Best Long Range AM Radio For DXing

The best dx radio for AM dxing (long range listening) is the CCRadio-2E by C Crane. I bought one of these and have been very happy with it.

I have owned this AM radio for several years and can confirm its attributes, which make it one of the best dx long range listening AM radios in production today.

Here’s why I bought it: I believe it’s the best AM radio in its ‘DX’ class. Here’s a quick review of why I like it. First, here are a few pictures.

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Here’s a photo of my CCRadio-2E front panel controls:

And here are the top panel buttons of the C. Crane CCRadio 2E

Now that I’m taking more pictures of this radio, I might as well show the side with the Volume and Tuning (also Squelch) knobs, ⅛” (3.5mm) stereo headphone jack, and a ‘Lock’ switch.

Here’s the rear panel with an external antenna connection as well as ⅛” (3.5mm) jacks for Aux in and Line out.

(UPDATE) It has been a few years since I originally posted this, and the radio is still going strong. My opinion has not changed—it is likely the best or one of the best long range AM radios in its class for DXing in the AM Radio band.

THE AM RADIO BAND

The 530 to 1,700-kHz frequency band, which broadcast AM occupies, is classified as a medium wave (MW) radio band.

Medium-wave signals follow the curvature of the Earth using ground-wave propagation, but they can also bounce off the ionosphere at night, resulting in sky-wave propagation.

With the addition of skywave propagation, AM broadcast signals can travel great distances — 500 miles or more.

Why CCRadio-2E is the Best Long Range AM Radio

Superior AM Radio Band Antenna for DXing

It’s twin-coil ferrite antenna.

One very important factor to good reception (regardless of what type radio) is the antenna! The C. Crane CCRadio-2E has a new internal ‘Ferrite Bar’. It measures 8 inches long and has what they call “Twin Coil Ferrite®” technology. Let me tell you – it works!

This feature alone attributes it to my opinion as the best radio for long range AM DXing. It is exceptional at pulling in distant stations.

There are also terminals for an external AM antenna. This enables connection to other antennas, such as the ‘TERK AM Advantage’, which I wrote about in the following article:

[ Read: TERK AM Advantage Antenna Review ]

Superior Audio Quality

The audio circuitry and hardware have been tuned for the human voice, which makes a big difference in how it sounds.

This AM radio has the best-sounding audio I’ve heard in this category. It has a 5-inch, 6-watt speaker and audio tuned for the spoken word.

Even with my older model C Crane radio, their audio quality has always been significantly better than other radios.

The Bass and Treble controls allow you to equalize the sound to your liking. It sounds very solid. Given my previous career within the audio industry, I can appreciate what they’ve done.

Additional Bands

The following additional tuning bands use the telescoping antenna.

• FM
• NOAA weather channels
• 2-meter ham band 144 – 148 MHz

FM & NOAA Weather channels

The radio also tunes into the FM band and has all seven NOAA weather radio channels (with emergency alert functionality).

2 Meter Band (VHF)

Additionally, this radio will tune in to the Ham radio 2-meter band (often used by emergency responders during emergencies and disaster situations). This is a nice inclusion for this radio for preparedness and information gathering.

Your saved 2-meter frequencies can be scanned (press both ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ tuning buttons at once).

Squelch setting.. Press and hold the main Tuning Knob for 3 seconds until the display changes. Then slowly turn knob clockwise through 12 (increasing squelch settings).

I love that they included 2 meters. I have programmed in several local repeater frequencies and verified great functionality.

Additional Features

I should have mentioned earlier, but yes, it’s both battery-powered (four D-cells) and AC-powered.

Other features include memory presets, a clock, a sleep timer, a headphone jack, line in-out, and an adjustable display light.

Let me expand on the display light. This is a nice touch and something I’ve not seen in other similar-class radios. The green-hue LED back-light display has several brightness settings. The dim setting is perfect for lights-out listening.

There’s an old saying that ‘you get what you pay for’. While this radio was not cheap, I am very satisfied with the new CCRadio-2E. It’s still the best DX radio for AM today for long range listening.

I live in a rural region far away from AM broadcast stations. This radio will impressively pull in some of the radio stations that are very far away. However, the AM band opens up nicely during the evening/nighttime.

AM radio band broadcasts often consist of talk radio shows, news, and sometimes sports broadcasts. I like the preparedness aspect of the AM radio band for emergency news and information.

I do enjoy listening to AM radio when the opportunity presents itself. There are a few talk shows that interest me. Even though I can listen to most of these online, I enjoy the good old-fashioned ‘airwaves’ too.

A portable AM radio is a good thing for preparedness. Because these radios are battery-powered, even if the power goes out, you will still have a source of news and information.

Since AM radio is local, especially during the day (when reception is mostly limited to 100 miles or less), you will have a good resource for news reporting of any unfolding event.

During the evening and night, atmospheric conditions enable AM radio wave propagation to great distances, where the CCRadio-2E excels.

Note: One thing I’ve noticed regarding its functionality: While you’re tuning to a faint/weak station, you can hear the special tuning (internal automatic gain circuitry) such that the station’s volume (apparent strength) will change up/down until it ‘locks’ onto it. This is normal and interesting to observe.

Tip: An article about an inexpensive but decent little AM pocket radio:

[ Read: Best Cheap Pocket Radio ]

I’ve added several AM Radio Station lists you can download (PDF). Sorted it in various ways…

List of 50 kW AM Radio Stations

Here’s a list of 50 kW AM radio stations that I put together, sorted in a few different ways:
Download a PDF copy and print it for your reference…

(I feel the frequency-sorted list is the most useful, given that an unknown station you’re listening to will reveal their station identification call letters often at the top and bottom of the hour.)

(Right-click, then ‘Save as’ if you want to save the PDFs)

50 Thousand Watt AM Radio Stations sorted by call-sign, frequency, state, and city.

Station ID

Frequency

State

City

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