Hi Tom,

     About "89.3 Fm" of June 23:

TW> ...Amplified Noise is still Amplified Noise.  ...a good Active
TW> Filter is very good at making "in the mud" signals readable.

     Since the guy who made the request only uses a very basic antenna i
doubt state-of-the-art electronics are practical to him.  If he owns the
house or his landlord won't mind, gaining additional height can help and
directionality certainly won't hurt neither.  He could simply install an
antenna on the roof but then i guess he'd have mentioned the possibility
before he asked...  I'm not so shure he's ready for a "YAGI" antenna, an
expensive liguid nitrogen amplifier or perhaps the more practical option
of coupling multiple directional antennas in quadrature so that they are
contributing a bit more to signal and a bit less to noise...  He probaly
won't turn to some people who can supply small cable distributors with a
multi-hundred dollars assortment of specialty HardWare unless he needs a
solution pretty badly!!!  %-)  If my own humble experience can be of any
help, i was trying to capture my favorite Montreal radio station after i
moved to my new place in Trois-RiviŠres in 2001 (that's roughly 85 miles
away, i think).  I do agree that dealing with this problem may not go as
it would on paper at times and, anyway, i rent an appartement located on
the 3rd floor (i couldn't dream of a directional antenna here)!  Though,
gaining altitude was dealt with already and the window was alligned with
Montreal and the radio...  %-)  So much that i just needed to attach one
string of copper wire (from a disembodied transformer) to my antenna and
search for a "sweet" spot!  Once my impression could be confirmed that i
had to consider buying a radio with better reception i visited the local
stores and went back with one that cured the problem for good...  I have
stereo separation which doesn't sound as great as when i spend some time
in Montreal but for about 120 $ overall the compromise seems reasonable;
to the least it won't switch to mono or vanish and re-inforce at regular
intervals as with some other remote channels.  I installed my radio on a
shelf lately and it's even better now, i didn't try grounding my shelf's
metal poles because it works as is - i don't have to bother about ground
planes!  Two strong adjacent local stations which used to interfere with
my channel are now gone and, at over seven feet in the air, breaking the
string is not a concern any longer:  i hardly notice it at all, that is.

     I took care to scratch some varnish insulation on one end of my ten
feet copper string before i attached it loosely to my radio's antenna so
that it falls off if i catch it by accident instead of bringing my radio
to the ground with it...  The other end is fixed to the metal pole which
holds my curtains - so much for expensive "rocket science" technologies!

                                  ;-)

     The rest of the shelf is where i have the other electronics and i'm
using the later to drive speakerphones with a familiar audio signal when
i spend the summer on my balcony, at the other end of this building (the
20 feet stereo cables were only 3 $ each so the PCs and my TV set in the
kitchen are connected to this too).  CHOM FM rocks all over the place!!!

                                                        Salutations,  :)

                                                        Michel Samson
                                                        a/s Bicephale


... Sometimes, the cost of new features is too high, really!  Is it not?
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