I don't wanna sink too much into this project, so if there is some kind of homegrown solution I could use

Go to your local stereo shop -- they will have boxes full of OEM AM/FM radios pulled out of customer cars when they upgraded their stereos. You can probably pick one up for free or for a nominal cost.

As SE_Sport_Driver said, the reception and general quality of an OEM car radio is orders of magnitude better than any home radio you are likely to find.

I have a real kluged setup for turning cassette tapes into MP3s, involving an old AM/FM/Cassette car radio. I tried powering it with a battery charger, but the output of that was so dirty that it induced noise into the signal. So, instead I just hooked it up to the motorcycle battery I use to run my BikeEmpeg, and that worked fine. If all you are running is radio, a small motorcycle battery would probably run it for days between recharges.

AM radios are not fussy about antennae -- how many cars have you seen with coat hangers stuck into the broken off aerial masts, and they still work just fine.

tanstaafl.