Expert: George Derringer Date: 11/1/2007 Subject: FM radio reception
Question I get The FM radio stations just fine in my vehicle , most of the time even right around my home. I just can,t get it to come in at my home , even when i put up speaker wire connected to a arrow shaped TV antenna about 15 ft. up above my trailer home. Sometimes they will come in a little, statically but i can hear them , other times not at all. Iam relatively high up on a flat area.
What kind of antenna can i build myself to get all these FM radio stations(dimensions if possible)? What type of wire?
Answer Easy enough -- If you have a nearby Radio Shack (in the U.S. or Canada), go get a dipole FM antenna, even a Catalog #: 42-2385, which is $5. Tape it to the middle of a trailer's window (I lived in a trailer for several years) and connect it to the screws on your stereo. The antenna should be shaped like a T with the verticla portion leading to your receiver. Better yet, go get what is called 300-ohm flat twin-lead cable (Radio Shack Catalog Catalog #: 15-1175) and connect one ends to the two screws on your receiver and the other end to the terminals on that arrow-shaped TV antenna. Make sure you point the TV antenna to the stations you most want to receive. It should work very well indeed. And if you don't have a Radio Shack near you, go to www.RadioShack.com, type in those catalog numbers and you'll get a picture of what you need.
