNZ news chief Richard Sutherland told Mediawatch soon after. [Continue reading at RNZ…]

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Radio Waves: Listeners Share LRA36 Recordings, CW Clock, Tabletop Radio, and Dropping AM in Cars

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Radio Waves:  Stories Making Waves in the World of Radio

Welcome to the SWLing Post’s Radio Waves, a collection of links to interesting stories making waves in the world of radio. Enjoy!

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributors Adrian Korol, Richard Cuff, and Dennis Dura for the following tips:

Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel picked up around the world (Radio Nacional)

Radio Nacional Arcangel San Gabriel broadcasts on the short wave on Wednesdays from 21 to 23 UTC and on Saturdays from 21 UTC until 03:00 on Sunday on frequency 15476 Khz (USB).

Due to improvements in the audio chain and transmission line and good propagation, we are receiving messages from listeners who had not been able to listen to it for decades and also reception reports from countries such as India, Iceland, Japan, United States, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay and all the National territory.

During the summer we broadcast a program called “Uniendo Voces”, a production of the Joint Antarctic Command, the University of Quilmes and RAE, with the presentation of Juan Carlos Benavente.

We also share with you videos and posts in which listeners from around the world share their reception of LRA36. [Continue reading…]

Morse Code Clock For Training Hams (Hackaday)

It might seem antiquated, but Morse code still has a number of advantages compared to other modes of communication, especially over radio waves. It’s low bandwidth compared to voice or even text, and can be discerned against background noise even at extremely low signal strengths. Not every regulatory agency requires amateur operators to learn Morse any more, but for those that do it can be a challenge, so [Cristiano Monteiro] built this clock to help get some practice.

The project is based around his favorite microcontroller, the PIC16F1827, and uses a DS1307 to keep track of time. A single RGB LED at the top of the project enclosure flashes the codes for hours in blue and minutes in red at the beginning of every minute, and in between flashes green for each second. [Continue reading…]

The Changing Face of Tabletop Radios (Radio World)

While some still offer OTA reception, the specialty segment is dominated by online connectivity

There was a time, of course, when radios were fixtures in people’s homes. But according to Edison Research’s “Infinite Dial 2022” report, the percentage of U.S. homes with “zero” radios inside went from 4% in 2008 to 39% in 2022.

Among the radios that remain, clock and emergency radios have the best chances of justifying their presence to internet-centric consumers. But good ol’ fashioned tabletop radios? AM/FM receivers housed in eye-appealing laminated wood cases with big speakers and hefty knobs?

Mass-market companies such as Panasonic and Sony have abandoned such products. But specialty/quality brands such as C. Crane, Grace Digital, Sangean and Tivoli Audio have not.

These brands bring fresh approaches to the tabletop radio segment through innovation and the harnessing of streaming technology. Still, it’s an uphill battle in a world obsessed with all things internet.

There are several reasons conventional AM/FM tabletop radios have been disappearing from homes.

The first and most obvious is that even by the beginning of this century, radio had long ceased being a destination medium around which the family gathered to listen. In recent decades, the more common uses were morning wakeups, rush-hour commutes, sports on the go and weather emergencies, all well-served by portable radios, though there was still some degree of at-home listening.  [Continue reading…]

Who Benefits By Removing AM From Cars? (Radio World)

Three perspectives on this hot potato threat

Car manufacturers claim they cannot suppress noise getting into the AM signals in their electric vehicles. This article presents the viewpoint of three people who beg to disagree.

Tom King, the chairman of Kintronic Labs Inc., is an expert on AM transmission and noise interference. His company manufactures most of the phasing cabinets for directional arrays on AM stations around the world. Continue reading →

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