How well does a pocket radio work in the sleepers?

[denmarks]

I have had many pocket radios and am considering purchasing the C. Craine CC Pocket. Anyone have any experience with it?

 

[Sidney]

I have had many pocket radios and am considering purchasing the C. Craine CC Pocket. Anyone have any experience with it?

Good radio. Even better is the Sangean 800. Better speaker,more presets and RDS plus rechargeable batteries. About the same price. I always bring a little radio with me on the train. I enjoy listening to local radio in the morning mainly news and talk stations. FM comes in fine. Good AM tuner,as well.

 

[Amtrak Apple]

I have had many pocket radios and am considering purchasing the C. Craine CC Pocket. Anyone have any experience with it?

My husband, who is quite the radio expert, says that it sounds like a good choice. Here is a video review; the guy who has this YouTube channel is very responsive to questions (again, says the husband):

 

[TinCan782]

Being near a window will be helpful with any radio (that goes for cellphones too). Remember, you are inside a metal "tube".

 

[caravanman]

I enjoyed hearing local radio stations when in the US riding Amtrak. I found the stations did not stay "in range" for long, due to the movement of the train passing by.
Most phones have an fm radio built in these days. Good tip to place the reciever near a window.

 

[PVD]

of course, if you have a decent internet signal, many radio stations now stream, as well as Sirius/XM Satellite also available with streaming and archive if you have a subscription in your car...

 

[Sidney]

of course, if you have a decent internet signal, many radio stations now stream, as well as Sirius/XM Satellite also available with streaming and archive if you have a subscription in your car...

Of course you can stream virtually any station. On my trips I stream WOR in New York to listen to their morning shows. I spent my entire career in radio and there is nothing quite as satisfying as hearing over the air stations.

 

[Exvalley]

The mention of C Crane made me nostalgic for my days listening to shortwave radio in the 80s and 90s. It was my way of getting information pre-internet.

 

[PVD]

I listen to the radio every day when I wake up. I also have a few of my favorites programmed in the car, and enjoy certain programming, despite having Sirius which has so many choices. The effects of both consolidation of ownership and syndication have taken away some of the "fun" in listening to stations in different cities. Sadly, the pocket radio became "one less thing to carry" on the train.

 

[caravanman]

The mention of C Crane made me nostalgic for my days listening to shortwave radio in the 80s and 90s. It was my way of getting information pre-internet.

We took a small Sony shortwave radio with us on our travels to India in 1983. Nice to hear stations from all over the globe. Vivid memories of listening to the Christmas Carols on the BBC world service when staying in Kerala in December, quite a Christian area under the former Portuguese influences.

 

[Saddleshoes]

I have had many pocket radios and am considering purchasing the C. Craine CC Pocket. Anyone have any experience with it?

I am a bit of an audiophile, and take a radio where ever/when ever I travel. I have tried all kinds of pocket radios over the years and the C Craine CC Pocket radio is the best I have found. I own two of them. (As a matter of fact I just walked in the door from a 50 mile bike ride and had my radio tuned in for most of that ride.)

 

[denmarks]

Good radio. Even better is the Sangean 800. Better speaker,more presets and RDS plus rechargeable batteries. About the same price. I always bring a little radio with me on the train. I enjoy listening to local radio in the morning mainly news and talk stations. FM comes in fine. Good AM tuner,as well.

After more investigating it does seem that the Sangean 800 has more features. It even costs a little less than the CC and is rechargeable. I have ordered it.

 

[BoulderCO]

You didn't say if you were primarily interested in AM or FM.

FM is easier for reception, but of course you will only get very local stations and go out of range fairly quickly.

I enjoy AM listening on my Amtrak trips, especially at night when many of the large "clear channel" stations can be heard. For AM, getting the internal antenna of the receiver right on the glass of your window is essential. For this application, one of the smaller "hand sized" radios is actually better than a larger and heavier unit.

Lately I have used Sangeans for this, both the DT-120 and the DT-160. It is very easy to make a removable "hanger" so that the radio will be flat against the window glass. Buy a small suction cup at your local hardware store. Attach a short piece of string below it with a hook made out of a paperclip. Put a rubber band around the radio and hang it from the hook by the rubber band. Stick everything to the window with the suction cup. Connect an earphone to the radio and you are good-to-go.

 

[Larry H.]

Historically I always found it interesting that the old very large Zenith Long Range radio used a "Wave Magnet" that was a suction cup on a cord from the radio you were supposed to put on the train window to pull in stations. I had some of those radios but never bothered to haul such a big radio along on a trip!

 

[west point]

Antennas are compact even for AM. The fractal antennas you have now in a compact cell phone is very different than the old shoe phones.