Vintage HiFi Audio Forum
Audio Discussion => DIY => You Gotta try this on your system... => Topic started by: confused on April 05, 2010, 10:28:43 PM
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I was wondering, if anyone would like to discuss radio stations. Things that would be interesting include favorite stations/tuners, how much you listen, or anything else radio.
I spend most of my time at the bottom of the dial, YEP,DUQ, QED. Usually I spend an hour or more daily listening to radio on my home rigs. Right now, I am hooked on Tube Tuners, though I think maybe a combination of a SS detector with Tube amplification might be the best of both worlds.
Occasionally, I even flip around the am dial as I have found that if you can find a descent signal, vintage tuners extract a listenable sound.
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I stick to the bottom end of the dial over here. ;D Odd, I have been listening to Steely Dan the last few days. :o
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Living a bit north of the city I find that I don't get a very good signal. I have a Carver TX-8 and I can pull in WDVE and some of the other higher powered stations but I have found lately that I like listening to radio stations over the internet. The sound IMO is better. No static, distortion or any extras that are not supposed to be there.
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Huffman, Ever tried using a good antenna?
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Huffman, Ever tried using a good antenna?
I have tried several.
Not sure if it my house or my location but the sound from radio is just not as good as I am used too. Though it could be that my system is much better now than it was years ago and I am hearing how bad it really is. I can get several of the higher power stations like DVE and 105.9 for Pens games but I found I like listening to them over the internet. The sound is better.
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I guess I need to add my 2 cents. If your antenna is amplified, you amplify the noise with the signal. In my experience you need a good passive antenna.
A directional outdoor antenna > ~50 miles for the lower powered stations. 50000 watts should carry ~80 mi.
If the problem is multipath and not signal strength try rabbit ears, moving them around and rotating them and you might get rid of some of the multipath.
There are some nice diy yagi antennas on the internet and some plans to build 1/4 wave antennas tuned to the portion of the dial (frequency) that you listen to as well.
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If you want to have some fun, go to fmfool.com. Enter your address and zipcode. The tool will create a map of radio station transmitters relative to your location. From my address all the NPR stations at the low end of the FM dial DUQ, YEP, QED etc. are all within about 25 degress on the horizon, almost due West of me. I purchased a Yagi antenna for about $35 shipped. Mounted it on my chimmney, aimed at the location on the horizon for my favorite stations. WHAM! I pegged the tuning needle on my McIntosh MR-71, Scott and Fisher tuners. There is no static and almost sound like a CD. You can't believe how much better radio reception can be if you put an antenna on your roof and out in the air. Fantastic!
Check out fmfool.com Good fun!
Check out the images I got from fmfool.com
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p97/schwarcw/YagiMap.jpg)
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p97/schwarcw/Radar-FM1.png)
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Great Link!
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Born in the 50's, I was weaned and worshiped the frequency modulated medium.
Today, with 'streaming' and 'podcasting', I revel in the fact that local radio is live and real.
While I devote many hours a week to selecting recorded music from my library for serious listening, radio fulfills my need for being 'connected' to the world in ‘real time’. Part of my daily ritual consists of warming up my system for an hour or so with DUQ when I get home from work. WEP and a few others get some play time, too.
In the big picture, when I am not focused on ‘critical listening’ my Magnum Dynalab is always providing ambient if not focused ambiance.
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Thanks for the FM link. Pretty cool. I also listen to the lower dial quite a bit. I'm actually using my Kenwood KR-4140 receiver as a tuner which then feeds into my Sansui 5500. It works out really well as the Kenwood's tuner is pretty sweet.
Saturday nights when we get the kids to bed I like to pour a drink and listen to the blues program on WYEP. Sounds fantastic.
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I stick to the bottom end of the dial over here. ;D Odd, I have been listening to Steely Dan the last few days. :o
Well I love me some Steely Dan! I listen to the radio mostly at work and on a shitty radio to boot. Usually either bobfm (I'm on a soft rock kick) or the fan. Lately tho I have been listening to my own music on my iPhone. Not a huge radio guy tbh. Too many commercials.
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I have a Sony XDRF1HD HD Radio Tuner. It can be had for about $75 on Amazon with a remote control.
This thing is unbelievably good! Google it and read some of the comments.
Ron
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I listen to FM a good bit, especially if I get tied of all my cds. The TX-12 will pick up alot of local stations and most seem to come in better at night. I suspect it's the interference from local businesses around where I live.
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Occasionally, I even flip around the am dial as I have found that if you can find a descent signal, vintage tuners extract a listenable sound.
When I went to trade my Entra Ones to Dale (confused) for a CT-400, he had on his vintage Fisher.
Dale: "Doesn't sound bad does it?"
Me: "Not at all!"
Dale: "Especially for AM!"
Me: "Get the f&%k out of here!"
I quickly learned the value of not discounting an AM broadcast. Now with my CT-800 and the 300' BOG antenna, I pull in Zoomer 740 in Toronto as clear as a bell. What a fantastic oldies station. If any of you are flipping through on the late night, give it a listen.
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When I had a job that required me to be in a car all day, I played a lot of radio.
These days I just play my stuff, or if in the truck, tend to play talk radio. We have a great station near here that pulls for CLEMSON.
I beleive most who play radio do it in their autos, and the sound in most autos is way better than what most have in their homes.
The people who do radio in their homes use it as back ground music. I am one who believes you cannot actually listen to music and do much else. Having a low IQ, listening to music entertains me and requires all my brain. :-X
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I stick to the bottom end of the dial over here. ;D Odd, I have been listening to Steely Dan the last few days. :o
I was flipping through the forum before my registration was confirmed and found this thread while I was listening to The Royal Scam! How crazy is that?
Hey schwarcw: great link!
In the truck at work we usually keep it tuned to 88.3 WRCT. I can't get it at home but if you live near the city, check it out. You never know what you'll hear on that station. It could be absolutely terrible or fantastic. For anyone on the far-left (like way left) they have a political show on at 8AM called "Democracy Now." There's a good show on Friday afternoons; that guy will play anything.
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Hey I'm glad yo found the link useful! I will tune in 88.3, I should be able to pull it in quite nicely.
Regards,
CArl
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They stream on the net too. http://www.wrct.org/ (http://www.wrct.org/)
Coincidentally, one of my co-workers dates the gal that hosts the "couch dancing" segment on wednesdays.
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Hi, I have a Carver tx11a, bought from vintage hifi. LOVE IT! Best tuner I have ever owned. Most of my listening is on FM. I mainly listen to BOOM 97.3.
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Just picked up a beam box and an active Parsec antenna from the 70's. Havent tried them yet. I will check them out vs the new terk stuff and let you know what I think, when I get some time.
Anybody else ever use these. The parsec is powered 12VDC, I need to figure out the pin polarity if no one out there knows it. I have not even had time to open it up yet.