car stereo
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car stereo
In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote: Also, vehicle antennas tend to be electrically short for the frequencies concerned, and don't contain anything in the way of loading coils to address this, so end up being pretty inefficient things. Many have head amps these days. Mine - I have a DAB radio - two, one for VHF band III and one for VHF Band II & AM. -- *Remember, no-one is listening until you fart.* Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
car stereo
On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:09:03 GMT, "Arfa Daily"
wrote: "mm" wrote in message .. . On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote: i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house? what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that made sense, i appreciate your help. If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios, I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane around the base of the antenna. If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have all plastic bodies. A 13.8v base station power supply such as you would use for powering a mobile CB radio indoors, is all that's needed. You can also safely use a 12v battery, by using a sealed gel-type, such as is found as the backup supply in alarm panels and emergency lighting. I'm not sure that the groundplane argument holds up. On vehicles where the antenna is wing mounted, the groundplane is very lop-sided. Also, vehicle antennas tend to be electrically short for the frequencies concerned, and don't contain anything in the way of loading coils to address this, so end up being pretty inefficient things. Arfa Realize that the antenna is a relatively tuned device, which makes it more difficult to connect it ot a standard FM antenna. Other than that possible problem (which may not affect your installation at all) then Arfa's suggestion of a CB adapter is a good one. |
car stereo
On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:43:01 -0400, PeterD wrote:
On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:09:03 GMT, "Arfa Daily" wrote: "mm" wrote in message . .. On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote: i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house? what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that made sense, i appreciate your help. If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios, I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane around the base of the antenna. If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have all plastic bodies. A 13.8v base station power supply such as you would use for powering a mobile CB radio indoors, is all that's needed. You can also safely use a 12v battery, by using a sealed gel-type, such as is found as the backup supply in alarm panels and emergency lighting. I'm not sure that the groundplane argument holds up. On vehicles where the antenna is wing mounted, the groundplane is very lop-sided. Also, vehicle antennas tend to be electrically short for the frequencies concerned, and don't contain anything in the way of loading coils to address this, so end up being pretty inefficient things. Arfa Realize that the antenna is a relatively tuned device, which makes it more difficult to connect it ot a standard FM antenna. Other than that possible problem (which may not affect your installation at all) then Arfa's suggestion of a CB adapter is a good one. I live in Baltimore and there have been both AM and FM stations in WAshington which came in fine in my car, on two different radios of the same style, and on my friend's car radio. But badly if at all in the house. Over the years I've tried 10 or more table radios and 2 stereo tuners, some pretty expensive. One AM radio station WRC never came in at all in the house, and WAMU and WCSP will come in somehwat on some radios and won't at all on others (and price doesn't seem to matter. Some of the cheapest work the best) I wanted to take one of the car radios and build a cabinet for it, to hold it and the battery, and a small charger, but a friend who has worked in electronics said it wouldn't work as well in the house. Do you all think it would? If you are inclined to email me for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-) |
car stereo
In article ,
mm wrote: I wanted to take one of the car radios and build a cabinet for it, to hold it and the battery, and a small charger, but a friend who has worked in electronics said it wouldn't work as well in the house. Do you all think it would? It will depend on the type of building you are in - car aerials are usually in the open. ;-) But as said before - no need for a battery and charger unless you suffer from power cuts. You can buy mains power units designed for this purpose from RS etc. -- *On the other hand, you have different fingers* Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
car stereo
