| North Seattle Grassroots Radio broadcasts using a fraction of the power that most stations in the commercial broadcast band uses. There are many reasons for this - - we want be a community radio station (not a regional market share!), and by running low power we ensure that we are friendly to our radio station neighbors by not interfering with them. Also, maintaining the power levels that say, KUBE or KPLU maintains is expensive, and requires much more space and equipment. The practical result of course is that you can't hop on the freeway in Lynwood and have a steady signal all the way to Tacoma, and that we might be a bit harder to track down on your Hi-Fi at home. But with a little horse sense you might be able to get a clean signal that is listenable.
If you have tried to tune us in, and haven't been able to pick up the signal, there are many variables that might be at work. Some of them you might not have much control over, but here is a list (assuming you have tuned in when we are on the air; check the programming schedule on our website):
1) Line of sight. FM broadcast relies on line of sight, which means that there are no obstructions between the transmitter and your FM receiver, such as large buildings, hills, and other large structures. Since Seattle has plenty of hills, this is most likely a major contributor to signal weakness. If you live in a basement or inside a building with many concrete walls, this will also make it hard to get decent reception. If you live in a valley and you are surrounded by
hills, you may be out of luck.
Move your radio to a different location, maybe next to a window, and/or move the antenna around (maybe even mount it on the roof). Do not look for a new place to live on top of a hill until you have tried the other remedies below.
2) Your radio. You might notice that NSGR comes in really well on one radio, and really shitty or not at all on a different radio in the same room. This might have to do with the kind of antenna your radio uses (clock radios use the AC power cord as the antenna). It may also have something to so with what is called "selectivity", which is your radio's ability to distinguish one radio signal from another, sort of like how our ears can distinguish between a loud siren and a bird chirping in the tree. Some radios have poor selectivity, which might explain why you might get a strong radio station several places on the dial, or why when you try to listen to one weaker station, the stronger one that is adjacent on the dial interferes with it, or you can't get weaker stations at all, because of the bandwidth of the powerful 100,000 watt commercial (yechh) stations.
Quality car radios are generally good at getting weaker stations, until you actually begin to drive around and the station fades in and out. If you have a really inexpensive receiver then simply using a better radio might do the trick. Often a radio with good selectivity can be found at a thrift store, even (and sometimes especially) older models, so it is not necessary to spend a large amount of money. If your friend gets the station well, ask what kind of receiver they are using, and buy one of the same brand and roughly the same time period.
3) RF interference. This can be caused by a number of things, such as computers, appliances with electric motors, and even other radio stations. If you live very close to a TV transmitting tower this may also cause problems. What may be happening is something is broadcasting a signal on 99.5, making it harder to get NSGR. Many newer electronic devices may cause interference, like fax machines or even your caller ID box.
Try turning off the computer (especially the monitor, that alone may help), or any other device you may suspect is interfering. If you are close to a TV station, and you are using an external antenna, you may want to go to a radio supply shop and purchase a filter.
4) Weather. If it's winter, and really raining, reception will be a bit worse for weak stations. If it is summer, and the weather is clear, sometimes FM signals will travel exceptionally far. This is called "tropospheric bending" and happens when it is warmer high in the atmosphere that it is on the earth's surface (called a "temperature inversion"). This doesn't happen too much in Seattle, so don't wait for it to happen, but it does happen occasionally. FM signals are not affected by day or night, unlike AM radio.
5) Your antenna (or lack of one). This is probably the biggest culprit to bad reception, and fortunately this is something that you have a lot of control over. Some of the cheap stereos that came out in the 80's use an internal FM antenna along with the AC cord, which results in pretty crappy reception (not to mention poor quality circuitry). Portable radios are generally better, as the telescoping antenna fully extended can be moved around, and location in the room will determine the overall effectiveness. If you have a good quality radio, this may be all you need. If you have a home stereo receiver, you may want to check and see if you have an antenna connected at all; look at the rear of your receiver and try to find two screws about an inch apart labeled "300 ohms"; if there is nothing connected, then you are in luck. You've found the problem, and you have a lot of options.
