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Fernglade Farm

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Commenced:	01/01/2005
Submitted:	08/04/2011
Last updated:	16/02/2016
Location:	Cherokee, Victoria, AU
Climate zone:	Cool Temperate

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Fernglade Farm

Cherokee, AU

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Aerials in the sky

Project: Fernglade Farm

Posted by Chris McLeod over 9 years ago

As some of you may now be aware, I’m a music fan. I really do enjoy listening to the latest releases even though many of those same releases may challenge my musical palate! In fact, the title of this week’s blog is a nod to the alternative metal band – System of a Down. They rock.

Fortunately for me, down under the government runs the national youth music FM radio station Triple J. It is quite good because not only can you hear that radio station all over the continent, but it also happens to be commercial free, has always been a strong supporter of Australian music and they also stay right on the zeitgeist (and sometimes perhaps a few steps beyond).

Why are discussing radio stations? Well, the farm just happens to be on the one spot on the continent where the FM radio signal is a bit patchy. It is a bit hard keeping on the zeitgeist when it is full of static! So this week, I took the plunge and built a purpose built FM antenna.

A few decades ago, you could simply visit an electronics shop and purchase a specially designed antenna for FM radio reception. Well, try finding one nowadays and you’ll discover that down under these things are very hard to find. And the television antennas that could provide a reasonable substitute have so much plastic incorporated into their construction that I have serious doubts about the longevity of the things.

Well, it had never occurred to me to construct the antenna here from scratch. Fortunately, August Johnson from the Green wizards radio forum website helped me every step of the way. Who would have thought that you could turn a few scraps of aluminium tubing into a full on working antenna? It took a few hours work, but the antenna was soon proudly sailing off the side of the roof here:

homemade FM antenna proudly helping me to stay on the zeitgeist

For those that are technically inclined, the antenna is 2.1m (about 7 foot) in length and the widest span is about 1.3m (a bit under 4 foot). The antenna works well.

Now that autumn is here and the weather is cooler, excavations have begun for the new wood shed. It may be a bit ambitious but I’m hoping to have the shed built and full of firewood by sometime around the end of April…

For the rest of the entry click on the link: Aerials in the sky

Excavations for the new shed have begun

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