"mm" wrote in message ... On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:43:01 -0400, PeterD wrote: On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:09:03 GMT, "Arfa Daily" wrote: "mm" wrote in message ... On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote: i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house? what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that made sense, i appreciate your help. If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios, I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane around the base of the antenna. If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have all plastic bodies. A 13.8v base station power supply such as you would use for powering a mobile CB radio indoors, is all that's needed. You can also safely use a 12v battery, by using a sealed gel-type, such as is found as the backup supply in alarm panels and emergency lighting. I'm not sure that the groundplane argument holds up. On vehicles where the antenna is wing mounted, the groundplane is very lop-sided. Also, vehicle antennas tend to be electrically short for the frequencies concerned, and don't contain anything in the way of loading coils to address this, so end up being pretty inefficient things. Arfa Realize that the antenna is a relatively tuned device, which makes it more difficult to connect it ot a standard FM antenna. Other than that possible problem (which may not affect your installation at all) then Arfa's suggestion of a CB adapter is a good one. I live in Baltimore and there have been both AM and FM stations in WAshington which came in fine in my car, on two different radios of the same style, and on my friend's car radio. But badly if at all in the house. Over the years I've tried 10 or more table radios and 2 stereo tuners, some pretty expensive. One AM radio station WRC never came in at all in the house, and WAMU and WCSP will come in somehwat on some radios and won't at all on others (and price doesn't seem to matter. Some of the cheapest work the best) I wanted to take one of the car radios and build a cabinet for it, to hold it and the battery, and a small charger, but a friend who has worked in electronics said it wouldn't work as well in the house. Do you all think it would? Is a rooftop antenna out of the question? What I'd do is lug a car battery into your livingroom, hook up the car radio and see if it works. Probably take less time than all the typing you've already done. Bear in mind that most car stereos are designed to drive 4-ohm car speakers not 8-ohm home speakers... for long-term life of the car unit you may want to use the line-out function if it has one into your home amp. Dave |
car stereo
"mm" wrote in message ... I live in Baltimore and there have been both AM and FM stations in WAshington which came in fine in my car, on two different radios of the same style, and on my friend's car radio. But badly if at all in the house. Over the years I've tried 10 or more table radios and 2 stereo tuners, some pretty expensive. One AM radio station WRC never came in at all in the house, and WAMU and WCSP will come in somehwat on some radios and won't at all on others (and price doesn't seem to matter. Some of the cheapest work the best) You need a better antenna, not a different radio. Can you mount a whip on the house? Radio Shack used to sell a suitable model. |
car stereo
In article pz03i.22664$g63.14636@edtnps82,
Dave wrote: Bear in mind that most car stereos are designed to drive 4-ohm car speakers not 8-ohm home speakers... for long-term life of the car unit you may want to use the line-out function if it has one into your home amp. A solid state amp won't come to any harm driving a higher impedance speaker than the minimum recommended. You'll just get less power. Bridged output car amps ain't at the leading edge of Hi-Fi though, so even a budget home one will probably sound better. -- *Stable Relationships Are For Horses. Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
car stereo
"mm" wrote in message ... On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:43:01 -0400, PeterD wrote: On Thu, 17 May 2007 08:09:03 GMT, "Arfa Daily" wrote: "mm" wrote in message ... On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote: i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house? what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that made sense, i appreciate your help. If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios, I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane around the base of the antenna. If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have all plastic bodies. A 13.8v base station power supply such as you would use for powering a mobile CB radio indoors, is all that's needed. You can also safely use a 12v battery, by using a sealed gel-type, such as is found as the backup supply in alarm panels and emergency lighting. I'm not sure that the groundplane argument holds up. On vehicles where the antenna is wing mounted, the groundplane is very lop-sided. Also, vehicle antennas tend to be electrically short for the frequencies concerned, and don't contain anything in the way of loading coils to address this, so end up being pretty inefficient things. Arfa Realize that the antenna is a relatively tuned device, which makes it more difficult to connect it ot a standard FM antenna. Other than that possible problem (which may not affect your installation