The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => Misc. Technical Discussion => Topic started by: Bob_Roller on January 30, 2008, 12:53:36 PM
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I have a question for anyone out there that may have some radio experience.
The FM radio station that I listen to is a low power station about 35 miles away, I get great recption in the cage, but the home tuner isn't quite so happy.
I have used two 30 foot lenghts of small gauge wire as an antenna, and up to a week ago it worked great.
But now I am having recption problems , the indication on the tuner shows the same signal strength, but the quality of the signal is at best poor.
My thought was to install a TV antenna in the attic, run coax to the tuner, then run the coax into a splitter, then to the antenna terminals on the back of the tuner.
I would prefer to mount the antenna outside with a rotator, but the home owners association doesn't allow any antennas to be mounted on the roof of the building.
I have a single level home, and at best the antenna would be 20 feet off of the ground.
Ant thoughts , on whether this may help my reception problem ?
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You say that your signal strength is the same but it doesn't sound as good, all of a sudden? Sounds like you need to move somewhere that doesn't have a neighborhood association! ;) Most NAs are run by a bunch of dick-weeds that have Hitler complexes, but don't get me started... [smiley=furious3.gif]
You should have fair luck sticking an antenna up in the attic. Depending on how "open" your attic is you could probably even install a rotor on it - that would be kinda cool. I need to run new cable up to our rotor (on the roof), some day I'll get motivated enough! ;) Suraklyn has an electronic High Def antenna that's about the size of a large pizza box that can be mounted up in the attic, don't know if it would work on FM or not, I'll try to remember to ask him.
You may also want to check out some of the AV forums, such as http://www.hometheaterspot.com - they have an antenna section that may help your situation.
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I have ample room in the attic , I can stand up, and not even come close to touching any rafters in the accessible areas, a rotator was in my plans as well.
Looks like about $70 for the antenna, and about the same cost for a rotator.
Just what I need to get into, another project !!
When I lived in the Chicago area, my antenna was mounted to the chimney, with a rotator, you could pick up television and FM radio stations from as far away as 100 miles .
I agree with you on the home owners associations, but it's next to impossible to get into an area that doesn't have an association here in the Phoenix metro area.
The areas that don't have one, are the one's with the most gunfire at night !!
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That sux...
I got my rotor from Radio Shack about 15 or so years ago and I think it was under $50. Don't know if they still carry them or how much they would be if still available.
Ya know, you always could cut a hole in the ceiling, let the mast stick down through, and rotate it with a big pair of Vice-Grips! ;D
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I checked out eBay, and found an antenna here locally, it's from the same company that Justin got his generic AGM battery, Gruber Power Services.
$38 for the antenna, and $9 shipping, can't hardly go wrong with that price.
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Well, that's interesting! Didn't realize they were into stuff like that...
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Bob,
Can't help but wonder if your listening to that no DJ, no commercial. no weather, no nothin' but rock-n-roll station owned by the secetrive millionaire. I'm referring to a media oddity we have in AZ called KCDX at 103.3. they do stream on the internets here http://www.kcdx.com/about.php no reception problem. As for the antenna in the attic, I've seen hundreds of 'em hung in the rafters here. Just be sure to plan your day in the attic before we head into warmer temperatures.
rich
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Yeah Rich, that is the radio station KCDX.
I've been listening to it for about a little over 5 years now, and I truly enjoy no dj's, commercials , weather, traffic, news or other useless/mindless banter that is so rampant on the airwaves today !!!
It's frequency is 103.1 .
I plan on installing the antenna in the attic, then run coax to the tuner through the attic acess opening, then through the house, about 30 feet to the tuner, before I go through the effort of permanently installing the coax, just in case my idea doesn't improve the reception.
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I did a search for Desert West Air Ranchers ( listed owner of the station), and from what information I can get, it comprises of two employees, located in Tucson, AZ.
I found a GPS location for the transmitter, and it's no wonder I'm having difficulty with reception, the transmitter is located about 25 miles south of the Globe/Miami ,AZ. area.
That's a good 50 miles as the crow flies.
Power output of the station is 2700 watts .
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Antenna AND a pre-amp...
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I recieved the antenna today, and I have it propped up in the living room, with a small length of coax , and the reception is the best I've ever gotten.
So I guess next weekend or so, I get to put it up in the attic, and then run the coax.
Doesn't look like an antenna rotor will be necessary.
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Will you use it for any TV reception? That's when a rotor is almost a necessity...
