Description

FAQs

Specs

Manual

Troubleshoot

Testimonials

The Twin Coil Ferrite^® AM Antenna is ideal for boosting AM radio reception on any radio. It will reduce the fade-out found with a night time signal by 90% over what you have now. The TCA can double the signal strength of any weak station during the day.

It can improve radios that are placed in a bad reception location of your house or building like normally found in brick, stucco, or metal-sided homes. The TCA works with any radio, from portables to home stereos. Its wireless ferrite stick works on radios without antenna connectors, while the typical wire patch cord functions with radio antenna connectors like found on stereos. It can also be used to improve reception with the CCRadio 2 or the CCRadio-SW that have a built-in Twin Coil Ferrite^®, but only on very weak signals.

If you have a favorite AM radio station but experience poor reception at the exact place where you want to play your radio, the TCA can increase your AM radio reception significantly. It can reduce heavy static and distortion as well. The TCA element is capable of picking up a clean signal at a distance from your radio and shoving a clean signal to the radio and overriding the static. This feature alone can make it the best AM antenna because there is no other way to get a clean signal. It has the highest gain of any commercial AM antenna.

The antenna element has directional characteristics. By rotating the antenna element in a window or outside you can improve the signal strength. As with any AM Antenna, you need to take the time to experiment to find the best location and direction of the TCA. The TCA selectively tunes and amplifies an AM radio signal of a specific frequency and inductively couples the amplified signal to either the internal loop antenna of your receiver or directly to the receiver’s external antenna connectors.

Other Notes:

The TCA will run on either the included AC adapter or using a 9-volt battery (sold separately). The antenna will run for approximately 45 hours on battery power.
We also offer 25-foot and 50-foot extension cable kits if you have radio noise and heavy static caused by internal electric interference, using the TCA outside would be needed. It will need to be protected from weather and possibly grounded. This will allow the antenna element to be placed further away from the tuner box, such as outside or in a window further than the 5 foot included cable. Each kit includes PS2 cable, connector grease and coax seal.
With our custom made ferrite stick it can work great with our CC Witness. It will rest on the cradle stand which is part of the CC Witness Accessory kit.
When using the TCA, turn the radio around until you receive the best reception of a weak station. Place the TCA element bar, horizontally, 5 ft away but position the antenna in the same position as the radio. Turn radio 90 degrees. Place the ferrite stick on top and find the sweet spot. Tune the TCA Coarse tuner for the highest gain and tune the Fine tuner to improve clarity.

What's Included?

Tuner control (3.25" W x 4.3" H x 1.4" D)
Antenna element (8.6" W x 2.5" H x 1.5" D)
Ferrite stick (3" wide)
1/8-inch mono to RCA connector patch cord (69")
5-foot PS2 connection cable
RCA female patch cord to two bare wire ends
Hook and loop fastener
Mounting hardware
Instructions

Total length when completely connected: Approx. 10 feet

(Pat. #US 6,529,169 B2)

Will the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna improve the AM reception on my radio?

Yes. The Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna will improve the AM reception on any radio. It increases daytime and nighttime signal strength. The Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna decreases fadeout, distortion, and can reduce static. With the ferrite patch cord, RCA patch cord, hardwire patch cord, or optional 1/8" x RCA patch cord, you can connect the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna to virtually any type of radio.

How much cable comes with the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna?

Five feet. Additional lengths of 25 feet and 50 feet are available.

What is the maximum amount of cable that you can use with the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna?

You can use up to 75 feet of extra cable before you get line loss.

What kind of cable does the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna come with?

The Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna comes with five feet of "six pin mini din six conductor shielded cable." The cable connects to the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna using PS2 connectors, which are connectors commonly found on computer keyboards and computer mice.

Is there an attachment to connect two Twin Coil Ferrite AM antenna cables together?

Yes. C Crane has a Cable Coupler adapter available that will connect two Antenna cables together.

How do I connect my radio to the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna if I don't have an external AM antenna connection?

The Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna comes with a ferrite patch cord. This lets you connect it to a radio that doesn't have an external AM antenna connection. The ferrite rod is placed near the internal ferrite antenna on your radio.

Can the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna be used in a car?

