Buy a super-duper antenna or make one
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The J-Pole (affectionately known as the "North
Pole") - a few bits of metal, a few hours and you'll have the simplest best
omnidirectional FM antenna in the world</FONT></CENTER>
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What you need:</P>
<UL>
<LI>aluminium tubing
<LI>base plate
<LI>tv antenna clamp
<LI>antenna mount (eg. a bargeboard mount) with screws
<LI>75 Ohm shielded coaxial cable
<LI>6 bolts (very small, small and larger)
<LI>a small piece of sheet copper
<LI>a long piece of cheap wire
<LI>a long metal stake
<LI>a metal hose clip</LI>[/list]
What it looks like:</P>
Some tips:</P>
<UL>
<LI>when drilling into aluminium tubing, get a wooden dowel that fits snugly
within the aluminium tube (to stop the tube crimping)
<LI>mount the antenna as high as possible
<LI>the small piece of copper sheet is cut into 2 straps that wrap tightly
around the tubes (as indicated). They should be able to slide up and down to
tune the antenna. Each strap should have 2 holes cut in it and a very small bolt
inserted to tighten the straps against the aluminium tubes:
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<LI>attach the inside wire of the coax cable to one of the copper straps and the
outer braid to the other copper strap
<LI>tune the antenna in the morning (FM signals are normally steadiest in the
morning) by finding the worst station that you can and making it as clear as
possible
<LI>to ensure that if hit by lightning the strike causes as little damage as
possible (still probably substantial): hit the metal stake a long way into the
ground, attach the long piece of cheap wire to the stake and use the metal hose
clip to keep it in place and make a good connection. The other end of the wire
needs to be connected securely to the antenna making contact with the base
plate.
<LI>spray around the copper straps and base plate with a clear lacquer to
preserve them</LI>[/list]</FONT></DIR></DIR>