[Technocrat]

OK the story is that the Sony Hi-Fi in my house doesnt catch FM clearly. At times it does but every movement in that room causes interference.

Since I cant move the system I think I have following Alternatives

1) Find a way to improve reception (anyone knows how?)

2) Get another small radio which can be kept wherever we get good reception

3) Get World Space & attach it to the Hi-Fi

My preference would be option 1 if possible & if not then option 3 but then I am not sure if its worth all the moolah.
Option 2 is something Wifey doesn't want But I will try if that's the only reasonable option.

Anybody using World Space radio? Do you think its VFM for Home use?

Thanks

[bblost]

Why not build a FM Antennae?
I remember some friend in college did it. Was a simple enough DIY?

[clevermax]

If you still have that Yagi antenna used for TV reception, hook it up with your Hi-Fi, it will improve the reception drastically. My dad found another way of improving teh FM reception - he just attached a 2 meter long aluminium pipe around the normal telescopic antenna in order to increase its legth. Now it touches the roof but reception is much better.

I had Worldspace for an Year (got itfor free) and I liked it too. You'll get good reception in Pune.

[GTO]

Techno,

My worldspace experience. Was pretty much the same until I gave it away to another BHPian:

Originally Posted by GTO

Our office was tired of listening to the same music again and again from the computers hard disk. So we got worldspace for about 2000, including the receiver, installation and 3 months subscription.

Its excellent! The sound quality is crystal and the songs played on hiphop/R&B/ dance totally rock.

Butttttttttttttttttttt:

1. You dont get all stations at some locations of south bombay. This is something they dont tell you in advance. Compared to a Dadar location which gets 40+ channels, my churchgate office gets only 25 - 30.

2. They have a lot of repetition of songs. Much more than regular channels and it gets annoying at times.

GTO

The one reason why I got rid of Worldspace is their song repetition + didn't hear too many just-released tracks (copyright issues?). At a time, all of us even knew what the next 5 songs would be! I'd suggest your building up a massive personal music collection on the iPod, or internet radio.

[Technocrat]

@bblost - Would Love to know how to DIY an FM Antenna

@clevermax - No I dont have any antenna. Btw I did try to touch the FM radio wire(yep thats what the Hi-Fi has no Antennae) to the Tata SKY Cable but it didnt work

@GTO - I had read your & others reviews & hence am not too keen on paying for the World Space

Dont have IPod or other player but the idea is to listen to new songs & some TP stuff which happens on radio without too much hassle.

[rohan_iitr]

Hi Technocrat,

It seems like you have a weak FM signal in your house. (Assuming that the Sony HiFi system is fault free) .

You could try these small experiments to isolate the problem:

1. Try listening to FM through mobile phone at the same place where the Sony HiFi system is currently placed. If the sound is not clear at that location, but clear in the other rooms/outdoors, it means that Sony HiFi is placed in a bad place.

2. On a trial basis, try shifting the Sony HiFi system to another location (closer to window) or another room and see the difference in FM reception. This would rule out the possibility of any fault in your Sony HiFi system.

3. Check the user manual of Sony HiFi for the possibility of connecting external FM antenna. The sales package generally contains a small piece of wire, which can be used as the external antenna. (The FM reception would get better when someone touches this piece of wire, because your body also becomes a part of the antenna. If this happens, it confirms the theory that FM signal is weak in that room.)

4. Any long wire can generally be used as an FM antenna, just connect one end to the Sony HiFi and leave the other end near a window.

5. If you have an internet connection with unlimited download limit, you could use online radio and connect your laptop/PC to the Sony HiFi system. (This is what I do, I have connected my laptop to my Sony Home Theater system. The sound is awesome.)

Hope it was helpful.

Rohan,
Bangalore

[Technocrat]

Thanks a lot Rohan

Hmm havent considered that the system is fault free(It is an old one & yes the buttons have gone cranky on the system while they work fine from remote), I was simply assuming that it would be fault free.

Also apart from poor reception what I have observed that even people movement in that room affects reception quality.

Point 1 - haven't tried this, will try it out soon. I have listen to mobile radio in other places & it catches easily without issue.

