Radio doesn't work in metal pole barn

[Willy]

So tell me, is this basically "streaming" audio from a website?

Yes.

You can search for a particular radio station that has streaming internet audio, as most do, or you can access internet radio portals.

Do a Google for internet radio stations and you will be inundated by the number of options, same goes for the number on the portals.

Have a look, this is only a very small sample:
https://www.reciva.com/stations/genre

http://www.live365.com/index.live

http://www.radiotower.com/

It's nice to have the selection available because it doesn't matter how well you like a certain station or genre, after a while a change is always welcome, it's an intrinsic human quality.

[Carld]

Put an antenna on the peak of the roof from one end to the other. Run a wire down to inside of the building. Wrap the wire around the antenna on your radio or if no antenna wrap it around the radio several times. If that fails play CD's.

[The Artful Bodger]

The wavelength for broadcast FM is about 3 metres, 1/4 wave is about 750mm or about 30 inches.

Get a stiff wire, rod, tube etc about 60" long and mount it vertically through the roof using an insulated fixing so that half is above the roof and half below(i.e. inside the barn). That might do the trick!

[tdkkart]

Do you have florescent lights in your shop?? If so, have you tried the radio with the lights off?? The ballasts in my T8 florescent lights completely wiped out my radio reception, no static, complete silence. Worked fine with the lights off. I called the light company(Lithonia) and they sent me new ballasts for all my lights, problem solved.

[sasquatch]

I once had my shop in an old garage with a metal roof, i was off grid there so used an automotive radio/Cd player running 12 volt.

The automotive arial was mounted outside horizontaly under the eave right next to the metal roof, and i could pick up far off stations very well.

Always found that odd, as 30 ft away the radio reception was pretty poor.

[Mike Burch]

Turn the damned thing off and concentrate on the job!
I HATE being distracted by a radio. Music is either worth listening to or it's not.
If it is, then listen to it properly, and if you're male, that means you can't concentrate on anything else.
If it's not, then don't listen to it at all.
OK, I am a retired professional musician and broadcaster, so I am possibly a little bit biased...

If you absolutely must have some witless thumping numbing your neurons, get a car radio aerial and mount it on the roof. extend it to about 750mm (a quarter wavelength at 100MHz). Run coaxial cable from it (treating the roof as if it were the car body, i.e., as an earth, connected to the outer of the coax) to the aerial socket on the radio, if there is one. If there isn't, connect the inner and outer of the coax at the radio end together with half a dozen turns of wire, and shove the radio's whip aerial through the coil thus formed.

[.RC.]

Me thinks you're working in what's known as a Faraday shield ! An outside antenna is about your only choice. Good Luck.

Yep, my tin foil cap works in the same way... It blocks the secret government transmissions that direct propaganda straight into your brain without your knowledge...

[914Wilhelm]

Turn the damned thing off and concentrate on the job!
I HATE being distracted by a radio. Music is either worth listening to or it's not.
If it is, then listen to it properly, and if you're male, that means you can't concentrate on anything else.
If it's not, then don't listen to it at all.
OK, I am a retired professional musician and broadcaster, so I am possibly a little bit biased...

If you absolutely must have some witless thumping numbing your neurons, get a car radio aerial and mount it on the roof. extend it to about 750mm (a quarter wavelength at 100MHz). Run coaxial cable from it (treating the roof as if it were the car body, i.e., as an earth, connected to the outer of the coax) to the aerial socket on the radio, if there is one. If there isn't, connect the inner and outer of the coax at the radio end together with half a dozen turns of wire, and shove the radio's whip aerial through the coil thus formed.

So is this you? http://www.bigbangdist.com/mike_burch.htm

[Bill736]

I'm sure one of the antenna suggestions above will improve your reception.
Go with the most simple ones first. I like music in my shop, and I'm serious about listening to only the music I enjoy, without radio commercials. So, I listen only to CDRs I've made, or the songs I've put onto my iPod. I bought a couple of good speakers new, but the rest of the equipment ( 5 disk CD player, and amplifier) are yard sale or eBay items, bought cheaply. The iPod is one of my girlfriend's castoffs, since she's always buying new electronics and giving me the old stuff. Like this computer, for instance.

[steve45]

Being on high ground, I don't make an antenna the highest metal object around. (We've been struck a couple of times and lost phones, television, and a tree).

I've got a metal building for my shop, too. I've found my cordless phone reception (house phone, not cell phone) requires that I leave a door open in order to work. It doesn't have to be the big garage door, the walk-through door works fine.

I've made an antenna for AM and find that it's very directional, however, it works with the doors closed.

[Mike Burch]

914 Wilhelm, no it's not. I am an RF engineer who spent his working life as an operatic tenor and classical DJ.

[ed_h]

Don't know if this has been mentioned already, but you could build a simple passive repeater. It consists or two antennas for the band of interest, one outside the shop, the other inside. They are connected with a piece of coax to match the antennas. The inside antenna can be put out of sight, and should improve reception throughout the shop.

[Lew Hartswick]

Don't know if this has been mentioned already, but you could build a simple passive repeater. It consists or two antennas for the band of interest, one outside the shop, the other inside. They are connected with a piece of coax to match the antennas. The inside antenna can be put out of sight, and should improve reception throughout the shop.

Has this ever been done / tried for and AM band?? I know of lots of
examples for the various TV (VHF) bands and I assume ( I know that's
dangerous) for the FM band but never heard of it for 550 - 1600 Khz.
...Lew...

[ed_h]

Lew--

I haven't personally tried this with AM, but I think the principle should still hold. A loop antenna outside and inside, connected with something that matches the antennas. I assume it would work with ferrite sticks, too.

[planeman]

Along these lines . . .

I gave up on radio years ago except for the news. What I have gone to in my shop is an inexpensive ($40) Coby .MP3 player and earphones from Amazon. I can download from the Internet 8 GB of whatever and carry the tiny player in my shirt pocket and listen wherever I go. My personal choice are the old time radio programs (Bergan & McCarthy, The Shadow, Jack Benny, and the like) you can download for FREE at http://www.archive.org/browse.php?fi...n=oldtimeradio.

Planeman