FM Radio Antennas, Reception Gear

[holymoly]

I just received the CCrane twin ferrite coil am antenna, and the results have been quite good. It is not a passive system, as position the ferrite around the radio in my case, does take some tweaking to find the right reception along with a coarse and fine tuning. But the efforts are rewarded with better AM reception.

It also comes with RCA plug inputs to radios, receivors, and also the twin leaves adaptors.

So far a good buy.

[okmrbh]

Is it the one that sells for $99.95?

Do you find you're getting more stations, or nearby ones better or both?

[holymoly]

This is not a passive unit, to get best reception tweaking of the coarse then fine tuning dials gets the best reception.

I would say the faint signals become listenable, and the ones just out of local area come in better, like the Buffalo stations into the Toronto area.

I did get St-Paul, MN last night, but I also did get it sometimes without it and Montreal stations as well.

Best AM antenna on the market, but I don't think it really lives up to the hype and is it worth $99.99, maybe not.

[Dough]

Hi, I have a theatre in a box package, its Philips brand one, maybe 4 or 5 years old now... its radio reception has always been very poor, I was wondering how I could improve it? I am thinking extending the antenna may help but I am not sure... its about 4 feet long right now, the stations I listen to are 104.5, 103.5, 98.5, 93.5... I am in Toronto...

I also have 10 year old sony stereo system which has poor reception on some stations...

Is there a way to generally improve radio signals?

[Wharfe]

I don't have any methods, but I have noticed that it really does vary greatly on the make / quality of the tuner.

I have an XM Radio unit broadcasting on an FM channel here. A cheap RCA stereo in the same room has trouble picking it up at times, a kitchen radio just a floor beneath has much trouble with it, however a Sony home theatre receiver in the basement picks it up crystal clear.. as does a HK receiver, and a very old Rotel receiver way out in the backyard in a shed. Some radios can't pick it up when they are close to the source, and some can get it from far away with no problem. Cars can receive it way down the street, but a radio a floor below cannot?

I think some are just built more cheaply than others. You might look for an amplified FM antenna or something, hopefully people will have experiences with this sort of thing and be more of a help than I am!

[classicsat]

What kind of antenna are you using? I have found one of those twinlead T shaped Diple antannae works well. If you are into FM DXing, you may want more.

[FLACer]

Originally Posted by classicsat

I have found one of those twinlead T shaped Diple antannae works well.

Agreed. And the best part is, you can get these at most any dollar store for the low, low price of... $1!

[Tom.F.1]

I have my home receiver (Pioneer VSX-1015TX) hooked up to my TV antenna (12' above the peak of my roof), through a UHF/VHF splitter. (UHF goes to the DTV tuner)
I get great FM reception here in Ajax. All Toronto stations, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Buffalo stations. It even works with adjacent channels; e.g. I get 103.1, 103.3 and 103.5 just fine. I split the signal to my old Pioneer Elite downstairs for the kids. It still works great, bought in Feb ’96.
Just tried AM, (took me a while to find the Band button). AM reception sucks on the little loop antenna that came with the receiver.

[stampeder]

Absolutely agree with the others - I have my FM receivers patched into my OTA antennas and I get all the Vancouver FM stations of course, but also many from the Island and quite a few from SeaTac.

My next project is to get even more SeaTac options by purchasing an HD FM receiver! http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=34783

[El Gran Chico]

I hope this isn't too dumb of a question...

I'm using the AM loop antenna that came with my stereo receiver. It works great when I put it in window. The thing is that I want to move my receiver somewhere where the wire won't be long enough to get to any window.

So is extending this wire as simple as getting more of the same gauge wire and soldering it the existing wire? How do I tell what gauge it is? Or should I just take it to the wiring guy and my local hardware store and he'll figure it out for me?

I'm thinking this should be an easy thing to do - is it? Or are there any things to watch out for?

Thanks for your assistance!

[stampeder]

Adding wire will change the impedance of the antenna, which will negatively affect reception.

You shouldn't need to have it by the window due to AM's ability to penetrate almost any kind of structure. Whether you'll get buzz-free signal is an entirely different question, so try to move it around a bit with its standard wiring to see if there's a sweet spot.

As an option there used to be an home receiver accessory monopole AM antenna for sale a few years ago that had great reviews but I'll have to search to see if its still on the market.

[El Gran Chico]

Perhaps I should have mentioned the receiver is in the basement. The window is my existing sweet spot.

I may need to re-assess my plan.

[intravino]

Hello,

I just purchased A Sony XDR-F1HD tuner and A Winegard hd-6000 antenna.

I mounted the antenna on my tower and pointed the antenna with my XDR-F1HD on the roof and with about 6 feet of coax

I got 3 HD channels on the roof and several week channels from NY and Vermont.

Then I installed my good quality RG-6 coax (about 40 feet). Now I get almost nothing from NY and Vermont. No HD channels and no weak channels.

I tried the Kitz Tech OTA amplifier a just before the tuner's input and I get some more channels but nothing great. The Kitz cannot be mounted at the antenna because it is not a preamplifier.

My coax is connected to a coax grounding block.

Is there a good FM VHF preamplifier that someone knows about ?

I will try tomorrow a Channel Master 7777 for fun.


Thanks,


Intravino

[intravino]

I found my problem, it was the rg-59 connector on my coax balun.


I tried the CM 7777, it helped a lot but I need it for my DTV setup.


I still a good FM VHF preamplifier that someone knows about ?

[Emerald_Boar]

hmmm.

Kitz Tech OTA amplifier can not be use outdoors. However, use the Kitz Tech OTA amplifier right here the coax comes inside the house. This should help a little.

Also, be careful when picking a pre amp. Many of the good ones will have a "FM trap". This amps are intended for use with TV reception. "FM trap" means that the amp reduces the FM signal. (to prevent radio stations from bleeding into the TV reception). Sometimes, with FM traps there is a switch so you can enable or disable the trap. CM7777 does have a switch to disable the FM trap. <:

Also there are 40 HD radio station out of New York City. Plus there are other HD radio stations from neighbouring towns such as New Jersey.

http://radiostationworld.com/locatio...adio.asp?m=new

Good Luck,
Al.

PS. Does any1 know which frequency HD radio uses? I was reading something about "L-Band" (1.5 Ghz). If HD radio uses L-Band instead of normal AM or FM. Then an normal amp will be little to no help for the use HD radio. In fact probably will hurt HD radio reception.