Improving reception of FM 89.7 (WOSU-NPR)in Howard, Ohio
I can't get good reception of the Columbus, Ohio based NPR station in my new home in Apple Valley/Howard, Ohio (Knox County). I'm wondering if I can improve it by buying a better radio, an antenna, a signal booster, or wiring the radio to an unused rooftop tv antenna?
I have three radios in the house, one old and one new small radio and one old radio/receiver.
I find it hard to get the channel on the downstairs (dining room) old radio/receiver and get a lot of static when I do get the station. Upstairs I have a new little alarm clock radio that's digital and it doesn't find the channel, so I use the old little radio in the upstairs bathroom--it works best.
I notice that in my car radio when I'm in or near Apple Valley I have two competing NPR stations (one in Columbus and one in Wheeling, West Virginia I think) and the constant switch between channels makes it impossible to understand much of what is said.
That indicates to my layman's brain that the Columbus NPR signal is weak in Apple Valley and there is interference from the West Virginia channel when I'm out of the house.
You can easily see I'm not an audio buff so I need simple answers--the most technical I can get is to copy whatever specs I can find on my three radios.
My only other thought is to get a laptop computer if I can get live radio on demand from the Internet--mainly if I can get the 89.7 FM channel reliably and clearly. Then I could have access to the channel on both floors of the house.
In the meantime, I'll practice to see how the 89.7 FM signal works on my desktop computer--so far, so good. I've never tried that much so I'm not sure if the Internet provides the same live coverage as a regular radio?
