[sci.electronics] Antennas for Portable Radios

malcolm@Apple.COM (Malcolm Slaney) (08/02/89)

What is the best way to get better reception from a portable-walkman
type radio?  I'm going to get a new radio/cassette deck for my office 
and I'd like to get one of the inexpensive ones that use the headphone
cable as the antenna.  (There doesn't seem to be much else out there unless
you get a big home-type receiver with a separate antenna input.)

I've tried running a separate piece of wire as an antenna and then coupling
the received signal into the headphone cable by looping the wire around the
headphone wire.  This works but what can I do that is better?  Would it 
help to adjust the wire length so that it is a fraction of the wavelength?
What about orientation?  I tried lots of angles with my previous radio and
couldn't come up with anything conclusive.

Thanks.

							Malcolm Slaney
							malcolm@apple.com