Your Antenna

[jdandy]

kappclark.......Welcome to Audio Aficionado.

[kappclark]

Originally Posted by jimtranr

Mine's a rotored Winegard HD6055P five feet above the roof line at the north end of my house, which at 500' is about 300' above the Willamette Valley floor.



Despite an intervening mountain I get a jazz station ~70 air miles away in one direction and a classical station and a community college station ~40 miles away in the opposite direction, all with fully-separated, no-hash stereo on my McIntosh MR77.

Nice setup ... My RG-6 feed is less than 50'. but I still have mast-mounted preamp, which gives very good S/N ... I was thinking of doing a roof-mount, but penetrating the new roof made me nervous, esp with all the white stuff we get up here !

[Formerly YB-2]

Actually, your mast-mounted preamp does nothing for your S/N. It is a broadband amplifier and amplifies the noise the same amount as it amplifies the signal you are listening to. If you like what you are hearing it is the result of your tuner doing a good job.

[MtnHam]

There are many factors that dictate which antenna is best for you. How far away, and what direction are the stations you desire to hear? Do you you have geography that creates multipath? If all the stations are in one direction and distant, a high gain yagi will be best. If local and in multiple directions, an omni directional whip might work well. If you have surrounding hills creating bounced ghost signals which are out of phase (mulitpath,) a directional beam (yagi) is the solution. Distant weak signals require higher gain (big) yagis and height. An antenna mounted amplifier can help. A rotor is usually necessary if you need to point in several directions. As a ham radio operator, I view FM as just another form of radio. The same known radio wave propagation principles apply. Unfortunately, the dearth of worthwhile FM programming in many areas of the country is the bigger issue! In an earlier era, I was an avid FM listener. No more.

[W9TR]

At the lake house this weekend. On an inside vertical dipole with an MR80 I'm getting 44 stations, 22 in stereo with good quieting, and 2 that are full quieting but are not transmitting a stereo pilot. NPR does this on some of their talk programming.

When the snow melts and I can get up on the roof, I'll be putting up a yagi. It looks like APS is out of business. Are there any other options besides Winegard?

Tom

[W9TR]

Presently I am using the Winegard HD-6055P and a Hy-Gain TailTwister T2X rotator.

If there is a better FM antenna, I would be interested in upgrading. Suggestions???

Does anybody have construction plans for building their own antenna?

Gary,
Google the website of Brian Beezly K6STI. A wealth of FM info. He has a number of homebrew antenna designs, including Peter Korner's massive 19.3.

[lewdis]

APS-13 on top of my second story roof bolted onto a 12 foot rotating channel master pole...listening on my MD 106T.....pure magic

[william13]

Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2

Ourdoors is better and higher is better. That said, I have a pair of yagi 6-element antennae in parallel in my attic crawl space (my lot is covered with 50'+ tall oaks that like to drop limbs). No problem reaching to Philadelphia (about 55mi to the broadcast antennnae) and the surrounding areas. FM-specific yagi from Winegard or ChannelMaster or whomever is far and away the best. 1/2 wave dipole is next and you are likely better off with a pair of rabbit ears then those Magnum Dynalab and Fanfare whip attennae. You can learn a bit about antennae here: Tuner Information Center - Paul's Antenna Attic

until I can climb a pole, what type of rabbit ears for my MR78. Will mostly be listening to PBR. I want something real simple that disappears ie hidden from wife.

[GaryProtein]

Originally Posted by W9TR

Gary,
Google the website of Brian Beezly K6STI. A wealth of FM info. He has a number of homebrew antenna designs, including Peter Korner's massive 19.3.

I just saw this post.

Thank you. I will look into this.

[chessman]

lewdis, welcome aboard!