Poor Garage Radio Reception

[D45]

I know, I know..........but static on the radio drives me insane

Anything I can do or buy (without costing a lot) to improve the radio signal reception in my shop?

Move the radio antenna as high up as possible?

 

[NUTTSGT]

Alot of members have suggested a J-pole antenna for poor reception. I started a thread on the subject when I built one hoping many of the knowledgeable members would chime in.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294533

 

[David C]

If you have fluorescent lighting, turn off all fixtures and then check your radio reception.

 

[D45]

If you have fluorescent lighting, turn off all fixtures and then check your radio reception.

If the reception gets better, what does this mean.......

 

[frank001]

I know, I know..........but static on the radio drives me insane

Anything I can do or buy (without costing a lot) to improve the radio signal reception in my shop?

Move the radio antenna as high up as possible?

I use a car radio in the garage that I had left over after replacing the radio in my truck. The radio is mounted by screwing it to the bottom of a wooden shelf. In order to get decent reception, I have to ground the radio chassis to the electrical ground in the building. I run a wire from the radio chassis to a switch plate screw for the ground.




http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=284998&highlight=frank001

 

[ltusler]

Try This.

http://www.ccrane.com/!U1zQ!QNn53YQxdjb5uKd-A!/PTArticle/AM-Reception-Tips

 

[DC73]

If the reception gets better, what does this mean.......

It would mean the fluorescent light ballasts are interfering with the radio signal. Making sure of proper grounding and residential grade ballasts are the answer if this is the problem. Commercial grade ballasts are more readily available and that is what everyone tends to install but they do produce more interference especially if the grounding is poor.

DC

 

[cowboyjosh]

There isn't a ground connection to the ballast directly its to the fixture. The only way to ground the ballast is to have it properly secured to the metal enclosure and the ground wire connected to the metal enclosure of the fixture. I haven't done the math or measured resistance of the metal enclosure to see how much resistance there is, but its likely not the best ground, and there really isn't much that can be done about interference from florescent ballast. Terrain prevents me from getting over the air FM in my garage so I have a SONOS hooked up to my ceiling speakers and stream everything I want to listen to. Only out of pocket cost was the SONOS itself.

 

[maxpower_hd]

Mine works fine 90% of the time but there is a time of day in the late afternoon when all of a sudden my favorite radio station gets staticy.Not sure why. It's like a neighbor comes home and turns something on that interferes. Just on that one station though.

On another note, I use internet radio sometimes from my tablet plugged into the aux on the stereo.

 

[CJ7VFR]

Mine works fine 90% of the time but there is a time of day in the late afternoon when all of a sudden my favorite radio station gets staticy.Not sure why. It's like a neighbor comes home and turns something on that interferes. Just on that one station though.

I have this EXACT same thing happen to me in my basement every day!!!!!

Where I have my radio in my basement shop is right near a window. The antenna is pointed at the window, and it gets great reception. That is, until about 5:30 pm.

Then for about 15 minutes, I have to go over to the radio, move the antenna around, and try to get rid of the static. What usually happens is that when I get close to the radio, the reception gets better. As soon as I move away, it gets worse.

And then 15 minutes later, it gets better on it's own, and everything is great until the next day.

I think one of my neighbors has something in their house that is on some automatic timer and runs for 15 minutes a day. Maybe they have something charging up or whatever.

But I thought I was the only person on earth who had this problem!!!

Now I can tell my wife I am NOT crazy, and that I am not alone in this world.....

Jim

 

[NUTTSGT]

I have this EXACT same thing happen to me in my basement every day!!!!!

Where I have my radio in my basement shop is right near a window. The antenna is pointed at the window, and it gets great reception. That is, until about 5:30 pm.

Then for about 15 minutes, I have to go over to the radio, move the antenna around, and try to get rid of the static. What usually happens is that when I get close to the radio, the reception gets better. As soon as I move away, it gets worse.

And then 15 minutes later, it gets better on it's own, and everything is great until the next day.

I think one of my neighbors has something in their house that is on some automatic timer and runs for 15 minutes a day. Maybe they have something charging up or whatever.

But I thought I was the only person on earth who had this problem!!!

Now I can tell my wife I am NOT crazy, and that I am not alone in this world.....

Jim

As you get closer, your body is acting like part of the antenna, atleast that's what I've always been told.

As far as the time of day when it gets bad for 15 minutes or so, I'd watch who is coming home in the neighborhood at that time. Maybe somebody is plugging in their Mr Microphone ?

