Improving reception ON a mountain?

[RadioCatt]

Hello;

Just got a Tecsun PL990 the other day. Reception is about 1/2 meh. I haven’t yet tried going outside to escape the house’s RFI, as another poster here says he does. Is it something about the mountain I’m on and its terrain..surrounded by trees (containing Q-killing water) that prevents my receiving signal?

We also got a relatively cheap “emergency” radio: AM / FM / WX with two lights and an 18” whip - which pulls in AM stations the Tecsun can’t get!

Are these two situations related: mountain location / cheap vs expensive receiver

I’m at appx 600’ above sea level; appx 500’ above the valley below, surrounded by 100’ conifers and other mountains.

Last night in the wee hours, on the tecsun, I got signals from okeechobee, botswanna, and a one either from China or SE Asia. Tonight, I plan to take the 990 outside to see if there’s a difference.

Thank you for any tips.

 

[sp5it]

Proper antenna is a key to success.

 

[unit_399]

900 feet above sea level is not on the top of a "mountain "by any measure. A foothill, maybe. I live on the top of a real mountain (5700' elevation). Like sp5it posted, you need a better antenna. Lots of good Dxing antennas on the web. Or just string a really long wire as high as you can. Maybe on top of one of those trees. Good luck.73.

- 399

 

[nomadradio]

A whip antenna will pull in only the strongest signals. The foreign "flamethrower" transmitting sites with hundreds of kW were mostly a cold war thing, and have been demolished. Plenty of YouTube footage of the antenna sites coming down. At the very least a random-length long wire as high as you can put it will make a difference you can hear.

73

 

[loosecannon]

honestly with those cheap receivers putting a long wire antenna on just overloads the receiver and you will only hear the local AM sports station across the entire band.
LC