C Crane is good stuff.
Hmmm, reception tests, that's a tricky one. So much depends on the antenna and the available signals.
AM & FM: just compare to what your car radio hears. Standing outside it should be more sensitive.
NOAA Weather. No matter where you are you should be able to hear 2 or more of the channels.
Aviation band: The short wavelengths mean line of sight propagation, so unless you are within about 5-10 miles of an airport or a plane is above your horizon you won't hear much. Go here on
airnav.com and put in the city of the closest large airport and it will give you frequencies for Tower, Ground Control, etc. If you are close, you will hear the ATIS (automatic terminal information service) which is a short continuous loop with weather and other info.
The HF (short wave) bands are great because they can bounce off the ionosphere and travel around the glove. But they have moods and personalities, so just listening around the bands won't tell you much. These days, with old Sol in taking a 6 year nap (low part of the 11 year solar cycle), there's not much going on above 14MHz. Between early evening and mid morning listen below 10MHz.
Antenna, antenna, antenna, especially for short wave bands! A good antenna can make a 100X improvement in what you hear. For short wave you'll do enormously better with a long wire antenna, preferably out the window to a tree. They sell 23' wires on a reel that you just clip to the telescoping antenna. Those will make a big difference. There's nothing magic about the reels though. It's just wire, so you can make your own antenna. In general the longer and higher the better.