at all) then Arfa's suggestion of a CB adapter is a good one. I live in Baltimore and there have been both AM and FM stations in WAshington which came in fine in my car, on two different radios of the same style, and on my friend's car radio. But badly if at all in the house. Over the years I've tried 10 or more table radios and 2 stereo tuners, some pretty expensive. One AM radio station WRC never came in at all in the house, and WAMU and WCSP will come in somehwat on some radios and won't at all on others (and price doesn't seem to matter. Some of the cheapest work the best) I wanted to take one of the car radios and build a cabinet for it, to hold it and the battery, and a small charger, but a friend who has worked in electronics said it wouldn't work as well in the house. Do you all think it would? When I mend the things on the workshop bench, I just hang in any piece of wire that comes to hand, and get perfectly good stereo results on FM, and good reception on AM, so I don't see why you shouldn't get good results with a decent antenna outside. At the end of the day, apart from the ones with built in amps, as Dave pointed out, car antennas are just an electrically short metal rod at worst, and a crude untuned helical wound on fibreglass at best. Just one thing though. If you went for a genuine car antenna, and needed to extend the cable over the length that it's supplied with, you need to use a genuine ready made up extension for the job. Extending with any old coax that comes to hand, for some reason, just doesn't work, as I found out a few years back ... Arfa |
car stereo
"mm" wrote in message ... On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote: i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house? what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that made sense, i appreciate your help. If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios, I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane around the base of the antenna. If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have all plastic bodies. Would a simple aerial tuning unit enable someone to use a car radio with a long wire aerial or any aerial that happens to be on the roof or in the loft? Rudge |
car stereo
On Thu, 17 May 2007 18:46:05 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote: In article , mm wrote: I wanted to take one of the car radios and build a cabinet for it, to hold it and the battery, and a small charger, but a friend who has worked in electronics said it wouldn't work as well in the house. Do you all think it would? It will depend on the type of building you are in - car aerials are usually in the open. ;-) I did install a folded dipole in the attic and connect a radio to that. The only AM station I really wanted to get has changed frequencies and is now so weak I can't get it in the car either. It changed formats too so I don't even want it now. Both stations I really want are PBS or C-Span, in other words, talk, so sound quality isn't important as long as it is clear. The house is a wood frame townhouse. Which of the following would weaken the signal? The roof is plywood covered by "tarpaper" which looks and feels like black paper, covered by asphalt shingles. There are electric wires to ceiling lights in 5 places, most of which are off most of the time, and certainly could be if it helped reception. Sheetrock walls, covering wood frame with fiberglass insulation, with T-111 (a wood product) on the outside of the first floor, bricks on the outside of the second floor. The radio stations are south of me, and the south side of my house has a medium sized aluminum framed window which is made up of 3 smaller aluminmum framed pieces of glass and 3 storm windows, and one vinyl bug-screen, with aluminum frame. Barely any electric wires in the south facing wall, and all can be off. Holding up the second floor are probably two steel I-beams, the width of the house, spaced at thirds from the front of the house to the back. Holding up the first floor are also two steel I-beams, but I don't expect to get good reception in the basement. So how much worse is an aerial in the house than outside? But as said before - no need for a battery and charger unless you suffer from power cuts. You can buy mains power units designed for this purpose from RS etc. |
car stereo
On Thu, 17 May 2007 17:53:39 GMT, "Homer J Simpson"
wrote: You need a better antenna, not a different radio. Can you mount a whip on the house? Radio Shack used to sell a suitable model. I can do that, but I liked the idea of portable so that I could use it in the bedroom, office, and kitchen. I spend a lot of time in each place. I could run an extension to each place -- I wish I had done this when I ran phone anc vcr lines. I don't have quite the energy now I used to. |
car stereo
On May 17, 5:47 am, mm wrote:
On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote: i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house? what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that made sense, i appreciate your help. Talk about using a sledgehammer to crack nut. What an unnecessary lot of work. And almost certainly inferior to a domestic hi fi.... Just get a decent hi-fi tuner and a good external aerial (maybe some kind of amplifier would be useful if the reception is no good). Your signal depends to a large extent on the quality of the aerial so don't skimp on it. |
