We got Comcast installed at the new house for TV cable, telephone, and internet. While the Comcast guy was installing the system, I asked about FM radio reception. "Huh?" This didn't go especially well. I used to use my cable hookup specifically for FM radio reception, as well as the bit of TV I watched. Heck, when I lived in Mt. Vernon I subscribed to cable even when I didn't have a TV because it was the only way I could get FM radio reception.

The Comcast kid didn't know anything about FM being on the cable. He mentioned the music stations that are carried, and those are nice for the genres they broadcast I guess, but they aren't FM radio, which is what I want to listen to if I'm not playing my own CDs or watching TV.

This is a guess, but maybe cable dropped FM broadcasts when it went digital? I think the FM radio signal is the same as the "old" analog TV signal, or something like that.

Question, do any of you listen to FM radio at home, and if so, what do you use for reception? Radio Shack sells some kind of FM antenna kit for $35, but the salesman in the store couldn't tell me if it would give me a reasonably clear signal where I live. Since moving in, I've been using the five foot wire antenna that came with the receiver, and it's OK, but not as good as I'd like.

Suggestions?

Sg

Have you tried online streaming? I am a big radio listener and it took a while to get used to but I love it now, most fm stations are now streaming, plus you can listen to stations in other towns/countries.

The only online streaming I know about is when I go to a station website on my computer, and the sound comes out my computer speakers, which is lower than low grade. I want the music or the news to come out of the stereo speakers I installed in the ceiling of my house. I suppose that can be done, but I haven't a clue.

Sg

If you have a laptop you can get a headphone jack to RCA input cable and you will be rocking out of your home system for less than ten bucks. Depending on where your PC is compared to your receiver that'll work too, same idea just longer cables?

+1 to streaming. I listen to a fair bit of FM and usually stream it when at home.

Edit: another bonus to streaming feeds is they often are broadcast without the delay present on the radio so you hear the mistakes and stuff that normally gets cut which can be pretty funny.

Comcast dumped full band FM long time back here. Here up in the 900's is music broken down with type / decades. Quite a few feeds really and they are OK as to audio quality.

You can get a bunch of local ( Seattle ) radio stations also but but I don't bother much except for maybe D. Ross.

KEXP streams live and, imo, is the only FM station in the local area worth listening to.

Low tech:
I have a vintage am/fm tuner. I set up an old school style antenna and rotor on my place. It works great for FM. I got them from a place called solid signal.
I'm on Satellite and it has music channels just like cable. I have the audio from the sat box wired to my stereo for music and a home theater effect.
High tech:
I have an Apple Express which sends my iTunes/CD stuff to my stereo from my laptop wirelessly. With a program called Airfoil I can send other stuff like online streaming to the Airport Express as well.

Generally the only stations I stream are the Saturday morning fishing shows when I'm home because they're on am stations which don't come in well down here. I feel the future is going to be streaming. I think we'll see things like Roku, Apple TV, and others start streaming AM/FM and sat music stations along with their on demand stuff. Pandora is already their but like you I'd like to have local stations too.

+10

Radio is 120 year old tech that is going the way of print journalism.
(Thank you for your magic Mr. Tesla. Sorry Marconi and Edison ripped you off.)

Besides, who the fawk wants to listen to static and Tom Shane hawk his crappy jewelry for 20 minutes at a time, anyway?

In the car it's either iPod, Sirius, Pandora, or HD Radio. 107.7's HD channel is actually pretty good, unlike it's traditional counterpart.

Sirius. I can listen to my same channels from here to Lewiston, ID and back.

Siriusly?

^ Easiest way

I'm a big advocate of KEXP streaming as well. Choose your genre and enjoy. There are also a TON of other stations and services out there for streaming. I(t is worth the time to figure out how to get your computer's sound into your home speakers.

Indeed. To be sure, the digital age has brought many great advantages to the audiophile's lifestyle, but every one of those advantages is nullified without a way to listen to your music through a quality sound system. Maybe someday, the manufacturers of digital sound systems will provide something worth buying, but they sure haven't done it yet (at least not that I've seen). The tiny, treble-dominated speakers that come with all these systems simply can't produce a quality, dynamic sound. Adding a subwoofer helps somewhat, but the absence of sound adjustment controls leaves the listener with a single setting that works OK for some recordings but absolutely sucks for others. I have yet to be satisfied with the range and quality of sound from a digital speaker system.

I recently bought something that would solve your FM radio problem, Sg, but I think you'd probably find some of the same shortcomings I have found in its performance. The device in question was a DVD home theater system that I got at Costco for about $150, if memory serves. I bought it primarily as a replacement for a broken DVD player, but I was interested in the additional features it offered as well, including an iPod input and FM radio. The sound is great for TV and movies, but it leaves a lot to be desired in the music department, mostly because there is no way to adjust the frequency levels. That said, it does provide at least something of an FM radio solution.

The suggestion of adapting a streaming signal to your home stereo is probably the best option.

Update:

I haven't tried streaming. I have only a vague idea of what it is, i.e., google a radio station on my computer, and then stream the sound through my computer.

