tripod Posted August 27, 2002 Share Posted August 27, 2002 Okay everyone, you've solved all my previous technical difficulties, so here's another. I live in a valley, 60 miles from Philadelphia, which is where the stations I like originate from. As such, I get absolutely zero radio reception, even with a large roof-mounted antennae. My cable TV company offers some sort of radio connection for several dollars a month, but I'm already paying a bundled rate of $113 and am morally opposed to giving them any more. My receiver has an F-type connector on the back. A while back I got the bright idea to use the actual cable wiring as a massive antennae. Im no electrical engineer, but I did realize there was some risk, so I split the cable line with a Y adaptor and then ran it through a line conditioner. I then put an F-type adaptor on the end of the coaxial cable and plugged it right in as the antennae. My receiver didnt fry, and I could suddenly hear all the Philadelphia stations (but NOT the local ones, strangely enough). All was fine and good for a year. Then I upgraded to my current bundle of cable modem, digital cable, and phone service. I was at work while the technician converted our system, but my wife called me to say that he had received a significant shock when temporarily removing my antennae connection. It was enough of a shock that he had to sit down and collect himself for a while. Luckily he was fine, but I decided if there was enough juice in there to hurt him, I shouldnt put it back on. Remember of course that this was all told to me second hand, so maybe it was some other cable that shocked him, but probably not. Anyway, all this for a simple question. Anyone know how I can safely connect to the cable line for radio reception? This message has been edited by tripod on 08-27-2002 at 02:57 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted August 27, 2002 Share Posted August 27, 2002 I lived 75 miles outside of Houston texas not too long ago and i actually built my own fm radio. We had a 50 foot antennea tower behind our house, like 10 feet from the utility room. I just got a long long spool of sire and went from teh top of the tower to the bottom twisting the cable all the way down. and it worked have you thought about an XM or Sirius Satellite radio? CD quality! ~$10.00 a month and tons of channels, up to 60 of them are commercial free. XM Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio You get 40 news channels and 60 music channels and then some. Just get one of these, $299 I am sure they have more home friendly models, but this one wil work in the home. For only $9.00-12.00 a month, how can you go wrong? ------------------ -justin SoundWise promediatech@Klipsch.com /1-888-554-5665 - RA# 800-554-7724 ext 5s> Email Me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted August 27, 2002 Share Posted August 27, 2002 i forgot, you wanted local stations. Well, this is another way to do that. Go to radio shack and they sell a whatcha-mil-call-it that goes into your cable line and uses the whole deal as a antennea and then you connect it to your tuner using the positive and negatice terminals where a normal antennea would be connected. i doubt there would ever be a problem with this, i used that also after i built my own radio and used the tower as an antennae, the problem was getting it loud enough to hear easily... ------------------ -justin SoundWise promediatech@Klipsch.com /1-888-554-5665 - RA# 800-554-7724 ext 5s> Email Me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShapeShifter Posted August 27, 2002 Share Posted August 27, 2002 You could take a look at Magnum Dynalab's ST-2 FM Antenna. It continues to get good reviews. The company also makes a device called the Signal Sleuth. The Sleuth seeks out FM signals, tracks them and amplifies those that are weak. One of these or a combination could be an option, if within your price range. http://www.magnumdynalab.com/x_revst2sleuth.htm ------------------ KLIPSCH IS MUSICf> My Systems f>s>c> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tripod Posted August 27, 2002 Author Share Posted August 27, 2002 Justin As you noted, the satellite option doesn't work for me since it's local broadcasts that I'm interested in. I'd like to know more about the thing you mentioned from Radio Shack. Was it just an adaptor for the end of the coaxial cable (that's what I already used before) or is it actually some sort of device? More specific info would be greatly appreciated. SS That antennae looks great, but several friends of mine have tried large rooftop arrays and still had poor results. The nearby mountains (I'm very close to the base, even though they are small) really mess things up. The signal sleuth is too expensive for me right now. Thanks though! Anybody have any idea why my previous arrangement shocked the cable guy? Should I go back to that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin_tx_16 Posted August 27, 2002 Share Posted August 27, 2002 the thing i got from radio shack was like this... It has an F-Type male connector on one end, it is connected to a tubular gizmo that filters out some things and amplifies others, only the FM frequency's go through. It worked very well for me. On the other end of the tubular gizmo came out two cords that had U ends on them. They went onto the antennea input on the tuner i had at the time. I don't see how this could amplify power enough to hurt anything, no power going through it, just a wire coil i suppose to amplify the ~'s. ------------------ -justin SoundWise promediatech@Klipsch.com /1-888-554-5665 - RA# 800-554-7724 ext 5s> Email Me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenratboy Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 $hit, $113!!! Get DSS with ALL the channels and you will be at $60 a month!!! You will also be able to get Philly LOCAL stations over the DSS. Big cities get that bonus. ------------------ Receiver: Sony STR-DE675 CD player: Sony CDP-CX300 Turntable: Technics SL-J3 with Audio-Technica TR485U Speakers: JBL HLS-610 Subwoofer: JBL 4648A-8 Sub amp: Parts Express 180 watt Center/surrounds: Teac 3-way bookshelfs Yes, it sucks, but better to come. KLIPSCH soon! My computer is better than my stereo! For JBL related subjects and more fun, click: http://www.audioheritage.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Shark Posted August 28, 2002 Share Posted August 28, 2002 Tripod, Unless your receiver or TV has a problem the shock the cable guy received would have come from cable side. One way to check your side is to disconnect the cable coming into your house and take a voltage measurement using a multimeter from the center conductor to the shield (outside of connector) of the coax cable leading into your house. Judging from the severity of the shock described I would look for AC line voltage 110 - 120 vac. If you find a voltage present start disconnecting TV's, receivers, signal amplifiers, etc ... one by one rechecking the multimeter for voltage present each an is item removed. If the voltage goes away, the last item disconnected is the culprit. If it doesn't go away after all devices are removed start checking your wiring. If the problem is with a device, either the device has a problem or the AC outlet it's plugged into could be mis-wired ( hot and neutral wires crossed). This can be checked with a outlet tester, available at Home Depot or other building supply. Good luck, The_Shark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tripod Posted August 28, 2002 Author Share Posted August 28, 2002 Justin Thanks for the additional info, I'll look into it. The other wrinkle is that I now have digital cable. I read last night that that might mean they no longer send FM signals straight over the cable, but that the signals might now be sent digitally and require a special device to be received at my end. I guess I can still use the cable itself as a giant antennae though. Ken The $113 includes full digital cable of 110 channels, plus 8 HBO, 9 Cinemax, 45 music, 2-way cable modem service, and local/long distance phone. As crazy as the $113 sounds, it's a good deal over all. Plus, my channel line-up includes networks from both New York and Philly, so the sports coverage is GREAT. Shark Thanks for the advice. Your post reminded me that a good friend of mine is an electrician. I think I'll trick him into coming over under false pretenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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