57 years ago in Guantanamo Bay, almost 500 miles from the closest point to the United States, I had a Hallicrafters WR-600 (a wood-grain version of the S-120, 4 tube RX) that I used among ham other uses for some BCB DX. That RX used a long-wire antenna, no provision for a loop of any kind. Yet I logged some 40 states across the US. A loop is NOT a necessity for BCB DX. Maybe for vaguely determining direction, or some form of selectivity, but not for general BCB DX.

From: [email protected] on behalf of Hubert Miller
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2025 2:18 PM
To: milsurplus
Subject: Re: [Milsurplus] [ARC5] Command Receivers on the Broadcast Band

I was given a small boat RDF in moderate okay condition. The club organizer said, these things don't sell at hamfests. I disagreed mildly; i think anything will sell if the price is right, but i was happy with his decision. This one has an automatic antenna seeking - a sight to behold. I still need to get a decent schematic to see how that's done. It doesn't do that well indoors - maybe too much noise, or distorted signal paths. I do not have the intererest or patience to put up with the noise of listening for DX on the AM band, but i concur about the necessity of a directional ( loop ) antenna. I don't see how you could do any AM DX listening without it.

I have a Nissan van with an inches short AM antenna. When long distance driving after dark, i always tune around. I like to listen to traffic reports on KNWN, Seattle, where i used to live, some 300 miles away. Saturday i was returning from Portland and i noticed the Mexican on 1090 was strong and in the clear, but i think they run 2x the US 50 kW limit. I also saw that the trans. shack and antennas for KNPT are still up, a year after that business went bankrupt. That's going to be a tough sell for sure. 10 kW transmitter and 2 antennas on swampy ground in an economically unviable market.