AM Broadcast Band
AM Broadcast Band or Mediumwave (MW) reception is a fun and inexpensive hobby. Just as it seemed that AM radio was fading away talk radio helped return AM radio to the mainstream. Most listeners tend to listen to programs such as talk radio or sports teams from around the country or perhaps they enjoy listening for and identifying distant radio stations, sometimes from other countries. After sunset, even small AM radios pick up stations from hundreds of miles away.
You should consider starting with the RCA Superadio 3 which has pleasing audio quality for listening to programs such as talk radio, sports, or music, it has a large ferrite antenna that really pulls the signals in, and the selectivity can be narrowed to allow for listening when otherwise interference would prevent a listenable signal. The RCA Superadio 3 will receive the majority of DX available at your location and all for around $50. If you want to get even more serious and invest more in the hobby you can but you can still use the Superadio as a semi-portable (it is large due to the speaker and internal antenna) so you can’t go wrong starting with the Superadio 3.
Receivers/Tuners
Many listeners were first drawn into the radio hobby by tuning in to distant stations that came in clearly on cheap AM personal radios late at night. AM radio is easy to receive and is not expensive at all to get a strong signal and quality audio consistently but you need to know which radios to choose.
One very popular radio that is now discontinued was a Sony that was the first AM radio that I purchased that cost more than $50. Though I recognized that it had truly remarkable reception characteristics and it had a synchronous detector that worked better than the sync detectors on either the Icom R75 or Drake R8 (original) I later owned, the audio out of it stunk (to me) sounding very thin and mechanical. My two radios at that time were the Sony and a GE Superadio 3 and I used the Superadio almost all the time because the huge speaker on it sounded great and the reception was almost as good plus if something bad happened to the Superadio it would be far easier and cheaper to replace than the Sony 2010. Many AM radio lovers would disagree with my opions about these units while others would totally agree. Ultimately, you will have to decide what your goals are before making a purchase and it is certainly wise to start smaller and determine how much listening you will do and what your budget will be.
Portable AM Radios
This is a truly a portable hobby because the most popular receivers for listening to AM radio are portables. Experience has taught that of the radios mentioned here there is little difference in reception capabilities of one over the other. Some reject interference a bit better while others have better quality sound. Also, one radio may perform better in one place but not another. As always, read the reviews, look for the features you need and be realistic about your listening goals. Remember that reviews are subjective opinions and generally by reading many reviews you can tell the funtionality of a radio.
Among the best portables for listening to AM radio currently available new are the following in no particular order:
RCA Superadio 3
Grundig G4000A
Eton S350DL
Sony ICF-SW7600GR
Kaito KA2100
CCRadio Plus
Sangean PR-D5 Digital Portable AM/FM Stereo Radio
Tabletop Radios
Generally, the ultimate AM radios are tabletop shortwave radios.
These radios are the best radios at this time for listening to AM DX. I do not recommend investing in these radios if you are only listening to AM for programs. If you intend on DXing or listening to shortwave you could certainly upgrade to one of these eventually.
The following are very popular tabletop radios among AM radio enthusiasts:
Personal Radios
In pocket or personal units the Sangean DT200VX AM/FM/TV Portable Pocket-Size Radio
Antennas
First, none of the radios on this page use the telescopic rod antenna for AM/MW reception. They all have (except the tabletops) internal ferrite antennas which will be sufficient in almost all cases.
Probably the very best reasonable antenna available right now is the Quantum Loop. The Twin Ferrite Loop
These antennas will improve all of these radios to an extent but some of the super receivers like the Superadio or a couple of others will not be improved nearly as much because they already have a great signal capture capability. The smaller portables and the personal radios are greatly improved by the antennas. For instance, Sangean DT200VX AM/FM/TV Portable Pocket-Size Radio
On AM, it is fine to use the induction method with some antennas which is just placing the radio close to the antenna and then using the antenna. With radios that don’t have an internal ferrite antenna (mostly tabletop) this will not work generally and the antenna will have to be connected with an antenna connector.
The larger radios, other than tabletops, really get little additional help from external antennas. For instance, the Kaito KA-2100 and RCA Superadio and even the new Sangean PR-D5 have large internal ferrite rods that are great signal pullers and they are always working even when an external antenna is used so it may be necessary to rotate both the radio and the antenna to optimize a signal. The one exception to this is if the radio is located inside a metal building or deep underground or something that blocks the signal. In that case, running an external antenna outside would be a vast improvement.
An outstanding site that will allow you to determine the potential for receiving an AM or FM station at any given location by Zip Code.
AM FM Zip Code Signal Strengths
Another excellent resource is the Radio Locator, the wonderful database of radio stations that includes their coverage maps:
The following is an outstanding resource for AM/MW Radio reception with many fantastic tips: