CCRadio Plus review & test

Art Bell called it "the best AM radio ever made", and the CCRadio does have excellent AM reception, but the audio is narrow bandwidth ("tuned to the human voice"). On FM its reception and audio quality is very good, but not outstanding. The newest CCRadio 2E model benefits from an improved speaker and wider-bandwidth AM tuner.

[@davidaldridge7325]

Bought one today at a flea market for $15. I've been a ham operator for 45 years...hundreds of radios. Pretty good little radio. I'd recommend it.

[@JayWestfall]

Thanks. I always wanted a C Crane radio, but more than I could afford. This radio and a pillow speaker from C.Crane and Coast to Coast on the radio with Art equals a good night's sleep

[@skateboarding118]

Have you picked one up yet? They’re so worth it. I recommend the EP pro out of the current range, best cost to performance and it’s the best radio I have!

[@jpolar394]

R.I.P. W60BB. It was a hell of a ride. It was a pleasure meeting you at the AM/PM shop in Pahrump years ago.

[@willowgroveweathercenter2686]

GREATLY appreciate you posting this

[@MaxW-er1hm]

Wow. Old time radio show on 903. I sure would've loved to hear stuff like that in my area Now I just use KZbin to listen to my old time radio shows...but I still listen to "our American stories" (I think that's what it's called) on wbt1110 - speaking of them, they had a fantastic 100 year celebration broadcast last year , several hours long, just great stuff. Over 100 years of am radio, and they still keep it around. May it never die. I spent a lot of time on am most recently when the Ukraine War broke out, fascinating responses to that...seems everyone right AND left wanted to support them.

[@jackoshaw]

Great deal on your Radio.... I got mine for $20.00 and was very pleased...Love the 6 dollar price, and I love this radio.......

[@ralphreinhardt6020]

R.I.P. Mr. Art Bell. A very nice review there VW.👍👍

[@rickdeckard754]

I love Art Bell. Great video, I forgot about these things.

[@ivanyamanaka26]

Thanks for posting, never heard of that brand before! just found the 2E @ a garage sale for $2 they just didn't know what that had!, may be a keeper for me.

[@uxwbill]

This is the first time I've heard a CCRadio in action. I was expecting a lot more fidelity out of its AM tuner. There I think the Superadio III has it pretty handily beat. Stereo separation on FM would appear to be outstanding.

[@senderjaeger]

Excellent review of this nice radio. Thanks for sharing!

[@dirkbonesteel]

Still love old Art Bell. If I remember correctly when that radio was made white light LEDs were still rare expensive miracle components

[@rodmunch69]

I was a bigger fan of Phil Hendrie's Art Bell. Also white LEDs became much more common and affordable in the 90s - they're much much cheaper today, but by the mid to late 90s they weren't much more expensive than the other colors.

[@dirkbonesteel]

He was funny. Try listening to Art Bell's interviews with "Dr Doom" the Remote viewer guy. Hysterical, never right about anything

[@LostBeetle]

I got one for five bucks at Goodwill. Five... bucks. And it's in pristine condition, all it needed was a little wipe down and it was good as new again. I had no idea there was this many am stations to pick up in my area and I have played around with multiple other radios. It actually made me want to make a homemade wire loop antenna, which I did. Now I have even better reception. Late night am radio is fun to listen to. I have it paired with a cassette deck to start recording if I find something interesting. Never had luck picking up any shortwave stations, this radio didn't make a difference in that department. Maybe it's for emergencies or other big events only.

[@LostBeetle]

I probably should have mentioned I have the 2e. The shortwave comment kind of gave that away though.

[@TNTUP]

Loving that part 15:53 hearing Radio-Canada's news in french haha XD I am french so I got it, always liking your videos VWestlife, very entertaining while watching retro things and computers :P

[@diggydude5229]

Most portable radios use the same chipsets nowadays. Your best value for shortwave listening right now is going to be the Tecsun PL-660. It has a BFO knob for tuning in single sideband transmissions.

[@TheRadiogeek]

A ccardio plus for 6 bucks! I wish I could find deals like that. Have fun AM DXing.

[@alittleolder]

That's quite amazing how many stations you guys in the US have. Wow.

[@StevenS757]

Depends on where in the country you are. There aren't very many where I live in the US.

[@qwertykeyboard5901]

So many they blend together at night on AM.

[@Joe40oz]

That Giorgio Moroder in the beginning! Nice one! Love that tune! The chase? From Midnight Express soundtrack, right?

[@AltRockLover]

Wow what a find! I bought this radio in the early 2000s after hearing Rush Limbaugh sing its praises, how it was tuned to the human voice. I think I paid $139 from Smarthome, which was $10 less than CCrane. While it didn't live up to my talk radio expectations (it didn't improve my listening experience), I did and still do enjoy this radio's overall sound, and bold design. The only problems I have, like many others, is the fading LCD display which if annoying. Interestingly, the cheap-feeling preset buttons still work well so I can live without a fully legible display. The other issue is a scratchiness with the volume control. I'd love to get it fixed rather than toss it into some landfill, but it's just not worth it. In the meantime, I'll start going to thrift stores more!

[@themaritimegirl]

My local NOAA station in Caribou, ME also has the new voice. I don't like change, but it is indeed easier to understand. Now "Paul", at 15:11, is where it's at! 16:08 - Hey I know that place!

[@williamwilliam9993]

there's emergency alert system also

[@WeatherSTARIII]

It's still possible to use the TV tuner, but the only way to use it these days is if you have a digital to analog converter box and a sprinkler wire. You just have to strip the plastic coating off of both ends of the sprinkler wire, then wrap the wire around the antenna on one end and then plug the other end at the back of the RF output jack from the converter box and use an external antenna for the digital converter box. Lastly, set the radio to channel 3 or 4 on the TV tuner. That's what uxwBill did with his Sony portable radio if you saw his video, but he had to use a camcorder viewfinder just to see what channel the converter box was on.

[@vwestlife]

There are still some analog low-power TV stations on the air in the USA and Canada -- mostly ones on Channel 6 acting as FM radio stations (since Channel 6's audio is on 87.75 MHz, which can be tuned in on most FM radios).

[@rodmunch69]

Growing up in Florida whenever I hear weather radio stations it just makes me think a hurricane is about to hit.

[@martz1191]

One of the best radio's ever made.

[@Lachlant1984]

I believe Sangean do sell a radio that's similar to this one here in Australia, and have done since the 90s I think, I believe it was sold at Dick Smith and was branded as a 'Digitor by Sangean' radio. I think there are technical differences between the version we have and the CCRadio apart from the obvious mains electrical requirements and the AM tuning spacing. I know that a few years ago Sangean launched a new version of this radio that receives AM, FM, and DAB+ digital radio, I don't have one, but I suspect it's a reasonable radio, as reasonable as DAB+ radios are going to get.

[@bardofhighrenown]

What is the song playing at the beginning under the CCRadio ADs? It works really well with the AM sounding voice of Art.

[@vwestlife]

Giorgio Moroder - "Chase". It the intro theme of Art Bell's radio show.

[@bardofhighrenown]

Thanks!

[@stereophonicstuff]

Claims of it being "the best AM radio ever made" aren't necessarily unfounded, but they seem exaggerated. Still, it's a very capable radio that likely would outperform the majority of the competition.

[@ofthedawn]

I swear my skywave ssb picks as good if not better on AM.

[@seniorchief.e8]

1982, while station in Soule Korea; I discovered Coast to Coast AM on armed forces radio. Now I own a CC RADIO 2

[@seniorchief.e8]

....for $90 on eBay August 2023

[@pablorai769]

I love that piece at 12:55 (Lilia by Wayne Shorter).

[@abczyx]

good find :) my grandmother still has her ccr+ and her versacorder

[@johndowlingjr.]

I love the way those analog tuners. They're dying out, and even the ones today are all choppy and don't fully tune out like they used to.

[@twocvbloke]

They certainly pack the stations in on the FM band, over here they usually have quite a big spacing between stations to prevent crossover to reduce interference...

[@TheDeeplyCynical]

Don't know where you live but the UK has very little variety on the FM Band 87.5 - 88.0 is used for some low power restricted licence stations 88.0 - 90.2 - BBC Radio 2 (across various transmitters nationwide) 90.2 - 92.4 - BBC Radio 3 92.4 - 94.6 - BBC Radio 4 94.6 - 96.1 - BBC Local Radio 96.1 - 97.6 - Independent Local Radio 97.6 - 99.8 - BBC Radio 1 99.8 - 102.0 - Classic FM 102.0 - 103.5 - Independent Local Radio 103.5 - 104.9 - BBC Local Radio 104.9 - 108.0 - Independent Local Radio Most of the independent stations in the 96.1 - 97.6 and 102 - 103.5 bands have merged to form the Heart network where every station broadcasts the same programme. There is a bit of variety in the 104.9 - 108 bands but those are usually relatively low power and your local area may not even have a licenced station in that band. London has a lot of community stations spread around the band (as well as Pirate Stations) But the rest of the UK is pretty bland FM wise. DAB is a different story.

[@BBC600]

9:48 I can't make out the station identity what is the call letters they are singing?

[@vwestlife]

That is 107.9 WOLD-LP (Woodbridge, NJ).

[@Jimfoxyboy]

Having a jack for an DC powered LED light is a rather unusual feature, at least to me. Though I could see how it would be useful in some ways. Curious to see what LED lamp would have gone with it.

[@sandmanxo]

For $6 I would pick that radio up too. While I'd much rather use my old Degen DE1105, Tecsun PL-660, or Tecsun PL-380, it's still a good am performer. The worst part looks to be the s meter. When I use an external am loop antenna I use capacitive coupling and don't bother with a direct physical connection, which looks like the meter wouldn't show the extra strength.

[@DaniRadioCat]

What's your thoughts on the Tecsun radios? I have a PL-390 from circa 2011 which works well enough, has support for shortwave/AM/FM/LW (but sadly no single sideband or C-QUAM)

[@irtbmtind89]

Tecsun radios are excellent. They make the Grundig/Eton branded radios and I think some of the CCrane radios.

[@jetjockey7]

CCradio for 5.99! Lucky!

[@wilkes85]

Ah, I wouldn't call it the best (although if I was paid to say that, it would be a different matter LOL). I've seen better AM radios.... although it would be very convenient to take on trips because of the weather radio... and that voice is a lot more easy to understand than the one we have.

[@LTDCrownVicFanakaRoyalTsnumber]

14:01 is that 104.3 WBBQ Augusta GA??

[@vwestlife]

No.

[@LTDCrownVicFanakaRoyalTsnumber]

What station is it

[@videeowtcherZ]

Thought this vid said 7 days ago...not 7 years ago when I watched it! Oh well. But, shout out to closing the video with the Belle of the Ball...the Mighty MOX...KMOX!

[@ofthedawn]

I pick up a country station on channel 9 with my plus. Why is that? Also , anyway to make it use 10 steps on AM?

[@vwestlife]

The audio carrier for U.S. VHF TV channel 9 is 191.75 MHz. Maybe you're thinking of channel 6, whose audio carrier at 87.75 MHz overlaps with the bottom edge of the FM band? And there is a channel 6 TV station in Maryland that is acting as an FM radio station with a Country music format. The AM channel spacing on the CCRadio is fixed according to whatever your region uses (10 kHz for North & South America, 9 kHz for everywhere else).

[@ofthedawn]

@@vwestlife I can pick it up on fm and it says channel 9. Beats me.

[@vwestlife]

Is the station on 95.9 FM? If so, you're hearing a harmonic of it. (95.9 x 2 = 191.8 MHz, very close to the audio frequency of channel 9 TV.)

[@ofthedawn]

@@vwestlife yes it is.

[@X-OR_]

The CCRadio 3 just came out this last month

[@vwestlife]

The only real difference is that the CCRadio 3 has Bluetooth. Otherwise it's the same as the 2E.

[@ilcool90]

The add sounds better than the device

[@shamuutube]

Is your radio station still on the air

[@vwestlife]

Yes.

[@zelphx]

How could 1170 (KLOK AM), and WGY radio BOTH be local? One is in CA, and the other in NY.

[@vwestlife]

I was not receiving KLOK on 1170. The local daytime station is WWTR and at night I get WWVA from West Virginia.

[@americanpatriot646]

The new guy ruined the show I think his name is George noory?

[@dougbrown479]

They have disastrous on/off buttons. Never has worked right. Called CCrane. They say I must mail in $70.00 for them to look at it. Angry.

[@ofthedawn]

I just bought one on eBay for 70 dollars. It's in really nice shape.

[@johndowlingjr.]

I also had know idea c-crane was adapted to the mainstream. I always thought they were marketed towards the blind and visualy impaired.

[@AshenTiger]

bit of cheeky Giorgio Moroder in the beginning there!

[@kb8pih]

I have had 2 of these; a ccradio and a ccradio+; the display on both failed after a year.

[@Evan420]

Nice radio!

[@VintageElectronicsGeek]

I have always dismissed CCrane rigs as overpriced hype, however, I think for 6 bucks, ida bought it also!

[@ikitimur]

Nice video, thank you

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

is the Radio you are reviewing using a DSP (I.E. Software Defined Radio), It is weird that the radio doesn't have DAB/DRM (DAB=Digital Audio Broadcasting) and (DRM=Digital Radio Mondale) respectively.

[@vwestlife]

This radio is analog, and in North America we don't use either DAB or DRM.

[@EndUser2090]

Love that indian music XD

[@ofthedawn]

It's 6 bucks. You can't complain about anything

[@kddlb]

What's the intro BGM?

