outdoor antenna for FM radio

[mahaaprasaad]

I found these online

Hi ruben, sorry, just off topic, I wanted an FM antenna for my tuner. I just checked with the link shared by you. This one seems suitable. https://in.element14.com/terk-technologies/tower/terk-technologies-am-fm-tower/dp/2814881. Looks better than what available in Amazon.
Will this ships from within India OR from abroad?. Any other issues to be taken care while buying from this site? Thanks in Advance

 

[reubensm]

When you speak of using an external antenna for FM, the paramount factor of consideration is the reason why you want it. If you are residing in an area where the FM stations are local and signal strength is high, maybe you are just looking for an antenna for your tuner (assuming you are using a component tuner without an inbuilt antenna). In such case, you would need a simple telescopic antenna without an inbuilt amplifier. You can pick one of these up from your local electronics store. If you live in an area where there are reception issues, an outdoor yagi antenna is the best option. Personally i am not a great fan of antennae (especially indoor ones) with in-built amplifiers. In my opinion one should use an amplifier (called booster in India) for both indoor and outdoor use, only when the signal strength is too low. This is as amplifiers cause issues with feeder imbalance, noise and overload. If you want to construct a good outdoor antenna for receiving distant FM stations, FM Omishra's design is the best.

Edit: yagi antennae are directional and hence you may have to follow orientation protocols

 

[mahaaprasaad]

When you speak of using an external antenna for FM, the paramount factor of consideration is the reason why you want it. If you are residing in an area where the FM stations are local and signal strength is high, maybe you are just looking for an antenna for your tuner (assuming you are using a component tuner without an inbuilt antenna). In such case, you would need a simple telescopic antenna without an inbuilt amplifier. You can pick one of these up from your local electronics store. If you live in an area where there are reception issues, an outdoor yagi antenna is the best option. Personally i am not a great fan of antennae (especially indoor ones) with in-built amplifiers. In my opinion one should use an amplifier (called booster in India) for both indoor and outdoor use, only when the signal strength is too low. This is as amplifiers cause issues with feeder imbalance, noise and overload. If you want to construct a good outdoor antenna for receiving distant FM stations, FM Omishra's design is the best.

Edit: yagi antennae are directional and hence you may have to follow orientation protocols

Thanks for your reply. Mine is Marantz ST4000 Tuner sourced hogback from another FM. The The antennas were not there. I have connected the FM coaxial input with 2 Ft length of an old CRT TV coaxial signal cable. It is working fine but getting signal bars 40-50%. Thought with dedicated antenna I may get full signals. I will explore the DIY way as suggested.

 

[zero7]

I personally recommend an outdoor antenna for FM radio. DIY is a option or you can get one online which is readily available. I made a folded dipole antenna and it works well and I am able to catch stations that can't be listened using the built in telescopic antenna.

Stellar Labs Loop antenna is good looking, universal, functional outdoor antenna. Seems to be out of stock in all sites now. Tanotis was selling it for Rs. 1.6K.

Attaching the picture of my DIY antenna. I made is using a 1/4" copper tube used in refrigerators. I used the calculations from https://www.changpuak.ch/electronics/Dipole_folded.php.

 

[mahaaprasaad]

@zero7 Nice build.
Request moderators to move the 3-4 conversations here related to radio antenna to any relevant thread, so other FMs also get benefitted.

 

[abbg]

I personally recommend an outdoor antenna for FM radio. DIY is a option or you can get one online which is readily available. I made a folded dipole antenna and it works well and I am able to catch stations that can't be listened using the built in telescopic antenna.

Stellar Labs Loop antenna is good looking, universal, functional outdoor antenna. Seems to be out of stock in all sites now. Tanotis was selling it for Rs. 1.6K.

Attaching the picture of my DIY antenna. I made is using a 1/4" copper tube used in refrigerators. I used the calculations from https://www.changpuak.ch/electronics/Dipole_folded.php.

I personally recommend an outdoor antenna for FM radio. DIY is a option or you can get one online which is readily available. I made a folded dipole antenna and it works well and I am able to catch stations that can't be listened using the built in telescopic antenna.

Stellar Labs Loop antenna is good looking, universal, functional outdoor antenna. Seems to be out of stock in all sites now. Tanotis was selling it for Rs. 1.6K.

Attaching the picture of my DIY antenna. I made is using a 1/4" copper tube used in refrigerators. I used the calculations from https://www.changpuak.ch/electronics/Dipole_folded.php.
View attachment 58239

@zero7, the Stellar Labs Loop FM Radio 88MHz - 108MHz Loop Oudoor Antenna seems to be available now. The website from where it can be ordered gives the engine drawings of the antenna and also a list precautions and instructions while installing the antenna outdoors. But thereafter, it doesn’t say what kind of cable should be used to connect the antenna to the 75 ohm connector of the FM tuner / radio located indoor. I think this is important because the cable should only connect the antenna to the FM radio and not itself also act as an antenna and spoil the show! I am a novice in these matters. Could you enlighten me about the kind of cable to be used for this and in case a two-wire / shielded cable is to be used, how the connections are to be made for each wire at both the ends (I.e. at the antenna end and at the FM radio / tuner end.

In the case of an FM radio with a telescopic (I.e. extendable) indoor antenna, is there some way by which we can terminate the cable coming from the outdoor antenna to the FM radio by removing the telescopic antenna by removing the fastener securing it to the radio.

Thanks in advance.

Your very useful and important post continues to remain under the head of equalisers. I think it should be copied into a head of FM Radio Outdoor Antenna. Actually, I am not clear about its relevance to equalisers.

Thanks again.

 

[zero7]

In the case of an FM radio with a telescopic (I.e. extendable) indoor antenna, is there some way by which we can terminate the cable coming from the outdoor antenna to the FM radio by removing the telescopic antenna by removing the fastener securing it to the radio.

Thanks again.

Yes, I have tried this and it works. Center core wire connected to the telescopic antenna mounting screw and the outer sleeve wire connected to negative / chasis. You need to do little trial and error with the sleeve wire. Sometimes it works better without connecting that. This is not a scientific answer, but worth the try.

 

[sriram_shol]

If you are ambitious about DIY projects, this link may help you build a directional FM antenna that will pull long distance channels.

I did try this a year ago and the result was promising.

You can refer to this thread - https://www.hifivision.com/threads/importance-of-antenna-for-tuners.79825/