 

[Jo Diesel]

For around $40 you can get a HD TV antenna and put it on the roof. Had one at my shop and worked incredible. Would also work for the time you want to drag your TV to the shop to catch a game or race
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Omni-direct...an-Boat-Antenna-Complete-System-/181743386595

 

[D45]

The previous house owners left one of these in the basement..........I might try to rig something up to see if it works with radio station reception

 

[xtremek]

Not to jack this thread, but since this is open, I'll throw my issue into this so maybe everyone's questions can be answered in one place. I have poor FM recpetion. I have an old boom box and I can barely pull in any stations. I have a stick build and just the lnormal boombox mast. Anything I can do to help it? I get the J-pole, but how would I hook it up to my boom box?

 

[eastbaysubaru]

It would mean the fluorescent light ballasts are interfering with the radio signal. Making sure of proper grounding and residential grade ballasts are the answer if this is the problem. Commercial grade ballasts are more readily available and that is what everyone tends to install but they do produce more interference especially if the grounding is poor.

DC

This. I've got the same problem with the fluorescent fixtures I bought at Home Depot. They use commercial grade ballasts and they cause interference. When the lights are off the reception is great. With them off it's intolerable. I've spec'd some new ballasts but haven't pulled the trigger yet because of the price. I also have a GE Super Radio that gets good reception even with the issues with the ballasts. I just use that radio for ball games when I'm in the garage. I use my MP3 player for non-game music otherwise.

-Brian

 

[homebuilt burner]

I had that problem at work, I took the boom box apart and removed the factory antenna. It had a wire connected to the antenna I hooked up a length of regular stranded primary 14 ga wire to it and ran it outside of the building. It made a huge difference.

 

[iron block]

Mine works fine 90% of the time but there is a time of day in the late afternoon when all of a sudden my favorite radio station gets staticy.Not sure why. It's like a neighbor comes home and turns something on that interferes. Just on that one station though.

Max - are you listening to AM radio when this happens, by any chance? Because some AM stations are required to change power/antenna beam pattern between daytime and nighttime operation.

This is an FCC requirement that is supposed to reduce station-to-station interference when radio conditions change. In their words:

"Most AM radio stations are required by the FCC's rules to reduce their power or cease operating at night in order to avoid interference to other AM stations. FCC rules governing the daytime and nighttime operation of AM radio stations are a consequence of the laws of physics. Because of the way in which the relatively long wavelengths (see Footnote 1) of AM radio signals interact with the ionized layers of the ionosphere miles above the earth's surface, the propagation of AM radio waves changes drastically from daytime to nighttime. This change in AM radio propagation occurs at sunset due to radical shifts in the ionospheric layers, which persist throughout the night. During daytime hours when ionospheric reflection does not occur to any great degree, AM signals travel principally by conduction over the surface of the earth. This is known as "groundwave" propagation. Useful daytime AM service is generally limited to a radius of no more than about 100 miles (162 km), even for the most powerful stations. "

There is a sports talk station in my area that goes from loud and clear to weak and staticy every day in the late afternoon for this reason.

 

[maxpower_hd]

Max - are you listening to AM radio when this happens, by any chance? Because some AM stations are required to change power/antenna beam pattern between daytime and nighttime operation.

This is an FCC requirement that is supposed to reduce station-to-station interference when radio conditions change. In their words:

"Most AM radio stations are required by the FCC's rules to reduce their power or cease operating at night in order to avoid interference to other AM stations. FCC rules governing the daytime and nighttime operation of AM radio stations are a consequence of the laws of physics. Because of the way in which the relatively long wavelengths (see Footnote 1) of AM radio signals interact with the ionized layers of the ionosphere miles above the earth's surface, the propagation of AM radio waves changes drastically from daytime to nighttime. This change in AM radio propagation occurs at sunset due to radical shifts in the ionospheric layers, which persist throughout the night. During daytime hours when ionospheric reflection does not occur to any great degree, AM signals travel principally by conduction over the surface of the earth. This is known as "groundwave" propagation. Useful daytime AM service is generally limited to a radius of no more than about 100 miles (162 km), even for the most powerful stations. "

There is a sports talk station in my area that goes from loud and clear to weak and staticy every day in the late afternoon for this reason.

No. This happens to be FM.

 

[maxpower_hd]

I have this EXACT same thing happen to me in my basement every day!!!!!

Where I have my radio in my basement shop is right near a window. The antenna is pointed at the window, and it gets great reception. That is, until about 5:30 pm.