Point 2 - the system is part of the complete AV rack/stand & it is too tedious to unplug all connections & move the Hi-Fi across the house

Point3 - Currently the white short wire is connected & I even tried touching it to the DTH cable & also putting it in various directions. Is there any specific wire that needs to be used for FM i.e. copper, Aluminum etc?

Point 4- I have internet but not unlimuted one btw which sites would you recommend.

[bblost]

This seems to be a good one
www.wryr.org/Antenna_instructions.pdf
Kind of looks like what my friend had made.


How to Build an Indoor FM Antenna | eHow.com


Where is the electronics guru tsk, when you need him.

[kalpeshc]

Read on hi-fi vision that world space has filed for bankruptcy in the usa. 90% of their customer base is still in india though.

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Thanks a lot Rohan

Hmm havent considered that the system is fault free(It is an old one & yes the buttons have gone cranky on the system while they work fine from remote), I was simply assuming that it would be fault free.

Also apart from poor reception what I have observed that even people movement in that room affects reception quality.

Point 1 - haven't tried this, will try it out soon. I have listen to mobile radio in other places & it catches easily without issue.

Point 2 - the system is part of the complete AV rack/stand & it is too tedious to unplug all connections & move the Hi-Fi across the house

Point3 - Currently the white short wire is connected & I even tried touching it to the DTH cable & also putting it in various directions. Is there any specific wire that needs to be used for FM i.e. copper, Aluminum etc?

Point 4- I have internet but not unlimuted one btw which sites would you recommend.

You are most welcome.

If the music system is placed inside a closed rack, the FM signal reception is generally poor. Since it is a tedious process to move the music system, we will just assume that it is fault free.

As you told, you have already connected the short white wire, but it does not help much.

Material (copper/aluminium) of the wire should not make a big difference. But increasing the size of the wire should help. (Just like FM reception in the car improves when we pull out the ariel)

You could try connecting a long copper wire to this short white wire. Strip off some insulating plastic from the end of this white wire, and twist the metal part of this wire with the metal part of the extension wire. Then spread out this wire (if possible, keep the other end near a window)

If this also fails, check with the sony dealer if they have a better external antenna.

Regarding online radio, I have downloaded a gadget for the windows vista sidebar. It has a collection of over 25 radio channels including BBC radio channels, Virgin radio channels, SFM radio channels along with several hindi, tamil and arabic radio stations. Really useful gadget if you have unlimited download limit on your broadband connection.

Rohan,
Bangalore

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Point 4- I have internet but not unlimuted one btw which sites would you recommend.

If you are interested in international music, you can download the radio toolbar from AOL Music
Their Indian music section is limited though

[neoranjit]

Fresh 102.7.com .. New York's FM station, plays good music as well

[Technocrat]

Thanks Bblost, that DIY antenna looks nice.

Thanks kalpeshc, I think WS is almost out now from my list.

Thanks Rohan, will try out some DIY for Antenna & also check if Sony has something available for such problems. Could you give the link/name of that gadget/widget? Would like to try it out on my Vista

Thanks Jaguar & neoranjit I will try out these sites as well.

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Thanks Rohan, will try out some DIY for Antenna & also check if Sony has something available for such problems. Could you give the link/name of that gadget/widget? Would like to try it out on my Vista

Check out Windows Live gallery (link below)

Windows Live Gallery

It has many useful gadgets. The ones which I use are Online Radio 2.0, Dictionary, Weather Watcher and Alarm Clock.

There are several online radio gadgets available. The one which I use is

Windows Live Gallery

Please be warned that these gadgets are developed by individuals who are in no way associated with Microsoft. You would be downloading and installing these at your own risk. (Website will also give you a similar warning when you download these gadgets)

Content from unverified sources may contain trojans/viruses. It may contain hidden applications which could access content on your computer and may cause the system to slow down.

Each gadget also has helpful reviews on its webpage, make sure that you go though the user reviews before downloading/installing it. Generally, gadgets which have a lot of positive reviews are safe to use.

These gadgets are best enjoyed on an internet connection with unlimited download limit. Not recommended for internet plans with download limits.

Rohan,
Bangalore

[Technocrat]

So as decided I went ahead & bought a Rs 2 per meter wire (10 meters of it). Connected it with the antenna wire, routed it around the Tata Sky Cable till the window & Voila the problem is Gone

The radio is now very clear & almost no disturbance. Thanks all for the valuable comments