Why is it that everytime someone holds a radio antenna, the reception gets better?

Question

Everytime I turn on the radio, and static comes in on the music or news, I or one of my family members hold the radio antenna and we most of the time get better or ever solid reception. We could hear it perfectly! But... once we let go, the static comes back... Why is that?

Answer 1

I don't know either, but have noticed the same result many times.

Maybe you should have put this question in the science section.

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Answer 2

There are few options for you -

1)  May be your Receiver is week to receive week signal.

2)  May be your receiver is located somewhere, where radio signal is not sufficient.

3)  Your receiver need to connect a good quality external antenna.

Answer 3

Three ways to tune: antenna, tuning k**b or the set itself.

Also remember that you act as an antenna. Ever notice how sometimes the signal will be perfect as you're tuning it, then, when you move away, it gets static-y again? Your body is big enough to conduct just enough to give the station/radio the extra boost it needs.

Sometimes repositioning or turning the radio in a different direction will help. Your signal is also affected by the strength of the radio station. Stations come in several different sizes according to their license. A 25KW, 50KW or 100KW obviously will be easier to receive and keep steady than a 3KW station.

There's no real cure, except to make sure you have a good antenna (sometimes just a piece of wire coming out of the back of the set - to which you can add more wire to make it longer). You might want to get an inexpensive antenna that's a loop - actually a circular piece of metal that will attach to the wire coming our of the back of your set - Radio Shack and other stores have them.

Make sure that it's as close to a window as possible. Sometimes I'll run the wire outside the window and close the window on top of it. Anything to get it away from any metal or other deflectors.

Hope this helps

-Duh

Answer 4

This is an awesome question. I just want to bask in its glow. I've always wanted to know. May I theorize? I think we become the antenna at that point.

Answer 5

because you are becoming a part of the antenna and apparently, for that station, situation, that is what is needed to improve reception

Answer 6

your body is mostly water, which has a lot of electrolytes like sodium, calcium etc dissolved in it - in solution these ions act as charge carriers. this is why electrical current will flow through your body. the most basic antenna is a piece of wire; this is a piece of metal that has free electrons that move whenever an electric field is nearby. an oscillating electric field, like that in a cellphone signal, will make the electrons in the antenna oscillate, and therefore oscillate in whatever circuit the antenna is attached to.

so, because you're a giant wet conductor, when you are just walking around in the world all of the various kinds of EM radiation around us - TV signals, radio stations, wifi, cell phones.. everything - is making the ions dissolved inside your body oscillate back and forth, as the sum of all of the radiation that passes through you.

when you get near another conductor, even if you're separated by an insulator like the plastic on your antenna, your body capacitively couples to the conductor and effectively increases the area of the antenna. since bigger antennas work better, the signal strength will increase.

you certainly could unscrew the little antenna in your cellphone and attach a giant metal antenna to your cell phone, but then you'd be carrying around a giant cell phone. much of antenna engineering is about trading off size (for portability or aesthetic or whatever reasons) vs. how well it picks signals up.

Answer 7

Hi!  its because you have a poor quality radio or it is detuned---meaning somebody has opened the cover and has rotated the tuning slugs ----touching the antenna of a good quality radio does not increase /decrease the reception volume---you have not mentioned the brand name of this radio?------cheers!