Am pondering the idea of sat tv, however reluctant due to cost, vast appears an option. I Do have a smart tv, also have a vangard antenna, so if
local tv about can see some of them
However does anyone out there use a good quality radio revceiver, rather than watch tv , to pull in far away frequencies. I have used in the past
sony icf7600gr. Its about 30 years old, still works. wonder what else is available
Best to all
Whenarewethere said
12:42 PM May 17, 2023
At night AM is a lot better. We have taken a few AM radios in the outback.
The car AM radio is still the best, but due to system management to save battery it shuts down after 10 minutes.
For information on mostly AM radios:
https://radiojayallen.com/
Forget FM for long range.
valiant81 said
05:31 PM May 18, 2023
Hi all; Gone are the days of a good quality AM radio, You could try some of the old Air chief car radios. Astor and Ferris come to mind and both would be 12 Volt as well. You could go down the parth of a comunication radio and a 1/2 decent long wire antenna for the boardcast band. A lot of the older car radios in there day had no FM and were also built to realy pull in far distant stations. Feed them with a long wire antenna ( not just the old car radio antenna ) and you wouldbe supprised at what you can recieve.
Jaahn said
08:59 AM May 19, 2023
Well modern car radios are biased to the FM side and once out of town that is dead. But I have over the years installed Pioneer radios often used ones, with the label SuperTuner on the front. They will do a good job out in the bush with a good aerial. The aerial is also a problem in new vehicles as they use a small stubby one with a booster that can only work if there is a good signal, so install a big one like the old days.
The other alternative is to use a portable multiband radio that has a good extendable aerial and AM band. I have one of them too that i have used overseas and listened to the ABC on AM FNQ out in the pacific and PNG with a wire aerial up to a tree. It is true that the signal appears as night falls and disappears in the morning as the sun comes up, if you are on marginal reception and a very long distance.
Jaahn
Just a random example with the Super Tuner on the front. The wreckers sell good older radios cheap. Get one that has knobs for tuning and volume would be my preference and my wife too. Auto tuning will often skip weak stations that you can manual tune onto !
-- Edited by Jaahn on Friday 19th of May 2023 09:14:25 AM
Whenarewethere said
07:14 AM May 25, 2023
Just moved my fridge from the left of the car to the right for some current reasons. It is actually more practical due to the rear seat 1/3 2/3 split.
My custom fridge bracket will now take about 10 minutes to move left or right as needed.
But now with the fridge on the right, when the fridge's compressor is running there is very substantial noise on AM. I did test this when originally installing the fridge, but had forgotten how bad it is.
The AM aerial is in the right rear window. I should put the aerial on the left!
In the remote outback to pick up very distant AM I would turn off the fridge when there was an interesting program we were listening to. Far better than the various AM radios we have taken with us.
Gundog said
08:01 AM May 25, 2023
Many car manufactures are now not including an AM Radios as the streaming services are more popular like Spotify etc.
Ford in USA was going to not install AM radios in new cars. A few other car manufacturers already have stopped installing AM radios, at let's say $5 saving per unit, more than likely less.
Due to backlash & now government legislation, AM radios will be required in all cars in USA. At least few the next few years.
It is in remote areas that AM is required, at least for public safety messages for fire & floods etc.
Now the next task to move the aerial from right to left.
Jaahn said
10:12 AM May 25, 2023
AM radio is obviously SOOOO expensive to receive because the car manufacturers want to get rid of it, so they can jam the car full of other useless electronic gismos. Mostly not very useful out of the city unlike the AM radio !!
Just a note on interference on AM in difficult reception areas. My multiband portable radio that I used in the Pacific came with an external battery charger and power supply. But it was useless in poor signal areas due to the interference from it ?? WTF but the radio was OK with just the internal batteries. To make it more difficult the power over there was switched off 7pm-7am which limited charging. But an electronic friend made me a box with a small LA battery and a better transformer type charger with low interference and I used that, charging during the day and then it powered all night with no problems. Lasted for the years I was there. Saved a lot of small batteries being thrown away.
A lot of assorted power supplies, most these days, and chargers are switch mode types that can cause a lot of interference on AM and affect receiving weak signals. EG computer, phone, drills, DC fridges, fluro and LED lights etc. They also feed back into the DC battery system in a van, so turn them all off if you need to when reception is difficult. jaahn
-- Edited by Jaahn on Thursday 25th of May 2023 10:19:49 AM
Whenarewethere said
01:12 PM May 25, 2023
We only use Philips or Osram LEDs, still doesn't help.
Also lived in the same block of units since the 1980s.
