Comments on: Best Indoor FM Antenna

By: Russ

Russ — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 05:47:03 +0000

Lake is correct about Terk antennas. I have bought 2 Terk antennas over the years and neither one worked very well. And I live near Los Angeles where there a dozens of signals. Terk, like Bose, has a catchy name and their products “look cool”. But looks alone don’t cut it. Some of the simple antennas from Radio Shack work better than Terk.

By: Paul Noe

Paul Noe — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:03:38 +0000

Hi Lake,

A Google search led me to your excellent advice site from which I jumped to and purchased the dipole outdoor antenna you recommended. To back up just a bit, I recently upgraded my AVR to Marantz Sr8002, XM-ready & with HD radio tuner. Wanting to take advantage of every feature of my new equipment
has become kind of an obsession. I also bought a TERK xm6 outdoor antenna and the required XM dock and cartridge.

So, I have 2 questions:
1.) Can I mount the FM dipole and the Terk XM6 on the same mast?
2.) If so, can I run short pieces of RG6 from each antenna into a splitter and thus provide a single coax lead into the house, from which I would then resplit the signals to their respective inputs?

Thanks for the help.

Paul

Hi Paul,

1. Yes, without a doubt.

2. Probably as I know you can combine Dish or DirecTV signals with off-air signals so if there is some sort of signal combiner for that then you could use one of those I feel certain though I haven’t actually done it. Theoretically it is just the same. The one thing to note as that XM (just like Dish and DirecTV) put voltage on their antenna feed for their antennas and you must keep this voltage off your FM tuner or receiver. If I’m not mistaken though the XM (and Sirius) voltage is identical as the Dish/DirecTV so any parts for one are basically interchangeable.

Regards,
Lake

By: Larry Lake

Larry Lake — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:42:30 +0000

Hello Lake, heres one Lake to another ha ha. I found your web site by accident I was looking to help a man that I just found out is a distant relative of mine on my mothers side. He is about 80 yrs old and used to be in broadcasting. He lives by Lake Whitney, TX and wants to pick up FM 103.3 out of Dallas (he didn’t remember the call letters) He is in a low elevation with trees in way. I told him a tower with a yagi probably would be good. He said he would have to get up maybe 50 – 60 feet to clear the trees. He also may be able to cut down a few trees.

Man I cant beleive we have the same last name. Have you ever researched genealogy?

Thanks

Larry Lake

Hi Larry,

My first name is Lake so we probably aren’t quite as closely related as maybe we would be. Haha.

Check out the FM Reception Guide located elsewhere on the Web site. It will give tons of tips on what you need to do to get the station. I checked out Lake Whitney on the map and then the location of the transmitter which is up between Sherman and Gainesville well north of Dallas. It will be difficult but not impossible to get that station. You are correct in that he will need a yagi pointed at the transmitter location and the yagi needs to be as high as possible. No need to cut down trees as they will not block reception of the station. A suggestion, first get the yagi and have someone go on the roof or up somewhere and point it at the station with a good piece of coax to see if that isn’t enough to get the station; it may be unnecessary to go ridiculously high.

The station may also be on the Internet, you could hook him up that way!

Larry, read the FM Reception guide linked above, it is loaded with good stuff.

Please let me know if you have additional questions.

Regards,
Lake

By: Dan Pryor

Dan Pryor — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:10:34 +0000

I thoroughly agree that the Terk should be avoided. I have found a potato on a wire to be better and cheaper. Wish I had read your blog before I purchased the Terk.

Hi Dan,

Plus the potato on a wire tastes far better than the Terk! Thanks for your comments and you are right. I’m not anti-Terk because I often recommend their AM antenna but their FM antennas leave a lot to be desired which is unfortunate because they are so commonly sold.

