There are many factors that can attribute to deteriation of good
reception.

The main causes are from changes of condtions either by weather,
atmospheric conditions, or some type of interference.

It is also possible to have one or more components in the front end of
the receiver's tuner section that are going out of specifications due
age, or wearing out.

It takes much more than a simple ohm meter to determine the
performance of an antenna, or the front end of a receiver.

Connecting the receiver to a properly installed and tuned outdoor roof
top antenna will certainly improve the performance compared to a
simple inside rabbits ears antenna.

If you have cable TV service, check with your cable provider, to see
if they offer any type of extended server for FM reception. Many offer
these services, and provide radio broadcasts from other cities and
towns. Some of the cable operators do not charge extra for the FM
radio services.



Jerry G.
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On Mar 16, 2:47 pm, Dan_Musicant wrote:
I have a mini-stereo (5 year old Sony MHCMG110) and stations that it
used to receive OK now are noisy (static, typical noise for a weak
station). I almost always listen to low power stations (college radio),
and their output is weak, of course. However, stations that used to come
in OK now sound crumby. It varies from day to day, but overall it seems
worse and I wonder if I can attribute this to some kind of deterioration
in the system. The last week or so it seems worse than ever. Of course,
it could just be that the 2-3 stations I listen to have changed their
pattern of transmission or their transmitters are having problems.

The antenna I use for this system is a dipole that I have mounted on a
swiveling rabbit ears, and I've had that antenna since the mid-1970's. I
have several dipole antennas, but I always got the best reception with
this particular one, so I use it on the rabbit ears, which is just a
homemade affair made from wood. The poles are in one straight line, and
horizontal and I can rotate that line like a compass needle. I tested
the leads yesterday with an ohmmeter and there's continuity between
them. Cleaned the leads and reiniserted in the antenna input for the
system, but there's no evident change.

The dipole antenna is basically like this, and can rotate around that
center point for best reception:
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I've been thinking of doing an additional split on one or both of my two
rooftop TV antennas and running feeds to the ministereo. If two coaxial
feeds, I'd have a switch. These two antennas point in different
directions, basically 90 degrees apart, so I could get more stations
that way. I know I'll have to use a balun if I use coaxial antenna
inputs (I have some baluns).

Any ideas? Thanks!
Email: d plus musicant at pacbell dot net