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TV Stinks so Back to Radio

screenersam

screenersam

aka Blind Sugar McGee
nothing good on tv these days so have been spending more time on radio

using an Insignia unit (EPI Microtower speakers, hand-me-downs from a co-worker who upgraded).
been fiddling with antenna combinations thread here http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/diy-fm-antenna-project.780599/

so; using the wire dipole that came with the unit, attached to the wall,
I got 14 stations
NPR: 1
Christian: 2
Oldies: 3
Rock/Album: 2
Country: 3
Unknown Format: 3

using recycled rabbit ears, flat, east-west orientation
I got 32 stations of FM as follows

NPR: 4
Christian: 3, but two were simulcast
Oldies: 5
Urban/Top 40: 5
Rock/Album: 2
Country: 5
Spanish: 2
Unknown format: 6

so the antenna made a difference!
 
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using the stock antenna I got 6 AM stations (good clear signal, not trying to hear through the static); three Christian, one Spanish, one sports, one news

using the copper dipole (which I made for FM) I got 21 stations
News: 3
Sports: 3
Spanish: 3
Church: 5
Oldies: 3
4 unknown format (didn't have patience to sit around and wait for commercials to end)
 
I still listen to FM/AM... And good for you the Tube is not all that great as is!

Ive not had cable TV in my life since early 2002. I own a TV but never once had it connected to cable or even local stations..

Its been a few yeas since i've used it for a DVD as well. I dont miss it..

Kind Regards,
John
 
El Pee said:
Forgive my cynicism, but I'm sure you will soon find that radio is every bit the wasteland that TV is, and you will soon be listening to records (or CD, MP3s etc).
Click to expand...
Even the best radio stations get repetitive.

benricci said:
Funny, I feel the opposite. Radio absolutely blows chunks, and TV has entered its best period in recent memory (especially all the great original content coming from Amazon, Hulu and Netflix).

Different strokes, I suppose...
Click to expand...
I agree. Between new shows and great old shows, I have too much to watch. Sure, there seems to be a lot more crap these days, but sift through it a bit and there are still plenty of great shows being made.
 
Glad you're enjoying radio. It is cool, pulling music out of the air...to paraphrase Tom Snyder. I just wish there was more concern for quality programming and quality sound in the FM world. The potential is there but seldom realized.
 
I use to think there was nothing good on TV until I got a DVR.(The Hopper) Now I have something to watch every night (prime time) since I started using it.
Did not think it would make that big a difference but it did ... there's programs I like watch ... they are just all over the place (time wise).
 
thanks to all for feedback

Oldguy, agree wi internet radio. great stuff (even plain Pandora). of course my bandwidth is limited.
I love youtube collections. found some incredible music there
I get 40 or so channels on satellite but all reruns and reality shows (History Channel showing 'Pawn Stars' reruns?). also annoying is how 2-3 different stations end up playing the same documentaries.

Benricci, yes, there's good stuff, but a lot of it takes special gear/bandwidth. I tried Netflix last year to watch 'Stranger Things' and used it all up in four episodes! I am enjoying the Twin Peaks return, and looking forward to the Unabomber miniseries.

right now I have a Spanish-Language station (fascinating trying to figure out the commercials) and a local Album Rock station that I couldn't get before. I've heard most of their music but it's been years for some of it...and every now and then I get something different.
 
With the advent of streaming devices such as Roku, Apple tv, Firestick, Chromecast, etc. plus free over-the-air stations TV at my house is in it's "Golden Age".

I think my Roku gets 1300 channels but I still watch the oldies via antenna which are carried on local sub channels that aren't available on cable. I cut the cable

years ago and have more content now than ever. I watch Johnny Carson most nights as I did in the 70's, 80's and 90's except he now comes on at 10 instead of

11:30.
 
El Pee said:
Forgive my cynicism, but I'm sure you will soon find that radio is every bit the wasteland that TV is, and you will soon be listening to records (or CD, MP3s etc).
Click to expand...
My pessimism too. In the city I live, most radio radio stations are plagued with crappy juvenile talk show and crappy modern music. Give me Herbie Hancock please!
 
[QUOe's no shortage of TE="Kreshna, post: 10747351, member: 167825"]My pessimism too. In the city I live, most radio radio stations are plagued with crappy juvenile talk show and crappy modern music. Give me Herbie Hancock please![/QUOTE]

There's no shortage of very good free internet jazz stations. I have a couple dozen I can pick from.
 
I have a $1000 Tuner, rotor and beam antenna, and the programming or signal isn't worth listening to. Verizon music feeds have some repetition but it is a wide range of stuff, and the signal on the Classical and Jazz station is good for the most part.
 
thanks again to all for feedback
new store-bought antenna gets me 25 good signals

NPR 4
Christian 2
Oldies 3
Urban/Top 40 crap 5
Country 5
Spanish language 1
unknown 5

last night the atmospherics good and I got a bunch of other stuff including a rock station 30 miles away (I think that's good for FM?)

when I was a kid I used to dx am radio. some of us go back to childhood as we grow up I guess
 
surfing the FM band again great atmospherics
27 stations I can't get in daytime!
one was playing a medley from Brian Wilson's 'Smile' (Father of the Man)
another was playing an intense piece called 'Take me to Church' by Hozier. sounded like something from the 70s but apparently recent.
 
hm. the Hozier song was on freq 90.7, which is in the public / non-commercial part. strange to hear a non-Christian, non-Jazz, non-classical piece there. will have to research.
 
screenersam said:
thanks again to all for feedback
new store-bought antenna gets me 25 good signals...

...last night the atmospherics good and I got a bunch of other stuff including a rock station 30 miles away (I think that's good for FM?)
Click to expand...

Not bad for FM with indoor antenna. Up to around 100 miles with a good outdoor antenna is about the best I've experienced... a buddy's Sansui TU-X1 with a large Yagi with rotor on a thirty-foot mast could pretty reliably receive a particular station 130 miles away, but too noisy for my taste.
 
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