I am an amateur but got an old tube radio going which was a big success for me. However, the one band (AM) only gets one station very clearly, and it is ghosted/duplicated down the dial at about 25% power. No other stations come in, but maybe there are not a lot to get.

I have a moderately long line antenna hooked up directly to a tab on the cheese cutter capacitor tuning thing, as I can't figure out the included antenna schematic information or connections (they might be missing). This radio was a mess.

Anyway, am I just blowing it out with a too-strong incoming signal? Is the alignment completely off? Is this a known issue with a known solution?

Thanks for any input. I don't know much, and know what I don't know, which is much.

Without knowing which radio you have and looking at the schematic there is no way of knowing where you have the antenna attached to the circuit. We need more information. There is a big difference depending on what vintage the radio is as well. Also, you make no mention of where you are, but unless you are really in the middle of nowhere there should be several stations audible, and even then at night there should be many.

Is it an image frequency? It would be at a multiple of the IF frequency subtracted
from the original carrier frequency.

Sounds like its overloading. Try a ten foot wire & see how it works.
Most old radios had built in loop antennas on the back cover. It may
be why its overloading. Most of those were never meant for a longwire.

73 Zeno:smoke:
LFOD !

What is the make and model number? It might be listed here -- https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=nostalgia+air+schematics&ia=web

What is the frequency of the strong/clear signal? And what is the dial reading for the ghost (image) signal?