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The external loop antenna makes no sense, unless you enjoy continually re-orienting it. Really, this radio is a joke. I have 3 other inexpensive AM radios that do not have this problem.I like the looks of the unit, but functionality is more important. Even then, I cannot get 630 KHz without unacceptable background noise. Just try tuning to an AM station in the neighborhood of 600 KHz. You will find that you cannot get rid of the background noise.
The power came on, and it found radio stations, but absolutely no sound came out of the speakers. Make HD radios with earphone jacks. So, one day it was working fine, and the next it was not working at all. Buyer beware. It had no trouble picking up local HD stations. When I first received this radio, I loved it. It was extremely easy to learn to operate (took about five minutes to read the instructions) and it immediately found my WAMU bluegrass station. I did not use this as a clock radio because the clock time is too small to see and if power is cut off, it loses the correct time.
However, after 10 days, it stopped working. I wanted to buy SONY which has the best reviews, but obviously, with no earphone jack, will have to buy another lower cost radio and try my luck again. Problem is, I absolutely need a earphone jack. Maybe yours will work better than mine did. SONY, wake up. I did use the wonderful sleep timer, which was great. This radio had one, but very few HD radios do. Reception was perfect, no static, clear as a bell.
I am returning it for a full refund (thank God the warranty is still good) and since I love HD, I decided I will buy another brand. I played the radio every day for about two or three hours. AM was not as good, had to use the odd looking antenna that comes with it but after some positioning, reception did come in with a little static. You can set that easily and the radio will shut off after the number of minutes you have it set to play.
Now I live in a first floor apartment facing south a few miles away. Location is part of the problem, since a plain AM/FM radio is also having trouble getting good reception.
One other down side, I found the menu controls hard to use.I never use this radio now because I just don't like the stations I can get. When reception was good, the radio sounded OK, and I kind of like having the song titles scroll across the display.
I bought this radio when I lived in a first floor apartment facing north near the top of a hill, half way between Boston and Providence. Even then, I needed to move the radio away from my bedside and near a window.
I don't know if another HD radio would do a better job in my location. Using an amplified TV rabbit ears antenna, I was able to get HD reception (usually) for my local (Boston) NPR station and enjoyed listening to that station's second, all-classical, channel.
I can get some HD channels from Providence, RI, but not any NPR stations.
And nothing beats FREE digital service. My daughter loves her new Radiosophy HD100 Digital HD Radio Receiver. I checked all the usual places (Best Buy, EBay, etc) and some more unusual. Also, the price of $99 plus free shipping couldn't be beat anywhere. We were able to cancel our Sirius/XM Satellite subscriptions because she now gets digital channels for free. Of course, it's not as many channels as Sirius or XM but it's FREE.
I haven't tried using it with a third party antennae, which might improve the signal.All in all, I would look at other units before plunking down $100. This radio is a mediocre radio that has trouble locking in HD signals if you're in a rural area or in the suburbs. The sound is also just fair.
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