Then for about 15 minutes, I have to go over to the radio, move the antenna around, and try to get rid of the static. What usually happens is that when I get close to the radio, the reception gets better. As soon as I move away, it gets worse.

And then 15 minutes later, it gets better on it's own, and everything is great until the next day.

I think one of my neighbors has something in their house that is on some automatic timer and runs for 15 minutes a day. Maybe they have something charging up or whatever.

But I thought I was the only person on earth who had this problem!!!

Now I can tell my wife I am NOT crazy, and that I am not alone in this world.....

Jim

No you aren't alone. We are all in this together. You may or may not be crazy but not because of this. So I would venture to guess she will still think you're crazy.

 

[D45]

The shop stereo has reception issues regardless of the lights are on or off

 

[Fixnair]

I've recently learned that as far as reception goes automotive radios are built to receive weaker signals because of the mobile nature of the automobile. Whereas household radios are made to be relatively close to the broadcasting station and do nor do well with weak signals. An antennae is still necessary with an auto radio though.

 

[D45]

Bumping this up...... Can this be used, effectively?

I found it tucked in the attic

I found about 30 feet of this brown flat, two wire cable that I could use

 

[egnorant]

Things I have learned from my metal building and radio.
My old TV antenna works great. I just moved the pole and everything to the shop and FM is wonderful.

Found a homemade version for AM that works well. You can look it up! Mine is PVC and old telephone wires.

I moved the plug on my radio from a circuit that had florescent lights to another circuit and now no interfering hum.

My motion sensor LED lights also cause interference.

When my street light is starting up, it causes some interference, but goes away once it is fully lit.

My old Marantz receiver sound much better than the $39.99 K-Mart special and doessn't get interference from any of the sources listed above.

Bruce

 

[onewheat]

I think it is hilarious that people still listen to FM - I haven't listened to an FM station in about 15 years. There is ZERO good content on the radio.

 

[torqueman2002]

I use a similar design to the one in the following 2 links.

It is directional, I've pointed in the direction of my favorite station (weakest signal, of course) and it is in the attic above my garage/shop.

Very low cost and DYI.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiN99OH_KnMAhXDg4MKHQlyASwQ5TUICg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wryr.org%2FAntenna_instructions.pdf&psig=AFQjCNHkRzG3XoUfZzcAiiWSOgxDmIdZWQ&ust=1461679775780519&cad=rjt

http://mikestechblog.com/ubuntu-antenna/build-an-indoor-fm-antenna-with-these-plans/

Also, cheap and DYI if you want.
http://www.cyberpoet.net/writes/web/infwiz/spant.html

 

[maxpower_hd]

I still listen to AM and FM from time to time. I like Sunday morning blues on my local rock station and I listen to either sports radio or talk radio occasionally. At work we still listen to FM as background noise but sometimes stream music as well.

 

[D45]

I assume the copper/brown box (with the 110v plug) is some sort of power/amp box for the antenna?

I am going to remove the box, hang it above the rafters and just hooking up the two wires to the stereo.........to see if the reception quality increases with this old school all aluminum cable TV antenna

 

[malibu101]

I think it is hilarious that people still listen to FM - I haven't listened to an FM station in about 15 years. There is ZERO good content on the radio.

While there are other (and better) sources of finding out news, local news, traffic reports, etc.
And some less-commercial stations often have interesting programming.

Saying there is ZERO good content on on-air stations is a bit harsh I think.

 

[egnorant]

I think it is hilarious that people still listen to FM - I haven't listened to an FM station in about 15 years. There is ZERO good content on the radio.

How can you claim ZERO good content if you haven't checked in 15 years?

I think it is sad that someone with this particular bias about radio would even be READING a post about radio reception. I find it tragic and insulting that you actually POST just to let us know you are laughing at us.

I caught myself saying that I didn't like Blue Cheese dressing and beets a while back. Then I realized that I was merely holding on to a bias that was formed way too long ago. I gave them both a fair shot again...still don't like beets! But now I know it is a currently valid opinion and not just a rote rambling that I have imbedded into my life.

Your opinion on FM does not apply and I reject it!

Bruce

 

[UpNorther]

I think it is hilarious that people still listen to FM - I haven't listened to an FM station in about 15 years. There is ZERO good content on the radio.

