I have a fancy new toy, a Neuros 2 audio player.  It has a built-in FM
radio transmitter, and a jack on the package which is tied to the
transmitter.

If I observe the signal on that jack, I see ~ 20 mVp-p signal.  I'd
like to find a fairly small design for an antenna that'll do a good
job turning the now-pathetic range (<<3 meters, in most cases) to a
bit better, perhaps as much as 5-10 meters in line-of-sight
conditions.

Any suggestions for this?  Most antenna designs I'm finding are NOT
for this type of application; they are intended for hams or pirates
and are usually quite bulky.  No one has as yet tackled this on the
Neuros 2; the original Neuros has been hacked to do crazy things with
RF, but it appears it has changed quite a bit internally.  My most
recent attempt was a piece of coax with a 1/4 wavelength (@100 MHz)
copper rod at the end.  Seems to do more than nothing, but still not a
lot.

BTW, anyone in the market for an audio player should check this
product out.  While they seem to be having some quality issues, they
are tops about replacing and repairing under warranty, and the other
features generally outweigh the problems.  Built-in FM
transmit/receive, USB 2.0, up to 80 GB of storage.  Best of all, the
schematics, database format and client info are freely available on
the web.  Firmware was, and probably will be yet again.  Lots of room
for people like those on this list to play with!

http://www.neurosaudio.com

Mike H.
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