car stereo
"mm" wrote in message ... You need a better antenna, not a different radio. Can you mount a whip on the house? Radio Shack used to sell a suitable model. I can do that, but I liked the idea of portable so that I could use it in the bedroom, office, and kitchen. I spend a lot of time in each place. I could run an extension to each place -- I wish I had done this when I ran phone and vcr lines. I don't have quite the energy now I used to. There was a device called an active antenna - there were construction projects for these. Try google. http://www.southgatearc.org/qrp/activeantenna.htm is one such. The other way is a honking big tuneable loop antenna - but that's not too portable. |
car stereo
"Rudge" wrote in
o.uk: "mm" wrote in message ... On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote: i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house? what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that made sense, i appreciate your help. If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios, I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane around the base of the antenna. If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have all plastic bodies. No,Saturns have plastic panels over a steel chassis. Mostly on the sides,I believe the roof is still steel. Would a simple aerial tuning unit enable someone to use a car radio with a long wire aerial or any aerial that happens to be on the roof or in the loft? Rudge -- Jim Yanik jyanik at kua.net |
car stereo
In article ,
mm wrote: I did install a folded dipole in the attic and connect a radio to that. The only AM station I really wanted to get has changed frequencies and is now so weak I can't get it in the car either. It changed formats too so I don't even want it now. The AM aerial I have here in the UK covers LW, MW and SW and is an externally mounted vertical rod about 4 metres long with a type of balun on the end. The cable is a twin screened balanced type - a special for those frequencies. At the other end is a second transformer that does balanced to unbalanced to feed a tuner. The principle is that most interference at these frequencies radiates horizontally, so you put the aerial above it and have a well screened downlead. Not a cheap device but it works well and is a one time purchase. If you only need the one station, I'd consider mounting the receiver in your attic so the aerial is close and in a good position and radio link it to the other(s) in the house. -- *Real men don't waste their hormones growing hair Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
car stereo
In article ,
mm wrote: If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios, I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane around the base of the antenna. If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have all plastic bodies. The main problem with plastic bodied cars is interference from the car ignition, etc. On others the engine is in a sort of Faraday cage. Hence the earthing straps you often see across the bonnet (hood) hinges. Although this is mainly for the benefit of others to prevent RFI to TVs etc. But it helps the car radio too. -- *Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?" Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
car stereo
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message ... In article , mm wrote: If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios, I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane around the base of the antenna. If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have all plastic bodies. The main problem with plastic bodied cars is interference from the car ignition, etc. On others the engine is in a sort of Faraday cage. Hence the earthing straps you often see across the bonnet (hood) hinges. Although this is mainly for the benefit of others to prevent RFI to TVs etc. But it helps the car radio too. huh? there's plenty of holes around the engine so that it's not a faraday cage. most radios have some sort of filter for this. for that matter, my vette doesn't have any of these and the radio works in it. -- *Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?" Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
car stereo
In article , charlie
wrote: The main problem with plastic bodied cars is interference from the car ignition, etc. On others the engine is in a sort of Faraday cage. Hence the earthing straps you often see across the bonnet (hood) hinges. Although this is mainly for the benefit of others to prevent RFI to TVs etc. But it helps the car radio too. huh? there's plenty of holes around the engine so that it's not a faraday cage. A Faraday cage can be made of mesh. Doesn't have to be solid steel. most radios have some sort of filter for this. Some sort of, yes. But it's still better to stop interference getting to the aerial - especially for distant reception. for that matter, my vette doesn't have any of these and the radio works in it. I didn't say it wouldn't 'work' Only that it won't work as well as in a metal bodied car unless some form of alternative screening is used. -- *If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make terrible? Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
