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Radio signals
On Friday afternoon, I bought a SONY under-the-counter radio/CD player with the remote control and the works. It was to replace the malfunctioning piece of electronic junk that had been serving as a radio in the kitchen. Supposedly the new one would also be a little stronger and pull in clear Boston signals. It’s not as if I’m that far away from Boston.
The installation required drilling a couple of holes through the undersides of the kitchen cabinet. No problem. Radio was nicely installed. I switched it on. Not a single radio station I wanted came in. After grumping around for the better part of Saturday afternoon, I decided to move the radio to another kitchen cabinet. Drilled more holes and installed. Turned the radio on and a whole lot of radio stations came in, although the signal for WGBH and WBUR (Boston Public Radio stations) came in weakly.
So I dragged out a spool of wire and draped it all around the kitchen to see if I could pull in a stronger signal. No. I rearranged the power cord. Tried it bunched up and stretched out. Up higher, down lower. Depending on the radio station, one of the above would work, but nothing worked uniformly for all stations.
Suddenly, for no discernable reason, all the stations came in loudly and clearly on Sunday.
Today, not a single radio station comes in. Except for the WUMB...University of Massachusetts, Boston’s Folk Radio station which just happens to have a transmitter in my town. Fortunately it’s a terrific station that I love.
But I wanna get my public radio stations, too. And why do they come in some days and not others? I am so annoyed. This place is a radio black hole. I need a radio that gets public stations In The Kitchen. I don’t think this radio has a place to attach an external antenna, either. Still, maybe if I ran a wire up to the roof.....
Comments
Then again, sometimes all the radio requires is a good whack to solve all problems.
I have an old tired clock radio next to this desk which works fine for one of the two FM stations which carry our two public radio streams, but can’t pick up the other at all. So I carry a boombox back and forth from the kitchen to the next room every day to get the Morning Edition stream between 0700-0830, then cart it back to the kitchen.
Signals. Pfui.
When I’m really desperate, I go sit in the car. Why is that cars can pull in stations from two states away while the one in the house can’t manage six towns away?!
The image of you lugging that radio around the house with you gave me a good laugh. I’ve done that. I can point out every radio hot spot in the house. The things we do to get our NPR fix!
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