Importance of antenna for Tuners

sudhirbhosale

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Hi all
I listen FM a lot hence tuner is important item for me. I stay in area where signals are weak. To improve same I did experiments which might be useful for others, hence I am sharing. I have Yamaha stereo AMP 496 (has inbuilt stereo FM/AM receiver) and yamaha basic floor standing speakers.

Experience 1 - I had Denon tuner TU 260. For FM antenna: Had long 3.5mm aux cable (6 feet, branded) same used as antena as copper quality good inside. I used to tune stations in balcony then store in mono mode as strength is not good in house (auto tuning not capture all stations). Sound was melodious, but bit low bass (TU240 model have low bass). Realized beauty of dedicate tuner much better

Learning : Dedicated tuners are best for radio listening than inbuilt ( Exception many years back I have Philips analogue tuner+Amp, whose sound was very sweet)
Learning : Analogue tuners (with needle to change station) too sounds very nice

Experience 2- Since tuners available at low price, I thought of upgrading further so I got NAD 412 and sold Denon. 412 got good reviews. NAD is cost brand. NAD did sound bit better ( no huge diff) but noise was lower and has bit more width in sound. Sound kind of flat

Experience 3- After some time I changed house there signals are more weaker. Now 6ft wire not capturing signals. So did some study about FM antenna. Built dipole antena with two aluminium sticks, placed in window, conencted to tuner with Coax cable we use for cable TV. Now it caught all channels some in stereo mode. Still I was feeling that the Denon sound was sweet (meantime I changed speakers hence its not apple to apple comparison). NAD sound was rough. Tuner is not common item hence not possible to borrow it for side by side comparison.

Experience 4 - My friend advised me to replace diapole with copper stick. As aluminum induce noise. I have 1.5 mm copper wire I assembled it on wooden stick and connected tuner via Coax. Now sound is smooth (roughness still there but reduced may be weak signals) but still Denon was sweet :). When I saw coax cable under magnifier glass, found center copper wire actually copper coating on steel.

Experience 5- So I bought Finolex TV cable, connected to copper stick of 1.5 mm. But found it also steel wire coated with copper but coating is thicker. Sound improved further both bass n treble. Still Denon flavor missing (may be psychological feeling).

Learning is : conductor purity plays have major impact on cleanness of signals. And I think steel is not used to reduce cost but for strength as adding coating would cost same. So I started searching coax cable which has full copper core inside. Dont know where to find, still searching.

Experience 6 - I had 3 ft antenna wire I got with Yamaha tuner (with small plug-end). https://www.amazon.com/YAMAHA-OEM-Original-Part-VQ147100/dp/B00CTUZNJC
I moved tuner near window and used this wire as antena. Now sound was very very clean, but wire is short. Not sure such antena wire availabe with 12ft length. OR wire come with standard lenght to maintain 75 ohm impedance (dont know role of 75ohm impedance). I did not find long such antena wire,

Experience 7 - Then I realized that I have 10ft long 3.5 mm aux cable of oxygen free copper. SO I connected that as antena wire. Further connecting end to copper stick did not make any difference. Sound was clean but yama FM antena wire gave more cleaner sound. Still Denon sound was sweet I think :).

Learning is,
1. conductor purity does matters lot
2. antena is equally important

In search of high quality, I researched grade of coax cable at : https://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=ideas-and-advice/coaxial-cable-guide
Found RG11, RG59, grade has better quality.

My questions:
1. Is there any way to improve signal strength but without adding noise
2. If I use higher grade coax cable, then would it make any difference
3. How about using car FM antena?
4 Use of 75 ohm cable with parallel connector (used for old TV), any thoughts around that
5 My friend in chennai got antenna of wireless kit used in police van. He got excellent results. What is specialty in that?
6 Do CCTV cable are of high grade
7 Any thoughts of using CAT cables as those has good grade conductors
8 Antenna wire comes with receiver: Why sounds clean?
9 Do analogue tuners sound better than digital tuners ?
10 Would RG11, RG59, grade coax cable make any difference?

Thanks
 
Hmm.. Yes the Denon TU-260 is good tuner which I had earlier. Now using Luxman T351L.

The antenna is a critical element for any radio tuners. There are many discussions on this forum and also in other forums about this topic as well as about DIY dipole FM antennas.

A simple solution: Took 2.4 meter length 12 AWG copper winding wire. (may be obtained from a motor rewinding shop). Make a loop and solder 75ohm coaxial cable at the end of the winding wire as shown in the image. Connect the other end of the coaxial cable to your receiver.

You may change the length of the winding wire for the purpose of tuning a particular weak station. Search in the net for more details about the calculation of length of wire for a particular station frequency.
Dipole fm ant.jpg
 
Hmm.. Yes the Denon TU-260 is good tuner which I had earlier. Now using Luxman T351L.

The antenna is a critical element for any radio tuners. There are many discussions on this forum and also in other forums about this topic as well as about DIY dipole FM antennas.

