Radio Stations - Which one?

[Steve B]

Clyde 1 or Radio 1 for me, although i dont listen to the radio much

[unreal]

What's 'radio'?

After my iPod entered my life, non-stop mp3's baby.

[Mike Fishcake]

XFM Manchester usually. Also occasionally listen to Revolution, which is a Manchester local station.

[alterion]

Resonance FM (or streaming) when near london -bbc7/4 elsewhere

[GeorgeTuk]

Another LBCer here...LBC 97.3 for Nick Ferrari in the mornngs and sometimes Iain Lee driving home...make up for the lack of conversation in this office.

[Curly]

BBC 6 Music for me radio is on 75% of the time here, Steve Lamaq (cause I won a cd in the cd compilation comp) and Tom Robinson are 2 of the early evening DJ's I like to listen too.

Curly

[Saracen]

Planet Rock, and the occasional early morning chat program on BBC 3 Counties (Herts, Beds and Bucks) Radio.

[Parm]

Now that you mention it, is there anything that can be done to boost radio signal?

I live in a small village (Albrighton) and I can no longer pick up most of the stations I used to listen to.

[Saracen]

Now that you mention it, is there anything that can be done to boost radio signal?

I live in a small village (Albrighton) and I can no longer pick up most of the stations I used to listen to.

The most obvious thing is an improved aerial. That can make a considerable difference, but it depends rather on what you're listening to and what you have at the moment. A roof aerial makes a lot of difference over a built-in aerial, and getting it outside rather than in the loft can also make a large difference, especially if the signal is weak anyway.

You can also get directional aerials, but while they are much more effective at picking up stations in the direction they are pointing, part of the reason is that they reject signals from other directions. The larger the number of elements, the higher the sensitivity to wanted signals, but also the more directional the antenna is, so the narrower the angle at which it will pick up signals. So, using that type of antenna either restricts you to stations in a specific direction, or requires a rotator system so that you remotely change the direction antenna is pointing.

Then there are masthead amplifiers and distribution amplifiers. If you have a roof antenna, and either a long cable run to the receiver, or a splitter feeding multiple rooms, then a masthead or distribution amp may help, because it may overcome signal attenuation caused by the long run or the splitter. Bear in mind, for long cables runs, use good quality cable. However, if the problem is that the signal received by the antenna is poor in the first place, amps probably won't help that much, since you'll be amplifying accompanying noise along with the signal.

Oh, and another possible action is to move the aerial. If signals are being obstructed by objects in the signal path (which might be clutter in your loft, trees, a new apartment building a couple of miles away, or whatever), then moving the aerial might help solve the signal weakmess problem. Also, depending on what type of radio and antenna we're talking about, antenna height is often a factor, too.



So the answer to your question is .... yes, there are things that can be done to help with a weak signal, but exactly what (if anything) will help you depends on exactly what your problem is, what type of antenna you're currently using, where it is, how old and how good it is, and so on. It might be as simple as rubbing down an old, corroded antenna, poor connection between antenna and cable, or replacing degraded (if it's very old) antenna cable.

[Taz]

Another LBCer here...LBC 97.3 for Nick Ferrari in the mornngs and sometimes Iain Lee driving home...make up for the lack of conversation in this office.

I sometimes listen to LBC online during the day if I can get away with it in an office. Mind you, there's really only 'motormouth' James O'Brien and Anna Raeburn between Nick Ferrari and Iain Lee so it may not be worth it!

[DavidM]

105.4 Century FM

[Parm]

Wow! That's what you call an informative answer, and then some!

There's a few devices I have with radio abilities and I can't pick up much on either of them.
My mobile phone (Nokia N80), my hi-fi, even in the car you lose most stations when you get into the Village.

But most importanly, my Alarm clock (pretty similar to this one but has radio too). It has an antenna that comes up from the back of it, it's fairly new and reaches up quite high. I can sometimes pick up some stations clearly but moving it isn't a good idea.

[kalniel]

Radio 1,3,4 and 5
Radio Derby when I'm up there and the RAMs are playing.

[phoenixmystic]

WEll, I like Classic FM and Radion 4. I do listen to kerrang sometimes late on a Saturday night, the rest of the time the music is just repetative and Tim Shaw is just blatantly immature he is lucky to have a job (sometimes he goes way to far).

[dave87]

Radio 1 on my phone, otherwise mp3s on my iPod