LONG DISTANCE AM (Medium Wave) RADIO LISTENING

 AM / MW LONG DISTANCE RADIO LISTENING

Since I was very young, when I discovered (by accident) long distance radio signals on the AM radio broadcast band, I've always tended to switch my radios at night from the relatively homogenized blah of FM to the fascinating, nighttime cacaphony of the AM band. 

The Sangean PR-D5, a mini-boombox with Stereo FM and terrific long distance AM (MW) band capability. It can also play online music if you use a cable to plug your favorite streaming device into its AUX IN jack.

AM radio (also known as MW, Medium Wave, Mellombølge, Mittelwelle or Mellanvåg in parts of northern Europe) is outdated: yes. AM radio is ancient technology: yes.

AM radio was the original electronic mass media -- it has been around for nearly 100 years. AM radio isn't stereo, and it has lower fidelity than FM or DAB. It is more affected by atmospheric noise and household electrical interference than FM.

A GE Superadio, one of the best stand-alone AM-FM radios ever made.

It seems the only people who listen to AM in the U.S. anymore are ethnic minorities and sports and conservative talk enthusiasts, along with some religious listeners.

But the AM band can be quite interesting, especially at night, when the signals start rolling in from a thousand miles away or more.

At night I can hear stations from California, Oregon, four Western provinces of Canada, Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and several other states that are located east of the Rocky Mountains.

At night I can hear sports events, sports talk, Mexican, Chinese, Portuguese, SE Asian and South Asian music, Classic country and some oldies music, and of course the usual serving of news, news/talk, conservative talk and religion (both in Spanish and English). And on a few stations (at least two of them I've heard numerous times over the past few years -- one station in Eastern Washington and another in Arizona) I've heard Native American music.

There are also public radio stations on the AM band: there are several in Oregon which broadcast the NPR network and BBC news overnight, and also at least two CBC stations come in well from Canada, and the CBC has excellent radio programs.

One can hear long distance AM stations year-round, but during winter this long distance reception is usually much greater.

Some people can't stand the sound of AM radio signals phasing and flanging as they bounce off the ionosphere. But there are some who do. It's like literally hearing the signals roll and reflect off the ionosphere, phasing their way to your radio's antenna from somewhere 1000 miles away or more. The stations literally have a far away sound to them.

A home-built box crate loop antenna with about 110 ft. of wire wound around a plastic milk crate. The tuner at the bottom corner of the crate was taken from an old, junked radio. It tunes the loop to boost the signals. The antenna needs no power -- it all comes from the radio signals themselves. The portable radio inside is a Radio Shack DX-350 AM-FM-SW-LW radio with good performance, and terrific sound through headphones. Using a set-up like this, stations from all over Western and Central North America can be heard from the Pacific NW.

Some AM listeners try to see just how far away they can hear a station. I've heard stations from Korea, Japan, and Alaska (although very, very rarely). I've heard US stations as far west as Hawaii and as far east as Cincinnati, Detroit, Nashville, New Orleans, several cities in Texas, and Chicago.

One early morning I heard an AM station from Mexico City (almost 2300 miles away), just on my old boombox.

I've heard Cuba, and I've heard other places in Mexico, and a couple stations in Central and northern South America. To hear many of the farthest stations I used a box or spiral loop antenna and sat it near the radio, boosting the signals. Sometimes those stations (Mexico, Cuba) were audible just on the radio itself.

A small map showing the locations of AM band / MW stations I've heard (green dots)  on radios like my GE Superadio, Realistic TRF, and a Sanyo Boombox. Some reception was with help from an external loop antenna set near the radio (the red line on the map came with the map. Unfortunately, I've never heard any AM station from Australia).

SCANDINAVIAN DXers -- HEAVY DUTY MW Long Distance Listeners

In Europe, people can easily hear North Africa and the Mideast on the AM / MW band.

In Norway, Sweden, and Finland there are MW radio nuts who use high tech radios and antennas hundreds of meters long so they can hear AM stations literally all over the world. They are probably the most well known MW / AM band aficionados in the world -- true 'DXers'.

The term 'DXer' is a radio-nut phrase which means "distance listener". It comes originally from that ancient form of communication: Morse Code.

The Scandinavian MW DXers take advantage of the Northern winter's polar night to 'DX' the Medium Waves, sometimes all day, as it can be night time 24 hours north of the Arctic Circle). Some of them travel to far northern listening sites (Andøya, Kongsfjord, Vardø, Lemmenjoki, Aikhiniemi, etc.) where they string out very long antennas 100's of meters long, and do nothing but drink beer or wine, eat good food, and listen for stations from all over the world.

There are blogs by Scandinavian MW DXers online. I actually discovered blogs and blogging by running across a couple of the Scandinavian DX blogs about three years ago, when I was doing a search on MW DXing. The link below has a list of blogs written by these DXers in Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Some of the blogs are mostly lists of stations they've heard. But sometimes they also post photos of their scenic locations (and dinner -- including reindeer steak?!):

http://nordicdxblogs.blogspot.no/

In the early 1900's most radio listeners were long distance listeners. This was back when radio broadcasting was a new technology, and was AM band / MW only.

Many modern radios like the Sangean PR-D5 have an AUX IN jack, and you can plug in a tablet or other device to stream music through the radio. In this picture I have my Kindle streaming the Norsk Folkemusikk DAB channel from Norway.

INTERNET STREAMING AND GEO-BLOCKING

Today, of course, any 'long distance listening' is all done by a tablet computer or smart phone. You just use an app like TuneIn, IHeartRadio, or Streema to listen to a station from another part of the U.S., Canada, or another country. And -- many listeners are abandoning radio altogether for music services like Pandora and Spotify.

