Most of the music centers are equipped with a radio function by the manufacturer, and many often use this opportunity to listen to news, music or favorite radio programs. However, often the built-in device for receiving a radio signal is not enough, which causes interference in operation and poor quality playback. In this case, the reception can be improved with the help of an antenna, which can be either factory-made or do-it-yourself. This article will discuss how to independently make an FM antenna for a music center.
Varieties of antennas for the music center
There is the following classification of factory antennas for receiving a radio signal:
- Disk. Such devices are capable of catching a satellite signal, and they are installed both indoors and outdoors.
- Rod. The shape resembles a regular round pin, straight or rounded.
- Frame and wire. Such receivers can be shaped into any shape, as the receiver wire bends well.
IMPORTANT!The cheapness of a homemade antenna is far from the only reason why many refuse to buy a factory one. The fact is that for the most part the quality of the received sound depends on the characteristics of the music center itself, and by experimenting with different types of antennas, you can achieve optimal sound quality.
Do-it-yourself FM antenna
If the factory version for the above reasons does not satisfy the user, then he should try to make an antenna for his music center with his own hands. For the manufacture of home-made devices for receiving a radio signal, different source materials will be required.
Square metal foil
In order to make a receiving device from foil, you will need:
- Fiberboard or a small board.
- Roll of metal foil.
- A piece of shielded cable with a resistance parameter of 50-75 ohms.
- A plug required for connecting to the MC.
- Soldering iron and accessories to it (solder, flux).
This is one of the easiest to make homemade antennas. A square frame must be cut from the foil of the desired size. In its lower part, a cutout of 15 mm wide is made. After that, the frame using ordinary glue must be fixed on a piece of fiberboard. When the foil adheres, the “screen” and the central core of the wire are soldered along the edges of the cutout at the bottom of the frame. The gap between the places of soldering the wire should be within 25-40 mm.
A similar FM antenna can be installed both indoors and outdoors, if the cable length allows it. In order to "tune" the received signal, the device is slowly rotated around its axis.
From the pipes
The basis of this design is the use of conventional pipes used for engineering communications at home. In addition to them, you will also need:
- disassemble the line transformer of the obsolete tube TV and remove the ferrite core from it;
- get glue and high-quality electrical tape;
- buy a roll of brass or copper foil;
- to get a copper mounting cable with a cross section of 0.25 mm and a length of one and a half meters;
- prepare the plug with which the antenna will connect to the MC.
First of all, paper and electrical tape are placed in two layers on the ferrite core of the transformer. After that, foil is laid on top of the electrical tape in one layer, while blocking the turn by 1 centimeter. It is necessary to ensure that the two sides of the coil are not in contact, and periodically interfere with possible contact with electrical tape. A wire with taps on the seventh, twelfth and twenty-fifth turns is wound on the finished screen in 25 revolutions.
In the same way, the prepared communication loop is wrapped with a “screen”. The screens are subsequently connected to each other, and the ends of the cable are inserted into the plugs.
IMPORTANT!A feature of this type of antenna is that with its help you can listen to the radio even in a thunderstorm, without fear of possible damage to equipment. Since water pipes or heat pipes are used throughout the house, a better signal can be achieved in high-rise buildings.
From coaxial cable
Such antennas are well suited for areas of unstable signal. For their manufacture usually use:
- one and a half or more meters of TV cable;
- one and a half meter plastic tube with a diameter of about 20 mm;
- wooden mast.
To begin with, at a distance of about 75 centimeters from the end of the cable, it is necessary to cut the wire and carefully remove the plastic insulation from it, without damaging the integrity of the braid screen. The braid must be stretched, after which, trying not to damage the copper core, unscrew the screen in the direction of the incision.
Then, using any available methods, the antenna is fixed inside the plastic pipe, and after that the tube is attached to the wooden mast. The search and capture of the signal is regulated by the vertical rotation of the mast, as well as the height of its installation.
If the shielded cable during the assembly of the device was not damaged, then such an antenna can work with a minimum amount of interference.
Additional recommendations for better sound
If none of the above type of antennas gave a high-quality sound, then you can try to re-solder the old television antenna under the entrance of the music center. Some of them are able to successfully receive radio signals and, if the user is lucky to find such an instance, the signal reception will be quite clear.
When capturing the signal, weather conditions should also be taken into account, because if there is rain or heavy snow outside the window, then virtually any antenna can receive a signal with malfunctions and interference.
To improve the quality of the signal, experts advise placing the receiver in open space and at the highest possible installation point in order to level the effect of uneven terrain.
The length of the rod of the device significantly affects its frequency range and you can expand it by simply increasing the length of the rod of the antenna. It is also worth noting that even correctly assembled home-made antenna does not give a 100% guarantee of improving the sound quality of the radio music center, because the quality of the center itself may cause poor quality sound.
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