The purpose of this article is how to improve your FM reception. Many Christian radio stations are low power radio stations. Because of that, radio stations nearby on the dial can sometimes interfere with the signal. Sometimes a different antenna will help. Terk makes some indoor antennas ( www.terk.com). These are also sold locally at Best Buy. Terk antennas may also be ordered from Crutchfield. Radio Shack also sells some FM antennas. Most of these places have a good return policy in case the antenna does not help. C Crane Company ( www.ccrane.com) claims to have an FM antenna which is equal to or better than other FM antennas. C Crane and Crutchfield both have an excellent printed catalog which they will send for free. Some of their antennas are not compatible with some home receivers. You need to make sure the connections match. C Crane has an excellent return policy. I have personally witnessed a few times where using a new antenna or moving around the present antenna will help.
In many cases, your FM reception may be improved with a stand alone receiver as opposed to a boom box or clock radio. Before you buy a new radio or receiver, try to move your antenna around to see if you get better reception. That has worked for me. If you still do not receive the station clearly at home, try buying a stand alone receiver. Two things to look for when buying a receiver are sensitivity or selectivity.
Sensitivity refers to how well a model can pull in weak or distant FM signals. It's important mainly in rural areas. Selectivity reflects the ability to separate stations close together on the band. It's more important in city areas. Some of the least expensive brands such as Technics, Sony and Aiwa should give you good reception in a stand alone receiver. The brands which have the best selectivity according to a leading consumer magazine include Yamaha, JVC, Pioneer, Sony and Kenwood. If you use a less expensive receiver, you will often need a better antenna to get good reception. The model which does well in sensitivity, selectivity in both fm and am reception is Yamaha. The Crutchfield printed catalog allows you to see the sensitivity and selectivity of different home receiver models. (www.crutchfield.com) Some local places to buy receivers are at Circuit City and Best Buy.
In researching what are the best receivers or radios, one radio that has received great reviews is the Tivoli radio www.tivoliaudio.com It has very good selectivity and sensitivity on FM. It may be seen at www.crutchfield.com or their paper catalog which they will send for free. It costs around $100. If you want to spend around $50, the GE Super Radio might work well.
In some areas radio reception might only be improved with an antenna that could be mounted on your roof. Radio Shack sells some of these. Another brand I have seen sold is Winegard and Channel Master. They are also sold in local electronics parts stores or hardware stores. A brand called Antenna Performance is very good.. FM radio reception is line of sight- as you go farther away from the tower, the antenna has to be higher up to receive the station clearly. Below are some web sites that show some different outdoor antennas.
In Your Car
Sometimes a new receiver might help. I had a factory radio and I was getting too much static. I received better reception with a Pioneer car stereo receiver. I think that Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine are good decisions for car stereo receivers. Again, looking at selectivity and sensitivity in a receiver is a wise decision. One of my favorite places to compare car stereo receivers and home receivers is the Crutchfield paper catalog. Crutchfield's web site is also very good.
If you have your antenna in the glass in your back window, you might get better reception from a regular mast antenna. The C Crane Company claims to have an excellent car antenna which seems to have worked well for me. They claim it is better than other mast antennas.
Below are some web sites that have articles about improving your FM reception.
http://www.bext.com/winegard.htm
