Build yourself a better indoor FM Aerial

[analogadikt]

Thank you Damien. 

Regards,

[decanterlime]

Hi Mark,

I'm resurrecting this old thread in the hope that it might solve my loss of FM stereo.  I currently have a vertical half dipole in the loft.  It has worked OK but lately the 'stereo' light on my tuner is often not lit.  The fact that the sound is good and the stereo light sometimes comes on suggests that the problem might be signal strength.  Before I dive into the tuner (or pay someone competent to dive into it), I was going to try a better aerial. 

We're reasonably near to Sutton Coldfield so should get a decent signal.  Unfortunately, the Wrekin (1000-foot lump of rock and soil) stands between me and the transmitter.

You say your aerial is a 44-inch wooden cross with the wires held in half-inch cut-outs.  Are there any resistors or other components involved, or do you just make a loop of wire and connect one end to coax 'live' and the other to the sheath ?  I'd be grateful for any advice you can offer before I start making sawdust and wire offcuts.

Many thanks,
Dave

Hi Dave,
sorry for the very late reply...I have not seen this thread for a while. No other electronic components but for a 75 Ohmn adaptor/connector and enough insulated 1 pipe wire. One tip is to get the wire taunt as possible the better. I placed my aerial behind the dresser in the end unsightly but effective thing it is!
Mark

[hatehifi]

Perhaps  l can help you guys out. One of my other hobbies is FM Dxing, and l have been  a member of the British DX Club for over 30 years.

ln regards to  a square loop, the correct measurement  is 30 x 30 inches
this makes for a good antenna  that has good nulls, and slightly more gain than dipole.

Here is a link to guide

http://skegnessdx.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-infamous-faulkner-fm-loop-antenna.html?m=1

Spitters, will reduce the signal gain.
TV antenna are totally the wrong frequency, and if you do see an improvement
it's down to location on your antenna, rather than performance.

Dipole should be cut at 29.5 inches for each
element.

Think about location of your antenna, the window if often
best place in a room. Naturally outside is better again, the higher
generally the better

l spent many hours of my youth, playing with antennas,
sometimes, if you don't have a sensitive tuner, and you can't improve reception,
you should consider changing to a more sensitive tuner.

If l can help anyone, l would be happy to assit

Damien

Thanks Damien! I’m a tuner fetishist (harman TU9600) and will try the design ASAP. Presently using an active ‘Cobra’ one.

Cheers!

[frothy]

this is one of those threads that need resurrecting every once and awhile.
Recently picked up a receiver for some tunes in the shop, FM reception was spotty....concrete block walls, below grade, very busy space with tool boxes and cabinets.
 Made a dipole antenna using a run of cheap speaker wire (20ga.?) following "best dimensions" given from my reading, hung it vertically from floor joist. Reception got better, more stations, signal strength stronger...it just left me hungrier for more.
 After finding this thread I proceeded to build one of these square jobbie units using again "best dimensions" as given in thread (30") a side pulled tight.
 My intentions were to place it outside from basement window and hang somewhere, to see how it performed I hung it from the ceiling in centre of shop







Pretty darn good reception, signal strength strong, after leaving receiver on for 4-5 hrs. found very little drift with signal position and strength,
I let the ant. twist slowly and stopped it at best position....still some positioning to check out, but thrilled so far and dirt cheap.
Thanks guys great info here.
regards frothy

'

[SteveM]

Nice but how is the FM sound quality chez vous Marcus?

My antenna & FM setup has gone thru some changes this century, even set the FM aside for a few years about a decade ago.
When I put the tuner back online I was extremely disappointed with what I heard and I thinks it's gotten even worse since then.
A buddy confirmed it wasn't my tuner as FM sucks in his setup too.
How bad is it? I do have a 30ft (10m) tower but I recently disconnected the FM from it in favor of better TV reception.
An internet search couldn't pull up any info about this lowered SQ.

Economics I guess.

[Colin_EJJ]

This looks excellent. I used to have one of those Ron Thingamy aerials when I had a Naim 02 tuner (Ron Thingamy was much promoted by Naim). The house is wooden but we're on a hill and after high winds I didn't fancy retrieving the aerial from the nearest field, so it went in the loft. The aerial was huge and made navigating the loft rather tricky. I eventually got rid of it, got rid of the Naim, messed around for a bit …

And then got a second-hand Arcam Delta 80 tuner which (1) sounds nearly as nice as the Naim, (2) uses a decent dipole aerial mounted outside and receives just as good a signal.

But this cheapie looks very enticing for some experimentation.