Yes. It probably won't help in a moving car, but it works great in a mobile home or stationary RV. If your mobile home or stationary RV has aluminum siding, we recommend an extension cable to get the antenna head outside where the radio signals are.

Can the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna be grounded to an electrical outlet house ground or should I use a copper pipe?

In most cases grounding of the antenna head is not required. A ground would only be used if you had excessive noise when the antenna is operating outside. If you feel the need to try grounding the antenna head, then run the ground wire from the antenna head to a good earth ground. A good earth ground is either a ground rod typically a 5/8 X 8 copper clad steel or a copper pipe cold water line running into the earth. Copper ground wire can usually be purchased at your local hardware store. An ideal ground has the metal in contact with moist soil.
Note: Grounding the antenna to the center screw on an electrical outlet will likely cause a hum on your radio.

How much dB gain does the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna have?

The Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna has about 32 dB gain.

Does the Select-A-Tenna help with the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna?

The Select-A-Tenna when used in conjunction with the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna, produces curious results and in some cases marked improvement. However, if your radio is in a brick, stucco, aluminum sided, or other non conducive building material, the Select-A-Tenna will have insignificant results.

How long will a 9 V battery last?

A fresh 9-Volt battery will last approximately 40 hours.

How do I connect the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna to radios that have external antenna connections?

The cable connection from the tuning box to the radio has a 1/8" male mono plug on one end (tuner box end) and an RCA male on the other. We include a short red patch cord that has an RCA female on one end and that it splits in to two separate red wires. These wires connect to the AM antenna screw and ground screw. One of the red wires has a black stripe on it. This wire connects to the ground screw and the plain red wire connects to the AM antenna screw.

Where does the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna hook up to the Bose radio?

The Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna has a small ferrite stick that should be placed under the center of the left wing of the Bose (as it faces you) Placing the ferrite stick in this position will make an inductive connection with the internal ferrite stick of the Bose.

Is there Line loss on the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna's extension kits?

Yes there is loss however the signal to noise ratio is good up to 75' (75' is the maximum distance we recommend).

Why do the extension kits for the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna not work on my radio?

To work properly, the 25 and 50-foot extension cables must not be coiled up. The coiled cable effectively cancels out the electromagnetic energy. Uncoil the cable for proper reception.

Can I use RG6 or RG59 cabling with the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna?

No, do not use RG6 or RG59 cables with your Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna. The Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna requires a six-pin Mini DN cable. The cable must have good shielding and other properties to work well with theTwin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna. The Mini DN has six wires in it that are required to supply voltage, signal and antenna tuning between the antenna element and the tuning unit.

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS

Size	Tuner: 3.25" W x 4.25" H x 1.25" D Antenna: 8.5" W x 2.5" H x 1.25"D
Weight	Tuner: 4.5 ozs. Antenna: 8.5 ozs.
AC Power	AC Adapter (Included): 9V, 100 mA, center tip negative, 2.1 mm tip
DC Power	9 V Battery (Not Included)
Power Consumption	11 mA
Gain	32 dB
AM Antenna	Single ferrite element with twin coil (patent pending)
Input Jacks:	Tuner: 2.1 mm jack for AC adapter; PS2 jack for connecting cable to antenna element
Output Jacks	Antenna: PS2 jack for connecting cable to tuner Tuner: 1/8" jack for connecting patch cord to radio
Warranty	30 day satisfaction guarantee 1 year warranty parts & labor

Manual

Size

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Twin Coil Ferrite® AM Antenna Manual

175.66 KB

25 seconds @ 56KBps

No change in signal strength with Twin Coil Ferrite Antenna

The Twin Coil Ferrite Antenna is extremely directional. It must be rotated when tuning in AM stations. If the remote Ferrite Stick Antenna is not rotated, no increase in signal strength may be noticed. Check the connections between the antenna element and tuning box and between the radio and the radio and tuning box.

7/6/2009

Purchased my new TCF antenna yesterday With the CCrane radio, improvement was slight, but when hooked up to my home stereo - WOW! Dozens of AM stations now heard clearly! Voice and music are tremendously enhanced. Nice product. thanks.

