|
Radio Road Which tuner to get and getting the most from it. Thank God, for the radio! |
|
|
|
Radio Road Which tuner to get and getting the most from it. Thank God, for the radio! |
|
In Reply to: Options for getting Radio broadcasts in very callending reception conditions? posted by jaybar on October 24, 2006 at 22:46:39:
This is one of those classic problems that we confronted more often in years back when more of us listened at home. I know where you live. Welcome to multipath hell. Your situation is about the worst there is, even worse than extreme fringe capture conditions. Good to see you hanging in there with it. Let's see what can be done.Before you try anything, start with a high performance mono portable with attached whip. Something like a Superadio I or II. Take it as high as you can mount any antenna. Move the antenna out and about to find the sweetest spots. If you cannot attain at least adequate signal and sound, then your problem is worse than multipath and there is no way to fix it short of an array higher than your neighbors. But if it passes, move on to the next steps.
First, you're going to need a tight focus directional. Otherwise, the multipath will be completely impossible to deal with. Even if that means turning that whip on its side, you've got to narrow the capture angle as tightly as possible. Since you're in an urban setting, you don't need gain. You've got plenty of signal. You don't need a massive high gain array. You need the tightest focus directional you can find. You could even try a humble "T" or rabbit ears. Plan on moving it with every station change. That's a start, but it won't get rid of it all.
The next thing you may need to consider is attenuating the signal. Yes, you heard me correctly. That can sometimes bring down the multi a little more. It's a balancing act, and will require constant fiddling. That will help a little more.
Next thing you want to look at is the tuner itself. I haven't played with MD tuners in a while, but my past experience is that they are decent on multipath but not the best. You may need to audition a few competitors with superior selectivity and multipath rejection specs. I've found that those that excel in those two specs cope with multipath the best. It is sometimes the sad truth that you have to give up a little audio quality to recover necessary signal capture. That may be your case.
Last would be an adjustable bandwidth amp, a peaking box. I think MD still sells their signal sleuth, which is one example of it. While I really don't like these boxes, and they do muddle up the sound, sometimes you need to selectively peak the band to overpower the multipath. You would then attenuate after the tuned amp to effectively lower the offending signal content.
Be prepared: sometimes all of these measures do not completely remedy the situation. There is only so much you can do with some locations. FM was not designed for tall obstructions of steel and concrete.
As you can see, none of these steps are pretty, and most involve some manipulation of the signal, which will only degrade sonics. Yours is one of those rare circumstances where substandard cable FM made a little sense. But I don't think you even have that option anymore. But that is the price of good OTA FM living in the Big Apple.
Good luck!
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Oh boy. - sgmlaw 06:08:29 10/26/06 (1)
- Re: Oh boy. - jaybar 06:42:15 10/26/06 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
