Monday, October 06, 2014
AM and FM? Still Viable Today
Today was the day for me to finish installing our home's aerial antenna system. In the kitchen our Bose Radio receives its FM signal from the aerial antenna on the roof attached to the chimney. Its audio quality highly is improved. In our den the stereo receiver receives its FM signal from the aerial antenna on the roof attached to the chimney. Last but not least, my stereo, my out-of-date Luxman receiver which was damaged by a lightning strike, receives its FM signal from? It used to be from the aerial antenna on the roof attached to the chimney. Then we had our attic ventilation fan repaired. Jose was not all to happy to see my coaxial cable coming in the bell housing of this non-operational fan. He requested I remove it, and I did. Temporarily I fed it back in through my window with the air conditioner. There was a small open hole in the wood surround. (Weeks in the past) I awoke to the sound of rain in the middle of the night. While this is not unusual and also rather pleasant, I could hear a, "Drip, drip, drip." Whence was the coming? A day later I discovered the rug in the middle of my bedroom was damp, but only in the middle. There was no apparent leak in the ceiling. I figured I had spilled a bottle of water there. A few days later, I find more water in the middle of the rug. I had to solve the mystery, and I did (after inventing the internet.) The water was traveling down this coaxial cable transecting my bedroom feeding my out-of-date Luxman receiver with its FM signal. The hole in the wood surround almost was twice the size as the cable, because its plug had strain relief around it. Once you got the plug through, the cable diameter was half its size. The water merrily coagulated on the cable outdoors and swam like overzealous sperm into the middle of my bedroom, where they impregnated my wool rug. Drats! I solved it and promptly plugged the hole with a dowel rod and wood filler. Alas many weeks with no FM signal from the aerial antenna on the roof attached to the chimney. Today was the day. "This is the girl." Note from director: "You're not shutting down my movie! (at least not before I bash your windshield with my golf clubs and pour a can of latex paint into my whore of a wife's jewelry box.) This got me a punch in the mouth from Miley Cyrus' dad. Today was the day. Two ladders had to be retrieved from locked cache on the side of the house, one for the scuttle inside into the attic, and the other for access to the roof. One soffit vent had to be removed and a fish tape used to snake the coaxial cable into the attic. It took two tries and a little improvisation from inside an insulation-filled cavity. Luckily the hole in the 2x4 of the wall all ready was drilled from a previous cable TV connection. Feed the cable down into the hole, cut a hole in the wall for the electrical box, attach the cable to the faceplate, and stick it in. It almost was too easy intellectually, but I sweated up my clothes as usual and had to change. In the past each day I arise from bed I push the buttons on my two stereo receivers. The Luxman receives the FM signal, because strangely the AM and FM busses were not damaged by the lightening strike. I take the pre-amp out of the Luxman and run it into one of the Tape Monitors of my Kenwood receiver. This way I get the high fidelity of the Luxman sound and the utility of the Kenwood's multiple inputs. As I sit listening to my result I only can wish that WCPE would play some peppier music. When the radio interference lessens, when airplanes land, when helicopters chill, and that FM signal freely can ebb and flow, it will be glorious.