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No, I have Cox Communications for cable television, telephone, and high speed internet service.
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Do you get your local HD channels over cable?
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Yes, what few HD channels that are available in the cable television package that I have.
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I use the antenna for all local HD stations.
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I havn't tuned into a local station since 1996, if it wasn't for cable, I don't know if I would even have a television !!
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Thanks for the new streaming station to listen to here at work! (Maybe in my new home, as well!)
Fascinating reading! (I love radio)
http://www.azcentral.com/news/columns/articles/1129ruelas29.html
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I've been interested in radio, since I first got a mutliband portable radio from Radio Shack, back in the mid 1960's.
It seemed amazing to pick up AM radio stations from far away places, like Des Moines, Iowa, St Louis, Missouri, Indianapolis, Indiana and on occasion Denver, Colorado.
I had that radio up until I left Iran in 1979, it got lost in shipping somewhere trying to get back to Chicago.
I would tune into the Voice of America at night, to get the current US news, as the local news outlets in Esfahan,Iran, had no international news to speak of.
My brother was a ham radio operator in high school and college, and during the month of June, there was a US Civil Defense operation called 'Field Day', the purpose was to have a communications network in place, in case of a 'national emergency' which I took as a nuclear war.
The objective was to contact as many other ham radio operators in a 24 hour period, and document the contact.
The site was to be self sufficient, not connected to the local power grid, so generators and the like had to be set-up
It was kind of ironic, that the site that this group of my brothers fellow ham radio operators had chosen, was the final resting place for the world's first nuclear reactor.
Out in the southwestern suburbs of Chicago, the first site of the Argonne National Laboratory complex, which is now part of the Cook County, Illinois forest preserve district.
For you gps fanatics, the co-ordinates are : 41 degrees 42 minutes 08 seconds N, 87 degrees 54 minutes 48 seconds W.
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My last two years of high school, I was in a Boy Scout Explorer Post that specialized in radio broadcasting. We were sponsered by the American Forces Radio & Television Services, which had classrooms at Fort Harrison, here in Indianapolis. We got to play disc jockey and learned to use the hardware and even had teletype feeds. AFRTS also pressed their own vinyl. They would select cuts from 'regular' records, and combine them onto their own. The quality was not up to retail standards, but it was very interesting.
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I wonder if you are getting interference from some other device in your house?
Signal level stays, but quality suffers is indication of interference.
Do you have another radio to try in case yours has developed a problem?
One day it works fine , next it has problems: Did you bump the tuner, becoming slightly off frequency may cause such a issue.
Do you have a local/ distance switch that may have been bumped on/off?
Check you antenna connections.
I work at a R&D lab here in Iowa designing making radios/antennas for military and cellular companies.
I have a question for anyone out there that may have some radio experience.
The FM radio station that I listen to is a low power station about 35 miles away, I get great recption in the cage, but the home tuner isn't quite so happy.
I have used two 30 foot lenghts of small gauge wire as an antenna, and up to a week ago it worked great.
But now I am having recption problems , the indication on the tuner shows the same signal strength, but the quality of the signal is at best poor.
My thought was to install a TV antenna in the attic, run coax to the tuner, then run the coax into a splitter, then to the antenna terminals on the back of the tuner.
I would prefer to mount the antenna outside with a rotator, but the home owners association doesn't allow any antennas to be mounted on the roof of the building.
I have a single level home, and at best the antenna would be 20 feet off of the ground.
Ant thoughts , on whether this may help my reception problem ?
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Since I connected the 'TV' antenna to coax, all of my problems have disappeared.
This radio station is located in a quite remote area about 50 miles from me, as the crow flies, and there is a line of 'mountains' (The Superstition Mountains, of the Lost Dutchman's Goldmine fame) about the same height as the transmitter antenna between the transmitter and my location, so it isn't an ideal line of sight situation.
The station has a lot of 'technical ' difficulties, 'dead' carrier signal is quite common.
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Ok, Great!
Your back in the saddle.
Now for a more advanced problem.
How does Jack in Iowa get your warm weather and radio signals?
Ya Ya! I know.
Why the beejeebers am I living Iowa anyway.
More time to work on motorcycles and less time to ride them.
It's a ballance in life I have learned to live with until I retire.
jack
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Getting the weather to you is going to be a problem !
I lived in the Chicago area for 37 years, WINTER is the reason I now reside in the Phoenix area, I had the opportunity to escape the midwest, courtesy of losing my job, best thing that ever happened to me!
