I live in a rural area and I would like to pick up a few more radio stations on the AM/FM radio that I have out in my shop. The radio has two terminals for antenna connections on the back and they're labeled "F" and "G". What would be a good antenna design to pick up a few more stations?

 

Do you have an outside TV antenna? Most TV antennas today are also set up to pick up FM.

 

I used to work with a bunch of electrical engineers, and they always told me that FM is a 1 meter wavelength, so you need a 1 meter long antenna. Anything more or less will not be optimum. They also went on and on about how the FM signal is line of sight only, and will act the way AM does. There was also some talk about "bounce back" from clouds that could improve reception, but by then my eyes were glazing over.

 

Actually the wavelength at 100 MHz is 3 meters; at 88 MHz, it is 3.4 meters. Multiples of those length will work best, fractions also obviously work. 3.2 gigaherts is about 1 meter wavelentgh and is definitely a 'line of sight frequency' meaning it acts like light and if you can't see the source you probably won't get much of a signal.

 

In the days before cable and satillite signal service we used to build a 1 mtr. log
or element antenna by coil winding raw copper wire on a piece of 3" ABS pipe.

In rural areas with little FM reception more than 50 mi from the source these could be mounted with a rotor to be aimed at the desiredresource and worked well to pull in those stations that were out of reach .

These could also be purchased at retail outlets like Radio Shack etc. at one time
as "log antennas" but I recently looked for one for our camp and found I could no longer find them any place . Wish I had not scrapped the ones we had in my haste to move into the new information age .

 

I would run over to Radio Shack and check out the selection of TV antennas. I know for sure the top of the line model has an excellent FM antenna integrated into the design. Add a nice rotator under that antenna, and you can physically turn the antenna to get the best gain from the station you want. You will need some 300ohm antenna wire(the old-fashioned flat stuff) also to bring the signal down from the roof. The setup I am describing cost me about 300 bucks in 1989. You may be able to get a basic setup for under 150.00 these days. It is well worth it, and comes in a box all ready to go.
I just searched Radio Shack .com my old antenna is still available: the model is VU 190 XR it is a great antenna, I used it as a last resort before caving in and buying cable. I live around Philadelphia, PA and used it to get some New York channels clearly. It really helped bring in the distant FM stations too.
Serch the web for Radio Shack, everything about antenna's is displayed, described,and priced.

 

GO HERE

It may deal with the issue of where to point your dipole antenna, and how. It doesn't cover AM and FM stations, but they may have links to a place that does.

It's a huge help in locating "OFF AIR" (non-satellite) TV stations in your area. They have a search thingy that allows you to find out what you can get based on your address, and where to point it. One page after the list, is a map that shows where best to centerline the antenna.


~Wolf

 

I went to that web site and they want way too much information about you just to tell you which way to turn your antenna.

 

I have the same problem.I tried hooking up two FM antennas together and it didn't help a thing.Now, if I hold the antenna I get great reception.I have a hard time getting anyone to relieve me.I am not sure what type of antenna would work best.Radio Shack would probably be a good place to start.Good Luck!

 

This may seam a bit crude, or goofy, but it worked for me. I had a detached garage where I used to live and had the same problem since I live 3 miles outside of nowhere. What I did is went to Mall-Wart and bought one of those indoor plug in type antenea for TV's. hooked it up to my stereo and set it outside on a box when I was working in the garage. It worked great! I could pick up radio stations from Chicago like they where next door. Make sure you bring it inside and unplug it when your not using it because I am sure they cant handle the weather to well.

BTW the antenna I bought was only like $25.00.

 

To be frankly honest - the best unit I ever found was a flatwire "DIPOLE" antenna from whatever local store had one.

I connected it, turned the radio on, turned it this way, that way, and listened to what the radio did. When I found the right direction - I stuck it to the wall with thumb tacks. (whichever one faced closest to the right way)

It helps if the radio or reciever is near a corner of the room....

(Yes - I could have said that in the first place, I was hoping someone would find an FM specific antenna site. I'm a LAZY puppy)

By the way: Mounting it by running it out a window and putting it on an outside wall facing the right direction can eliminate wall wiring and other interference, giving you a stronger input signal (tip of the day), but not all of us have that option.


~Wolf

PS: You can build an "Antenna Tree" with supports for more than one antenna facing in different directions - and connect them all at the same two screws on the back of the radio. I'd make it out of PVC pipe, personally.
Drive a two inch piece in the ground, or mount it somewhere, then add lathe strips by using U-bolts to spread the dipoles. You can point them any direction you want by listening to the channel, then lock them down by tightening the bolts.

Paint it FORD blue...

 

Don't hook multiple antennas up in parallel, the impedence will be wrong. Connect multiple antennas through couplers, so the impedence will be right.

 

A good transmit antenna also makes a good receive antenna, but we aren't talking CB...

The AM part of your stereo probably has a torid bar with multiple wraps of wire built inside to catch part of those huge waves as they go by. Not much you can do there, without tearing the stereo apart - and even then the AM signal probably wouldn't be improved much. If you have a metal roof or insulation with foil backing, try moving the radio close to a window.

Now for the FM, you have a cheap and easy fix. Like already posted, a dipole is the way to go and like Bob stated, (Hi Bob!), your impedence is important. When figuring antenna length you have to factor in the feed line you are using. This is called the velocity factor.

For what you are doing, I would go down to radio shack, (or any place local that might have it), and buy some of the old 300 ohm twin lead TV cable. You know the stuff, it was used to hook up your TV antenna before coax came around. Doesn't cost much and you'll only need enough to get up under the eves of the shop roof.

Now, to make just a single wire dipole that everyones talking about, you would need a balun at the stereo connected to some 75 ohm TV coax and then hooked up to the antenna with another balun to get the impedence right. Or you could use the, kind of rare, 72 ohm twin lead.

With the 300 ohm twin lead we don't need to do that, just make a folded dipole.

(This is real simple.)

From the twin lead cable cut a piece that's 4' 10" long. This short piece is going to be your actual antenna and will be tacked up someplace horizontally like under an eve, the higher the better.

Now, on each end of this short piece strip back 1/2" inch of the outer jacket. Each end will have two bare wires sticking out. Twist these two wires together on both ends and solder.

Take a measuring tape and find the exact center of the antenna. Should be about 2' 4 1/2" or 2' 5", but whatever it is after twisting the ends find it.

At this point, take one of the wires of the twin lead at the center and snip it. You can take your pocket knife cut along the wire about an inch on both sides of the cut. Then strip 1/2" off both of these wires. Your antenna is done - almost.

Take one end of your long twin lead and strip back 1/2" off the end. Twist and solder each of these wires to the two wires you just stripped on your antenna. Electrically you should have a big loop of wire that looks like a "T".

Seal it and mount the thing up high and run the other end to your stereo. You should be able to pick up the stations now.

This is the same type of antenna you get coiled up with a new stereo, ( the thing than ends up thrown away with the box, because they don't make the feedline long enough and nobody wants a "T" over the stereo.)

Then, there's always XM $$$ radio.

 

A di-pole antanna is in order for you. I think Radio Shack sells them (or they used to)

 

to determine how long you need your antenna, you need to find the amplitude of the signals. from wave crest to valley. Not wavelength...