I have a cheap AM/FM radio in the office. Lately I have found I have a
carefully arrange the power cord, which evidently also is the radio's
antenna, to get loud clear FM reception. This is in a frame building. As
you can imagine, this is annoying. There is no antenna connector on the
radio - the case is externally all plastic. Touching the case diesn't
change the sound, and wrapping a long wire around the power cord doesn't
change the reception either.

Any suggestions, besides another radio?

TIA


--
You know it's time to clean the refrigerator
when something closes the door from the inside.

On 9/5/15 12:24 PM, KenK wrote:
I have a cheap AM/FM radio in the office. Lately I have found I have a
carefully arrange the power cord, which evidently also is the radio's
antenna, to get loud clear FM reception. This is in a frame building. As
you can imagine, this is annoying. There is no antenna connector on the
radio - the case is externally all plastic. Touching the case diesn't
change the sound, and wrapping a long wire around the power cord doesn't
change the reception either.

Any suggestions, besides another radio?

TIA



Try adding an extension cord to get more length on the AC cord, and
hang it as vertical as possible.

On Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 11:24:38 AM UTC-5, KenK wrote:
I have a cheap AM/FM radio in the office. Lately I have found I have a
carefully arrange the power cord, which evidently also is the radio's
antenna, to get loud clear FM reception. This is in a frame building. As
you can imagine, this is annoying. There is no antenna connector on the
radio - the case is externally all plastic. Touching the case diesn't
change the sound, and wrapping a long wire around the power cord doesn't
change the reception either.

Any suggestions, besides another radio?

TIA
--


My housemate has an AM/FM clock radio on a shelf over his desk and there were problems receiving some stations. I draped the radio's power cord over a thumbtack stuck in the wall above the radio and that solved the reception problem. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle RF Monster

Retired wrote in news:27WdnSbyqe7Vh3bInZ2dnUU7-W-
:

On 9/5/15 12:24 PM, KenK wrote:
I have a cheap AM/FM radio in the office. Lately I have found I have a
carefully arrange the power cord, which evidently also is the radio's
antenna, to get loud clear FM reception. This is in a frame building.
As
you can imagine, this is annoying. There is no antenna connector on
the
radio - the case is externally all plastic. Touching the case diesn't
change the sound, and wrapping a long wire around the power cord
doesn't
change the reception either.

Any suggestions, besides another radio?

TIA



Try adding an extension cord to get more length on the AC cord, and
hang it as vertical as possible.

I forgot to mention I did that. As you indicated, it did help a lot.


--
You know it's time to clean the refrigerator
when something closes the door from the inside.

In alt.home.repair, on 5 Sep 2015 16:24:32 GMT, KenK
wrote:

I have a cheap AM/FM radio in the office. Lately I have found I have a
carefully arrange the power cord, which evidently also is the radio's
antenna, to get loud clear FM reception. This is in a frame building. As
you can imagine, this is annoying. There is no antenna connector on the
radio - the case is externally all plastic. Touching the case diesn't
change the sound, and wrapping a long wire around the power cord doesn't
change the reception either.

Any suggestions, besides another radio?

TIA

I'll tell you this. I used to work in a steel company main office
building on the steel company grounds, with high ceilings, and my radio
was maybe 8 feet from a biggg window, and I got great reception on the
stations I wanted, probably FM. I listened to talk radio but I listened
through a little white plastic earphone, from the 60's, because I
figured they'd think music wouldn't be a distraction but I couldn't pay
attention to my work with talk radio. This was 1984 and I think I had a
GE Clock Radio from 1972, with digital clock, digital tuning, push
button channel selection and dual alarms. So it wasn't cheap, but it
was under 50 dollars at the time,, and it was still a table radio. It
had ascrews for extension AM and FM antennas, but I don't think I used
them.