Unfortunately, many stations use geo-blocking to keep people living in other areas from listening to them, because of internet costs. I've noticed that some stations on TuneIn are missing because they are geo-blocked. You call up the station and hear the introductory advertisement, then you hear a tone and a message saying that "this radio station is not available in your country".

Increasingly, radio stations in the U.S. are geo-blocking their streams, limiting them to just the local metropolitan area, because of streaming and royalties costs.


So if you want to hear a football or baseball game broadcast on a radio station from a nearby city, the internet is becoming less useful, and at night especially, the AM band can be useful for that.

Several headset radios, which are often available at thrift stores. Sony models, like the ones here, work well on the AM band as well as the FM band. The grey one at right, the Sony SRF-59, is available in box stores for around $20 here in the U.S. One AA battery in the SRF-59 can last for several months, making it a great emergency radio.

OLD TECHNOLOGY, BUT STILL FUN

Long distance AM radio listening is kind of like astronomy through a telescope -- it's much easier to use the internet to get the same thing. But often using the original technology can be more fun.

My GE Superadio 1 (also the first photo I took with my Fuji snapshot camera). I had it in my car because the car stereo fried. I bought this radio at a local thrift store a few years ago for $5.99.
 

Some guys like to keep lists of every station they have heard. I have a list, but I'm not as intense about it as some guys are. There are also listening clubs, but I am not a member of any of them. There are a few radio-enthusiast internet forums I go to, but that's as involved as I get into the hobby.

I just enjoy listening to the signals from far away as I am reading and having tea.

The GE Superadio II, the last version (F model) built in China. This was my kitchen radio for several years. Last year, the radio took a dive off the refrigerator. The radio still worked perfectly. GE's are built like tanks!

If you are interested in listening to long distance AM / MW radio, you don't necessarily need a Superadio or other 'hot' radio -- even a clock radio or boombox can be good for long distance listening. I have a Panasonic clock radio that is really good, and a couple Sony headset radios I have also work well. During the 1980's through the 2000's the technology in boomboxes and clock radios improved quite a bit, and some everyday standalone radios will pull in a lot of signals, like the Sony pictured below.

The Sony ICF-38 is a portable AM-FM radio that is very inexpensive (around $25-$30 US in some box stores), which sounds good (even on AM) and works really well, and is really easy on a set of four AA batteries -- it's rated at 82 hours with alkalines, although with my radio I got more than 5 months out of a set (I use headphones a lot when DXing with it, though). I sometimes use my ICF-38 to listen to football games outside while doing yard work, and I often use it for Long Distance AM listening, too, as it is a very good DXer. PS -- When using an external loop with this radio, the best place to place it is in front or in back of the tuning dial, which is where the internal antenna is located (although a loop will also work off the side of the radio.

IT'S AN INEXPENSIVE HOBBY, TOO

Long distance radio listening -- like astronomy and some other hobbies -- may not be for everyone, but it can be a fun way to spend an otherwise dreary Winter evening, seeing what can be heard. Like fishing, it can often be unpredictable. And it is a cheap hobby. The only cost is the cost of a radio (which many people already have) and maybe the cost of the batteries to power it up -- it's one of the cheapest hobbies out there.

Addendum, 11-2017:
I probably should mention here that there are several other MW DX related blog posts on my blog here. I have reviews of several of the radios I use for MW DXing (mostly portables), including some tips on maintenance and very simple repairs. Thank you to all who have read this article and have checked out my blog. Good DXing to each and every one of you. 
CC 11-25-2017

Addendum, July 22, 2022:

As it took me a while to figure out how to respond to comments, I decided to respond here to Ayman' the MW DXing Vet's question below (in the comments) about which Sangean radios I think are best on MW. It's probably pertinent to add it here, as my blog article is all about MW/AM DXing.

It's hard to give one answer, and it is a toss-up, really. The PR-D5 is probably the best overall. It's hard to beat a DSP radio with a 200mm, dual coil antenna. The audio is a little muddy at times, but it's not bad, and the radio does reduce noise. 

However any Sangean radio will do well if you have an external loop. I have a PR-D18 (a small, grey Sangean radio with AM/FM and a DSP chip, just like its bigger brothers), and it DXes well with a loop, and DXes OK without one. It has a slightly higher bandwidth than the PR-D5, and is very pleasant to use with headphones. My PR-D14 (a mono PR-D5, basically, with a smaller loop inside) is about as good as my PR-D5. Side by side it's hard to tell their reception apart.

The DSP chip inside these radios is a fairly good equalizer.

I don't have every recent Sangean MW radio -- I've read good things about the PR-D15 (a PR-D5 with a tone control -- I can see how that would be very useful!), and I've read a lot of great things about the PR-D4W, which is a small portable with great performance -- or so they say -- and has several bandwidths -- which also would be very useful.

For older Sangeans, the Sangean ATS-909 / DX-398 is an EXCELLENT MW radio, as is the Sangean-built and designed Realistic DX-375. Both of those will DX well even without external loops. If the new ATS-909X is as good on MW, it probably is a winner.

Also, I don't know if the Sangean ATS-505 is still being made, but it's very good on MW. I live in a low signals area, so I usually need a loop with it to really DX. But it has excellent sound (especially through headphones) and the selectivity is very effective.

I hope this answers the question. I do indeed hope to get a PR-D15 and/or PR-D4W sometime in the future. If and when I do, I definitely will post an article about them, and I will also include comparisons to other radios.

Peace to all,

Chris