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What did you have to do to receive a station better that wasn't coming in well?

S

stormy01

What kind of measures did you have to take to receive a favorite AM, FM or TV station better? For example, you were getting multipath on FM. Or an AM station was either too weak and you were getting a lot of static or electrical noise or, on the other hand, overloading your receivers.
 
In a town house in Fairfax, VA (just west of DC) I just only used a rabbit ears antenna to receive WRNR 103.1 in Graysonville, MD about 60 miles away; the station is east of the Chesapeake bay.
 
I remember taking a cheap transistor radio (boy does THAT date me) into the bathroom and putting the radio up against a plumbing pipe in order to "amplify" the distant AM's that played music at night.
It worked..
 
Re: What did you have to do to receive a station better that wasn't coming in we

In college in Iowa in the 60s, putting the radio by a steel pipe worked wonders for WHB, WLS, KXOK, KSTT, KIOA, WIRL, and a few others

Nowadays, the solution is to go online and start streaming! ;D
 
Re: What did you have to do to receive a station better that wasn't coming in we

cyberdad said:
In college in Iowa in the 60s, putting the radio by a steel pipe worked wonders for WHB, WLS, KXOK, KSTT, KIOA, WIRL, and a few others

Nowadays, the solution is to go online and start streaming! ;D
Click to expand...

As far as AM was concerned in the 60s I used to listen to WABC regularly in the Chicago area. Fortunately I was north of WBBM's TX, so I could produce a pretty good null on WBBM while keeping the antenna aimed east.
Also in college the secret to good AM reception for me was to be very close to a window.
 
I used to inch up at red lights to hear Pulse 87 and get rid of the interference from WPVI. Now, after the digital transition, WPVI no longer causes interference.
I go up to the top floor of a parking garage to hear tropo better.
 
Nick said:
I used to inch up at red lights to hear Pulse 87 and get rid of the interference from WPVI. Now, after the digital transition, WPVI no longer causes interference.
I go up to the top floor of a parking garage to hear tropo better.
Click to expand...

When I lived in south east Iowa, where all the FM's I listened to were weak, I used to do that to0. When coming up to a stop light, I'd inch along until the signal was go0d and stop there immediately. When the ex drove, and she'd hit a dead spot, she would do the same.
 
I'm going to need some advice for this sort of thing from you guys. I'm going to Kent State University this fall and I was there last week for scheduling. I brought along my favorite radio and tried to DX in the dorm, but it wasn't easy. There was some very bad interference on AM that I couldn't find the source of, I had to get right up next to the window to get any reception. I figure I'll have to find a nice quiet place outside I can go, but winter won't be very fun that way. Also, did anyone here have a roommate that didn't "get it"? I'm worried my roommate will think I'm a weirdo. ;D
 
almaniac27 said:
I'm going to need some advice for this sort of thing from you guys. I'm going to Kent State University this fall and I was there last week for scheduling. I brought along my favorite radio and tried to DX in the dorm, but it wasn't easy. There was some very bad interference on AM that I couldn't find the source of, I had to get right up next to the window to get any reception. I figure I'll have to find a nice quiet place outside I can go, but winter won't be very fun that way. Also, did anyone here have a roommate that didn't "get it"? I'm worried my roommate will think I'm a weirdo. ;D
Click to expand...

For AM reception, try running a wire out the window. It worked for me.
 
radioman148 said:
Finding a sweet spot for DX when you're driving is a definite art.
Click to expand...
My quirky behavior has just been vindicated...thank you!
 
"Also, did anyone here have a roommate that didn't "get it"? I'm worried my roommate will think I'm a weirdo. "

My guess is to say "You might find this a little bit weird but..." and explain to him or her what you intend to do. When I tried to use a longwire antenna my sister panicked and thought I was connecting the wire to a bomb outside and to start an explosion.
 
Re: What did you have to do to receive a station better that wasn't coming in we

ddsparxx said:
"Also, did anyone here have a roommate that didn't "get it"?
Click to expand...

Nope.

My roommates all preferred music to static. They all liked the idea of puttting the radio near a pipe or a beam or whatever it took to keep the tunes coming. They wound up doing it for themselves.
 
Re: What did you have to do to receive a station better that wasn't coming in we

cyberdad said:
ddsparxx said:
"Also, did anyone here have a roommate that didn't "get it"?
Click to expand...

Nope.

My roommates all preferred music to static. They all liked the idea of puttting the radio near a pipe or a beam or whatever it took to keep the tunes coming. They wound up doing it for themselves.
Click to expand...

Same thing here. My roommates didn't mind as long as the music kept coming.
 
Re: What did you have to do to receive a station better that wasn't coming in we

almaniac27 said:
I'm going to need some advice for this sort of thing from you guys. I'm going to Kent State University this fall and I was there last week for scheduling. I brought along my favorite radio and tried to DX in the dorm, but it wasn't easy. There was some very bad interference on AM that I couldn't find the source of, I had to get right up next to the window to get any reception. I figure I'll have to find a nice quiet place outside I can go, but winter won't be very fun that way. Also, did anyone here have a roommate that didn't "get it"? I'm worried my roommate will think I'm a weirdo. ;D
Click to expand...

For AM I often had to go out to my car to avoid the interference...FM was great though, we were on the 9th Floor in the dorm and had stations on just about every channel!
 
Re: What did you have to do to receive a station better that wasn't coming in we

stormy01 said:
almaniac27 said:
I'm going to need some advice for this sort of thing from you guys. I'm going to Kent State University this fall and I was there last week for scheduling. I brought along my favorite radio and tried to DX in the dorm, but it wasn't easy. There was some very bad interference on AM that I couldn't find the source of, I had to get right up next to the window to get any reception. I figure I'll have to find a nice quiet place outside I can go, but winter won't be very fun that way. Also, did anyone here have a roommate that didn't "get it"? I'm worried my roommate will think I'm a weirdo. ;D
Click to expand...

For AM I often had to go out to my car to avoid the interference...FM was great though, we were on the 9th Floor in the dorm and had stations on just about every channel!
Click to expand...

Same here I was on a higher floor surrounded by cornfields so FM reception was very good.
 
Re: What did you have to do to receive a station better that wasn't coming in we

I'm not much help on this one. For me it was small town Iowa in the late '60s. Lots of signals around, mostly weak but virtually no noise, so the challenge was just to improve those signals and make them listenable. Being on the third floor of a three-story building helped matters for both am and fm.
 
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