Another for the radio techs out there

[Petrol & Powder]

Hit up a truck stop. Lots of them still have citizen band radio shops. CB radios are AM transceivers on different frequencies. I am used to be one. Lol

And how would that help the OP?

[Gar]

I don't know how you intend to use the radio but the best one I have is a RSP-2.
It's a software defined radio (SDR) and beats any of the other rigs I own.
I collect vintage radios and have two dozen or so 'boat anchors', mostly Hallicrafters.
The SDR with a 70' long wire antenna pulls in more stations than any of the other radios.

[Reg]

Want to take a minute and thank all for their answers. Learning a lot some of which I should have taken into consideration and some I didn't.
A lot of what I am hearing is perhaps its best not to try to repair that old of a Panasonic radio. They were great in their day but perhaps their day is done.
Many have suggested the Crane radio along with others and am checking them out. At the moment I am leaning towards the Crane as it can go with 12 volts along with the 110. For us this will work out well as when we are in the camper we generally are not near 110 volts. We could use the generator but there is the noise we dont care for and also there is this matter of interference which also shows up in various lighting
A lot of knowledge here and believe me it is greatly appreciated.
Also taking a look at an external antenna.

[MaryB]

External antenna can be a simple hunk of wire, string it out a window, close the window on it(use #22 or smaller wire). Run the far end into the nearest tree or other support.

[Lead pot]

Mary,
You can still find those S-38's for around $50. but they have to get good and warm so you don't have to nail them down.
I used to run a TCK-4 de commissioned in 1947 from a Liberty Ship that ran two 813's in the finals and I converted it for a CW XMTR and used a Hallicrafters SX-73 XCVR a very good combination but I had to wait till after midnight to run the XMTR because it would get into every Telephone and TV around LOL.
I still have the TCK boat anchor in the shed.
The old Tube AM radios are simple to fix. Usually it's just a tube that went soft or a capacitor that is leaking and that can be traced out very easy with a probe.
I still run a old Zenith trance oceanic with a beverage wire hooked up for an antenna but yes static crashes get loud but after sunset it reaches out and pulls in fine stations from over seas.

[firefly1957]

I did not even think about the car radios in previous answer I have one in workshop that runs on battery charged by solar panel I have not used it since I installed security camera system that interferes with am radio.
I find both Ford & GM car radios can have great am reception but there is a security system in newer ones that may not let them play out of the car.
I remember many nights driving in my 1969 Dodge Polara the radio picked up AM stations at night from as far away as New Orleans to Michigan's U.P. while driving .

[semtav]

I remember many nights driving in my 1969 Dodge Polara the radio picked up AM stations at night from as far away as New Orleans to Michigan's U.P. while driving .

I had a 69 dodge Polara too. I just took the radio out of my old 78 Dodge pickup before I gave it away to Put in my truck. The newer radios suck.
I think part of the reason we got such great reception back then is because the radio stations would beam them our way. We would get KOMA out of Oklahoma City up here in Montana and they would actually carry advertisement from up here.Now we have to many radio stations cluttering up the airwaves. Only thing I can get at night now unless I'm real close, is KOA Denver KSL Salt lake City and KFAB Omaha. All talk Radio Stations.

[Petrol & Powder]

What Americans call AM, most of the world refers to as Middle Wave [MW]. The frequencies in that band 530 KHz - 1700 KHz, allow for long distance transmission at night due to reflection off of the F-layer of the atmosphere.
There's a lot of confusion and some downright misinformation about the propagation of those signals. Night time skip, clear channel stations and antenna design all have influence.
A lot of factors have changed how we get our information and entertainment. FM radio, satellite radio, massive cell phone networks, the internet in general, cable and satellite TV, etc. I don't think AM radio is going away but it has changed.

If you spend a little time to educate yourself about AM radio (and use reliable reference sources), you can have a much better understanding of that mode of communication. Some of that once common knowledge is becoming rare.

[semtav]

Anyone remember those powerful stataions from Mexico years ago??

thought I'd test my memory cause most of my playing with radios was 40 years ago.

So I wanted to see if the beaming AM signals was just my faulty memory :

From Radio World:


The Development of the Directional AM Broadcast Antenna

The advent of the directional antenna made it possible for co-channel stations to operate in close proximity

John Schneider ⋅ Jun 14, 2019

This article originally appeared in Spectrum Monitor magazine.

In the early years of AM radio broadcasting, all stations utilized non-directional antennas. Most all of these were wire antennas suspended between towers or buildings. Interference, especially at night, was severe. An interfering signal of 5% or less in signal strength was enough to disrupt reception of the desired station, and if the frequencies of the two stations were slightly separated, there would be a heterodyne beat note. As a result, only a few widely-spaced stations could operate on each of the AM broadcast channels in the entire country at night. This limited the number of stations that could coexist to about 500 nationwide, with many of them sharing time on a single frequency.

As antenna technologies were developed and improved in the early 1930s, a few progressive stations began experimenting with multi-element directional arrays. This approach offered two attractive benefits: 1) It could reduce radiation towards other stations on the same or adjacent frequencies, permitting more stations to share a frequency; and 2) a broadcaster could direct more signal towards the desired coverage area, and away from wasted areas such as open water in the case of coastal stations.

Lots longer article and well written.

What really drives me nuts is the allotment of FM stations. There aren't that many around here and two I like to listen too I'm half way between one on 95.3 and one on 95.5. Like they really couldn't pick a better spread in frequencies cause I cant listen to either at home.

[MaryB]

A small directional FM antenna is easy to make! some brass brazing rod, brass tube the rod fits in(to make a longer element)... hunk of PVC pipe painted with something to stop UV from destroying it. 3 elements would give you decent front to back and not a ton of gain(don't want to overload the receiver).

[firefly1957]

I had a 69 dodge Polara too. I just took the radio out of my old 78 Dodge pickup before I gave it away to Put in my truck. The newer radios suck.
I think part of the reason we got such great reception back then is because the radio stations would beam them our way. We would get KOMA out of Oklahoma City up here in Montana and they would actually carry advertisement from up here.Now we have to many radio stations cluttering up the airwaves. Only thing I can get at night now unless I'm real close, is KOA Denver KSL Salt lake City and KFAB Omaha. All talk Radio Stations.

I wish they still made cars like that 69 Polara mine was 9 seat station wagon 2 barrel carb 383 Engine with 9-1 compression It got 18 MPG stopping fast from over 70 MPH was dicey with drum brakes on all 4 wheels though.
I had a good radio in my 78 Ramcharger it was not to bad on gas either 15 mpg for a 440 engine. I had am/fm and 8 track tape in it the radio had great reception .