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The following page was printed from RemoteCentral.com:
Good FM antenna for a receiver?
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Topic: | Good FM antenna for a receiver? This thread has 17 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15. |
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Post 1 made on Thursday October 7, 2004 at 17:33 |
Marky_Mark896 Select Member |
Joined: Posts: | January 2004 1,545 |
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Anyone know of a good antenna for FM reception for a receiver that is better than that little POS wire antenna that comes with it? I am looking for something that could be remotely mounted outdoors if possible?
Thanks, Mark
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It's not just a hobby, it's an obsession... |
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Post 2 made on Thursday October 7, 2004 at 18:06 |
AVXpressions Senior Member |
Joined: Posts: | September 2002 1,163 |
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Antennacraft makes one that we use all of the time. It is the FMSS We mount them in the attic. Pre-wire with a piece of RG-6. It is an omni directional antenna so you don't have to worry about which way to face it. [Link: antennacraft-tdp.com]Robbie
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Post 3 made on Thursday October 7, 2004 at 18:19 |
MikeTech Long Time Member |
Joined: Posts: | March 2004 313 |
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Post 4 made on Thursday October 7, 2004 at 18:54 |
dr.k Long Time Member |
Joined: Posts: | February 2004 179 |
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Post 5 made on Thursday October 7, 2004 at 19:25 |
oex Super Member |
Joined: Posts: | April 2004 4,177 |
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we use fanfare wired with rg6q. are the ones above better? anyone else use these?
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Diplomacy is the art of saying hire a pro without actually saying hire a pro |
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Post 6 made on Thursday October 7, 2004 at 19:42 |
GotGame Super Member |
Joined: Posts: | February 2002 4,022 |
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Winegard PR6010 loop dipole at about $25.00 is decent. Attic or outdoor.
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I may be schizophrenic, but at least I have each other. |
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OP | Post 7 made on Thursday October 7, 2004 at 20:12 |
Marky_Mark896 Select Member |
Joined: Posts: | January 2004 1,545 |
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oex, I think the dynalab and the fanfare are about the same from what I have found by searching. What kind of range are we talking about on the fanfare/dynalab? I live about 40 miles from Columbia SC, about 30 miles from Florence SC, and about 70 miles from Myrtle Beach. Do you think if I mount this in the attic I can get stations from all these. There are no stations in town to speak of.
Thanks, Mark
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It's not just a hobby, it's an obsession... |
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Post 8 made on Thursday October 7, 2004 at 20:20 |
Impaqt RC Moderator |
Joined: Posts: | October 2002 6,233 |
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Winegard PR-6010 would work well since your trying to pick stations up grom multiple directions...... Attic is gonna hurt ya though, get it outside if your really want good reception.
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Post 9 made on Friday October 8, 2004 at 08:18 |
flcusat Senior Member |
Joined: Posts: | April 2003 1,326 |
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I also use the PR-6010. I agreed with Impaqt you should put the antenna outside.
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I'm always right. The only time I was wrong was the time that I thought, that I was wrong.
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Post 10 made on Friday October 8, 2004 at 11:21 |
Ernie Bornn-Gilman Yes, That Ernie! |
Joined: Posts: | December 2001 30,104 |
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The basics are similar to TV antennas. I don't know what you know about TV antennas, so here goes.
First, the piece of crap antenna that comes with a receiver actually works well in locations with lots of signal and very few reflections (multipath). In my market, Los Angeles, those suffice 90% of the time in non-canyon locations.
If you are not in a location with a lot of reflective surfaces, i.e. in a canyon (natural or a la Manhattan), an omnidirectional antenna will pick up stations well from all directions.
Putting an antenna in an attic will give you less signal than putting it outdoors.
If the stations are far away, you might need to get a directional antenna and choose which stations to point at.
The FM band is literally just above channel 6. If you have a TV antenna, it is picking up FM. I would guess that many FM stations place their transmitters near TV transmitters as a good transmitting location for one is also good for the other.
