PCA
Active Member
Is this a remote possibility or a fool's errand?
Possible to convert an unused Airtel DTH dish and corresponding cabling to an FM antenna for better reception?
- Thread starter PCA
- Start date
If you intend to improve the FM reception then Yagi antenna will work with the existing cable although you need to do some modifications.
Otherwise an excellent option would be to switch to free to air DTH receivers which transmit most of the FM channels. In that case you can use your existing dish and cable attached to the FTA DTH.
If you can provide details regarding your location, distance to fm stations and your experience till date then it will help us to understand better.
Otherwise an excellent option would be to switch to free to air DTH receivers which transmit most of the FM channels. In that case you can use your existing dish and cable attached to the FTA DTH.
If you can provide details regarding your location, distance to fm stations and your experience till date then it will help us to understand better.
DTH dish antenna covers about 9750 to 12500 MHz, where as FM works at 88-108 MHz. So DTH antenna is not usable for FM. You can definitely use the antenna cable and connect a Yagi or dipole antenna on the terrace and that will help you improve FM reception. To try, just connect a 3 feet wire to the antenna cable and see if that helps improve.
In DD DTH they provide most of the All India Radio stations. I don't think any private FM stations are available in any DTH. Not sure though.
IndianEars
Well-Known Member
Just the cable doesn't work (improve signal) as it is shielded. It works by adding a extra length of unshielded cable or creating a simple dipole using the same RG6 cable.The cable will probably act as an FM antenna but the dish will sit there just looking pretty
Cheers,
Raghu
PCA
Active Member
Thanks everyone for your responses.
While at an electronics store here in Cochin, looking for some banana plugs, I came across this dirt cheap (Rs. 420) FM receiver:
Though I was skeptical, the owner was bullish about the product and even offered to take it back and refund the money, if I was not happy with it after connecting to my system (NAD C320BEE with Pioneer FS52s). He mentioned that if there are lot of LEDs at home, it might adversely affect the reception (i had no clue regarding the conflict between LEDs and FM signals before this conversation). Also suggested extending the blue antenna cable attached to the product to improve reception.
The product was easy enough to set up and, surprisingly, did not sound too bad. A few of the available stations had audible background hiss.
Since I stopped using DTH many years ago, but had not removed the dish and the cabling, was just wondering whether I could put it to good use to improve the quality of FM reception.
While at an electronics store here in Cochin, looking for some banana plugs, I came across this dirt cheap (Rs. 420) FM receiver:
Though I was skeptical, the owner was bullish about the product and even offered to take it back and refund the money, if I was not happy with it after connecting to my system (NAD C320BEE with Pioneer FS52s). He mentioned that if there are lot of LEDs at home, it might adversely affect the reception (i had no clue regarding the conflict between LEDs and FM signals before this conversation). Also suggested extending the blue antenna cable attached to the product to improve reception.
The product was easy enough to set up and, surprisingly, did not sound too bad. A few of the available stations had audible background hiss.
Since I stopped using DTH many years ago, but had not removed the dish and the cabling, was just wondering whether I could put it to good use to improve the quality of FM reception.
PCA
Active Member
Yes, LED bulbs / battens interfere with FM signals.
Connect the blue antenna wire to the core (center wire) of the DTH cable and at the terrace disconnect it from the dish antenna. Connect another wire of about a meter or 3 mtrs long. Your signal clarity should improve considerably.
Connect the blue antenna wire to the core (center wire) of the DTH cable and at the terrace disconnect it from the dish antenna. Connect another wire of about a meter or 3 mtrs long. Your signal clarity should improve considerably.
PCA
Active Member
If I disconnect the cable from the dish; remove the shielding from the end or add a dipole antenna; and connect the indoor end of the cable to FM antenna, will it work?
IndianEars
Well-Known Member
PCA
Active Member
Thank you. I came across these two products while doing some research:
Any thoughts on these?
PCA
Active Member
Thank you
First one you have listed is almost Omnidirectional and works for decent distance range. In your case, I would recommend this one as the second one which is Yagi is directional. Being in Kochi you have signals available from 3 directions. Most probably you will be able to capture stations from Thiruvananthapuram to Kozhikode. Some Srilankan and Kodai, Ooty stations. Which are in different directions.
Yagi will give you stronger signals than the first one. But you will have to rotate it if you want to get stations from the other directions.
spirovious
Well-Known Member
I wonder , if antenna is on top of house/apartment in that case, what will happen during lightening ? If it strikes antenna?The cable will probably act as an FM antenna but the dish will sit there just looking pretty
Cheers,
Raghu
reubensm
Well-Known Member
Nice little player, doubles up as a streamer as well. To understand why you receive hiss with your FM channels, lets take a look inside the box 
The heart of this gizmo is a board like this, commonly known as the bluetooth mp3 player board. This is likely to be wired to a small amplifier for use with a speaker but for the purpose of addressing your reception blues, lets talk about the bluetooth mp3 player board only.