- Norman Sullivan
Beach Lake, PA

6/23/2009

I'm very impressed with your twin coil ferrite AM antenna. It can be best described as an antenna on steroids! I own a GE Superadio III plus C. Crane's SW and SWP portables. The boost in reception is absolutely amazing! All three of the aforementioned radios are exceptionally sensitive to begin with but add the twin coil ferrite antenna and there's no stopping my daytime DXing on the AM band. From my home in eastern Idaho, I like to listen to AMers across southern Idaho, northern Utah and western Wyoming. KBOI-670 (50kw) in Boise is over 200 air miles to the west but yet I hear them with a clean local-like signal perfectly throughout the day without the aid of ionospheric skip. The same can be said of KLIX-1310 (5kw) in Twin Falls, about 120 miles to the southwest. To the south over 200 miles away, Salt Lake City stations KNRS-570 (5kw), KKAT-860 (10kw), KSL-1160 (50kw) and others also sound nice. Even lower powered stations in the 1kw range 75 to 100 miles away are very listenable. I especially like the fine tuning control which is very effective for great selectivity when listening to weak stations adjacent to ones with strong signals. In summary, the twin coil ferrite antenna is a really good investment for AM radio enthusiasts.

- Bob
Rigby, ID

Hi!
I just purchased your Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna, got it yesterday and am loving it! I live in the Central New York State area around Syracuse NY, and have never been able to pick any stations up from Massachusetts, other than WBZ Last night, using the new Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna, I pulled in WUPE at 1110 on the AM band of my CCrane Radio Plus! What a difference this antenna makes, since I live in a brick building.
Thank you.

- Tom
Fayetteville, NY

Dear C.Crane Webmaster,
Hooked up my new Twin Coil Ferrite Antenna to my radio today, and am extremely pleased with the results. I work in a manufacturing office environment with a lot of fluorescent lighting, computers running, and a production line machines etc.. Before, was getting A LOT of noise when tuned to my local AM station - Now I can fully hear daytime talk radio, while I work....Excellent Product,

- K. Todd Shelley
Dubuque, IA

I recently purchased the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna With Twin Coil Ferrite to use in conjunction with the CCRadio plus in order to reduce some annoying static and fading I believe to be caused by electrical towers near my home. I live within 20 miles of a 50,000 watt AM radio station (WPHT in Philadelphia) and the night-time fade would make the station almost not worth listening to. The C. Crane AM Antenna saved the day (or in this, the night). It has virtually eliminated all of the static and fading from the station. In addition, I can now enjoy some of the lower power stations in my area that I could never receive an audible signal from in the past. This product is fabulous! Keep up the great work!

- Tony
Mont Clare, PA

"I tried the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna on my Onkyo stereo receiver and right off the bat I was able to pick up stations I never knew existed all up and down the eastern sea board. I never had an AM antenna this good."

- Brian
Sumpter, SC

Hi, I just got one of your twin coil ferrite am antennas and the improvemengt in reception is fantastic. I am in a 13 story reinforced concrete condo and if you back off more than several feet from the windows it is tough to pick up a good signal. Most of the problem is from interference from electrical lighting, computers and other appliances in the building so your FERRITE improves my worst station over a hundred percent with barely detectable static. Thanks for creating a great solution to my people's problems. I have already posted a message on this success on our bulletin board. By the way, could you please send me one of your catalogs so I can see what else is offerred? Thanks

- Jim
Minneapolis, MN

"I have installed the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna on my CCRadio plus and its performance is unbelievable. I can hear stations perfectly clear now, that I couldn't make out before. This is truly a great addition to my listening on AM. It is certainly nice to buy something that performs much better than advertised. Thank You"

- Jerry
Seabrook, TX

Hi, I recently received the AM radio antenna that I ordered from you. I wanted to try the antenna for over a year for my office radio since I couldn't even pull in a 50,000 watt AM station at my desk. I have to admit that I was skeptical spending all that money for an antenna for my table-top radio. I recently moved from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles to a more suburban environment about one hour away from LA. Although I am able to pick-up my favorite AM radio station from most places in the house, the bedroom was a dead spot. It was one thing not to be able to listen at work, but there was no way I wanted to fall asleep or wake-up without my AM station. Even before I opened the box to the antenna, I was already certain that my investment would be futile because things like this don't usually work. I followed the directions, turned on the radio and to my amazement your claims were true. The station was coming in as loud and clear as it did in Los Angeles. I would have spent twice the price had I known your claims were true. Thanks for a great product and for being a credible company. I look forward to my next purchase from you.

