A good radio for picking up weak signals

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quickymart

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Topic # 239806 5-Aug-2018 16:06

https://www.flickr.com/photos/51764518@N02/17389505492

Back in the 90s my parents had one of these as we lived in a rural area with poor radio reception. This radio was the bomb and let us pick up anything nearby - and even quite a few distant stations too!

The radio is now long gone, but my Mum is living in the same area and is having issues with radio reception. Can anyone suggest a good AM/FM radio for picking up weak signals, especially in a rural area? Would be good if it had a digital display too.
(Sorry if this isn't the right subforum, I wasn't 100% sure where this should go).

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Reply # 2068282 5-Aug-2018 16:18

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Looked at Sangean?

I have one of these:

quickymart

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Reply # 2068283 5-Aug-2018 16:20

Thanks for the suggestion. What are they like for picking up weak/distant signals?

MichaelNZ

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Reply # 2068285 5-Aug-2018 16:22

quickymart:

Thanks for the suggestion. What are they like for picking up weak/distant signals?

They are the gold standard in handheld radios, however, picking up weak signals will always be easier with an outside aerial.

Gordy7

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Reply # 2068290 5-Aug-2018 16:37

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Sangean is probably a good as you can get for the price.

However the radio spectrum in probably not a clean as it was 30 or more years ago.

All the switched mode power supplies and broad band internet would not help.

Gordy

richms

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Reply # 2068294 5-Aug-2018 16:56

Can you not just stream instead? Alexa makes asking for things easy for elders.

Richard rich.ms

quickymart

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Reply # 2068296 5-Aug-2018 16:59

Nope, her internet is crap.

SATTV

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Reply # 2068305 5-Aug-2018 18:07

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I presume she wants to receive AM and not FM, for those that do not know the telescopic antenna is FM only, AM is by a coil and ferrite inside.

You can easily make an AM passive booster, something like this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51VcK3Ueq0o the one I made was on a wire frame and used 16 turns of wire and a variable capacitor. This was very effective and really easy to make. My Grandfather was in hospital and I lent him one, we could have sold it several times over.

Alternatively you could look at a communications receiver, they have a connector for external AM antenna, something like this, https://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/radio-equipment/amateur-radio/listing-1717976101.htm?rsqid=6450cd89a1a54e989dd81a4934d4f3fa

New ones will cost a whole lot more.

I used to read Electronics Australia and someone had the same issue, they resolved it by using a car stereo, you could make a nice box and put a couple of speakers in it, a small PSU will power it and an external antenna should work well, a decent telescopic antenna not a small rubber duckie.

John

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Reply # 2068306 5-Aug-2018 18:11

This looks quite good, has an external AM antenna socket.

https://www.jaycar.co.nz/world-band-am-fm-sw-lw-air-pll-synthesised-receiver-with-ssb/p/AR1945

John

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quickymart

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Reply # 2068316 5-Aug-2018 18:57

That's probably in the region of what I'm looking for (albeit a little over budget). Thanks for that and the Sangean idea too, I'll look into these :)

Juicytree

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Reply # 2068317 5-Aug-2018 18:59

Don't forget about the radio channels available on Freeview and Sky TV

Dunnersfella

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Reply # 2068318 5-Aug-2018 18:59

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When it comes to handhelds, if you can't get a signal with a Sangean, you won't be getting a signal.

quickymart

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Reply # 2068323 5-Aug-2018 19:15

Juicytree:

Don't forget about the radio channels available on Freeview and Sky TV

True, but she just wants to pick up the local stations.

Goosey

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Reply # 2068337 5-Aug-2018 20:24

AM or FM?

If FM, what kind of TV aerial do you have? If she still has a VHF (or VHF/UHF combo), you could catch the FM from that, use a splitter and then run that to your radio?

quickymart

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Reply # 2068354 5-Aug-2018 21:42

She has Freeview Satellite, I don't think her house has a VHF aerial. But the aerial on one of those radios should do the trick, I think :)

elpenguino

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Reply # 2068358 5-Aug-2018 22:10

The specification you're looking for is 'sensitivity'. If you work on the theory that all manufacturers have access to the same technology then once you get any decent receiver, the remaining opportunity for performance gains is as stated earlier, in the aerial system.

A directional and outside aerial could result in a performance gain that exceeds that of spending a lot of money on a more sensitive receiver.

It's not quite as easy though , I agree....

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