But occationally an interference source causes difficulties over a larger area. For example, the people who lived down stairs from me at my former apartment had a TV that produced a loud buzz even though the TV was a good 20 feet away from the radio. But the much larger TV in our apartment which was five to ten feet away was no problem. So usually the normal interference sources are a minor difficulty, but occationally one of them is a major difficulty. You should treat the common lists of interference sources as a list of suspects, not a list of convicted criminals.

This is perhaps a more original tip, if the interference source is lower or higher than your radio you may have to prop up the radio to point either end of the internal antenna at the interference source. For example, if the interference is upstairs or downstairs you may need to prop one end of the radio on a book and adjust it so that one end of internal antenna is aimed at the interference source. This is particularly useful in appartments where your neighbors may not want to be bothered with improving your AM reception. This helped me with a TV my downstairs neighbor had.

1. The best bet for fifty dollars is the GE Superadio.
2. The best bet for one hundred and fifty dollars is the combination of a GE Superadio and a C Crain Twin Coil Ferrite Antenna.
Perhaps you disagree, feel free to express yourself in my guestbook.

According to a note in my guest book the C Crain Twin Coil Ferrite Antenna is a "great concept" but produced "minimal improvement for AM reception." More recently another note from the guest book also said they got very little improvement with this antenna.

Many weak AM stations, including many Catholic AM stations, are allowed by the FCC a much stronger signal during the day, but are required to cut their power at night. The Catholic station which I used to get best, KSMH cuts their signal from 10,000 watts to 1,000 watts at sundown. After sundown you may lose the AM signal but it has commonly believed that short-wave radio works better at night. Thus you might want to switch from AM to short-wave if there is something interesting on short-wave.

If you do get a short-wave radio it may have to be a new one, because some stations broadcast on parts of the short-wave spectrum that were not used many years ago.

As a great short wave radio can be had for under 200 dollars you should think carefully before spending that kind of money or more on an AM radio.

The more expensive AM equipment is popular in places like Alaska where relatively isolated people have great difficulty picking up local news.

Internet radio has largely made shortwave a bit obsolete, Catholic radio in America is no longer on shortwave. So this tip may be increasingly obsolete.

You maybe able to listen to some short-wave stations and even distant AM and FM stations on the Internet to test your interest. If you have broadband you may simply want to listen to the station this way and skip the equipment, but if you have a dial up modem you will probably not want to tie up your phone line for hours at a time on a regular basis just to save a couple of hundred dollars on the radio equipment that could bring the station in. But even listening on the dial up modem is a good way to try the station before you buy the equipment.

Most libraries have public access to the Internet and you maybe able to listen to the station that interests you while surfing the Internet at the library. Once again this is a good way to try before you buy but it makes sense to buy the equipment rather than going to the library and waiting for a computer.

If your normal travel by car brings you closer to a station that carries EWTN or any other channel that interest you this provides another opportunity to try before you buy. For example, Sacramento and several other Central Valley cities had Catholic radio stations before San Francisco was added, so a Catholic living in the Bay Area who was driving through the valley might want to check out Catholic radio before buying expensive radio equipment.

If you are having difficulty finding the station in the first place you can take the radio to a place where the station comes in strong, for example, outside, or next to a window. Then carefully mark the place on the dial. Then move the radio back to where you want to use it.

It is also useful to note the stations with clear signals that are close to the weak station you are after. Strong stations, particularly those with distinctive programing, are helpful if you want to explain where the station is to someone else. You can also help a friend find the radio station by holding the phone next to radio so they can hear the weak channel as they try to tune it in. I find this helps them a lot. Helping people in your parish find Catholic stations is a powerful way to build up the faith and encourage Catholic radio.

This last suggestion, and perhaps some of the others may seem a bit trivial, one can see why a book or magazine article might not include them, but space is free on the Internet so I have attempted to include things that might normally be left out so you could try "any trick in the book" to quote Donovan's song "Sunshine Superman."

But with a good radio like the GE Superadio it is difficult to find any difference. Many web sites will tell you that the antenna is more important than the radio, but good radios often have good antennas built in. The GE Superadio has a large ferrite antenna built into the back. My landlord ordered a Select-A-Tenna to use with his CCRadios from C. Crane Company. He found it did not help and sent it back. Once again the point is that the CCRadio is a great AM radio and even a great antenna like the Select-A-Tenna may not make much difference. On the other hand a Select-A-Tenna used with skill may make a difference under certain circumstances even with a great radio and might be worth the sixty dollars to the real fan.

This is the opposite of how you use the regular AM antenna in the back of your radio. The antenna in the back of the radio should be placed so it is perpendicular to the signal. Think of it like a sail that is catching the radio waves. If the signal comes from the north then the ends of the radio should point East and West, and the back of the radio should face North or South.

A web page on loop antennas said the loop must be perpendicular to the internal antenna. I have tested this and found that what is relevant is the orientation of the loop antenna to the broadcast tower not the radio. This will mean that the loop is perpendicular to the internal antenna, but that is because both the internal antenna and the loop antenna are properly oriented toward the broadcast tower.

If the loop is not wired to the radio it will have to be close to the radio. If the loop antenna and the radio form a T, with the front or back of the radio facing the tower you will get an optimal signal, unless there is a source of interference.