car stereo
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message ... In article , charlie wrote: The main problem with plastic bodied cars is interference from the car ignition, etc. On others the engine is in a sort of Faraday cage. Hence the earthing straps you often see across the bonnet (hood) hinges. Although this is mainly for the benefit of others to prevent RFI to TVs etc. But it helps the car radio too. huh? there's plenty of holes around the engine so that it's not a faraday cage. A Faraday cage can be made of mesh. Doesn't have to be solid steel. holes, as in multiple square feet. that's pretty loose mesh. faraday cage holes are sized to the wavelength of the frequencies that are to be blocked. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage "Cars and airplanes. When lightning strikes an airplane or a car the electric currents induced on it are forced to travel on the outer skin of the vehicle's body. Other signals such as cell phone signals penetrate the skin of cars and airplanes because the wavelength of the signal is significantly smaller than the holes present on the surface of the conductor (the windows)." to claim that the surrounding car body panels of a car engine is a faraday cage is just incorrect. faraday cages simply can't have holes or they leak the signals, making the cage be useless. a cage either is complete, and it works, or is incomplete, and doesn't work. in the latter case, if it doesn't work, why would manufacturers pay to engineer and make, and we have to pay to haul around forever, an incomplete cage? most radios have some sort of filter for this. Some sort of, yes. But it's still better to stop interference getting to the aerial - especially for distant reception. for that matter, my vette doesn't have any of these and the radio works in it. I didn't say it wouldn't 'work' Only that it won't work as well as in a metal bodied car unless some form of alternative screening is used. -- *If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make terrible? Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
car stereo
On Fri, 18 May 2007 06:16:09 -0400, Charlie Morgan wrote:
On 18 May 2007 00:04:22 GMT, Jim Yanik wrote: "Rudge" wrote in news:Id6dnXRNVrY8TNHbnZ2dnUVZ8sGvnZ2d@brightview .co.uk: "mm" wrote in message ... On 16 May 2007 18:20:51 -0700, wrote: i was wondering if there was anyway possible to take a car stereo system and inbed it into lets say a wall and hook it up to speakers and everything but run it off of the electrical outlet in the house? what would i need to rig up so that i could avoid the whole car battery set up which would need a constant charging that would build up hydrogen gas and pose as a potential fire hazzard? if any of that made sense, i appreciate your help. If you are doing this to get stations you can't get on your AC radios, I"m told it won't work. I'm told car radios get such good reception because of the car itself, maybe because it forms a ground plane around the base of the antenna. If that is true, how well do the radios in Saturns work? They have all plastic bodies. No,Saturns have plastic panels over a steel chassis. Mostly on the sides,I believe the roof is still steel. Car stereo works just fine in my fiberglass sailboat. The "antenna" is just a long antenna cable extension with the shielding stripped off of the last 31 inches. It's tucked up inside the headliner inside the cabin. Well, I remember who gave me the ground plane story. It was a friend who works in an ancillary part of communications. Don't know where he got his information, but he could very well have been wrong. He even offered me a ready-made box that sounded like it was designed to hold a car radio and power supply. He's been trying to clean up so I hope he still has it. If I had done this earlier it might have been good, convenient and saved me time. Otoh, it's not like I've suffered so bad these past years. One GE AM-FM clock radio from 1972, in my office, gets one of the 2 DC stations well enough all the time, and the other station about welll enough almost a half of the time. It will work for weeks and then not work for weeks. I think they change things at the transmitting station in DC. WAMU. It's this radio I guess that is motivating me to find a better replacment. The radio in the bedroom gets both, and both well, though lately it has't been getting the local Baltiomre station WYPR so well. That was perfect for 15 or 20 years! Maybe they changed the transmitter too. The current very cheap looking Admiral clock radio from tthe 1960's or 70's gets both, although WAMU not perfectly. Plus I keep a radio outside in the summer time. I think it got both stations but I haven't listened yet and I forget how well. But these are the best of about 20 radios I've bought at yard sales, plus two fairly expensive stereo tuners, which don't get WAMU at all. Thanks to everyone. Maybe I'll be able to give some follow-up some day. CWM |
