FM Radio Antenna

[aemeijers]

'Thrift Store' /= 'Walmart'. Over the last ten years, I have found in thrift stores, trashpicked, or garage sale purchased around a dozen actual hi-fi geek receivers, that I either cleaned up and gave away, or even sold at my own garage sales for a nice profit. The Sherwood 5.1 A/V receiver in the other living room here was trashpicked, and it drives my vintage large advents just fine. Now that everyone wants baby stereos, the old geek full-size stuff, especially if it is black in color, goes for next to nothing, if you have to pay at all. A little windex, a little tuner cleaner, and it usually works just fine. 5 years old does not mean it is junk.

-- aem sends...

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Car radio must have an external antenna to pull in signals. Car body acts like ground(ground plane).

[CJT]

Thanks for the info. That sounds like a good place to avoid.

[benick]

Thanks for the on topic replies..joe is correct on his reciever being a crappy one from from the early 90's I think..Maybe a little older. He also has a NEW metal roof...I think a new reciever and outdoor omnidirectional antenna should get his Southern Gosple music back.

[benick]

put a decent car radio on a AC to DC converter, and keep it in the house.

He doesn't have a spare car on blocks in the front yard to take a radio out of like you rednecks do..LOL...

Giter Done...Right????LOL

[Bob F]

USR6003

I picked it up at a thrift shop for $6.

[Mark Lloyd]

I had some Fisher equipment made around 1980 by Sears. It worked OK then but didn't last very long.

[Tomes]

"Bob F" ...

Too bad they don't sell this anymore. Tomes

[Stormin Mormon]

Get a car radio from the junk yard, and a car radio antenna?

[Stormin Mormon]

Pray hard. Have the pastor at your local church come and annoint your radio.

[Stormin Mormon]

A friend of mine, Bob the Farmer, had a tree rubbing his power feed wire. He mentioned it to Bucky, who was there to unload his septic pumping truck on Bob's field. They have an arrangement.

Anyhow, Bucky suggested to shoot the branch down. Bob tried a shot or two, but no success.

I arrived an hour or so later, and Bob mentioned this. I asked which gun, and what loads. he'd used a shotgun, and #7 shot. I suggested that since shot spreads out, he oughta use a deer slug. He went back in the house, and got a deer slug shell, and a shotgun. And handed them to me.

I walked once or twice around, looking at the tree. Figure if I missed, what's the backstop. (none). So, what's about 150 yards away, where the slug will fall. I lined up a good angle, shouldered the shotgun, and squeeze slowly. The gun went off, and the branch fell out of the sky. This was in maybe 1992, and no, I didn't get a picture.

Bucky has died since then, and I'm not gonna give out Bob's number. Not even sure if he remembers this.

[mm]

I used to repair things for pocket change, and I lived near a college. I went over to a dorm, in an old apartment building, to pick up a sewing machine, and the girl complained that her 12" b&w tv got bad reception. I told her it was the metal frame of the building (steel girders) and that she should get some lamp cord or other wire and connect it and throw the end of it out of the window.

I couldn't fix the sewing machine, but when I brought it back a week later, she had bought a new 12" b&w tv and she was saying how she got bad reception. I told her it was the metal frame of the building and that she should get some lamp cord or other wire and connect it and throw the end of it out of the window. She gave me the old tv, which worked fine at my apartment.

[mm]

>

That's ok. I just wanted to know what sort of thing he was using. Maaybe I'll find it used too, or they'll make something else that is similar.

I've also been using cordless speakers connected to my PC. I bought two sets and only use one speaker in each of 4 places. I don't care about stereo because I listen to a lot of talk (and I have no space in any of the rooms for two speakers.) It worked fine for a couple years but I think the transmitter is failing. I'll have to see if the one from the other set works better.

But I like this FM transmitter thing because I have an FM radio in 6 rooms counting the bathroom and the basement, and I can put one back in the laundry room too. And outdoors.

I'm in no hurry. I have had my car for 6 years now and usually only keep them for 7. It had no cup holder, and I really needed one, and I finally managed to put in a nice looking and nice working one. And somehow it doesn't bother me that I didn't have one for 6 of the 7 years. All that seems to matter is that it came out nice.

[Erik]

Just a thought... is this radio station available online?

Erik

[Mark Lloyd]

That should work fine, considering that the FM broadcast band is a range of frequencies just above TV channel 6.

BTW, I used to know some people around here would listen to TV channel

6 using FM radios. It's near the low end of the radio's tuning range. This would likely not work with a modern radio with digital tuning.

[Kurt Ullman]

Seems to. The local Channel 6 actively markets the FM channel so that you can hear their programming (especially the local news) in your car.

[Mark Lloyd]

That sounds like your station has a different audio channel for that purpose. Some do, although that has nothing to do with what I was talking about. TV stations normally broadcast audio using FM (at least for another year or so).

[Bob F]

>>

They make little transmitters for ipods, although most may not have much range.

[David Combs]

Headphone rm-radio: on weak signal, if I put my hand up near it, it pulls in MUCH better.

Long ago, I recall that a tiny "transistor radio" (1958? Japanese) would REALLY pull-in (AM I think it was) when I put it next to a radiator-pipe.

What's happening -- and how to make it happen without having to hold my hand up near my ears?

Thanks,

David

[aemeijers]

Wind a whole lotta copper coil wire around your head? Maybe as a hatband on a fishing hat?

-- aem sends....