Help! Poor radio reception

[ak47]

I live on the ground floor of my house(having 3 floors) and Fm reception on my avr is extremely poor. I don't have any provision to connect my avr to an antenna on the roof. I have a denon 1911 receiver, a harmon kardon avr134 and the avr in onkyo 3400. All of them have a provision of a radio cable(about 1.5m) with the coaxial in. The avr 134 also has the old style coil antenna. None of these things work. :sad:


Please help!

 

[omishra]

Try connecting single 10" piece of multi strand copper wire at antenna (central terminal, if any). Little adjustment, it should work.

Or somewhere behind the window curtain or below floor carpet use this or this kind of antenna.

Otherwise last unpleasant resort to have amplified antenna.

Edit: One FM added small wire from FM antenna to ground of TS dish antenna wire. This helps FM reception while STB is off.

 

[avidyarthy]

What I have done ...... connected (wound it) the supplied radio cable (with my AVR) to my window grill ..... thats of metal. Luckily that has sorted out the signal issues.

Only once a while, during nights with my CRT on (only when it is on), do some FM channels get weak, that too for certain time stretches. If I switch off my CRT (during those periods), everything becomes ok.

 

[swami69]

hi, i would suggest you google for a DIY FM antenna and you can make it easily and place it inside your room itself and it definetely improves the reception. There are some calculations with which you can make the rod/wire etc., to capture the required FM frequency range and it is easily doable. I made one and my FM reception has been really good since then.

Swami

 

[Rabepobemababe]

A simple folded dipole antenna made with a 57" long 300 ohms twin-lead cable (old Doordarshan antenna's flat cable), stuck with cello-tape to the wall (above window level) with arms spread out, should give you fabulous reception of all the local FM stations.

Depending upon what impedence is indicated at the antenna input socket of your receiver, you may have to use a 300 ohm to 75 ohms Balun connector. You will get this Balun connector for Rs.10/- in any shop dealing with small electrical & electronic items.

 

[ak47]

Thank you everyone for the replies. Will try and build a DIY antenna and post a rely as soon as it gets finished.

Try connecting single 10" piece of multi strand copper wire at antenna (central terminal, if any). Little adjustment, it should work.

Or somewhere behind the window curtain or below floor carpet use this or this kind of antenna.

Otherwise last unpleasant resort to have amplified antenna.

Edit: One FM added small wire from FM antenna to ground of TS dish antenna wire. This helps FM reception while STB is off.

I have a TS dish on the roof. How do i connect the radio antenna cable to it. Do i just have to tape it to the outside of the connector going in the stb?

 

[omishra]

I have a TS dish on the roof. How do i connect the radio antenna cable to it. Do i just have to tape it to the outside of the connector going in the stb?

Yes, connect at the input connector of STB

 

[ak47]

Yes, connect at the input connector of STB

Tried connecting it to the stb. The signal improved, but still lot of static disturbance. Will try the diy method. Also, i wanted to know from where can i get amplified antennas in delhi and their price range. Thanks in advance

 

[omishra]

Tried connecting it to the stb. The signal improved, but still lot of static disturbance. Will try the diy method. Also, i wanted to know from where can i get amplified antennas in delhi and their price range. Thanks in advance

Al-cheapo is here kitsnspare fm booster

 

[dr.faramroze]

Ring antenna will work fine coupled with cable TV type wire. You can adjust gain and slope in a amplifier and connect it for best results.

Sent from my HTC Sensation XL

 

[reubensm]

Honestly, you'll have to go with trail and error

The best option would be to use a folded dipole of an old discarded TV antenna, possibly hung outside your window vertically. If you are technically inclined, then worry about dimensions, positioning, cable length, etc. If not, just use what works best. Avoid amplification as far as possible as noise and interference will increase. Also use good quality co-axil cable or 300ohms flat ribbon cable (tv antenna wire) with a balun (what plugs into the back of your tv). Using ordinary electrical cables, etc will not give great results in low-signal areas. If you use a horizontal antenna, the antenna would be directional while vertical ones tend to be omni-directional. Again, trial and error works best. If you have an old portable antenna, that would be great to use for the purpose.

 

[jls001]

Buy a thin, two-core flat wire from electrical shop. This type of wire is typically used for ungrounded electrical power cabling. They even come in fancy see-through insulations. I guess about 10 feet will suffice. At one end, carefully split the two wires. Don't strip the insulation - just cut in the middle of the flat wire to separate the two wires. Strip 1 cm each on the other end and plug into your FM antenna point in the receiver. Stick the wire on the wall and make a T at the split point. This setup is not so intrusive and can be done indoor. Caveat: this type of antenna is fairly directional and may not work well if the wall on which you mount it is not in the line of the FM tower.

If you want to go the whole hog, then get yourself a Yagi Uda TV antenna (ladder type terrestrial TV antenna, not the loop type) and mount it on your rooftop. Point it to the general direction of radio tower. Adjust antenna pointing for best gain. Hopefully there shouldn't be any high rise building in the immediate vicinity, between your building and FM antenna tower. Caveat: most Yagi Uda antennas available in the market (I am assuming you can still find them in your town/city) are cheap and very poorly made. They break down real fast.

 

[ak47]

Thanks everyone. Have my hands full for a couple of days, but will surely try the diy and post results.

 

[anuragn]

Thanks everyone. Have my hands full for a couple of days, but will surely try the diy and post results.

Any update ak47?

@Gurus:
I am planning a DIY J-Pole antenna. Although it is recommended to use copper or aluminium pipe, but copper being more expensive* and aluminium pipes not available in the neighbourhood hardware shops, I am left with option of using SS pipes.
Is it ok to use SS? I will get it gas-welded in the required form at a fabrication shop.

*Do not want to experiment with expensive copper at the first go, because am not sure about end results.

 

[anuragn]

Hi all.
Finally I managed to build a J-Pole antenna, desigend for 100Mhz.
Its working superb. I am getting stereo reception in most of the FM channels. I am even able to tune one channel that was never getting tuned earlier using DIY dipole antenna.

Got 0.5 inch dia SS pipe and got it built into shape using iron clamps at a local auto garage.

 

[omishra]

Hi all.
Finally I managed to build a J-Pole antenna, desigend for 100Mhz.
Its working superb. I am getting stereo reception in most of the FM channels. I am even able to tune one channel that was never getting tuned earlier using DIY dipole antenna.

Got 0.5 inch dia SS pipe and got it built into shape using iron clamps at a local auto garage.

:clapping: Now pictures please!

 

[andy78]

Sorry Anurag to hijack your thread.
I have a 2-in-1 Stereo Philips. It used to work as charm initially especially I used to get all the radio stations. However recently I only seem to get FM and no MW or SW. Could the problem be with antennae?
Please help!

 

[theironhorse]

if you cannot build an antenna . try to get a wire around to the window and wind it across the unpainted surface. that should take some noise out of the reception.

 

[anuragn]

:clapping: Now pictures please!

Here are the pics. Third pic shows the full height of the antenna (sorry its not very clear).
I followed the instruction from this site:
J POLE ANTENNA DESIGN CALCULATOR by K4ABT
The multiple loop of the coax cable is a choke as recommended in the article.

 

[andy78]

Sorry Anurag to hijack your thread.
I have a 2-in-1 Stereo Philips. It used to work as charm initially especially I used to get all the radio stations. However recently I only seem to get FM and no MW or SW. Could the problem be with antennae?
Please help!

Any suggestions guys?