|
Since I started writing these articles, I've received several notes from
people wondering how they could improve their radio reception - especially
AM. The first few times I came across this question, I offered what
advice I could, and followed it up with a few links that might be helpful.
Sometimes, I would hear back from the person who wrote, saying something
like, "thanks for the advice, and the links, but I'm still not getting
the stations I want." Well, since radio signals can be tricky, I've
decided to compile a list of things to consider when trying to improve
your radio reception. Taken from reader suggestions, C. Crane experiences,
information floating about the web, and my own research, I've come
up with a few suggestions.
The first thing to consider if you're getting poor AM reception is the
building around you. Brick, cement and metal-framed structures can
impede AM reception enough so to silence a signal you might easily
pick up in your car. If you're listening in a building that blocks
reception or causes a lot of interference, don't despair completely.
There are some things you can do - particularly if you have access
to the area outside your listening space.
If you have a portable radio, pop some batteries into it and use it to
find out where you get the best reception. Tune to a weak station,
and just walk around your listening area until you get the least interference.
That might give you an ideal spot to set your radio. If that doesn't
work, you can also try attaching an external antenna to your radio.
Though some radios, like the CCRadio
plus Long Range AM Radio, come equipped with excellent
AM antennas, many do not. Those radios, and even home stereos, might
call for some additional hardware like an external wire antenna or
something like a Select
AM Antenna.
Right now, I'd say one of the easiest ways to improve your AM reception would
be to get your hands on the Twin Coil
Ferrite AM Antenna. It has a twin coil ferrite inside the antenna, and it boosts
reception enough to pick up stations you couldn't hear at all without it. Still, even if you
have a Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna, there are still things to keep in mind when trying to
reduce interference.
Dimmer switches, computers, hair dryers, fluorescent lights of any kind, street
lights, power lines, you name it, just about anything electrical can interfere with your radio
reception. To find out if you're reception is being compromised by something plugged into your
AC, you could try disconnecting things one by one, and seeing how much that reduces the
interference. If you find a major culprit, you may just want to run
your radio on batteries, or even plug it into another outlet somewhere
in the room. If you have to keep the radio where it is, you may want
to try using a radio
noise filter.
When trying to improve radio reception, you should also keep in mind some
things about AM radio listening in general. The ferrite rod in your
radio works best when it is perpendicular to the AM signal you're trying
to capture. That means, you can sometimes improve you're radio reception
just by turning your radio on it's axis until you get better reception.
You may also want to learn more about the station(s) you're listening
to by day and night. While AM reception, by nature, is much improved
at night, some stations broadcast only during the day, while others
are required by the FCC to reduce their AM power and/or to transmit
their signal in a specific direction - i.e. from north to south, or
east to west. That means, sometimes you're location might be the biggest
problem with receiving a station you could easily hear just a few miles
away - either in your car or at a friend's house.
Finally, one of the best tools to use when trying to tune in a specific station
is a digital display. Unlike an analog dial, a digital display can
tell you exactly which station you have tuned-in, and it can also make
it easier to fine-tune a very weak signal.
So you see, AM reception is situational, and can call for a lot of trial
and error experimentation in your listening area. What I've written
here is by no means exhaustive, and it's meant merely to give you some
guidelines in how to improve your radio listening. If you have some
suggestions that you would like to pass on to other readers, please
send them my way. I'll post them in a follow-up article sometime in
the near future. I'm especially interested in any home-made solutions
you might have come up with for improving AM reception - stuff like
running a wire from your radio to a tree outside your house (grounded
for lightning, of course!).
To view our past articles, please visit our What's
in the News Archives.
As always, please e-mail me with any comments or
article suggestions you might have. If you have a customer service or technical question, please
send to ccraneco@aol.com or call 1-800-522-8863.
If you are interested in using C. Crane’s articles on your own Web site,
please let me know. I’d be happy to take a look at your Web site and
see what we can do. Good-bye for now, Carlos. About
the author
|