[@vwestlife]

Giorgio Moroder - "Chase"

[@kddlb]

It rung a bell (no pun intended), because I heard a recording from Art Bell's show where somebody was talking about Area 51, and suddenly the broadcast got cut off the air

[@vwestlife]

It was his show's theme song.

[@markanderson350]

That 743 is AM 740 from my town Toronto Ontario, probably a good distance from you

[@ofthedawn]

Zoomer!

[@wa1ufo]

Evaluating mw capability inside a house is really bogus since the house wiring receives all kinds of signals and reradiates them. Also music on am is compromised because of the audio bandwidth of regular mw transmitters. The exception would be digital mw stations. A wider bandwidth for mw would not be my choice. I wish mine had a narrower bandwith as a matter of fact. Except for engaging the synch detector on my Sony icf 2010 this radio holds its own against the Sony which cost me new 350 bucks. Also, Sangean does not manufacture all of C Crane's radios. Tecsun also supplies them. The build quality of this radio is very good compared to my GE Super Radio which performed well but was cheaply constructed. I gave it away to a friend who liked it. I did military comms and am an extra class ham who, unlike hams today, had to draw schematics and pass a 20 wpm cw test. Now you can get ham licenses as easy as rolling off a log. 61 years involvement with radio and I am blessed by every minute of it. I just mention all of this to let everyone know that, when I talk about radio, I just didn't fall off of a turnip truck. In general a very good video so I thank you.

[@xaenon]

NewHampshireBoy You sound like the one I should ask. Didn't they do something to AM radio back in the 1970s to cram more stations into the spectrum? I seem to recall reading somewhere that they narrowed the frequency allotments to each existing AM station so they could license more stations - the end result being a reduction of audio quality from each station. Not that AM was ever really stellar, but the change made it sound even worse. Another thing I read was that was when they extended the AM band at the top end, for the same reason - to fit more stations. I'm sorry, I'm not particularly technical when it comes to radio, and now I can't seem to find any more information on it.

[@AMDXplusplus]

my car fm and am radio are odd 200 kHz steps and am 10 kHz steps

[@ofthedawn]

How is it 6 bucks. Did they buy it for 50 cents?

[@vwestlife]

Can't you see the $5.99 price tag on it?

[@ofthedawn]

@@vwestlife yes I see it. That's why I asked if they bought it for 50 cents.

[@vwestlife]

They didn't pay anything for it. The thrift store sells items that were donated to them.

[@ofthedawn]

@@vwestlife I wish we had one like that.

[@ethan043]

Why does tuning away a couple kHz make the audio better on AM?

[@vwestlife]

Because with the way AM works, the higher audio frequencies are modulated further away from the station's carrier frequency.

[@ethan043]

VWestlife Why is that?

[@vwestlife]

MrEthan520 Anonymous Like I said, that's the way it works. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplitude_modulation

[@Miguelramirez-ow7ot]

nice furniture

[@GROUPGALAXYEntertainment]

RIP Art

[@jeffking4176]

That thrift shop got ripped off! What a find!

[@AltRockLover]

Or it's run by total idiots!

[@Jared-91]

Coast to Coast AM w/ Art Bell. Heck ya...before George Noorey turned it to shit.

[@Hogstuff]

I could never stand Coast to Coast AM either way. Same with Ground Zero.

[@Eyetrauma]

Are there really enough talk radio fans out there that there's a market for a voice-tuned radio? I'm not knocking the idea, it just seems like a hard sell. I can never hear that Art Bell bumper music without thinking "they want the population centers *wiped out*."

[@Eyetrauma]

'Voice tuned' in the sense that it's a radio that does a good job with voice output, not that you can tune it with your voice. Though I guess that'd be neat too :)

[@SexycuteStudios]

I can't vouch for any popularity in 2017, but AM radio gained a resurgence just after 9-11.

[@stonent]

Must be a heck of a skip in order to pick up St. Louis that clearly all the way in Jersey.

[@jeffking4176]

stonent KMOX -St.Louis is a “clear channel “ 50,000 watt station and can be heard in 40 states. I often listen to the Blues hockey games. I now live in Jacksonville Florida. There’s a number of select stations like it.

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

Does not have 64.0 MHz and 76.0 MHz for FM.

[@fawzanfawzi9993]

try to tune in to a number station

[@vwestlife]

Those are on shortwave, not AM (mediumwave).

[@fawzanfawzi9993]

Find a shortwave radio (tuner) and tune to the station

[@HBC101TVStudios]

@@fawzanfawzi9993 He already has a decent shortwave radio.

[@ozzie_goat]

777th viewer!