Radio Tuning Tips

Improving Your Radio Reception:
Our Progress and What You Can Do

• by Larry Holtz, All Classical Engineer

We share your pain.. KQAC is more difficult to clearly receive than most Portland FM stations. Why? Two conditions diminish our signal clarity:

At 89.9 MHz, we are at the low end of the radio dial, which is very close to TV Channel 6’s frequency. To prevent interference to Channel 6 reception, federal regulations restrict our broadcasting power and antenna type.

The good news is that we have installed new, more powerful antennas in Portland, at the Beach and in the Columbia Gorge. If you live along the mid-north Oregon Coast such as Yachats, Waldport, Newport, Lincoln City, you can receive KQOC at 88.1 FM. If you live in or near the Columbia Gorge area from Cascade Locks to The Dalles or from Goldendale to Parkdale, you can also tune in to KQHR, Hood River at 88.1 or The Dalles at 96.3, our stations that rebroadcast 100% of the program.

Rock and pop music stations are able to mask the static and background noises of poor reception by processing their music into a loud, unrelenting wall of sound. Classical music requires that we faithfully broadcast the music without an overly processed sound, and the listener will sometimes hear noise during quiet musical passages. However, at the request of many listeners, we increased our sound processing during the day just enough to raise the volume of quiet musical passages. This has proved especially helpful to listeners in automobiles and other noisy environments.

About 95% of our listeners experienced a considerable improvement in our signal with our recent new antenna and transmitter, but in a few locations, reception is worse due to the nature of FM radio. FM signals are basically line-of-sight but are also subject to reflections from hills and buildings. Sometimes reception is perfect in a seemingly difficult area because the reflections are favorable there. Sometimes the opposite occurs. In the urban area, too much signal can cause loud static, especially with inexpensive radios.

The following is a general list of suggestions that we have compiled in increasing order of complexity and cost. Not all apply will to a given situation.

1. A table radio or clock radio often uses the power cord as the antenna. Moving the cord around or relocating the radio may improve reception.

2. With a portable radio try making its telescoping ‘whip’ antenna as short as possible to solve “overload" problems when other strong signals are causing interference.

3. If you are using a component audio system and there is a wide/narrow bandwidth switch, try the narrow setting.

4. If the radio or receiver has an external antenna connection on the back, connecting a five foot piece of insulated wire (like doorbell wire) to one terminal and positioning it for best reception may help. Either horizontal or vertical positioning or somewhere in between should be tried. Taping the wire to a yard stick is a useful way to probe for the location where reception is best. A simple “folded dipole" indoor antenna such as the Radio Shack 42-2385 (or equivalent) is a little better yet if two terminals are available for connection. The cost is under $5.

5. Also for radios with an external antenna connection, try purchasing a “rabbit ears" type indoor antenna such as Magnum Dynalab’s Silver Ribbon Tunable Indoor Antenna http://www.magnumdynalab.com/fmantenna-sr100.htm It costs less than $40 and is available at some stereo stores, including Stereotypes Audio, 1401 SE Morrison, Portland, (503-280-0910), www.stereotypesaudio.com, one of our underwriters. Stereotypes offers a 10% discount on antennas to our members. Another is the Radio Shack 15-1864 at $10. Rabbit ears antennas are easy to adjust and less subject to being moved out of place during cleaning. For strong signal areas, shortening the length of the rods may help reduce interference from other stations.

6. Avoid the use of an ‘amplified’ antenna of any kind. Such antennas usually aggravate reception problems since they also amplify interfering stations. If your antenna uses batteries or has a power cord that plugs in the wall, it is an amplified antenna. Disconnect it and try one of the other solutions described in this article.

7. The ultimate solution to poor reception is to install a rooftop outdoor antenna (it can also be installed in an attic). This antenna looks very much like a typical rooftop TV antenna. We realize that for many people putting up such an antenna is either not possible or very impractical, but it will certainly reward those who can manage to do it. The Radio Shack 15-2163 (or equivalent) FM antenna will often give considerable improvement for weak FM signals and is quite directional which can greatly reduce strong interfering signals. The cost is about $25. A short antenna mast, mounting bracket and cable are necessary for the installation, and all are available at Radio Shack.

8. The use of high quality “component audio" tuners or receivers will give far better performance than the average table radio. They always have external antenna connections to facilitate connection of either indoor or outdoor antennas. Of course, not all component audio systems are created equal.

9. The combination of #7 and #8 are the about best possible solution for reception of our conventional analog signal.

10. HD Radio. This is a new, high quality, static-free signal. KQAC 89.9 in the greater Portland/SW Washington area, KQOC 88.1 along the mid-north Oregon Coast, and KQHR 88.1 in the Columbia Gorge now broadcast with this new technology, but only the new HD radios can receive it. A digital HD table radio will eliminate all static, multipath distortion and interference from other stations. Radio Shack and Stereotypes Audio in Portland sell HD radios, and many are available at various online stores such as www.crutchfield.com. Our favorite low-cost HD radios are the Sony XDR-S10HDiP table model and the Sony XDR-F1HD add-on tuner. You can learn more about HD Radio at http://www.ibiquity.com/hdradio/index.htm

11. The only “component audio" HD receivers and add-on home tuners are available, along with after-market car receivers. Some automakers now offer HD radio as an option in new cars.

If you are already using an indoor or outdoor antenna and still suffer from poor reception, the problem most likely is the result of too much signal, especially from other radio stations. Especially within 15 miles of downtown Portland, the many signals overload radios.
>br> When listening to All Classical, there are two typical symptoms of signal overload:
1. a constant hissing or scratching sound in the background of the program, or
2. difficulty in tuning in the station because it seems too narrow on the dial, crowded on each side by other stations.
The best solution to the overload problem is to install an RF attenuator – a big name for a small, $2.00 device that gets connected between the antenna cable and the radio. We have found that the Pico-Macom FAM-16 attenuator works the best in Portland. It is available from URS Electronics, 123 NE 7th Ave., Portland. (503-233-5341). As mentioned earlier, make sure that you are not using an amplified antenna. The attenuator is only effective with the types of antennas described in this article.

Improving car reception. Make sure that the outside aerial is fully extended. It makes a big difference. The new aftermarket HD car radios do a great job of delivering static-free reception. http://www.ibiquity.com/hdradio/hdradio_hdproducts.htm Otherwise, there are few practical solutions to poor car reception.

We're working on a project to double our signal in the greater Portland/SW Washington area. Please bear with us as we strive for the signal improvement over the next few months. Your continued support as a member helps us fund the equipment to make these improvements possible.

Further reading. Some FM radio manufacturers and other radio stations have put together more detailed information on the exact causes and methods of improving reception. Please check out: http://www.fanfare.com/rfms-bk.html , http://www.wnku.org/reception/fmtips.html , http://www.cwebpages.com/kamb/reception.htm , and http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/analogue_radio/reception.shmtl .

I would be happy to assist you in resolving your particular reception problem. Please phone me at 503-802-9407, or toll free at 1-888-306-5277, or email: larry@allclassical.org