What can I do to improve FM radio reception at my office?

04-03-2007, 10:08 PM

Can you help me? I know virtually nothing about fm radio but have some questions. Here is my situation:

I would really like to be able to listen to radio at work. My office is in Linthicum, Maryland (zip code 21090) and I am only interested in classical radio (WETA 90.9 FM or WBJC 91.5 FM) and NPR News (WYPR 88.1 FM or WAMU 88.5 FM). I have no interest in any other stations.

I work in a room that has no windows with the exception of a glass emergency exit door. My desk is approximately forty feet from the exit door. this past week i took to work a little "boom box" that we got at target for about $30 a few years ago. we use it as a cd player in our son's room but it also has a cheap little fm radio in it. i was curious to see if i could get a radio signal at work so i brought it in to the office. it looks a lot like this one:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...ZZZ_SS260_.jpg

i was not able to get a radio signal on any of my desired stations at my desk but when i moved the boom box right next to the window, i was able to get the stations i wanted by fiddling with the pull-out antenna. the flooring in my office is square carpeted tiles (2 foot by 2 foot) which are raised up about a foot off of a concrete subfloor via a bunch of scaffolding. the reason for the raised-up floor is to have all of the computer and electrical wiring run underneath the tiles.

i think an ideal solution would be something i could tape to the glass door or place right next to the door (even possibly under the raised-up tile that is right next to the door). then i would fed a long wire under the floor over to my desk where i could connect the wire to a radio on my desk. does anything like this exist? i've never owned a radio that didn't already have a cheap pull-out antenna built in. so how would i attach an external antenna?

the glass door has some cheap venetian blinds on it that have to be pulled down and closed at the end of each day. so the antenna has to be relatively flat -- it can't keep the blinds from closing.

the radio must have a place where i can plug in headphones (the rest of my office doesn't want to listen to my radio) and it must not have a tape deck. having a cd player included with the fm radio is okay (even desired) but tape players are not allowed in my work environment (it's a security concern associated with recording capabilities).

do you have any suggestions?

04-03-2007, 10:08 PM	#1
psnarula Guest Posts: n/a	What can I do to improve FM radio reception at my office? Advertisement Want to Advertise? Can you help me? I know virtually nothing about fm radio but have some questions. Here is my situation: I would really like to be able to listen to radio at work. My office is in Linthicum, Maryland (zip code 21090) and I am only interested in classical radio (WETA 90.9 FM or WBJC 91.5 FM) and NPR News (WYPR 88.1 FM or WAMU 88.5 FM). I have no interest in any other stations. I work in a room that has no windows with the exception of a glass emergency exit door. My desk is approximately forty feet from the exit door. this past week i took to work a little "boom box" that we got at target for about $30 a few years ago. we use it as a cd player in our son's room but it also has a cheap little fm radio in it. i was curious to see if i could get a radio signal at work so i brought it in to the office. it looks a lot like this one: http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...ZZZ_SS260_.jpg i was not able to get a radio signal on any of my desired stations at my desk but when i moved the boom box right next to the window, i was able to get the stations i wanted by fiddling with the pull-out antenna. the flooring in my office is square carpeted tiles (2 foot by 2 foot) which are raised up about a foot off of a concrete subfloor via a bunch of scaffolding. the reason for the raised-up floor is to have all of the computer and electrical wiring run underneath the tiles. i think an ideal solution would be something i could tape to the glass door or place right next to the door (even possibly under the raised-up tile that is right next to the door). then i would fed a long wire under the floor over to my desk where i could connect the wire to a radio on my desk. does anything like this exist? i've never owned a radio that didn't already have a cheap pull-out antenna built in. so how would i attach an external antenna? the glass door has some cheap venetian blinds on it that have to be pulled down and closed at the end of each day. so the antenna has to be relatively flat -- it can't keep the blinds from closing. the radio must have a place where i can plug in headphones (the rest of my office doesn't want to listen to my radio) and it must not have a tape deck. having a cd player included with the fm radio is okay (even desired) but tape players are not allowed in my work environment (it's a security concern associated with recording capabilities). do you have any suggestions?
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