Sincerely,

- Fred
Camarillo, CA

What a believer you guys have made me. I received my twin coil ferrite AM antenna last week and have been completely amazed by the difference in reception it has made on my CCRadioPlus. Easy to install, easy to operate…What a GEM!!. Nice to get something that out performs what was expected.

- Jerry A.
Houston, TX

I moved about 100 miles from the AM Station I listen to. I tried every cheapo antenna I could find to get the station. I even tried a 50 FT long horizontal antenna. Nothing worked. Then I ran across your antenna and bought it. Miracles do happen. It works beautifully, Thank You.

I purchased a Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna over a year ago. I was a little skeptical that it could work as well as purported, but I’ve been real pleased with the performance. I have quite a collection of mostly vintage transistor and tube radios (Zenith, Panasonic, Arvin, Channel Master, etc.) Some are pretty nice (Zenith Royal 7000) and some are just inexpensive pocket radios. The thing is, the antenna improves the performance of ANY radio. It’s fun to pull one off the shelf and set the ferrite rod of the antenna on the radio and just cruise up and down the dial to see what I can pick up. Using the antenna, I can pick up stations loud and clear that flat-out don’t come in at all without it. I live about 50 miles north of Philly, and on any particular night I can easily pick up stations from Montreal, Boston, NYC, Charlotte, Atlanta, Louisville, Nashville, Chicago, Toronto, Cincinnati, and even New Orleans.

Mind you… my house is LOADED with noise sources – mostly from compact fluorescent light bulbs, and I just set the antenna unit on the table next to the radio, orienting it as necessary. The antenna even gives me the ability to pick up two distinct signals on one frequency by just tweaking the fine tuning knob. If you like to listen to AM radio, get one of these – I’ll bet you’ll be surprised at what you HAVEN’T been hearing.

- David S
Ottsville, PA

Dear Sirs, Our "refuge" is in the Central Oregon Outback...far from the signal strength of Portland stations. When we're on retreat there, my primary evening pursuit is to tune in KGO, San Francisco. There had been no other means of obtaining a clear, unimpeded signal from that station until I received my CCrane Twin Coil Ferrite antenna. Now, I can hear everything from KGO, at a distance of 700+ miles, each and every evening.

Thanks to you,

- Hal R.
Wamic, OR

I have been a radio amature opperator for years. Also I have been in electronics for the same. I have this to say about CCrane products --- THE BEST,

Their AM ferrite antenna is outstanding ! There radio is also as good as you can get . Anyone desiring to enter into this great hobby should look to them.

- Andy Centek
W8TBS

I live WAY back in the mountain where only deer,bear,eagles roam.Needless to say if it was not for XM and direct TV i would be isolated.I tried your select-a-tenna with little help,but under the conditions i did not expect a solution.Got my ferrite today,hooked it up,stuck the antenna on the side of the house with Velcro and WHOA LA! KSPT a local station 24.8 miles through canyons,mountains of various heights,it blew me away.And it is 2 p.m..Havn,t had a chance to talk to or listen to Dr.Bill for some time,so you have made my life complete from 10 to 2 on weed ends.

- Duane D.
Clark Fork, ID

I bought the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna For my ccrane Radio. I like it alot. I think everyone shout have the Twin Coil Ferrite Am Antenna For there radio. It is easy to set up. It is worth every penny.

- James
KY

I’m so happy with your antenna that I can’t help but submit my own customer testimonial.

This antenna is the real deal. I work in a cubicle in downtown Houston in a high rise building. I like listening to AM talk radio during the day but I sit about 17 feet from the nearest window, and IT recently banned internet radio. Needless to say, I get a very weak AM signal, plus the station that I really want to listen to during the day (740 AM) doesn’t come in at all from where I sit. I now have the twin coil ferrite antenna and it is unbelievable. I placed the antenna element on the window sill and ran the 25 ft. cord (extra) to my cubicle, and affixed the ferrite stick to a cheap AM radio with a piece of tape and that did the trick. I now have crystal clear reception. This antenna is for real and works even better than I anticipated. I have fluorescent lights in my cubicle, as well as all over the floor and I get no interference at all. I very strongly recommend this antenna.

- David D. Rodriguez