TV stations will fade from FM band

Q I have a question indirectly related to the digital TV switchover scheduled for February. It has to do with the TV audio reception that can be received on the FM band on various tabletop radios. I like to fall asleep listening to the radio, and often I tune my radio to the FM frequency where some local TV stations broadcast their audio. Once these stations switch over to digital, will the audio portions of the TV broadcast still be broadcast over the radio FM band?

GARY DISAL, PITTSBURGH

A The audio portions on FM will be gone when they switch to digital TV broadcasts. Bad news for you, I am sure. I am sure tabletop radios that tune the new digital TV stations will be introduced sometime after the transmission, if not before. You could also get a TV with a sleep timer, even if you do not watch the visual part of the program.

Old receiver is dying Q I have an old Optonica receiver that has always had good FM reception. Lately, the reception is hit or miss, even for the local stations. All I get is static. Then, if I wait a while, the station will slowly fade in and then come in loud and clear, then fade to noise. Is this just an old receiver wearing down, or is there something I can do?

ANDY NOGAS

A It sounds as if your receiver is on its last legs -- or, at least, the tuner is. If you want to keep using the receiver, pick up a cheap component AM-FM tuner and use it through one of the receiver inputs. You can get one for as little as $30 on eBay. Onkyo models are probably the best you can get under $50. If you have a bit more to spend and want superlative performance, look for tuners from Harman/Kardon, Carver and NAD, as well as the Onkyo T-9090.

Many readers who have transitioned to home-theater receivers have sent e-mails telling me how poor the FM reception is compared with their older stereo receivers. Manufacturers are cramming more features and amplifier channels into their receivers while maintaining similar price points, which means they have to save the money elsewhere. This has typically been in the phono input (which is usually absent on moderately priced home-theater receivers) and the FM tuner sections, which don't perform as well as they did when the world was just stereo.

If you are an FM fan and find the reception and sound of your home-theater receiver's tuner to be lacking, you might also benefit from a vintage tuner.

Don't forget the antenna. For a super-effective and inexpensive FM antenna, get an unpowered set of rabbit ears (yes, TV rabbit ears) at a department store for $10. As we learned in the question above, VHF TV and FM are all on the same band, so rabbit-ear TV antennas also work as FM antennas. The performance is light-years ahead of the wire antennas included with radios and receivers, and if you try it you will probably be shocked at the improvement.

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