I just tried to scan the AM radio band

[gadje]

I got a small handheld radio, not the best quality in the world but good enough.

I found 2-3 stations, very noisy and it seems to be religious stuff.

In the evening I can pick up SW stations from around the world so I don't think the radio is complete crap.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BPKJ1XP1/

[jonny]

AM radio is crap. Full of fringe nutsos, and conspiracy theorists.
The only thing it's good for is traffic and weather when you're outside of FM range.
How's the sound on that radio?

[Bixby]

If you have a car, how is AM reception on that? Almost all handheld tuners are poor quality, and I can't imagine a $10 radio has quality design and components.

Use Radio Locator to see what stations should be in your area.

But I will agree there's not much good to be found on the AM dial. I work in radio, on the FM side.

Sangean, Tivoli and CCrane are about the only companies I'd recommend to others buying a non-car radio.

[Acer]

Traffic and weather.
Around here, even the pundits and preachers are increasingly on FM stations.

[gadje]

I'll try the car radio later. Thanks for the suggestion on brands.

Yes, this is a really cheap radio, but the control inside are digital, despite the analog dial. There is a DSP unit. These digital DSP circuits should be really high quality at low price points.

SW is OK. FM sounds decent too for that size. There are several youtube reviews on this and similar models.

I bought it to scan SW once in a while, and since it has AM and FM, it can be used inside in case of power outages. I normally stream NPR on my smart speakers.

[mikebw]

gadje wrote:

In the evening I can pick up SW stations from around the world so I don't think the radio is complete crap.

In case you want to know the reason why-

"... radio waves can refract from the ionosphere. This means that medium and short radio waves transmitted at an angle into the sky can be refracted back to Earth at great distances beyond the horizon – even transcontinental distances. This is called skywave propagation. It is used by amateur radio operators to communicate with operators in distant countries, and by shortwave broadcast stations to transmit internationally."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_propagation

[RAMd®d]

In the evening I can pick up SW stations from around the world


The skip is in.

AM radio needs a decent antenna.

Distance from stations and atmospherics (as you've found) also affect the ability to pick up stations.

Small hand-helds used an internal ferrite core antenna which was directional unless close to a strong AM station.

Others use a built-in telescoping antenna, while a few had (have?) a connection for an external wire antenna.

These days I only listen to two stations - KCBS (AM/FM) for traffic and weather, and KCSM (FM) for Jazz.

Both are also found on the WWW.

[gadje]

Yes I have know and understand the propagation. This has a telescopic antenna. It does help.

But still much noise and very little content on AM.

I’ll try the car stereo later. I virtually never use AM in the car, it’s Sirius, iPhone or FM. In that order.

[rz]

I’ve had my vehicle for 8 years now. I have a portable Sirius/XM radio that’s been in it from day 1. I probably tried the FM once. Never tried the AM radio. I’ve lived here for 29 years now and honestly cannot ever remember checking anything on the AM dial. Traffic and weather are easily gotten from my iPhone.

[RgrF]

I grew up during AM radio's heyday and can clearly remember tooling around the upper reaches of Nova Scotia listening to my favorite 5,000 watt, highly directional Boston radio station. A signal I couldn't get 10 mikes from the city itself.