🚀 go-pugleaf

Chris Sidi (sidi@angband.org) wrote:
: I wonder if a bigger antenna just asks for more interference. 

You are probably right because the FM signals in Atlanta are so powerful
and heavily modulated that the front ends of most receivers overload
badly. This causes intermodulation images that splatter over the dial and
mask the signals of weaker stations. For example, WREK's signal is
difficult to pick up across campus in the EE building when the signal used
to penetrate into South Carolina.

My bet is that you would perfectly receive the stations you want to hear
if no others were on the air. If your card has a local/distant switch, try
it in the local position. This will attenuate the stronger signals and
might prevent overload of the tuner front end.

Although your folded dipole probably has a higher gain and directivity,
you might try a rabbit ears antenna. These can be positioned much easier
than a folded dipole. You must position the antenna where it receives the
direct signal of the station you want to hear stronger than the reflected
signals from that station (to prevent multipath which is equivalent to
ghosts on a TV screen) and signals from other stations. 

The rabbit ears with a multiposition switch on the base seem to be more
effective. How these switches work is a mystery to me, but they sometimes
work wonders in pulling in a desired signal. 

--
Marshall Leach              |"If at first you don't succeed, try
mleach@ece.gatech.edu       |again. Then quit. There's no use being
eefacml@prism.gatech.edu    |a damn fool about it." --W. C. Fields