Atwater Kent Model 43 "coffin style" find.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Tubejunke

You hit the nail on the head with length. An Atwater-Kent service bulletin I have recommends quite a bit of wire and use of an earth ground, If training memory serves me right, an AM antenna is supposed to be arranged in loops or coils, but no mention of anything like that in the bulletin.

These old TRF sets do not have the high gain that more modern superhet sets do... you need a length of wire stretched out (not in a little coil) to do the job. 20 ft of wire stretched across the room is a start, but 100 feet is better! A good ground is also necessary for optimum performance. Remember, we are dealing with long wavelengths here, the middle of the AM broadcast band is 300 meters wavelength contrasted to the FM band which is about 3 meters. Your little UHF bowtie is designed for even shorter wavelengths ( 60 centimeters or so)... not much help for the AM radio band.

jr