Regards,
Lake

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:51:43 +0000

Hi Lake, I know next to nothing about antennas, mounting antennas, running wires into the attic, etc. I am looking for the easiest way to improve the reception on my parents’ bose radio. They mainly listen to NPR stations located in the lower ranges. I ran the wire antenna that came with the radio up the wall which improved reception a bit, but there is still a lot of static in all but one of the stations we recieve. Plus my mother isn’t thrilled with the look of a wire running up the wall of her living room. Any suggestions? Can I simply attach your antenna to the radio and set it next to the radio for improved reception? Thanks.
Tom

Hi Tom,

I have a TON of suggestions and I have recorded them all on one page on this very Web site. Please check out the FM reception guide and the questions and comments that follow it:

http://www.amfmreception.com/fm-radio/fm-reception-guide/

Regards,
Lake

By: Susan Kenyon

Susan Kenyon — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:28:40 +0000

Hi, My son larry is diabled and loves his radio but last xmas I bought him an terk antenna($25.00) he is not very happy with it. I just looked at some of your products and wanted to know which one would work better. He lives in a group home and has his own small room with 1 window facing the side of the house. Please advise.

Thanks,
Susan

Hi Susan,

The FM indoor dipole will be the best for Larry. It should be used vertically (one element pointing straight up and one pointing straight down) and in front of the window or higher in the room if possible.
Please give Larry a hug for me!

Regards,
Lake

By: Howard Potvin

Howard Potvin — Sun, 18 May 2008 15:33:00 +0000

I live on a ridge and receive signals from all directions, resulting from crosstalk and interferance.
Can you recommend a unidirectional, rotatable indoor antenna?
How about a remote attic mounted antenna?
Howard

Hi Howard,

The indoor dipole I recommend is directional when used as a traditional set of rabbit ears. The next directional antenna would be the Antennacraft FM6 which is the next-smallest commonly available directional antenna for the attic. I really believe the indoor dipole in the article would work with the tuning knob and by getting the elements at a good angle though.

Regards,
Lake

By: Howard

Howard — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:23:19 +0000

Hi.
I recently moved to a new home that has coax run to each of the rooms using RG-6. I have an attic mounted tv antenna, amplified directional dish-type, currently hooked up. Could I connect your outdoor dipole (attic mounted) to this system with a splitter/combiner? The other option is your indoor rabbit ears, which would be mounted near the receiver one floor down, since I don’t want to run up to the attic to adjust.
Thanks, Howard

Hi Howard,

About the splitter combiner I donâ€™t see why you couldnâ€™t do that but you should try to just split the current signal and run it to your tuner because most TV antennas do a moderately good job at receiving FM because FM radio is located between TV channels 6 and 7.

The indoor dipole could be mounted one floor down as well but probably would not work as well as an antenna in the attic due to the added height. Height is always an advantage with FM.

Regards,
Lake

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:54:37 +0000

Hi Lake. I have owned the Radio Shack unit you refer to for probably 20 years. Many years back, I opened it and removed the 300 ohm connector, mounted a 75 ohm connection in the hole I enlarged to fit it and soldered the internal connection to it. This seems to have worked great, but not being an EE, I wonder if there is still some mismatch between the 75 and 300 ohm inside the unit. I guess what I getting at is, with the changes I have made, would my unit be essentially the same as your revised version? Thanks, Mark

Hi Mark,

I believe your solution would work just as well as the revised version and the mismatch would not be an issue in the real world. You would get so little advantage, if any, from a new antenna that I would stay with what you have.

Regards,
Lake

By: dan

dan — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 06:40:03 +0000

i have a vintage marantz receiver located in the basement. there is no option for me to use an outdoor antenna. there is a coax fitting for antenna on the back. currently i can only pull in a few of the stronger stations but on the low end of the meter. would a rabbit ear setup help with signal strength at all in my case?

Hi Dan,

The key with FM signal reception is height and that is working against you. The rabbit ears are as good as you can do but you shouldnâ€™t expect much in the basement. Many people mount antennas in their attic or a crawl space with great success as well.

You might enjoy reading more at the FM Reception Guide:

http://www.amfmreception.com/fm-radio/fm-reception-guide/

Regards,
Lake