Cheapskate FM antenna
Having purchased an old radio tuner on ebay for a quid I am loathe to actually spend any money on a decent antenna. I have taken a length of old twin core mains cable, about 8 feet of it, and made one large loop of it. The ends I have affixed to the antenna post and tightened up the screw.
The tuner has a crude form of VU meter that indicates the signal strength and the signal is quite good at the bottom end of the FM band say 88-92 FM and a bit weaker at the high end of the band.Making a large circle of the wire reduces the signal strength to almost nothing, while stretching the wire out improves the signal strength.
Should I shorten the wire or use a longer length? Should the wire hang vertically or horizontally?
I think that the wire coathanger technique is not quite de rigeur and could lead to incredulity if I entertain young ladies
Yours miserly,
N