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Terk AM Advantage Loop Antenna ?
Have recently brought out a Tuner capable of receiving AM stereo back into service. The only problem is that there are no stations in the area broadcasting in stereo.
I was able to get a weak stereo signal on 630 CFCO from Chatham last night but tuning to it is problematic due to the strong adjacent signal of 640 in Toronto.
I am using a make shift AM antenna that is working much better than the usual supplied loop antennas. I can receive stations such as WGR,, WBEN and Funny 820 with a signal strength up to 8.5, The strong night time American stations come in at 9 sometimes.
Have included a sample of the weak stereo 630 signal below. My question is will the TERK AM Advantage tune-able antenna, which is over $ 80.00, help in getting a better signal. The tuner has the capability of receiving wide band AM and after the first 57 seconds of CFCO you will hear two local stations in wide band and a max signal strength. Using wide band at 630 will obliterate the signal due to cross interference by AM 640.
My conclusion at this point is that any AM stations still playing music need a a good FM translator. Still undecided about HD but it would be nice for them to bring back AM stereo.
CFCO AM +
Last edited by Fitz (March 1, 2019 5:31 pm)
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Re: Terk AM Advantage Loop Antenna ?
Re AM stereo all I can say is that if it's good enough for Chatham it should be good enough for us. Someone else must also have the proper equipment to listen. They should include a chip to decode C-QUAM AM stereo on all HD radios and you may get an audience. Granted that HD radio itself is not exactly taking off and may eventuality suffer the same fate as AM stereo.
Another stereo audio clip as I switched my DX'ing to FM yesterday and today. There seemed to be favorable propagation.
Antennas are important and I have a good indoor one that came with and works best on a Directed table top HD radio. The radio does not have RCA outputs and so I had to record via the headphone output.
I was able to make one new catch. 250 watt giant CKRZ FM aboriginal radio ( near Brantfort). Plus a few other distant stations. I was getting quite a few college and community stations that I did not record because they took to long to ID. Caught a station about 319 KM's away in south central NY and brief pick up of Ottawa country station CKKL FM.
Here's what you will hear on the clip below
WCMF FM Rochester - 1-103
WBFO as heard on WNED HD 2- 104-142
WQLN 91.3 Erie -142-256
CKRZ FM - 257-523
WHTT 104.1 - 524-741 ( an easy catch but they had a Beatles show on)
WZHD Cool FM 97.1 - 742- 805 Canaseraga NY
CKKL FM 93.9 - 806-823 Ottawa ( have heard this a few other times with a better signal but it's very faint this time)
The Buzz FM 98.9- 823-945 Rochester ( interesting and creative ID's)
CKDO HD - 946 ( AM music on HD stereo, verdict is still out on some of the HD streams and this one does not sound great but I think that's more to do with my recording via cassette and then digi and this station did not fare well in that process, probably needed to adjust the VU meters when I switched to this station)
EDIT: Have now included a direct to digital two min recording of classical FM and CKDO. Bypassing the cassette. Sounds better and was recorded off a Sangean HD Tuner which sounds better but is not as good as the Directed Table top in terms of pulling in distant signals.
FM DX
96.1 & CKDO HD
Last edited by Fitz (March 3, 2019 11:52 am)
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Re: Terk AM Advantage Loop Antenna ?
I found the Terk AM antenna for $ 62.00 including tax and shipping and bought it.
Was it worth it ? Maybe for a radio geek like myself but probably not for most. I use it combined with my makeshift one at night for better results. I did a scan yesterday and the day before and below is what I heard. I also scanned FM yesterday due to weather conditions and I caught two Frogs, an alternative station from Belleville and the Ottawa station that I caught faintly on the last scan came in clearer this time.
AM stations such as WECK, WJJL and CJBQ still sound distorted but come in a bit better with the antenna and listening to the web stream is a better option when available.
You will need a high tolerance for static on the AM stations and some of the distant FM but the HD is clean.
Stations include WCBS, WGY and WPHT AM HD. All from the USA ( AM HD catches from a distance are supposed to be difficult)
WECK and WJJL AM Buffalo NY
CFOS AM Owen Sound, Ontario
CJBQ AM Belleville Ontario
CFNV AM 940 Montreal, Quebec ( Classic Hits format)
WCRN AM 830 Worchester, Mass. ( Classic Hits Format at night)
WFRY Froggy FM Watertown, NY
WBER FM Rochester, NY
Bob FM, Brockville, Ontario
Big Frog 104.7 Utica, NY
CKKL FM Ottawa, Ontario
CJLX FM Belleville, Ontario
93.9 The Grand FM HD ( this is a tough catch from Pickering and the station drops frequently)
EDIT: I just discovered that the Freddy Vette show on CJBQ can be heard here. You can hear the most recent show and it's in stereo. I wonder if the station broadcasts in stereo. Some sources indicate that it does but the signal is generallly not strong enough here for me to test that.
EDIT 2: Early this morning just before 6 am I was getting a stereo lock on 940 AM from Montreal. I has previously seen the stereo indicator on my Sony receiver flicker on and off on the station but I was not sure if that was a false indicator but they might broadcast in stereo. I got a better stereol lock on the station with better musical selection than heard on my recorded sample but unfortunately I did not catch that on tape. I will continue to monitor and hopefully be able to make a better recording. You can hear my initial resuls on the second video below if you can stomach distorted audio and Sammy Davis Jr. May not only be a false stereo indicator but it results in a form of what may be faux stereo.
Go to the bottom of the page to listen.
Last edited by Fitz (March 18, 2019 9:08 pm)
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