My layout:

Computers are in a room adjacent to the living room, but no wiring connects them directly. There is cable in the home office space so that the computers have internet.

I have an AV cabinet on the left side of the fireplace, with cable, speaker wire to ceiling speakers, and AC power. There is a conduit from there to the right side of the fireplace where I presently have an "old style" TV, but plan to get a flat screen TV. It has co-ax cable in it, and I plan to add HDMI for the flat screen.

There are two speakers in the ceiling, and an extra set of wires that go to the deck ceiling so I can add speakers there, too.

It looks like Hank's suggestion for the Logitech wireless is the most practical way to get sound from my computer to my AV cabinet. Either that or dedicate a small computer to the AV cabinet.

Old school comes easy for me, since by most definitions I'm now old. I thought about the idea of putting up an old style TV antenna in a tree, etc., but no way am I cutting holes in my new house to bring the antenna wire inside. I figured by having cable wired into my AV cabinet, I'd be all set. Interestingly, none of the contractors, electricians, or stereo shop guy where I bought the speakers for ceiling installation mentioned any of these "new age" audio alternatives to me back during the framing stage when it would have been a piece of cake to install any number of wiring alternatives.

For those of you who don't listen to FM radio, how and where do you get exposure to music that you don't already have? In a conversation with my adult daughters, they told me they never listen to radio. So I asked them the same question because they are both musicians and into music. After staring at me blankly, I finally got a partial answer in the form of friends tell them. Never bothered asking how the friends learn of it.

Sirius radio, I've heard of it, on, you guessed it, FM radio. WTF is it? It means buying a new radio, right?

AP Kaiser D,

I would choose my genre and enjoy, but Comcast doesn't list my genre because my genre encompasses several while excluding a shitload of each. Yeah, yeah, just being picky I guess. Hey, if this was easy, I wouldn't have asked you guys.

FleaFlickr02,

Your suggestion wouldn't help a bit, but thank you. I already have at least two tuners. One decades old Onkyo that's on its last legs and a 4 yr old Philips from Costco that I got for reasons similar to yours. It has a DVD/CD player, so it's hooked up to my VCR (I still record TV programs on tape) and TV, the whole idea being that when I watch TV, I like the sound projected from my stereo system instead of shitty TV speakers.

Anyway, I'm so dated, this whole exercise is turning out to be a royal PITA.

Sg

Ever heard of http://www.Pandora.com ?

It's free, streams all your favorites, free version has very feew commercials...and turns you on to like music in that same genre. In addition, you can make endless channels...one for each of your favorite artists or music types, and on top of it all your girls wll think yer "Way cool" since you listen to Pandora
You can "Like(thumbs up)" certain songs that will be repeated more often, or "Dislike(thumbs-down) songs you dont care for, and they will never be replayed again.

My latest radio channel on Pandora is "Bing Crosby Christmas" and it plays all the Bing Crosby holiday classics and then some.

Go give it a shot and report back to tell me what ya think..

Pandora is pretty sweet when FM signal is weak.

I do still listen to FM at home in the truck-- Canadian (Victoria) 100.3 fm the Q comes in great.

I did for a Christmas present for my son bought this WIFI/FM Clock Radio Aluratek Radio

Chuck stares at box...thinks hard (you can see he's thinking hard, his eyes are closed, lips are moving)...types in "New Kids on the Block"...and settles in for a nice day at work...



Fish on...

Todd

Salmo,

I agree with Ryley that Pandora is a good way to start.

Go to KEXP.org and click on the the "Streaming Archive" link. They have weekly radio shows for most genres. For example, I regularly stream their reggae show "Positive Vibrations". You just click play and it will play the 3 hour show. Similarly, they have a blues show, a jazz show, etc. Just as KEXP streams there music, there are hundreds of others that do as well. In fact, the easiest way for you to start is by Googling whatever FM station you are hoping to listen to. You'll find that their internet stream is cleaner, might lack all commercials, and will give you info as far as song title and artist being played.

As far as exposure to new music, I subscribe to Rhapsody. For about $10 a month, I can stream anything I can dream up. I can also play Rhapsody through my iPhone and plug in into portable speakers or my car stereo. Essentially, Rhapsody gives me an unlimited, on-deman jukebox. The "downside" is the $10/month charge which I consider well worth the expense. For less than the cost of a CD, I can listen to dozens of new releases a month and find whatever I want. If a friend suggests a band, I can just search for it and check out all of there albums.

Getting your music from your computer to your speakers isn't particularly difficult once you know what to do. As Leland mentioned, the easiest way is to plug into the output on your computer's soundcard. There will be a "mini" plug port on the back of your computer(where you could plug in headphones or computer speakers). Go to Radio Shack and get a "(male) mini to (female) RCA connection". From there, run long RCA cables from that mini>RCA converter to an input on your home stereo. You now have your computer playing through your stereo. The downside of your particular case is that you'd have to go into your "computer room" to see what is playing and skip/select songs.