Go down to the stereo or radio shop and buy a 300 ohm "di-pole" FM antenna. They are "T" shaped, made of flat wire that is about 3/8th of an inch across, and are about 6 feet long total, and they only run about a couple of bucks. If you are a really cheap bastard, you can make a crude dipole out of some speaker wire that you have laying around the house, that will work pretty well, but not as well as a "store bought" one.
Find the end with the connectors on it, and hook it up to the two screws marked "300 ohms" (Note-if you hook it to the pair that say "75" ohms it will not work as well, but we'll get to that later). Make sure the connectors are not touching one another; you won't get zapped and it won't hurt anything, but it will substantially decease the effectiveness of your antenna. When you're through with that, tune your radio to 99.5 and use tape or thumbtacks to attach the ends of the di-pole (the top of the "T") in various positions; vertically, diagonally, horizontally facing all directions or even in a "V" shape - - whatever it takes to get a good strong signal. Tack it up in that spot (and tell your roommate not to mess with it; that was a pain in the ass, wasn't t it?).
If you make a di-pole out of speaker wire, here is how to do it; cut about a 7 ft. length, and strip the pair of wires on one end to hook to the back of your radio, the same way you would as if you were about to run another speaker. On the other end, pull the two wires apart until each side is approximately 2 feet long, and wrap a piece of electrical tape where the two wires begin to split so that it doesn't split any further. This might save you a trip to the store for the time being, but remember, it might not work as well.
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For the Truly Dedicate Pirate Listener
It's time to go outside. Maybe up a tree or on your roof, or the side of the building. You will need:
75 ohm Coax cable (yes, TV cable will work)
Two pieces of wire about 2 feet long.
Wire strippers
Electrical tape
Solder and a soldering iron.
A ladder
Some shit to mount the antenna on, like a wooden pole or whatever works that will NOT conduct electricity. 1/2 inch PVC pipe works good.
Make sure that one end of the coax has a connector on it to screw into the back of the stereo; if your stereo does not have a cable connection, just the screws, then you will need a 75 to 300 ohm converter, which can bought anyplace you buy video or TV accessories. On the other end of the coax, solder a piece of wire onto the shield (the woven wire on the outside) and solder the other piece to the hot lead (the center wire) Tape it up with the electrical tape, and now you have a homemade di-pole that you can use outside. However you want to mount it is up to you, though we recommend that you figure out a place where you can rotate it. Be sure that the poles of your antenna are extended fully in opposite directions horizontally.
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* * * Disclaimer * * * :
NSGR assumes no responsibility for you falling off the damn roof, getting shocked by the wires supplying power to the house, getting caught by the landlord, or any other tricks that we couldn't think up in a million years. For the safety of you and your radio, stay away from power lines (ladders conduct electricity if they are metal), and if you have an old pitched roof, the asphalt may be loose so be careful. We don't have a lot of listeners, and we'd hate to lose you.
The advantages to all of this trouble is that NSGR will not be the only station you can get. You may be able to get one of the other micro-FM stations in town (FSR/Studio X 87.9), some of the decent campus stations in the outlying areas (KUPS 90.1, KGRG 89.9, KCBS 91.3, KSER 90.7), or some of the Canadian stations in Victoria or Vancouver (CBC 1 on 90.5 has a good news format, and CBC 2 on 92.1 plays good music at night).
You can also purchase a directional FM antenna to use, and YES! that old TV antenna on the roof that everyone forgot about will work pretty well, if the contacts are cleaned up and it is pointed in the right direction. Some sucker bought cable years ago, and left that beauty up there for you to use to get better FM. If there is a wire going up to it from someone's window, don't cut it unless you know that nothing is connected to the other end, as you don't want to piss off they guy watching the M's game who's too broke to buy cable.
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Things not to try:
Don't use the wall outlet as an antenna. No matter how much meth you have taken, it still will not work, and it might even kill you. Those $19.95 devices that plug into the wall they sold on TV to improve reception are bullshit.
Little balls of foil look kinda cool, but will not improve reception.
Plugging into cable. Some systems will rebroadcast radio stations, but NSGR is not included in the package.
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If you try all of this stuff patiently, and still can't get us, you can:
1) Move,
2) Start your own station, since if you can do all of that, you probably can learn how to construct a radio station,
3) Give money to NSGR so we can make signal improvements.
That's it, happy listening!
----chicago (10 to midnight, Thursdays, 99.5, NSGR) |
