[Shop-talk] Antennae

[Trevor Boicey]

David Hillman wrote:
>     I have an FM radio in my garage, with a simple wire antenna.  I used to 
> get fine reception, until I insulated the ceiling with those 
> styrofoam-like boards with one side of metallic film.  Since I put those 
> up, I can barely get one station.
> 
>     I do have an old TV antenna on the roof, however, that I never use ( 
> satellite ) and never plan to use again.  Can I use this to improve my FM 
> reception?  Is it as easy as extending the current wire antenna up to the 
> roof antenna?

   Most likely, yes. Certainly worth a try.

   VHF television stations 2-6 are beneath the FM band slightly, and 
7-13 are quite a bit above the FM band.

   Most simple antenna designs use a single section tuned from 2-13, 
with a UHF option.

   Some larger antenna designs use separate sections for 2-6 and 7-13.

   Whatever you have, it probably picks up FM well enough to get a 
signal, and with the way FM is modulated, once you get an acceptable 
signal the audio quality approaches maximum fairly quickly.