Then I changed jobs to a new building, (1987) , with 8 foot ceilings and
I guess a couple more feet for ducts, cables, etc. but smaller windows,
and my radio had to be more than 8 feet away and on the far side of the
building from the radio transmitters, and I couldn't get any of the
stations I might want. So I bought a $250 iirc radio, a not-big table
radio with what I think is a real wood cabinet (though there's not much
wood needed) and a second speaker in its own matching cabinet (which
I've never used.) and a 3 x 6" square loop pivioting off the back of
the radio as the FM? antenna, also digital, also with presettable
station buttons, and it didn't work any better than the cheaper radio I
had before.

I took it home and I still use it by my bed, and it receives loads of FM
stations but very few AM stations. . Maybe that's all that is
broadcast. It gets two stations from DC that for the most part only
car radios get, so it's a good FM radio.

But unless I needed a good radio at home, like I did, I'd save all the
packing materials and treat any new radio with care so I could still
return it if it didn't do any better than the radio you have now.


I would still like to get those two DC stations in other rooms at home.
So I buy radios for 2, 3 or 4 dollars at hamfests, flea markets. and it
seems the brand and the plushness of the radio have little to do with
how good the FM reception is. I've gotten unknown brands that get the
stations (though only on one tiny point on the dial) while big tuners
meant match amplifiers and tape decks, with external antennas, dome
digital don't get the stations at all.

The computer gets all the stations I want, and eventually I'm going to
reinstall the wireless transmiitter and speakers, with one wireless
speaker in the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom, the basement, and one
for outdoors.


(For that matter, wrt TV, my Zenith made digitial-to-analog set-top box
connected through a VCR gets more channels than y my Philips DVDR made
digiatl in the first place. This Zenith brand set-top box was sold at
the time of the ending of analog tv, and I'm pretty sure Zenith tvs
hadn't been sold in years at that time. Yet someone was making a
qulaity product under the Zenith name. (It also has timed channel
selection, to go with a VCR timed recording. )

--

Stumpy Strumpet
the bimbus
for dogcatcher

KenK wrote:
Retired wrote in news:27WdnSbyqe7Vh3bInZ2dnUU7-W-
:

On 9/5/15 12:24 PM, KenK wrote:
I have a cheap AM/FM radio in the office. Lately I have found I have a
carefully arrange the power cord, which evidently also is the radio's
antenna, to get loud clear FM reception. This is in a frame building.
As
you can imagine, this is annoying. There is no antenna connector on
the
radio - the case is externally all plastic. Touching the case diesn't
change the sound, and wrapping a long wire around the power cord
doesn't
change the reception either.

Any suggestions, besides another radio?

TIA



Try adding an extension cord to get more length on the AC cord, and
hang it as vertical as possible.

I forgot to mention I did that. As you indicated, it did help a lot.


Cheap FM radio is just a radio on a chip. There is nothing much can be
done. If you increase signal input to the radio too much, it'll over
load the front end and over load the tuning circuit it becomes useless
due to lack of good dynamic range. At pawn shop or garage sale, one can
find good quality vintage radio cheap.

On Sat, 05 Sep 2015 11:24:32 -0500, KenK wrote:

I have a cheap AM/FM radio in the office. Lately I have found I have a
carefully arrange the power cord, which evidently also is the radio's
antenna, to get loud clear FM reception. This is in a frame building. As
you can imagine, this is annoying. There is no antenna connector on the
radio - the case is externally all plastic. Touching the case diesn't
change the sound, and wrapping a long wire around the power cord doesn't
change the reception either.

Any suggestions, besides another radio?

TIA

Would the powers that be object to Tunein or Pandora on your
computer?


--
Using Opera's mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

On Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 11:24:38 AM UTC-5, KenK wrote:
I have a cheap AM/FM radio in the office. Lately I have found I have a
carefully arrange the power cord, which evidently also is the radio's
antenna, to get loud clear FM reception. This is in a frame building. As
you can imagine, this is annoying. There is no antenna connector on the
radio - the case is externally all plastic. Touching the case diesn't
change the sound, and wrapping a long wire around the power cord doesn't
change the reception either.

Any suggestions, besides another radio?

