This Summer we spent 10 days driving around Greece in a
rented car. Being high season I looked for cheaper alternatives to the
big names. Using a local company (directly, not through a broker) I
could save 20-30% and get a better deal on "options" like FDW, different
drop off location, unlimited km.
Where
is the catch? The car is not exactly new. We got a 7 years old Citroen
C3 (we asked for it) with 75k km. Mechanically was OK, it even had
cruise control and lane assist. No parking sensors and rear window
wiper, though. Most important: it had an FM, MW, LW radio.
Too bad someone had hit a very low something and broke the antenna leaving an exposed PCB.
The
result was that in FM we could pick whatever station was in line of
sight. Greece is full of valleys and hills, so any station would last
maybe 10 minutes max.
With a close inspection I noticed a pad with a hole on top of the board so we all started looking for a not-rusty wire: why not try a MacGyverism?
 |
| The exposed antenna fin PCB and my addition. |
It
is curious to note as in 2024 you don't find pieces of electric wire on the
ground as it used to be (I used to carry 20 cm of hookup wire in my wallet and I should restore it). After 4 days of looking I spotted a venerable
paper clip in a beach bar terrace.
In
the hole it went and the FM band sprang to life. Well, at least several
station could be heard vs. maximum one at any given time.
Mission completed.
