In article , Andrew
wrote:
For quite a while now I have noticed that FM from Rowbridge on the Isle
of Wight seems to be more hissy than the previous 38 years. It seems to
be worst on 88.50 Mhz, which is R2.

I used to have an Aiwa AX7400 receiver which was utterly brilliant at
receiving FM and the signal strength meter showed a good signal where I
live, about 50 miles north east of the transmitter, but slightly hidden
by the South Downs.

My Onkyo replacement has no signal strength meter so all I have to go on
is what my ears are telling me. It was fine from 2006 to about 2014
(subjective assessment).

What arrangements do you have as the antenna, etc? My first reaction to
your question is to wonder if something about your antenna or the downlead
has altered.

e.g. bent or rotated antenna, or water getting in the cable. That sort of
thing happens over time.


How do we know if the transmitter has been downgraded to save on power
?, (and to 'persuade' people to switch to the awful DAB) ?.

Pass. For all I know some other distant TX has started up at a frequency
near to the one(s) you want, and the RF section of your tuner has wound
down its gain in response. But I suspect the likely cause is near to you
rather than far away. Could simply be your tuner's IF alignment drifting.

No idea about any relevant change to Rowridge, though.

Apart from hiring some expensive measurement kit, how could I measure
what I am receiving these days ?.

What you'd really need is to measure now wrt an earlier time if you want to
see if the level has altered. There are cheaper way to measure the levels
than buying/renting a calibrated spectrum analyser or filtered meter. But
they tend to involve you finding your own was to calibrate if you want
reliable power values rather than "the more the better" comparisons of what
you are currently getting.

Can you try a different FM tuner that is known to work OK in general, and
which has a useful level meter?

Jim

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