TIA

--


As I type this, I'm in Birmingham and listening to an AM jazz station in Philadelphia. It sounds great via an iHeart Radio stream over The Internet. I also listen to the local AM/FM radio station streams over The Web. If your computer or laptop has a fair Internet connection, you could listen to streaming radio stations while you work. If you want to rock out, get some earphones and you won't disturb anyone. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Radio Monster

In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 5 Sep 2015 15:29:13 -0700 (PDT), Uncle
Monster wrote:



As I type this, I'm in Birmingham and listening to an AM jazz station in Ph=
iladelphia. It sounds great via an iHeart Radio stream over The Internet. I=
also listen to the local AM/FM radio station streams over The Web. If your=
computer or laptop has a fair Internet connection,

That's true, it only has to be fair. I have times when my net is bad,
web pages don't load, email is stalled, and even news is stalled, but
usually the web radio just keeps playing. That's because of buffering
of course, but it's still pretty impressive how well it works. (Maybe I
should look into increasing the buffer size for those few times the
radio cuts out. It usually starts up again where it left off.

I use RadioMaxiums, whose big advantage is that the paid version allows
you to record radio on a schedule. Using the Scheduler, you can even
arrange for the computer to turn on and the program to start, and for it
to record on any of the hundreds of stations it already knows how to
get. You can also add stations if you can find out the url of their
sound. I think I did this with a couple stations by goint to the radio
stations website, clicking Listen Live, and then doing something to
copy the url to clipboard. Maybe the url was just displayed in Firefox
window.

Anyhow, I record off of one station on Friday mornings to get Diane
Rehm, on another station on Saturday to get Car Talk, and on a third
station on Sunday nights to get The Big Broadcast. After recording
them they are easy to play.

I think you can record several programs at once (too complicated for
me.) but I don't think I read that you can play one while recording
another.

It has a sleep timer too. And you can set the volume for each station
separately so changing stations doesn't change volume.

The FREE version does everything the paid version does, plays all the
same stations and will record too, but you have to be there to start the
recording. That's the only feature you get for money, iirc.

The bad thing is one flaw and that he doesn't even answer me when I
write. Might well be a one-man company and he's probably been
doing something else. (It's been months since I wrote.) The flaw is
that if you turn off the Windows sound, it also turns off the
RadioMaximus sound. That's fine, but later, the RM sound goes back on
by itself. Then when I get back to the computer, I push the mute
button on my keyboard, and it turns on the windows sound, but at the
same time turns off the RM sound.

He has other similar programs on his website but they are all
unfinished.


you could listen to str=
eaming radio stations while you work. If you want to rock out, get some ear=
phones and you won't disturb anyone. ^_^


--

Stumpy Strumpet
the bimbus
for dogcatcher

On Saturday, September 5, 2015 at 6:24:24 PM UTC-5, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Sat, 5 Sep 2015 15:29:13 -0700 (PDT), Uncle
Monster wrote:


As I type this, I'm in Birmingham and listening to an AM jazz station in Ph=
iladelphia. It sounds great via an iHeart Radio stream over The Internet.. I=
also listen to the local AM/FM radio station streams over The Web. If your=
computer or laptop has a fair Internet connection,

That's true, it only has to be fair. I have times when my net is bad,
web pages don't load, email is stalled, and even news is stalled, but
usually the web radio just keeps playing. That's because of buffering
of course, but it's still pretty impressive how well it works. (Maybe I
should look into increasing the buffer size for those few times the
radio cuts out. It usually starts up again where it left off.

I use RadioMaxiums, whose big advantage is that the paid version allows
you to record radio on a schedule. Using the Scheduler, you can even
arrange for the computer to turn on and the program to start, and for it
to record on any of the hundreds of stations it already knows how to
get. You can also add stations if you can find out the url of their
sound. I think I did this with a couple stations by goint to the radio
stations website, clicking Listen Live, and then doing something to
copy the url to clipboard. Maybe the url was just displayed in Firefox
window.

Anyhow, I record off of one station on Friday mornings to get Diane
Rehm, on another station on Saturday to get Car Talk, and on a third
station on Sunday nights to get The Big Broadcast. After recording
them they are easy to play.