But come out here in June, when it's 115 F. in the shade, and asphalt is 180 F., and see what you think of 'warm' weather then !
You can listen to this radio station on-line, when they don't have 'technical' difficulties with the streaming broadcast.
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Got the antenna installed in the attic, and all of the coax run and hooked up to the reciever.
Didn't get it done too soon, it was 104 F. in the attic this afternoon at 3 pm.
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Cool! (well, warm!)
I am considering an external antenna as a money-saving alternative to the cable "package".
My next step is to read up on digital and the government's plan to put a "black box" in every cheapskates home, next year... >:(
Cable TV reception would be nice, and internet is my primary draw, but the "cheap" package is $99/month (for the 1st year...) and includes a phone - which I don't need, but would be paying for, anyway.
I am sure if I tried to buy just the TV and the internet, it would be more money.
I have a dream of having 12 $100 bills in my closet at the end of the year, instead. ;)
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No hundred dollar bills in the closet, yet... :-[
;)
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Not the closet, you gotta look in the garden and apply plenty of fertilizer
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bigstockphoto.com%2Fthumbs%2F6%2F2%2F4%2Flarge%2F426155.jpg&hash=add2896353c54f423aadea16d83299a23a422fcc)
:D
John
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50 miles with a 2.7kW FM station is a haul :)
Remember, the uglier the antenna, the better :D
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Not the closet, you gotta look in the garden and apply plenty of fertilizer
:D
John
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bigstockphoto.com%2Fthumbs%2F6%2F2%2F4%2Flarge%2F426155.jpg&hash=add2896353c54f423aadea16d83299a23a422fcc)
If the gubamint doesn't want you growing cannabis, you know that this plant will be illegal!!! :)
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50 miles with a 2.7kW FM station is a haul :)
Remember, the uglier the antenna, the better :D
Well seeing as this thread was re-activated recently, the transmitter for this radio station was moved to about 35 miles north of the Tucson area.
Now it's 80 miles southeast of me, the antenna height is a little lower in elevation, but the power output was raised to 95kw , and there isn't a mountain range in between the station antenna and my antenna.
The change over of transmitters just happened this week, as I noticed an increase in signal strength on my reciever, and the quality of the signal has gotten a lot better.
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If it stays up all winter it ain't big enough. -.-. --.- ..-. -.. -.. .
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CQ FDDE
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Here's some basic antenna stuff..FM broadcast is subject to mutipath, the same thing which caused "ghosting" (multiple images) on the old analog TVs. In FM stereo, multipath causes stereo separation to degrade and introduces distortion. The solution is a directive antenna, which "ignores" reflected" AKA multipath signals from the back and sides (technical term is "front to back and front to side ratio" ) and responds only to the signal from station it is pointed directly toward. They are big, 6 to 8 foot boom antennas , and require a rotator if stations from different headings are desired , but the rotator can be used to "fine tune" the direction for the clearest signal. Coaxial cable is a must, but can be run just about anywhere - underground if necessary.
Old ANALOG TV antennas can also work, the "FM" band was squeezed between Ch 6 and 7 on the old system but remember, the new HD TV system is UHF (400MHZ and above) only, with some rare exceptions and THOSE antennas do NOT respond well to 87-108 MHZ FM broadcast, unless the maker added an element for FM. Some do.
An old TV antenna can also make a pretty good directive scanner antenna when mounted with the elements pointed vertically. FM antennas used to be mounted only with the elements parallel to the ground, when FM began to become popular in vehicles, broadcasters switched to "circular" "polarization, which the veritcal AM whips on vehicles would respond to. Should you install an outdoor FM antenna and find it not performing well in "horizontal mode" try turning it 90 degrees most good "outdoor" FM antennas have two sets of holes on the boom to give you a choice.
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If you mount an FM antenna in vertical fashion, i. e. elements pointing up and down, use thickwall PVC pipe, metallic pipe can disrupt the proper function when it is on the same plane as the elements.
You can make a simple wire FM antenna by cutting 4.6 feet of wire, splitting it in the middle and connecting one length to the center of a coax line and the other to the braid, forming a "T" The antenna will receive well broadside to the station and pick up very little when either end is pointed at it. If you hang it up rotated 90 degrees with the top of the "T" pointed up and down it wil receive equally well in all directions. --... ...-- HS
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With the installation of the 'common generic' television antenna in the attic over the garage, I've had no problem with reception since .