Comments on: FM Reception Guide

By: michael schmidt

michael schmidt — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:04:09 +0000

I would like to improve the reception of a specific, distant FM station on a table radio with a typical built in pole antenna. Would it work if I used a horizontal wire of 31 5/16″ for 89.7 MHz and connect it to the built in antenna with a length of coax cable and an aligator clip from the coax center wire to the radio’s antenna? If so, should I add the length of the built in antenna to the length of the wire or just forget it?
If this doesn’t work I’d like to place a DIY Yagi antenna in the attic using a radio with a 75 ohm antenna jack. I’d like to use inexpensive “rabbit ear” atennaes for the elements. I believe I’d use the main (driving) element as it is and running it to the radio with coax. What about the front (directing) and back (reflecting) elements? I plan to remove the wire leads coming off of these. Would I just leave the individual sides (each “ear”) of each of these elements unconnected or would I solder a short wire between the 2 sides (ears) to make each side of the elements electrically connected? I hope this is clear. Thanks!

Hi,

The wire attached to an antenna will work if you attach one side of the wire to the base of the rod which should be folded down and the other side to a ground on the radio such as the ground side of battery terminals or a ground screw on the back or bottom.

As for the Yagi, you don’t need to attach the elements with wires, you just get them to the correct length for your frequency and also the correct distance between each element. There are antenna calculators on the net for Yagis that can help you do that.

Best of luck with your project, sounds like a lot of fun!

Lake

By: Ben Noll

Ben Noll — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:54:51 +0000

Hello,

I live exactly 55.1 NW (Montgomery, NY) of the Empire State Building (and the multitude of NYC-FM-Broadcasts). So, its a fringe location as it is. To further complicate things, I live in a relatively low lying area AND elevated areas exist along the path that which FM waves travel to my receiver from the Empire State Building.

To put it differently: I am in-range of these stations (WQHT, specifically), but the signal quality is greatly compromised by elevated areas between me and the signal, hence significant static.

I recently purchased CCRadioSW with the hopes of making magic with WQHT. The whip antenna, when positioned precisely, can pick up WQHT but significant static is present (fairly close to un-listenable).

Will your FM Indoor Dipole Antenna work to enhance my signal in this situation, or at least do a better job than the whip antenna on my unit?

By the way, I can’t have an outdoor antenna as per community rules.

Thanks!

Good question. The only way the indoor antenna would help your situation is if you can mount it in your attic, if you have one. You will need height to overcome your reception issues. The indoor antennas are fantastic in an attic as long as the roof or siding on the house is NOT made of metal; metal blocks signals to any antenna.

I understand FCC rules supersede housing covenants regarding antennas to receive broadcast radio and TV but I’m not exactly certain. You may want to Google it if you are willing to pursue the issue.

Sometimes either satellite radio or Internet radio are the best solution to reception problems.

Best of luck with your reception!

Regards,
Lake

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:07:56 +0000

Hello,

My wife an I currently have a Under Cabint Radio/TV/DVD player in our kitchen. The pivot for the TV has brokern so we are forced to keep it down all the time which cluters up the counter. I was wondering if you know if it is possible to revceive FM stations via the TV tuner? I would like to replace what we have with a straight up LED tv. The TV we are considering has TV system: ATSC, NTSC and Tuner bands: UHF, VHF.

I would run HDMI into the TV for the video/audio portion of the TV which would leave the RF tuner port available.

Thank you,
Chris

The only way to get radio on a TV is if it has a built-in FM tuner. I’m not aware of any converter or anything. The only way to get radio on your TV if it doesn’t have an FM tuner is to get a TV with built-in Web apps and connect the TV to your local network wirelessly or wired and use one of the apps that gets radio online.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 16:20:13 +0000

Hi, I have an NPR FM station which keeps getting trodden on by a powerful FM station close to the frequency. I have been told that I can use a splitter (not a multiswitch) on my Directv input and run this directly into the input of my receiver. Does this sound feasible? I have tried all manner of antennas etc to get a cleaner signal but to no avail. I have found that Yamaha have better FM sections when it comes to receiving noisy signals better but it is still not perfect. I live in the mountains of NC. Any ideas?

