8

I have a headphone and a cellphone that has built-in FM radio, and the headphone acts as the radio antenna. but my problem is the radio stations I listen to are very far from my place, good thing there are some positions where the sound is very clear.

I have 5 favorite station whom I listen to which are at the same place (that means they're all far from me) and I often switch to each one.

BAD THING is... each station has its OWN position for it to give a clear sound so if I want to switch to another frequency then I need to change the position to another which is very exhausting.

I wanna know if there is still hope to fix this thing.

I listen using the headphone's speaker not in loudspeaker (just saying).

Improve this question
1
  • When talking about different positions, are they all within your flat/house/apartment? Do you have wifi access at this location?
    – holroy
    Oct 5, 2015 at 22:48

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5

Try capacitive coupling to the cell phone: attach a wire about 2 m (6 ft) long to a piece of aluminum foil; rest the plastic case of the phone (avoid any metallic part touching the foil, for safety) on the foil and move the wire around for best reception.

There's no guarantee this will get more stations, but it's an easy experiment. Let us know how it works for you.

Improve this answer
10
  • Can I know what kind of wire should I use?
    – m0Onfang
    Oct 10, 2015 at 16:49
  • It doesn't make much difference... cheaper thin wire is more easily hidden.
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Oct 11, 2015 at 1:26
  • what I mean is, there are many types of wire, which one? could it be electric wire?
    – m0Onfang
    Oct 13, 2015 at 11:32
  • another thing, do you mean I'll wrap the cellphone with the aluminum foil?
    – m0Onfang
    Oct 13, 2015 at 11:43
  • Read the answer above.
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Oct 13, 2015 at 21:37
1

Signals on the FM(VHF) band are largely line of sight. They are also in a frequency band where nearby metal objects can interfere with the reception of signal due to partial or complete reflection of another signal on the same frequency. FM receivers are also affected by something referred to as capture effect. If your receivers has two signals of similar signal strengths by a certain number of Db(decibels) it will accept the stronger one and reject the weaker one. VHF and UHF signal reception can also be affected by the weather.

FM broadcast signal are reliable generally for about 80KMs or so. The weird thing about FM reception is when you are in a dead spot, simply moving a little bit to the right or left can make quite a difference.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.