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From: john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Recommendations wanted for car FM signal booster...
Message-ID: <809@newave.UUCP>
Date: 4 May 91 04:26:49 GMT
References: <1991May2.113020.17346@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Reply-To: john@newave.mn.org (John A. Weeks III)
Organization: NeWave Communications Ltd, Eden Prairie, MN
Lines: 38

In article <1991May2.113020.17346@nntp-server.caltech.edu> nyet@nntp-server.caltech.edu (n liu) writes:
> I was paging though Crutchfield the other day when i came
> upon a fm signal booster for ~30 bucks. Now, i thought to
> myself, I wouldn't mind trying one of those out, since
> my rather cheezy tuner don't lock into the stereo carrier
> too good. But I wasn't about to buy it, for several reasons..

An amplifier cannot make a signal where no signal exists.  If
you have a fairly solid signal, but just a bit noisy, a booster
might clear things up.  If you have any mulit-path interference
(the radio equivalent of ghosts), the amplifier will just make
things worse.  An FM booster also tends to reduce the selectivity
of the tuner, so you might also have new problems with close stations
bluring togather.

The best thing you can do for your FM is check out your current 
antenna.  Those rubber duck things just do not have the reception
power of a 3 or 4 foot steel whip antenna.

If you do want to try an amp, go to one of those places that have
a 30 day return policy.  Best Buy does, and I'm sure that you
have something similar on the left coast.

> So, hell, how hard could it be to just build one of these
> suckers? So what kind of components/gain/etc. should i be
> looking for?  I've built minor audio amps, etc. but i'm not
> to familiar with the MHz range... Any recommendations?

Lots hard.  An RF circuit is just as much mechanical as it is electrical.
Murphy dictates that you should try building an RF oscillator, because
most RF amps will oscillate....

-john-

-- 
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John A. Weeks III               (612) 942-6969             john@newave.mn.org
NeWave Communications                       ...uunet!tcnet!wd0gol!newave!john