If you have a TV antenna and the antenna system has an amplifier, that amp may be blocking FM signals from getting through. This is called an FM Trap and some amps allow you to switch out the trap, meaning FM goes through.
There are so many FM stations in a given market that passing FM through an antenna amp in addition to the TV stations sometimes makes the amp distort, which shows as diagonal lines on TV stations.
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A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything. "The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw |
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OP | Post 11 made on Friday October 8, 2004 at 12:21 |
Marky_Mark896 Select Member |
Joined: Posts: | January 2004 1,545 |
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Well, I ordered one of the ST-2's. I have read mixed reviews about it, but I'll take you guys word for it. It should work. It looks like a car antenna, and my car radio picks up all the stations I want... Anyways, what's a hundred dollars amongst friends... If it doesn't work, I'll try another.
Thanks for all your help, Mark
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It's not just a hobby, it's an obsession... |
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Post 12 made on Friday October 8, 2004 at 22:27 |
Sinistar Long Time Member |
Joined: Posts: | October 2004 18 |
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The ST-2 is a great antenna. Keep in mind it looks like a Car Antenna, so you'll want to hide it. Have fun getting it out of the package (you'll know what I mean when you receive it).
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Post 13 made on Friday October 8, 2004 at 23:40 |
djnorm Founding Member |
Joined: Posts: | January 2002 1,693 |
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I had my fun with an ST-2 a couple of weeks ago, and you're right...
We've had great luck with the Terk FM-Pro... I'll admit that after 16 years of selling the old Terk 'rubberband' antennae (so named because everyone brought them back every time...) I was skeptical, but we took one outside with an 8-element and a dipole and did some testing, and it really stood up well. We've been using almost nothing else ever since with great results.
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Post 14 made on Saturday October 9, 2004 at 00:43 |
2nd rick Super Member |
Joined: Posts: | August 2002 4,521 |
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I would have to agree on the Winegard and the ST-2, I use both of them all the time in attics. The attic reduces the signal a little bit compared to outside, but it beats the heck out of the hideous dipole wire or any of the frou-frou wedge or Pi antennas that never work well.
By the way, on the ST-2, I use plain old pliers right on the corner of the end seam to peel back the tube to get the cap out and keep peeling 'til I get past the coil pack.
I hope your ST-2 works well for you.
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Rick Murphy Troy, MI |
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Post 15 made on Saturday October 9, 2004 at 13:17 |
Ernie Bornn-Gilman Yes, That Ernie! |
Joined: Posts: | December 2001 30,104 |
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On 10/09/04 04:43 ET, 2nd rick said...
By the way, on the ST-2, I use plain old pliers right on the corner of the end seam to peel back the tube to get the cap out and keep peeling 'til I get past the coil pack. Why do you do this? Looking at the picture on the web site, and reading your description, it seems you are taking the antenna apart! On 10/08/04 16:21 ET, Marky_Mark896 said...
Well, I ordered one of the ST-2's. I have read mixed reviews about it, but I'll take you guys word for it. It should work. It looks like a car antenna, and my car radio picks up all the stations I want.... As an installer who started out as a kid back in the days of tube radios, let me tell you that the most irritating thing about home tuners is that EVERY client will sooner or later say, "Why can't I get KXXX? I get it just fine in my car out in the driveway!" This happens WAY more often with AM stations than FM, but it does happen with FM, too. I experienced this so thoroughly that when I was a teenager, I modified an old 1940s car radio to work off of a 12 volt, 20 amp transformer (about 60 pounds of transformer), with a silicon rectifier instead of a 5Y3, and I got excellent results. I'm in southern California; a six foot piece of wire got Denver, Albuquerque, Salt Lake, Chicago, New Orleans, and occasionally other further-away stations (I'm talking plain old AM here).
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A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything. "The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw |
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