I think you can record several programs at once (too complicated for
me.) but I don't think I read that you can play one while recording
another.

It has a sleep timer too. And you can set the volume for each station
separately so changing stations doesn't change volume.

The FREE version does everything the paid version does, plays all the
same stations and will record too, but you have to be there to start the
recording. That's the only feature you get for money, iirc.

The bad thing is one flaw and that he doesn't even answer me when I
write. Might well be a one-man company and he's probably been
doing something else. (It's been months since I wrote.) The flaw is
that if you turn off the Windows sound, it also turns off the
RadioMaximus sound. That's fine, but later, the RM sound goes back on
by itself. Then when I get back to the computer, I push the mute
button on my keyboard, and it turns on the windows sound, but at the
same time turns off the RM sound.

He has other similar programs on his website but they are all
unfinished.

you could listen to str=
eaming radio stations while you work. If you want to rock out, get some ear=
phones and you won't disturb anyone. ^_^
--


I'm simply going to webpage of the particular station I want to listen to and click on the "Listen Live" box and I wind up at the service they use. There are two talk stations I listen to here in town and one uses iHeartRadio and the other uses Triton Digital. iHeartRadio lists stations of different genres from all over the country. I didn't see a link to any other stations when the Triton page for the station I listen to came up. The sound quality is really good from both streaming services. Anyway, I'd recommend iHeartRadio if you want access to numerous stations. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Heartless Monster

Reception to Radio some time can be tricky?
The very simple solution if you have telephone land line,
Take telephone extension line and raped couple times around the Radio
if possible or around the power cord and your problem could be solved.


"KenK" wrote in message ...

I have a cheap AM/FM radio in the office. Lately I have found I have a
carefully arrange the power cord, which evidently also is the radio's
antenna, to get loud clear FM reception. This is in a frame building. As
you can imagine, this is annoying. There is no antenna connector on the
radio - the case is externally all plastic. Touching the case diesn't
change the sound, and wrapping a long wire around the power cord doesn't
change the reception either.

Any suggestions, besides another radio?

TIA


--
You know it's time to clean the refrigerator
when something closes the door from the inside.

On Sun, 6 Sep 2015 10:42:30 -0700, "tony944" wrote:

Reception to Radio some time can be tricky?
The very simple solution if you have telephone land line,
Take telephone extension line and raped couple times around the Radio
if possible or around the power cord and your problem could be solved.


"KenK" wrote in message ...

I have a cheap AM/FM radio in the office. Lately I have found I have a
carefully arrange the power cord, which evidently also is the radio's
antenna, to get loud clear FM reception. This is in a frame building. As
you can imagine, this is annoying. There is no antenna connector on the
radio - the case is externally all plastic. Touching the case diesn't
change the sound, and wrapping a long wire around the power cord doesn't
change the reception either.

Any suggestions, besides another radio?

TIA

If you have DSL, be sure you do this on the line side of the filter.

Retired:

Actually, we've all been told the wrong thing all these years.

The best FM reception is with the wire(or mast) HORIZONTAL,
not vertical.

On Sun, 6 Sep 2015 14:38:50 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Retired:

Actually, we've all been told the wrong thing all these years.

The best FM reception is with the wire(or mast) HORIZONTAL,
not vertical.

Those folded dipoles made from twin lead that they used to pack in a
radio work pretty good for most places.

wrote:
Retired:

Actually, we've all been told the wrong thing all these years.

The best FM reception is with the wire(or mast) HORIZONTAL,
not vertical.

"Cos FM signal is horizontally polarized to begin with. But nothing is
perfect, it'll have some vertical component too(speaking of E-plane)

In Tony Hwang writes:

wrote:
Retired:

Actually, we've all been told the wrong thing all these years.

The best FM reception is with the wire(or mast) HORIZONTAL,
not vertical.

Sigh, yoots today. In the Good Old Daize FM radios
came with a flexible wire in a "T" shape, which, of
course, was taped horizontally to your wall.

And then there was this little offer from BIC:

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/unknown...m10_fm_10.html


--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key

[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]