car stereo
In article ,
mm wrote: Car stereo works just fine in my fiberglass sailboat. The "antenna" is just a long antenna cable extension with the shielding stripped off of the last 31 inches. It's tucked up inside the headliner inside the cabin. Well, I remember who gave me the ground plane story. It was a friend who works in an ancillary part of communications. Don't know where he got his information, but he could very well have been wrong. He's right. The best place for a car aerial is on the (steel) roof where it acts as a ground plane, as well as being as high as practicable. However, field strengths are designed for much less efficient aerials - in urban centres at least. So car designers will go for a 'prettier' look - hence the appalling devices built in to rear screens etc which quite simply don't perform as well in poor signal areas. But the other snag is it's not really possible to use the correct length for AM reception as it would be too long in practice. Ideally, the aerial should be as far away from sources of interference as possible - and in a petrol car this means the engine. But the downlead should be kept as short as possible too which is somewhat of a dichotomy. IMHO, the best compromise is at the rear of the roof, with a head amp to make up for losses caused by the longer lead. In an ideal world you'd also use separate feeder cables for VHF and MF. -- *Is there another word for synonym? Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
car stereo
On Sat, 19 May 2007 09:51:14 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote: In article , mm wrote: Car stereo works just fine in my fiberglass sailboat. The "antenna" is just a long antenna cable extension with the shielding stripped off of the last 31 inches. It's tucked up inside the headliner inside the cabin. Well, I remember who gave me the ground plane story. It was a friend who works in an ancillary part of communications. Don't know where he got his information, but he could very well have been wrong. He's right. The best place for a car aerial is on the (steel) roof where it acts as a ground plane, as well as being as high as practicable. However, field strengths are designed for much less efficient aerials - in urban centres at least. Thanks for replying. It's not reception in the car that is a problem. It's getting the same reception in the house. So that's the thing. The stations I wanted were in DC about 45 miles from my house, so the field strength is not high here. So my friend was saying even the less efficient mounting place for the aerial, on the side of the metal fender, would be a better place than in the house, where it would have had no "fender" at all. The first floor of my house and the parking lot are the same height. So, that the car radio worked in the car wouldn't mean the same radio would work in the house. So -- unless I ran an aerial to the attic or the roof, which I didn't plan to do when I talked to him -- maybe he was right that the car radio woudln't have worked on the first floor?? So car designers will go for a 'prettier' look - hence the appalling devices built in to rear screens etc which quite simply don't perform as well in poor signal areas. But the other snag is it's not really possible to use the correct length for AM reception as it would be too long in practice. Ideally, the aerial should be as far away from sources of interference as possible - and in a petrol car this means the engine. But the downlead I don't think there is much interference in my wood frame house, with a few electrical outlets, and a few ceiling fixtures, all of which could be turned off if it helped, and one aluminum-frame window. Plus two steel I-beams that hold up the second floor. But maybe these things have more effect than I realize. I'm judging by noting the effect that various steel bridges have on reception when I drive through them, and a bridge that has no more steel than my house's second floor doesn't have much effect if any. I'm also judging the FM part by the fact that some radios do receive the FM stations I want in the house. I had thought the car radio was BETTER than any of them, but if it is the not as good as it could be but still a lot better than no ground plane that exists when mounted at the car fender, and not the radio, at least my friend will have been right. Which is important in itself to know, even if there were ways around this by mounting an aerial in the attic. I couldn't find a single AM radio that would get WRC Washington DC in the house, even when I was on the second floor, even though it came in clearly in the car. My friend said that the car radio wouldn't work as well in the house as it did in the car, even with the aerial mounted on the side fender of the car. should be kept as short as possible too which is somewhat of a dichotomy. IMHO, the best compromise is at the rear of the roof, with a head amp to make up for losses caused by the longer lead. In an ideal world you'd also use separate feeder cables for VHF and MF. If you are inclined to email me for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-) |
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