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What's a practical way to boost a radio signal in my home?

I'm using a very long antenna wire wrapped around half of a room, but the signal I'm getting on a certain radio station I want is still very weak and fuzzy. What can I do? I have to buy something, right? =(

It depends on whether you are trying to get an AM radio band signal , or an FM radio band signal, or a Shortwave band signal. Here are a few things to consider.

Is the wire attached to the back of the radio by screws? If so, it is an FM antenna. Most of the telescoping antennas in the radios are FM antennas. This will not help you with receiving AM radio stations. Most AM radios have built-in antennas within the body of the radio, and can be adjusted by turning the radio in different directions, and moving them closer to a window.

The single most effective thing you can do to receive better reception of FM signals is usually to move the radio slightly, and toward windows in the direction of the broadcast. A good wire antenna (called a dipole antenna--shaped like a figure T ), connected to the back , and moved around a room in various angles to get the right reception, is the best you usually can achieve.

Since the usual FM station splits their signal power if it broadcasts in stereo, does your radio tuner have a switch to shift from stereo to mono? If so, try that, as it will combine both channels and you will get less atmospheric noise.

There are lots of gadgets and radio antenna boosters for sale, but if you are in a fringe area, they may or may not be effective, depending on things like interference with electrical power lines, or large buildings blocking your reception between you and the station's antenna, or even the steel girders and reinforcing metal in the building you are listening in. This is why you sometimes get better reception in a car than in your home or office.

If the station you are listening to is an AM station, and you can only get it well at night, then it is broadcasting on a lower power, and you can get one of the passive antenna boosters, that can be "tuned" to the frequency. They look like a dish, and you place them next to the radio, and it will signifcantly increase AM reception. Check with Radio Shack and C.Crane Company--they both carry brands of this type of antenna booster for AM. But this won't help for FM radio reception.

Good luck.

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