Shortwave radio

[Sylvester D]

I'm thinking about buying a shortwave radio. Will it help me receive am stations in better quality or is a shortwave radio strictly for receive radio signals that use shortwave signals?

There is an am station in town that has a weak signal so i was wondering if this will help me get better reception

 

[Bull Moose]

Short wave (SW) like AM and FM is the designated 'range' in the FCC spectrum band.

AM is ~ 500-1700 kHz
SW is ~ 2200-19000 kHz
FM is ~ 85000-107000 kHz

Your problem is that you are not getting a quality signal in your location. The solution to this problem is to buy a better or longer antenna. If you have a cheap radio to begin with, you can benefit from buying a better ( more expensive to a point) radio because it is engineered to receive weak signals, and has built in noise filters. Your cheap radios will not have these features.

The first solution is to buy an antenna from a store of your choice. And, just like cheap radios, there are cheap antennas. I would expect to pay at least $50 and more likely $100+ for a quality antenna. However keep in mind that most of these antennas have a special jack that your need to connect to your radio. If your radio does not have this jack, then your already out of luck.

If this is a problem, then the best bet is to buy a new radio. Radios do not receive AM on the external antenna. That is for SW and FM only. AM is collected in a ferrite coil that is built into the radio. The issue is that that coil is not large enough to properly collect the signal. This is especially problematic at night, known at 'night time fade.'

If you want a quality entry level radio, with fully digital tuning ( ie no more messing around with knobs and readjustments), I would go with the Grundig Yacht Boy 300PE. It goes for about $70, but is on sale HERE . A big upgrade would be to the Sangen ATS-909 with more bells and whistles, which can be seen HERE.
This is considered the base on which all others radios are measured.

And lastly, in my humble opinion, one of the best radios money can buy, even comes with XM capabilities, the Eton E1, which can be viewed HERE. It is also on special, if you buy it, it comes with the Gundig YB300PE for Free!

If you are looking to buy a radio, you can look for reviews, to see what other people think of that product before you spend your money.

http://www.eham.net/reviews/


If you are serious about your radios, as I am, then you will find that spending the extra money for a quality radio will be well worth it. Let me know is that was confusing enough for you

 

[Flivver]

If you're looking for good AM reception on a budget, I would suggest getting a used or new old stock GE Superadio. These are AM/FM portables that were made in the 1980s-90s. They sold new at discount for about $40. That's also about what they sell for today. They feature ceramic filter IF stages for good selectivity, provision for external AM/FM antennas and an extra large AM loopstick antenna.

I interviewed for a job with GE Consumer Electronics around the time these were introduced. One of their engineers explained to me that these were specifically designed for long distance AM and FM reception. I went right out and bought one and have been pleased with it ever since.

The Superadio came in three versions...I, II and III. The Superadio III is the most desirable as it has the most features and (arguably) the best performance. These sell for a bit more than the I and II.

Other good bets for strong AM reception are the transistor Zenith Trans-Oceanics. But these also have short wave and can get rather pricey.

 

[Sylvester D]

Thanks for your replies