There is interference from other units. We have listened to AM radio over the entire period.
These days we rarely get a clear signal. Decades ago not an issue.
Something has gone backwards.
SoloMC said
10:26 PM May 25, 2023
Am is very poor quality.
I haven't used it since the 80s
You mentioned vast and that has loads of radio channels to spend your time listening to
Whenarewethere said
10:44 PM May 25, 2023
Just put on Tina Turner Private Dancer on my Wharfedale E50 speakers, Marantz KI Pearl Lite amplifier & Marantz CD6007 CD player. Almost as good as in the car.
AM is poor quality but that is missing the point.
Warren-Pat_01 said
08:38 PM May 27, 2023
G'day Noriek,
This is my favourite issue with newer cars relying as my owners' manual says "Most people either prefer to listen to FM or down loaded music, programs" - a load of hogwash to those of us who travel to more remote (than cities) & rely on the emergency programs carried on ABC Radio.
These cars often come with junk quality Sharkfin aerials - yes they are ok for FM & good for the UHF GPS frequencies. I installed an external aerial on my roo bar - mechanics have destroyed the cheap Chinese bases for these Aerpro aerials. I have a much better GME unit to add but haven't got to pulling the lead through the firewall yet.
I carry a Jaycar Comms receiver (cost about $140) & a long wire aerial but if you can get hold of a radio out of a Nissan Patrol up to & including a GU or an equivalent Toyota LandCruiser, they had good AM (& FM) radios along with a reasonable aerial. I would doubt that you could still get an old Ferris or Eurovox radio these days. Pioneer radios up to the early 2000s were ok too.
Besides that, welcome to this forum, we hope you will stay & enjoy what you read, learn. Using the Search tab might help you find more info on many subjects.
in transit said
12:43 PM May 29, 2023
I can't remember a car radio with good AM for the reasons above, but I can remember the Sony ICF7600. If you can still get it to work , connect a long wire antenna, about 30M and throw the other end over a tree branch. I still own a working ICF5900, but confess to using internet mostly. Have not seen a Sony radio for a long time, but you could also try Sangeon ($150 plus). Check that the model accepts an AM antenna first. Good luck.
Macka1706 said
02:52 PM May 29, 2023
Look around for an old MF/HF/AM radio.
Take the mike out and it's a receiver (legal) They have Wide/Narrow AM too. My Kenwood 1000 marine does anyway with Lots of power.
Used it for around 40 yrs on my yachts. Just plugged it in in Kitchen. Still lights up. I'll check it out (freq,) tonight. We used to pick up coastal weather forecast with that and my Hand Held RDF For Airports. They give their NOW/HERE Weather.I threw my Sat gear away 15 yrs ago. There's nothing but Rugby worth watching on tv. I just have Foxtel/Firestick and a coupla 2 Terra solid state HDD's full of series and movies.If you get Wi FI where you are there's all the music etc you can handle on there. We keep Dis Laptop on all night with gentle music for the 2 new cats.
PS Wire ant is 30ft. Preferably UN wrapped. We use stainless Backstays with Insulators at req length.
Hi all,
Am pondering the idea of sat tv, however reluctant due to cost, vast appears an option. I Do have a smart tv, also have a vangard antenna, so if
local tv about can see some of them
However does anyone out there use a good quality radio revceiver, rather than watch tv , to pull in far away frequencies. I have used in the past
sony icf7600gr. Its about 30 years old, still works. wonder what else is available
Best to all
At night AM is a lot better. We have taken a few AM radios in the outback.
The car AM radio is still the best, but due to system management to save battery it shuts down after 10 minutes.
For information on mostly AM radios:
https://radiojayallen.com/
Forget FM for long range.
Well modern car radios are biased to the FM side and once out of town that is dead. But I have over the years installed Pioneer radios often used ones, with the label SuperTuner on the front. They will do a good job out in the bush with a good aerial. The aerial is also a problem in new vehicles as they use a small stubby one with a booster that can only work if there is a good signal, so install a big one like the old days.
The other alternative is to use a portable multiband radio that has a good extendable aerial and AM band. I have one of them too that i have used overseas and listened to the ABC on AM FNQ out in the pacific and PNG with a wire aerial up to a tree. It is true that the signal appears as night falls and disappears in the morning as the sun comes up, if you are on marginal reception and a very long distance.
Jaahn
Just a random example with the Super Tuner on the front. The wreckers sell good older radios cheap. Get one that has knobs for tuning and volume would be my preference and my wife too. Auto tuning will often skip weak stations that you can manual tune onto !
