An unexpected static interference during your favorite baseball game can be quite irritating. Nobody likes to get interrupted while listening to their favorite shows, games, or music, and therefore you need to take necessary measures to make sure you are never disturbed by bad radio reception.
In most scenarios, the reason for poor reception is obstruction, broadcasting stations being out of range, or your antenna being placed in the wrong direction.
So if you wish to know how to get better radio reception, then have a look at our list of tips and tricks that will definitely help you improve your radio reception.
Tips to Improve Your Radio’s Reception
Go through the following tips to know how to improve the FM radio reception of your antenna.
1. Remove any obstruction in your antenna’s path
Any kind of obstruction in the path of your FM antenna can result in bad reception. Be it a small concrete slab or even a skyscraper, it is enough to disrupt the signal receiving ability of your radio antenna.
Therefore you need to make sure that you clear the line of sight of your antenna. It is not possible to remove a building or a tree from the line of sight of your antenna, so you can adjust the height of your antenna or change directions to clear its path.
2. Minimize the distance from broadcasting stations
If the nearby FM broadcasting stations are too far away from your antenna, then it may result in distorted radio signals. Try to place your antenna in the direction of any nearby broadcasting center. If you live too far away from a broadcasting center, you can try using an FM antenna booster which will pick up even weaker signals and stabilize them for ideal sound output.
3. Inspect your antenna for damages
You need to frequently check on your FM antenna for any kind of damage caused by weather, animals, or accidents. Check if the external structure stands stable and if all the cables are in their right place. Rusting can also be a reason to corrode the antenna and cause gradual damage.
4. Replace your antenna with a better one
This is probably the answer you will get from most electricians when you ask them how to improve FM radio reception. But it is sometimes necessary to replace your current antenna with a better one if it can give you better reception.
You can replace your indoor antenna with an outdoor one to get a better range with fewer obstructions and you can replace a unidirectional antenna with an omnidirectional one to get 360-degree reception. You can also replace your standard antenna with portable external antennas like the bose wave FM antenna which can be carried anywhere where the reception is better.
5. Check the Frequency
If you want to know how to make a radio antenna work better, then you should occasionally test the frequency levels around the antenna. Many radios have an in-built frequency tester that can be used to scan for nearby strong signals.
When the device has scanned multiple strong signals, it can be tracked to its broadcasting unit and the antenna will acquire better connectivity with the scanned signals.
6. Change the signal type
All FM broadcasting stations transmit two types of signals, stereo, and mono. You need to make sure that the device you own is capturing the same type of signal that it is meant to be. If you are trying to receive stereo signals on a mono device that it won’t give you the expected results. So make sure to change the signal type according to your device.
7. Use multiple antennas
Usually, a single antenna is good enough to provide good transmission to multiple devices at your home. But sometimes when the signal strength around your house is not good enough, it may result in poor reception due to lots of connected devices.
In that case, you should assign one antenna to every different device you have at your home. This gives the device an uninterrupted path with less traffic and can give an improved output.
8. Use an Amplifier
Sometimes there is nothing wrong with the signal strength around your device and it can be your antenna that is not capable of picking up the signals. In such a case, you can try installing a signal amplifier to your antenna. This signal amplifier can help your antenna capture signals with a lot of ease.
How to Improve Radio Reception in your Car
Now that you have understood how to improve FM radio reception at static places (house and workplace), let’s see how we can improve reception in a moving vehicle.
1. Inspect the antenna connection
You need to properly inspect your antenna connection in your main system. Check if the cables are not damaged and are connected in the right manner. Make sure you use the right cable according to your system or else it may result in a loose connection which can cause distortion.
You may also like: Best Outdoor FM Antenna
2. Always see if your antenna mast is extended
This is a very basic thing which we sometimes forget while in the car and keep searching for other faults in our stereo system. So whenever you feel like the reception is poor, always see if the antenna mast is extended.
3. Use a signal booster
While in a moving vehicle you are bound to gain and lose reception quality in your system. Installing a signal booster will definitely minimize the chances of losing the signal but it cannot counter large obstructions in between.
FAQ’s:
Why does radio reception change in different places in my house?
Why don’t smartphones have in-built FM antennas?
Does wifi interfere with radio reception?
Conclusion
That was all the necessary information along with tips that will help you understand how to improve FM radio reception. Figure out the possible problem in your radio’s reception and then try out our tips accordingly. Take the help of professionals wherever it is needed and take safety precautions when working on antennas on rooftops. Hope you get to enjoy an uninterrupted session of your favorite shows after reading this article.