No AM Radio Reception

malcod · 10-04-2021, 05:31 AM

2021 Cougar 30RLS
Discovered no AM reception on radio- FM is fine. - have read threads whereby owners have pulled radio to discoverthe antena was rolled into a ball behind. What I do not know is whether when they flattened this strip/antenna, WAS IT EFFECTIVE? Did you have radio reception and how good was it?
Trailer is in for warranty service and service mgr indicated that am reception is poor to nil and people just carried a separate radio if they want AM. He did agree to investigate, but I suspect that was to just appease me.
Am I being to picky to have the expectation of normal radio reception.?????

DaveAlb · 10-05-2021, 03:54 AM

Since it is in for warranty woGo rk, I would have it documented and fixed. That’s setting the bar too low to not expect reasonable reception on that radio. Personally, I don’t think it’s inferior equipment, but rather inferior installation.

**flybouy** · 10-05-2021, 05:57 AM

From my experience most "automotive" and RV radios have lousy AM reception. So few AM listners it's just not worth the money to the manufacturers. If the radio has seperate AM & FM antenna connectors then you can buy a "loop AM antenna" for about $8. They will have 2 bare wires to connect to the antenna input. If the radio has one antenna input then you can buy an antenna booster.

Television antennas make lousy AM antennas and some actuall "tune out" the AM band. The coax cable splitters also may block out those frequencies as they are typically regarded as "interference". The best option IMHO is to get a portable or table top radio that is specifically made for AM reception. The second best option is to install a marine AM/FM antenna on the outside of the camper. A standard cwr antenna uses the metal of the vehicle as a ground plane and thats not available on a trailer with Filon walls.

DaveAlb · 10-05-2021, 11:45 AM

CCrane makes excellent portable AM radios if you go in that direction. Had them for 10 years. They normally have FM and weather channel too.

friz · 10-05-2021, 01:13 PM

Have you listened to AM radio lately? It is pretty much regulated to spanish language in reverb and holly roller/evangelical programming.

DaveAlb · 10-05-2021, 01:56 PM

I have. The high quality stations are harder to find now that there are so many options. Understanding that, I’m still hanging on for those few.

Mikendebbie · 10-05-2021, 06:00 PM

The last RV I had that included an AM radio that worked (somewhat) was a ‘96 KZ Sportsman with a roof mounted car antenna. In my current unit the AM radio was useless…even after I unfurled the antenna and stretched it out. I bought a cheap car antenna at Walmart and installed it in the corner of the TV cubby behind the TV. AM reception has improved a bit but nothing to brag about. FM is much better. We have a small portable Eton radio that we use. I really do not want to drill thru the slide out wall to mount an exterior antenna, or thru the roof.

**sourdough** · 10-05-2021, 06:45 PM

I don't know that any radio stations, or receiver manufacturers, cater to or worry about AM radio. The stations and quality have taken a dive over the last many years. Last time I even thought of AM radio was when Wolfman was still on the air (pre 70). After that it was FM and now strictly Sirius/XM...

malcod · 10-05-2021, 06:45 PM

Thanks to all that responded so far. I'll see what comes of the warranty request but I'm betting absolute nothinhg, For you southern friends, maybe FM is the "in" thing, but we Canucks in Saskatchewan still live and breath AM for talk, sports, 60;s music etc. We did find an acceptable FM music channel though.
The service man also mentioned buy a portable to which I really scowled. Thought he was loonie, but the trend is FM or portable.
Anyhow, add to the xmas wish list I quess.
OH yeah SirusXM - now if I could get them to broadcast my Sask Riders games!!!
Thanks again
Dave in Assiniboia Sask

**sourdough** · 10-05-2021, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malcod

Thanks to all that responded so far. I'll see what comes of the warranty request but I'm betting absolute nothinhg, For you southern friends, maybe FM is the "in" thing, but we Canucks in Saskatchewan still live and breath AM for talk, sports, 60;s music etc. We did find an acceptable FM music channel though.
The service man also mentioned buy a portable to which I really scowled. Thought he was loonie, but the trend is FM or portable.
Anyhow, add to the xmas wish list I quess.
OH yeah SirusXM - now if I could get them to broadcast my Sask Riders games!!!
Thanks again
Dave in Assiniboia Sask

I live in my own "world". I appreciate you illustrating and sharing the situations encountered in other places. I have not dealt with AM signal for decades but I would thing that there are some options out there for superior antennas and receivers. I hope you can find what works.

Ken / Claudia · 10-06-2021, 06:44 PM

I too last had AM with a car type antenna mounted on the roof of a RV. My 2013 radio has never picked up any AM stations clearly. Guess they have not done much about that problem.

LHaven · 10-07-2021, 04:28 AM

AM is such a relatively primitive technology that if you can just hang a wire off the antenna screw and stretch it out inside the cabinet behind the receiver (in a 3D path is optimal) you should catch something.

Typically, it's the FM band a TV antenna will filter out, not the AM. But for me AM is not so critical as to take the effort of hooking the receiver's AM up to the roof antenna.

Ken / Claudia · 10-07-2021, 05:33 AM

It's been about 3 years when I took the radio out, unrolled the antenna wire and pulled it thru cabinets then taped it into place. I was not sure if that was fm or am but still no am. I like to listen to talk radio at times and just go into truck if its someone I know is talking. I gave up on it in the trailer.

LaTundra · 10-10-2021, 05:08 PM

I got a splitter and a short cable and hooked the radio antenna to the TV antenna. Now I get excellent reception.

Scott in Michigan · 10-10-2021, 06:47 PM

I'll share a few ideas:

To start AM reception with the trailer's radio is a non-starter.

The FM wire antenna the factory installs - if they unrolled it - is barely adequate for FM and will absolutely not work for AM reception.

So we use a portable TECSUN radio model PL-380 and an outside wire loop antenna marketed as the Kestrel W31MS. You can find it on ebay. The Degen W31MS is the same thing under a different name.

I hang it from the awning and run the feed wire past the screen. It couples to the TECSUN using a small ferrite rod that you place next to the AM radio. No other connections are needed.

The combination works very well.

AM radio is not dead, by any means.

Scott

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