A simple solution: Took 2.4 meter length 12 AWG copper winding wire. (may be obtained from a motor rewinding shop). Make a loop and solder 75ohm coaxial cable at the end of the winding wire as shown in the image. Connect the other end of the coaxial cable to your receiver.

You may change the length of the winding wire for the purpose of tuning a particular weak station. Search in the net for more details about the calculation of length of wire for a particular station frequency.
View attachment 46534
Thank you for the good information Selvin
 
I am a newbie in the FM antenna related stuff. I was curious to make it work for my AVR(digital tuner - I guess). I stumbled on this antenna, which I found unique and the blogger is using this as internal one. Wish to understand more from the experts here


Also I have found the old antenna cable for this usage.:D

It is a bit hard for me to understand the Length of the wire he has used. If anyone can make it simpler, I can try this out.

Should it be 5616/108(mhz) which is 52 inches for one half of the antenna?
 
Make a loop and solder 75ohm coaxial cable at the end of the winding wire as shown in the image. Connect the other end of the coaxial cable to your receiver.
Selvin, what is the loop measurement ? For the weaker signals , should we increase size of the loop? Please explain. Thank you.
 
Has any one tried the Stellar Labs Omni directional antenna for FM radio? I am planning to get one. Would be interested to know your input.
 
I have tried a DIY version of this antenna and found the results to be mixed actually, I still had to turn the antenna around for weaker stations. I was previously living in an area with high building density and hence had to deal with signal reflection. It became better when I moved to my current home which is on top of a hill.

Later, I found a ground plane antenna to be more effective for omni-directional use and a 4 element Yagi (2 directors and 1 reflector) to be very good for long distance reception, with being directional of course. I don't listen to FM radio all that much these days and don't use external antennae any more, but these fun memories remain.
 
I remember using a indoor TV antenna for tuning to FM in my Yamaha AVR long back. It was good. But now I don't know if indoor TV antennas are available at all
 
Has any one tried the Stellar Labs Omni directional antenna for FM radio? I am planning to get one. Would be interested to know your input.
Yes, it is pretty good. If you mount it above your roof height, it's reception is pretty good. Though it's omni directional, you will need to adjust it by rotating it to peak the signals. Just don't mount it and leave it. Clear line of sight towards the station directions greatly improves the signal. I was able to catch stations which are as far as 250+ KMs with this model with Tecsun PL-310 tuner.
 
I have ordered it from Tanotis. Expecting it's delivery to happen in the coming weeks.

Hope to get additional FM channels with better quality.
 
I have ordered it from Tanotis. Expecting it's delivery to happen in the coming weeks.

Hope to get additional FM channels with better quality.
Tanotis is a good supplier. Good part is it is easy to assemble. Please use a good quality RG-6 cable too with a good quality F connector as well. The antenna comes with built in BalUn and so no extra BalUn required
 
My order got cancelled by Tanotis for unknown reasons and the money got refunded. :(
Sorry to hear that. I can check with a friend if he wants to sell one he has. He used it for a month or two and then bought a 4 element yagi from Tanotis. Please PM me if you want me to check.
 
Sorry to hear that. I can check with a friend if he wants to sell one he has. He used it for a month or two and then bought a 4 element yagi from Tanotis. Please PM me if you want me to check.
Many thanks to you, I got the FM Antenna from the reference you shared.

I installed the antenna today morning in my apartment terrace at 9 ft above. I am bringing down the RG6 cable to my home in ground floor (60 ft from ground level). Used Coax RG6 F type pin for the connectors.

I am getting a total of 7 channels (additional 2 channels after the antenna installation now which I couldn't get before). I am happy with its signal strength and reception.

The antenna is not true omni directional as it is advertised. I installed it in S type to have better coverage.

Getting the below channels.

- 5 channels from Coimbatore
- 1 channel from Kodaikanal FM
- 1 channel from Ooty FM

Pictures of the installed antenna below.


This antenna is expected to come back on sale in Tanotis soon.

Regards,
Sriram
 
Last edited:
Many thanks to you, I got the FM Antenna from the reference you shared.

I installed the antenna today morning in my apartment terrace at 9 ft above. I am bringing down the RG6 cable to my home in ground floor (60 ft from ground level). Used Coax RG6 F type pin for the connectors.

I am getting a total of 7 channels (additional 2 channels after the antenna installation now which I couldn't get before). I am happy with its signal strength and reception.

The antenna is not true omni directional as it is advertised. I installed it in S type to have better coverage.

Getting the below channels.

- 5 channels from Coimbatore
- 1 channel from Kodaikanal FM
- 1 channel from Ooty FM

Pictures of the installed antenna below.


This antenna is expected to come back on sale in Tanotis soon.

Regards,
Sriram
Happy to hear that it worked out well for you. Enjoy the new stations. I like sound quality of AIR over any private stations.
 
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