29
Getting good reception on AM
Although the quality available with AM is obviously lower than with
FM, the KUDOS Tuner is capable of excellent results on AM with a
well set-up aerial.
Minimising noise
Signal strength on AM is less important than on FM. If there is little
interference a signal strength of 30dBµV is usable, and there is not
much advantage of signal strengths greater than 50dBµV. With
signals weaker than this you can benefit from improving the
antenna.
If you have signals stronger than 99dBµV you may need an RF
attenuator or a smaller antenna to avoid overloading the AM front
end. This will not damage the KUDOS tuner, but may prevent
reception of weaker signals nearby.
Minimising interference
As on FM, interference can be caused by other stations, or by
electrical equipment or wiring.
The best way to avoid interference is to move the antenna away
from interfering electrical equipment, or rotate it to reduce the
strength of interfering stations.
Interference can also be reduced by selecting the narrow
bandwidth, at the expense of high frequency response. Sometimes
the remaining interference can be eliminated by deliberately tuning
up to 4kHz off the correct frequency, away from the interference
above or below the station. This will also increase the high
frequency response again.