You could take it the next step fairly easily, which is integrating everything. For example, my computer is in my living room. The computer's audio output goes right to my stereo and the computer's monitor connects directly to my flat-screen TV. If you do this, you can do things like stream Netflix movies right to your good TV.

If I was in the area, I'd be happy to help. I'm guessing there are some other long-term PP members closer to you that wouldn't mind lending a hand if wanted some help?

-AP

Very cool guys, thanks....... Cantcha see, cantcha see, what that woman lawd, she been doin to me

...or more to the point, there's probably some 13 year old kid in the neighborhood who could whip it up in about two minutes, while texting his buddies on his IPhone the whole time!

Fish on...

Todd

Your original question was for better reception for what you have. If you're not into drilling a hole in the new place an indoor antenna is your only option to improve what you have. I planned on an external antenna before I even started my house last year so the install looks very professional. Not knowing what the future holds I ran conduit throughout the house so running wires in the future is easy.

If you're interested in streaming and not doing from your computer check out Roku.com, click on 'what's on', then 'tune in radio' and see if the stations you like are streamed. I think it's something you'll really enjoy.

SG,

We have Comcast, been out all weekend but finally up and running again, guess the big wind shut em down. We get the FM broadcast channels on Comcast channels 964 thrue 986. Not sure where you are at but in the Federal Way works just fine. The broadcast quality is not always the best and it seems to vary from station to station. I think you need to subscribe to digital and get the box (mo money). I also have an old antenna system in the house that I use as it gets great reception for FM. I am also really old school and have cable wired into my home stereo systems, nothing like listening to tv, movies, radio, CDs, DVDs thru the monster Carver stuff. My son has his music stored on his computer with a wireless network that he can control from any room, each room has controls that allow him to watch TV or listen to music. Forget what it is called but works really well.

Some of the newer AV receivers will now pick up FM HD radio like my Denon 3311 which also streams Pandora. The draw back is if it isn't in HD it won't pick up the signal. Mostly I listen to Pandora though. If you plan to upgrade to HDMI you should just wait until then and get an HDMI receiver, Blu Ray and TV. My new Pan 65 Plasma, receiver and Blu Ray player all stream Pandora, Netflix, etc.

Sg,

I agree with donno, that an outside antenna will help with your reception. A directional antenna will help pull in distant stations. What stations are you looking to receive? Are you wanting to get the Seattle stations?

The idea of streaming radio station over the internet is becoming more popular. You don't need to dedicate another computer for it at your stereo system. You can get a "internet appliance" that will receive the streams that you want off the internet.

Thanks Sam. Yes, I want to tune it to Seattle area radio stations. An outside antenna means drilling hole in the house and running wires in places that are visible. Kind of what I hope to avoid back when we were in the framing stage and before sheetrock went on. What the hell is an "internet appliance?" What name does it go by in the store. I'm usually a pretty smart guy, but I don't understand half the [censored] in this thread. I had no idea this could become so problematic.

Another little problem that cropped up that I hadn't anticipated. Instead of getting telephone from Qwest, my wife switched to getting it with cable when we were in the condo and have it that way in the new place. Of course there is no cable outlet in the closet where the home security system is installed, just an electric outlet and a standard telephone jack. Comcast is going to come back out and change something so that I can have dial out service with my alarm system. It's just been an audible alarm for the past year since it was installed. If it goes off and I'm not home, I want the security company to call me (our county sheriff doesn't respond to security alarms unless a "panic mode" button is pushed, so I want to be able to drive home and blow the [censored] out of any intruder if they're stupid enough to still be here. A little off topic, but if I'd known I would have run another half mile of wire in my house for who knows what.

Sg

Hell ya...... Do the world some justice...

[censored] thieves got my dad again the other night, another 30 fishing rods (all the good stuff, loomis, lamiglas, shimano's, etc).. [censored] wiped him out... If you are reading this you [censored] theives, come again and I will cut you down with a 12 gauge and I'm not adding any salt, I'm shooting 00 buck and you can bet your ass, the plug's pulled!

Johnny Cash says it all... Turn it up.....


Makes you want to get the cowboy hat out and take it all over again........

Keith

I understand your feeling about having wires drapped across the exterior of your home.

"internet appliance"? Well I guess I got into to much techno babble there. Sorry.

There are "so called" internet radio recievers (that's what they call them) that hook up to the internet and you can listen to what ever radio stations that you would listen to on the computer. It looks like a table top radio, but, it has it's own computer in it to receive the internet radio station. A quick internet search on Google popped up a variety from 85 bucks on up.

I haven't played around with them. Perhaps I should, since I'm suggesting it. But, a few guys I know in the business of broadcasting will discuss them once in a while and compare notes on performance.

Personally I like radio, and when I listen to it, it's usually when I'm in the car, or garage.

Thanks Sam, I think I'll check that out.

Sorry about the gear at your dad's Keith. I share the feeling. I figure as long as Dogfish has the backhoe, proper disposal of these sub-human scum shouldn't be too hard. I'm convinced their own mothers won't even miss 'em or report 'em missing, so it's like doing the world a favor.

Sg