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Old-school external AM antenna for vintage receiver question

B

b-rider

Active Member
I have a smattering of vintage SX-series Pioneer receivers, but I got a newer Onkyo AV receiver for free, and I wanted to add an external AM antenna to use it in the garage. It has the (2) connector inputs for an AM antenna that look like mini-spring-loaded speaker connections (like my Pioneers).

So I bought (2) Loop antennas on ebay that have the (2) free-wire ends already stripped and tinned that would work. But then I got the idea to add one to one of my Pioneers, but all of those old SX series have a SINGLE post for an external AM antenna, not (2).

What is the purpose of the (2) wire ends on the AM loop antenna, and why do the old receivers only have 1 AM post? I think I'm over-thinking this, but couldn't I just wrap the (2) wire ends on the loop antenna together and use them effectively on the single post on the vintage receiver?
 
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2- wire connectors are for a loop antenna, but experiment with a single long wire. May work fine in your situation.For single connectors, all you need is a long wire, the longer the better, RX-wise. Some time ago, mfgrs went to the loops for ease of & simplification of installation. BTW, your SX series unit probably still has the fixed AM ferrite bar/coil on back. Sometimes those are OK, but the wire will work lots better in most cases. You could unwind one of your loops, use as single wire, just stretch out somewhere safe. And no, do not twist both loop ends together, won't work worth a damn in a single or double connector antenna input. You'll get a bit of lcal reception at best. This electrically shorts the length of it.
 
WaynerN said:
I've heard of guys running 100+ feet of wire from tree tp tree at an elevated height for AM reception. Probably a bit overboard....
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I did that as a kid for shortwave antennas. Nothing on AM or SW these days worth hearing to warrant such an effort, sad to say. About all the SW broadcasters ( Deutsche Welle, Radio Canada Int'nl, Radio Nederland, etc- all gone. Of course, radio china & radio havana cuba haven't shut up yet.
 
Catmanboo said:
I did that as a kid for shortwave antennas. Nothing on AM or SW these days worth hearing to warrant such an effort, sad to say. About all the SW broadcasters ( Deutsche Welle, Radio Canada Int'nl, Radio Nederland, etc- all gone. Of course, radio china & radio havana cuba haven't shut up yet.
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Back in the 90's I bought an old Philco AM/SW radio that also spun 78's. The SW band was awesome! I miss that, those nights slowly moving the dial, the only thing lighting up the room is the light from the old radio.
 
Catmanboo said:
I did that as a kid for shortwave antennas. Nothing on AM or SW these days worth hearing to warrant such an effort, sad to say. About all the SW broadcasters ( Deutsche Welle, Radio Canada Int'nl, Radio Nederland, etc- all gone. Of course, radio china & radio havana cuba haven't shut up yet.
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Yeah, about the only "fun" I have anymore, if I turn on one of my SW radios, is to see if I can get all the WWV and CHU stations in the same night.

Doug
 
What is the purpose of the (2) wire ends on the AM loop antenna, and why do the old receivers only have 1 AM post?

As mentioned, usually one of the two connectors is connected to the chassis, and the other is for the 'antenna'... Newer equipment used a 2 wire design for the cheap loop they supplied...
Long wires work, but also tend to pick up more signal AND a LOT more noise - atmospheric and man made - and lightning -- so a (much IMO) better alternative is to build a tunable loop for indoor use.

Tunable loops are so much better - they are directional, can be 'peaked' using the varicap for strength and co-channel 'nulling' and are generally easy to build - plus they do not cost much in parts.

Plans for AM broadcast band loops are all over the net... There are still a lot of people who DX Ancient Modulation... Still a lot of fun I must admit. .....

However, as good as some audio equipment sounds, the components for AM reception are not (except for a few cases ) well designed...
 
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