Cheers

Steve

Hi Steve,

First, you aren’t going to get any help from the DirecTV dish at all. You can try it, but be careful of the power that is inserted on the coax to power the dish, you want to make sure to not get any of that into your stereo.

You didn’t mention which specific antennas you have tried, but you may want to try an Antennacraft FM6 and turning it for best reception of your station and rejection of the interfering station. It is directional so will pick up best in the direction it is pointing.

As far as stereo or FM tuner specifications, you want one that has great separation which helps prevent interference from adjacent and alternate frequency stations.

The combination of a directional antenna and an FM tuner with strong separation are about all you can do. An alternative may be to find a stream of Online of the station you want or to find another NPR station Online that streams the programming you would like to hear.

Best of luck to you!
Lake

By: eResumes4Vips

eResumes4Vips — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:13:59 +0000

Lake,
Was looking for a way to get FM reception within my office bldg Without an outside antenna. Didn’t find the exact info while searching the forum; however, found your site as one of high quality, informative, and extremely helpful.

Keep up the GR8 work… ~ Andre Milteer, Publisher of eResumes4Vips.com

By: Emby

Emby — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 01:58:56 +0000

Will a VHF TV antenna work for FM radio reception?

Hi,

Yes, it will, it will work beautifully if it is made for the VHF Low portion of the TV Band (Channels 2-6). The domestic FM broadcast band is located just above TV Channel 6.

Please note that a limited few antennas have some sort of “block” for FM but it can be defeated by snapping off a couple of short elements. You may want to check the manufacturer Web site to make sure the VHF antenna you want to use does not have this block. If it is rated for FM anyway you don’t have to worry about it.

Note that no VHF directional TV antenna is going to outperform an FM only directional antenna and the same for omnidirectional antennas but the TV antenna on the roof will outperform an antenna in the room with the stereo.

Regards,
Lake

By: Bruno Geuth

Bruno Geuth — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:52:59 +0000

Hi,
I have a B&O Stereo FM tuner with a coax connestion for the antenna. I have conected this coax cable only with the centre pin to a cheap in-house antenna (JVC)

Now, the signal is excellent but I am doubting about the stereo output…

Can a central cable only connection produce a decent stereo signal?
Thanks!
Bruno

By: Grethel

Grethel — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:39:02 +0000

where can i seethe antenna height of each radio stations? Thank you! Hi, Thanks for the question! In the US and Canada it is very easy as you can find that info at the following Web site: Radio Locator A quick search on Google let me to the following the following Web site that could help outside the US and Canada: FMList Hope that helps! Regards, Lake

By: K.W.Tang

K.W.Tang — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 07:34:14 +0000

Hi;
I’ve got a small Sony AM/FM and CD combo which I used in bedroom. The problem is that FM reception quality is not good enough with it’s own telescopic antenna. But it lacks antenna input jack,so is there any ways connecting to an external FM antenna in order to strengthen the reception quality.
Best regards

Tang

Hi,

Unfortunately, no, there is no way to add an external antenna without an antenna input.

The only thing you can do is to move the unit around (if your setting allows that) and find the best spot for reception. Generally, a window on an outer wall, or at least an outer wall will work better. Also, the higher the unit is, the better. Sometimes just moving the unit a few inches to a few feet can make a difference, often a considerable difference. Be sure to extend the antenna all the way out. Usually the antenna should be vertical, but you can experiment with different angles with the antenna for your goal station.

Regards,
Lake

By: andy

andy — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 17:35:53 +0000

Hi
I have a mini hifi stereo for office use and want to connect to local cable tv feed for fm. However the unit (compact ) only has one wire out for fm (part of a thre pin connector that has two leads for am loop antenna). How would I deal with coax leads ?
Thanks

Sorry, but you can’t. The shelf unit you have is not intended to be used with an external antenna or cable input. The connector on it is proprietary and there are no adapters available at this time.

If getting cable FM is important to you, you’ll need to find a receiver with an external antenna input.