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improve S/N for AM car radio by a factor of 2...5...10?
Hi all,
I've looked on the web, but with very little success. I have never posted to this group before, so I apologize if my question is lame. I listen to the Bay Area's KGO 810 MHz a lot. Their transmitter is located in South San Fran Bay near the Dumbarton Bridge, and outpus 50 kW (that's what they say anyway). I am guessing, it's directed mostly at the Pacific coast line. I often listen while driving east on I-80 to Truckee/Tahoe for skiing and camping. Usually the signal fades substantially by the time I reach Sacramento - but it's still tolerable listening (by ear, S/N of ~3). By the time I reach Auburn it's essentially inaudible. Much better signal at night (~again, by ear, S/N improves by ~2). At night, I can sort of pick up words in truckee. Question: can I *substantially* improve the S/N - say, factor of 2/5/10 by installing a better car antenna, so that, say, I could listen in the Sierras day and night? I do not care if the antenna is huge/geeky_looking, my car is being driven into the ground anyway. I would be happy to make this a DIY project - to save on $ and learn about radio. What kind of specs should I look for? I.e. I don't want to go on the web and blindly buy an antenna advertised to "boost" your AM radio reception - I would want some numbers. I have limited knowledge in electronics, my background mostly is in biophysics and biochemistry. So if you steer me into the right direction I think I should be able figure it out. |
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