My friend wants to know if this FM antenna is worth building for improved reception?
- posted
15 years ago
My friend wants to know if this FM antenna is worth building for improved reception?
"Under $100"! Holy Hannah! How much does wire cost in the USA? Try: "under $5" - and that for the ribbon and plug.
The single element quad depicted is a perfectly worthwhile antenna, but clumsier than a simple half-wave dipole, which is what I would use.
Easier to make and easier to hide. Try it. (DAGS)
-- Jeff R.
Depends on what he is using now. If he has a decent antenna now, the simple one shown will not do much to improve antenna. Also, the one shown is cut for a specific station's frequency.
If he wants to use an indoor antenna there are some amplified models readily available at stores that will probably be better than simple indoor rabbit ears.
I bought one of these in an E-bay auction (
The guy shipped the info promptly and also has very good, clear instructions about how to assemble it.
I have yet to build mine, so I can't comment on how it works but it looks like a simple, fun project and is very affordable.
Hope this helps you.
Lewis.
*****
I'd encourage your friend to spend half an hour building it and decide for himself whether it was worth it.
Some information about how to make one might be helpful.
DAGS = "Do A Google Search"
-- Jeff R.
Well, that's a mix-mash of a full wave loop. It won't do poorly but isn't really any fundamentally better than the folded dipoles that come with most component FM receivers, and in fact it seems to ignore a pretty bad mismatch in feed impedance.
A cheap/free/junk TV antenna pointed in the right direction and mounted high and in the clear will be far superior.
You can build your own Yagi for the FM band if you want. A rather minor metalworking project. Lots of folks use welding rods for antenna elements, although IMHO if you have tubular aluminum that will make the resulting thing weigh less.
Tim.
I built a 3-element Yagi out of coat hanger wire and a broomstick, and hung it from a ceiling, to receive my favorite station, 90 miles away, while located for a while in the middle of nowhere. Aircraft made the signal flutter sometimes, but it worked remarkably well for a crude hack. The 3 elements were tuned for the specific station. The formulas came from the book "Reference data for radio engineers".
Jon
DAGS, clumps of dung stuck to the wool of a sheep
Those are called dingleberries . Or dangleberries , depending ...
Removed compared to *what*? Compared to a built-in antenna in the receiver, or a pair of rabbit-ears, yes. Compared to a serious commercial antenna designed for the FM band on a pole outside the house, probably not.
It is a demi-quad, a good design, but it probably wants to be have the square standing on one edge with the center axis pointing towards the statin. Used indoors, it is both going to take up a lot of people or furniture space, and be too subject to having its field distorted by people and furniture. (Note the advice about putting it in the attic.)
For better results for a single more distant station, a full quad instead of a demi-quad would probably be better. This is two demi-quads sharing a single axis, and spaced apart the same distance as the side dimensions, IIRC.
I helped a friend make one (using bamboo as the rods) in Guyaquil Ecuador many years ago -- but it was tailored for a ham radio band. (Note that the author of the article is a ham.)
Enjoy, DoN.
And the eBay one would be useless for FM radio frequencies. It is for HDTV and UHF TV frequencies -- much higher, and thus much smaller.
Enjoy, DoN.
I didn't know what DAGS meant. I do now.
Sorry Don. I am a presumptuous SOB
-- Jeff R.
He was using that T shaped wire one that comes with stereos and just tried one that's built into a TV rabbit ears. He hasn't tried an amplified one so far. Thanks Karl
He's in an apartment and can't get to the roof. He'd be putting a full size TV antenna up if he could get on the roof. He doesn't have cable TV. Karl
Thanks. I'll forward this thread to him. Karl
Simple ones are just 6' long of twin antenna wire.
Half way down - cut one side and make a connection to a lead of twin wire. So now it looks like a T the bottom wire cut in half and soldered one side to the lead-in wire on each side of it. Then strip the ends of the top 6' length - and fold and solder - shortening the ends.
It now looks like in wire a long loop 6'.
It is directional and you place the length perpendicular to the signal direction.
Useful across the entire band of FM. I used rubber bands looped through themselves and then to string to my corners of the room. One room it was across the window. That was best - over it and out of the way.
That is a 300 ohm antenna. You might need a matching transformer to 75. Those are at Radio Shack.
Mart> My friend wants to know if this FM antenna is worth building for > improved reception?
O.K. The traditional "folded dipole" -- usually made from TV
300-ohm twinlead.
O.K. Then the demi-quad should do better than either of those, especially if he can find a good place to mount it in the right orientation.
Enjoy, DoN.
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