It is common for those who assemble these boxes to leave the FM antenna wire as is (about 6 or 7 cm long). If you take a closer look at the board and look out for the 'ANT' (antenna) connector, you can identify this wire (the brown one for the board used in these pictures)
Depending on where you live (terrain) and distance from your FM transmission towers you can choose a suitable antenna. In most cases for city based reception, you can perhaps pick up a simple telescopic antenna (extendable to about 1 meter) and have the 'ANT' connection of the board wired to it.
If you have range issues with blue tooth, you can also wire a blue tooth antenna to the board as the inbuilt antenna is usually obstructed in some form, by the cabinet. Here is a snap of the blue tooth antenna on the board
Its a fun product and the line output to any NAD amplifier, sounds really nice. I have found the output gain of this board to be slightly below par so if you are into building stuff, an OP-amp based buffer, could be a good addition. I use one (without the amplifier section) for playing my mp3 files, though my NADs.
You can connect your DTH antenna cable to this box (the dish itself will be more of a prop) but honestly speaking, even a 1 or 2 meter long piece of wire will work. A proper telescopic antenna adds to the aesthetics
The heart of this gizmo is a board like this, commonly known as the bluetooth mp3 player board. This is likely to be wired to a small amplifier for use with a speaker but for the purpose of addressing your reception blues, lets talk about the bluetooth mp3 player board only.
It is common for those who assemble these boxes to leave the FM antenna wire as is (about 6 or 7 cm long). If you take a closer look at the board and look out for the 'ANT' (antenna) connector, you can identify this wire (the brown one for the board used in these pictures)
Depending on where you live (terrain) and distance from your FM transmission towers you can choose a suitable antenna. In most cases for city based reception, you can perhaps pick up a simple telescopic antenna (extendable to about 1 meter) and have the 'ANT' connection of the board wired to it.
If you have range issues with blue tooth, you can also wire a blue tooth antenna to the board as the inbuilt antenna is usually obstructed in some form, by the cabinet. Here is a snap of the blue tooth antenna on the board
Its a fun product and the line output to any NAD amplifier, sounds really nice. I have found the output gain of this board to be slightly below par so if you are into building stuff, an OP-amp based buffer, could be a good addition. I use one (without the amplifier section) for playing my mp3 files, though my NADs.
You can connect your DTH antenna cable to this box (the dish itself will be more of a prop) but honestly speaking, even a 1 or 2 meter long piece of wire will work. A proper telescopic antenna adds to the aesthetics
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It's same with lightning striking your TV antenna. Probability remains same and damage to your radio is guaranteed if lightning strikes
If your home is shorter than the neighboring building, it should be fine.
High rise building will normally have a lightning arrestor at the top.
All said, if your luck is bad, shit happens
Cheers,
Raghu
PCA
Active Member
Thanks a ton. Thrilled to know I am not the only person on this forum using a seemingly 'low-fi' item like thisNice little player, doubles up as a streamer as well. To understand why you receive hiss with your FM channels, lets take a look inside the box
The heart of this gizmo is a board like this, commonly known as the bluetooth mp3 player board. This is likely to be wired to a small amplifier for use with a speaker but for the purpose of addressing your reception blues, lets talk about the bluetooth mp3 player board only.
View attachment 63834
View attachment 63837
It is common for those who assemble these boxes to leave the FM antenna wire as is (about 6 or 7 cm long). If you take a closer look at the board and look out for the 'ANT' (antenna) connector, you can identify this wire (the brown one for the board used in these pictures)
View attachment 63836
Depending on where you live (terrain) and distance from your FM transmission towers you can choose a suitable antenna. In most cases for city based reception, you can perhaps pick up a simple telescopic antenna (extendable to about 1 meter) and have the 'ANT' connection of the board wired to it.
View attachment 63838
If you have range issues with blue tooth, you can also wire a blue tooth antenna to the board as the inbuilt antenna is usually obstructed in some form, by the cabinet. Here is a snap of the blue tooth antenna on the board
View attachment 63835
Its a fun product and the line output to any NAD amplifier, sounds really nice. I have found the output gain of this board to be slightly below par so if you are into building stuff, an OP-amp based buffer, could be a good addition. I use one (without the amplifier section) for playing my mp3 files, though my NADs.
You can connect your DTH antenna cable to this box (the dish itself will be more of a prop) but honestly speaking, even a 1 or 2 meter long piece of wire will work. A proper telescopic antenna adds to the aesthetics
I am am likely to use only the FM function and not the bluetooth / MP3 functions. To be honest, the only reason I considered the the DTH cable & antenna option is because it is just lying there unused. Would never have dreamt of it otherwise.
One question - would having an outdoor antenna, as opposed to an internal telescopic antenna, do away completely with the LED interference issues?
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