Sal M. Onella wrote:
"Dave Oldridge" wrote in message
9...
"W. Watson" wrote in
hlink.net:
I have a product called RadioShark that is like Tivo for radio. I'm in
an area where FM is a bit hard to get. I would like to receive at
least one station at 88.7 clearly. There are several in the 88 to 89
range that would do as well. It would be good to have an antenna that
does it. I definitely recall a simple dipole that looks like a T that
is made from some TV lead wire. That's been hooked to an FM rcvr not
far from me, but has never worked to well. Possibly because I have to
mount it on a nearby wall and under a shelf. It seems to me that years
ago that a rabbit ears TV antenna included FM. Certainly the length of
the ears were about right. They seem harder to come by. Something like
a desktop model would be good, since RS is hooked into my computer in
the den. Any suggestions?
Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet
Take 66 inches of twinlead. Bare the ends back about 1.5 inches on each
end and short them. Cut into one side only in the center and bare the
cut wire. Connect it to the 300 ohm input of your tuner with more 300
ohm line, or insert a balun and connect with RG6 coax.
Placement may be as important as antenna design.
... and if your home is like mine (also CA), it's stucco, which has an
internal
supporting wire frame that acts as a shield to RF. Putting the antenna
outside
may be required. Is your listenening room on the same side of the house as
the
transmitter? That would help.
I live in a metropolitan area, so I get away with sloppy and careless.
You
may need to be neat and careful. g
You can buy dedicated multi-element antennas just for the FM band.
http://www.starkelectronic.com/fmpage.htm should get you started if
you take that route.
Yes, I think I will have to drill a hole somewhere and mount the antenna
(Yagi) outside the house. I made a 300 ohm lead antenna and mounted it on a
5' long board, so that I could move it around. It really didn't have any
impact. I had hoped being close to a window would help, but nay. So that I
don't have to mount the antenna on my roof, it seems possible to mount it
some 50' from the house and transmit the signal to the house. I think I've
seen some device like that for office use. They put it in a window, and
distribute the signal inside the office to people who have FM (maybe AM too)
radios. Maybe RShack or SuperCircuits sells them. Don't recall where I've
seen them.
Wayne T. Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
(121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
Obz Site: 39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet
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