I have an old radio with a broken antenna that I often use to keep me company while I work. Sometimes the stations that I prefer to listen to broadcast from a distant city and have marginal reception that can wane in and out depending on weather and upper atmospheric conditions. While preparing my work area, I happened to plug an extension cord into the same electrical outlet as the radio and the audio volume came alive. I was very surprised and tested this phenomena by unplugging and replugging the extension cord with remarkable results. Then I moved the extension cord around in various positions to optimize it’s effectiveness.

I’ve seen coat-hangers and tin foil used in the past, but this method had better results for me. Ham Radio Operators are aware of proper antenna lengths needed to receive certain frequencies as well as the harmonics of other compatible lengths. I happened to use a 15ft. extension cord when tuned to mid-range FM frequencies. But in the end you can try different length extension cords and maneuver them in different positions.

So, if you need to boost your antenna, try this method in different combinations for best results.

I spent most of the day reviewing the Survivaltek website and used the menu page contents as my outline. I had previously sent Donna pertinent questions that would help to focus our interview and I wrote notes for my answers. The mechanics of the interview involve both the host and interviewee to call PRN where an engineer hooks them up for the broadcast. I had tried different hard-line phones to avoid battery issues and hopefully gain better audio fidelity. When I dialed in and connected with the station engineer, almost immediately there were technical difficulties on my end… I could hear them clearly but they could not hear me. After quickly testing the connections, I opted to use my cell phone which successfully connected and we were able to resume the interview. During the down-time Donna was able to read a short bio that I had sent ahead of time so it fit nicely into the program. I was grateful to have a backup plan in place. Thankfully, the cell phone had just enough battery life to complete the call.

The interview went well. Donna has a wonderful way of presenting questions to her quests and I found that the information flowed and I felt at ease during the program. If you missed the program you can click HERE to listen to it. At the close of the program we had just begun to discuss firecraft, so it looks like there may be another program on the horizon to expand on this, my favorite subject. Stay tuned for more…