-- Edited by Jaahn on Friday 19th of May 2023 09:14:25 AM
Just moved my fridge from the left of the car to the right for some current reasons. It is actually more practical due to the rear seat 1/3 2/3 split.
My custom fridge bracket will now take about 10 minutes to move left or right as needed.
But now with the fridge on the right, when the fridge's compressor is running there is very substantial noise on AM. I did test this when originally installing the fridge, but had forgotten how bad it is.
The AM aerial is in the right rear window. I should put the aerial on the left!
In the remote outback to pick up very distant AM I would turn off the fridge when there was an interesting program we were listening to. Far better than the various AM radios we have taken with us.
Many car manufactures are now not including an AM Radios as the streaming services are more popular like Spotify etc.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/heres-why-some-automakers-tune-out-am-radios-in-new-cars
Ford in USA was going to not install AM radios in new cars. A few other car manufacturers already have stopped installing AM radios, at let's say $5 saving per unit, more than likely less.
Due to backlash & now government legislation, AM radios will be required in all cars in USA. At least few the next few years.
It is in remote areas that AM is required, at least for public safety messages for fire & floods etc.
Now the next task to move the aerial from right to left.
AM radio is obviously SOOOO expensive to receive because the car manufacturers want to get rid of it, so they can jam the car full of other useless electronic gismos. Mostly not very useful out of the city unlike the AM radio !!
Just a note on interference on AM in difficult reception areas. My multiband portable radio that I used in the Pacific came with an external battery charger and power supply. But it was useless in poor signal areas due to the interference from it ?? WTF but the radio was OK with just the internal batteries. To make it more difficult the power over there was switched off 7pm-7am which limited charging. But an electronic friend made me a box with a small LA battery and a better transformer type charger with low interference and I used that, charging during the day and then it powered all night with no problems. Lasted for the years I was there. Saved a lot of small batteries being thrown away.
A lot of assorted power supplies, most these days, and chargers are switch mode types that can cause a lot of interference on AM and affect receiving weak signals. EG computer, phone, drills, DC fridges, fluro and LED lights etc. They also feed back into the DC battery system in a van, so turn them all off if you need to when reception is difficult.
jaahn
-- Edited by Jaahn on Thursday 25th of May 2023 10:19:49 AM
We only use Philips or Osram LEDs, still doesn't help.
Also lived in the same block of units since the 1980s.
There is interference from other units. We have listened to AM radio over the entire period.
These days we rarely get a clear signal. Decades ago not an issue.
Something has gone backwards.
Just put on Tina Turner Private Dancer on my Wharfedale E50 speakers, Marantz KI Pearl Lite amplifier & Marantz CD6007 CD player. Almost as good as in the car.
AM is poor quality but that is missing the point.
This is my favourite issue with newer cars relying as my owners' manual says "Most people either prefer to listen to FM or down loaded music, programs" - a load of hogwash to those of us who travel to more remote (than cities) & rely on the emergency programs carried on ABC Radio.
These cars often come with junk quality Sharkfin aerials - yes they are ok for FM & good for the UHF GPS frequencies. I installed an external aerial on my roo bar - mechanics have destroyed the cheap Chinese bases for these Aerpro aerials. I have a much better GME unit to add but haven't got to pulling the lead through the firewall yet.
I carry a Jaycar Comms receiver (cost about $140) & a long wire aerial but if you can get hold of a radio out of a Nissan Patrol up to & including a GU or an equivalent Toyota LandCruiser, they had good AM (& FM) radios along with a reasonable aerial. I would doubt that you could still get an old Ferris or Eurovox radio these days. Pioneer radios up to the early 2000s were ok too.
Besides that, welcome to this forum, we hope you will stay & enjoy what you read, learn. Using the Search tab might help you find more info on many subjects.
Take the mike out and it's a receiver (legal) They have Wide/Narrow AM too. My Kenwood 1000 marine does anyway with Lots of power.
Used it for around 40 yrs on my yachts. Just plugged it in in Kitchen. Still lights up. I'll check it out (freq,) tonight. We used to pick up coastal weather forecast with that and my Hand Held RDF For Airports. They give their NOW/HERE Weather.I threw my Sat gear away 15 yrs ago. There's nothing but Rugby worth watching on tv. I just have Foxtel/Firestick and a coupla 2 Terra solid state HDD's full of series and movies.If you get Wi FI where you are there's all the music etc you can handle on there. We keep Dis Laptop on all night with gentle music for the 2 new cats.
PS Wire ant is 30ft. Preferably UN wrapped. We use stainless Backstays with Insulators at req length.