In 6ATCg.13989$LF4.930@dukeread05,
Mathussic mentions:
I have a clock radio that uses the electrical plug as the antennae.
However, the reception in my bedroom is really bad during the summer
months, but gets somewhat better in the winter months.

Anyway, is there some type of connector plug that I can plug the radio
in to get better reception?

Not directly, really.

Best bet is to crack open the radio, find out the antenna lead and then connect
the antenna to that. (I'm guessing it'll be a wire wrapped around the power
chord some place inside the radio, it's quite doubtful to me anyhow.. that
they'll connect straight to the AC line)

Chances are, if you do that, it'll only inprove FM reception. I've never heard
of such a device used as the AM antenna.

For "improved" AM reception (improved in quotes, because this may and probably
will actually worsen it..)

I've wrapped wire around the ferrite rod, grounded one end and then use the other end
of the wire as an antenna. Theory being.. find a way to inject a signal into
the ferrite.

In practice: Improved reception at the cost of having some strange tuning,
hearing strong shortwave stations all across the dial. Fortunately, this can
easily be undone if it's a problem (and you're careful with the wires)

These are cheap tricks I've used in other various places.. of course.. the best
bet is to find a "real" radio. :-) (I'd imagine if they did the antenna-via-powerline
approach, they probably designed the radio circuitry as cheap as possible)

Jamie
--
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