Whatever. this is a funny statement though, if you haven't listened to FM how would you know?
Anyways for me, my house is pretty much itunes, vehicles are itunes, but my woodshop is FM radio. Don't know why I do it that way, but it works for me

 

[D45]

Ok, but anyways.........well do you guys think this is worth a try or is the tv antenna idea not worth it?

 

[4 FN 27]

Solution... the Blue Wire in the picture. I read this thread this morning and laughed. Yesterday I was welding and every time I started welding I all I would hear is static. After about 3 hours of that I grabbed a piece of old wire and stuck it in the Antenna Hole on my Bose. Moved it around a bit and finally ended up wrapping it around my Work Bench and had great reception the rest of the day.

I had no problem with Reception until I added a Work Bench in the other room with T-5 Fluorescent Fixtures on it. Even when the light is off I get static. The rest of the building is LED which has caused no problems. The T-8 right below the Bose Radio does not cause any problems??? Not sure why???

 

[Stuart in MN]

Ok, but anyways.........well do you guys think this is worth a try or is the tv antenna idea not worth it?

Yes, that antenna should work well for FM radio.

 

[kbs2244]

Something no one has mentioned is sun up to sun down AM stations.
They are still around in some markets.
They are allowed a higher power signal in the daylight hours but have to lower it after dark.

I have forgotten the original logic behind this FCC regulation.
It may have had to do with offering a local market station a lower cost, prime time, license while encouraging them to stay on the air for after hours emergency announcements..

But if you are listening to a local AM station and the signal goes bad at sundown this may be the reason.

 

[BikerDad]

Something no one has mentioned is sun up to sun down AM stations.
They are still around in some markets.
They are allowed a higher power signal in the daylight hours but have to lower it after dark.

I have forgotten the original logic behind this FCC regulation.
It may have had to do with offering a local market station a lower cost, prime time, license while encouraging them to stay on the air for after hours emergency announcements..

But if you are listening to a local AM station and the signal goes bad at sundown this may be the reason.

The "original logic" is that AM radio waves have much greater effective range after sunset, thereby increasing the likelihood of stations stepping on one another. Perhaps you recall the good ol' days of hunting the dial to pick up distant AM stations?

 

[ford33]

I still listen to AM and FM radios in my vehicles and in the shop. In competitive markets, radio is still a viable source for local and national news, interesting opinions and a variety of music.

Radio will always have an audience.

 

[BaronVonVVankel]

On another note, I use internet radio sometimes from my tablet plugged into the aux on the stereo.

I have a Roberts Revival istream2 wifi internet radio which solves the reception problem (until your broadband goes down).

 

[gungatim]

it can't hurt to try that antenna, if it works use it, but it's for a different band than FM radio and may very well have a trap on it or in that box to eliminate radio interference. lots of tv antenna's used to have them, so it may not work very well. all you can do is try it.

but if you've got twinlead like you said, just use that to make an antenna out of.

funny how everyone says radio and over the air TV is dead, yet these threads keep popping up wanting to revive radios and TV's in the shop....

 

[jimkaniki]

I think it is hilarious that people still listen to FM - I haven't listened to an FM station in about 15 years. There is ZERO good content on the radio.

I could not disagree more.

 

[onewheat]

While there are other (and better) sources of finding out news, local news, traffic reports, etc.
And some less-commercial stations often have interesting programming.

Saying there is ZERO good content on on-air stations is a bit harsh I think.

How can you claim ZERO good content if you haven't checked in 15 years?

I think it is sad that someone with this particular bias about radio would even be READING a post about radio reception. I find it tragic and insulting that you actually POST just to let us know you are laughing at us.

I caught myself saying that I didn't like Blue Cheese dressing and beets a while back. Then I realized that I was merely holding on to a bias that was formed way too long ago. I gave them both a fair shot again...still don't like beets! But now I know it is a currently valid opinion and not just a rote rambling that I have imbedded into my life.

Your opinion on FM does not apply and I reject it!

Bruce

Whatever. this is a funny statement though, if you haven't listened to FM how would you know?
Anyways for me, my house is pretty much itunes, vehicles are itunes, but my woodshop is FM radio. Don't know why I do it that way, but it works for me

I could not disagree more.

Maybe it is the markets I have lived in vs my taste in music, but... I don't want to hear DJs talking about stupid things that they think are witty, news, traffic, sports, country or "classic" rock. I love my 80's and 90's metal and hard rock with the occasional oddity thrown in. I don't like to change stations when I travel. I just prefer MY music. I have heard FM in other people's rides - it is not my thing and hasn't been for a long time. It seems so antiquated anymore.