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I realize that outdoor antennas are much preferred, but that is not something I want to deal with until the weather gets warmer and I can work outside to install it - and it COULD b that I don't even need an outdoor antenna. I have also read that you can make a Rhombic antenna (thank you for the info, Timbo); this may be something I will do in the future. As a starter antenna, however, I am considering getting an indoor rabbit ear antenna for my yet-to-be-determined FM tuner. They are pretty inexpensive; I've seen them as low as about $5.00. (I don't really want to spend more than about $50 on an indoor antenna.)
There is one on the FMDXAntenna site that claims to be the 'be all and end all' of indoor antennas; I have linked it below. Here is a quote from their description: "This simple FM antenna design is the best indoor FM antenna available at any price." (Well, naturally, they aren't going to say it sucks!) Does anyone have any experience with this antenna? If so, is it worth the price or will the <$10 rabbit ear antennas do just as well?
On the other hand, is there a different kind of indoor antenna I should look at?
Holly
Follow Ups:
I have a few of the FMDX indoor antennas and I like them quite a bit. They are definately better than the cumbersome dipole. For the money, you can't go wrong. Of course a roof antenna is ultimately the way to go.
Remember the good old days when you can just go to a Radio Shack store and come home with an indoor or outdoor antenna.
I don't know if you must order online or they have in-store stock, but I would suggest their Terk antenna or their amplified indoor antenna.
I have one of their amplified indoor antennas (older model) and it has been handy in a pinch that I don't have to tack up a dipole to a wall to get reception.
Crummy reception but the tunable/amplified feature is very handy (on my unit). I got better reception from a whip with balun that I stuck to the ceiling and now I have a full Yagi up on the roof.
Radio Shack does still sell antennas, though looking at their website, the majority of them are only available on line. They need to change their name to Cell Phone Shack or something; they definitely aren't focused on radios, or even general electronics, any more! And who knows if there will even be a local Radio Shack store available when they are done with their downsizing.I was surprised to read that you have had luck with some of the amplified antennas, including those by Terk; most of the things I have read about such antennas have been negative, along the lines of "don't waste your money." I did have a Terk antenna that I tried with a stand-alone tube radio that I have, but it didn't seem to do a thing for the reception, the radio could pick up just as many stations with no antenna at all, and maybe even sounded better.
I am hoping that my pair of vintage RCA rabbit ears will do the trick for me; I will find out this weekend. :-)
Holly
Edits: 03/13/14
I recently read a review of the Terk FM50 Pro in The Audio Critic (I think it was issue 25). Peter Aczel can be a crank, but he knows alot about radio and did all the testing himself with a variety of tuners. His review was quite positive. Also, the reviews of this antenna on Amazon are mostly very positive. On the strength of this, I ordered one but don't have it yet. It can be used indoors or outdoors and has a 'power injector' accessory which some users reported they did not need.
I have been using a Terk AF-1 AM/FM indoor antenna for a few years. It is better than nothing, but not by much. I wasn't surprised to see the lousy reviews of it on Amazon.
I live in a community with a neighborhood association which frowns on rooftop antennas, among other things. I'd rather not get hassled by them.
It does NOT get a mention in the AC review of indoor antennas. I looked.The two issues V23 and 24 that covered FM showed a very good understanding of what matters to good FM reception. They did not much like the very sophisticated RF-amplifier they did review when added after a small indoor antenna.
If you want good FM reception you have to accept that the wavelength at 100Mhz is 11 feet.
Physics.
Holly, buy some rabbit ears.
Warmest
Tim Bailey
Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger
Edits: 04/22/14
...starting on page 55. I mis-spoke regarding which issue it was in.
Here's the link.
Edits: 04/23/14
It is about time.
Its usefulness for Holly will depend on her/his willingness to re-aim it at each station.
I note that you can turn the RF amplifier off. I'd be willing to bet it will sound better on lots of stations.
RF amplifiers at the antenna are a good way of coping with cable network losses but only downstream of a good antenna with more gain than a dipole. They are not a brilliant idea for a not so good antenna.
The tuner is not as important as the antenna.
Warmest
Tim Bailey
Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger
No, Timbo! Don't give in! keep up the good fight against the free lunchers. At RF size does matter. Aczel laments that the antenna needs to be turned. Oh the pain of directive gain :) Hard to believe that Terk would/could build a preamp competitive with the front ends in most tuners. We've all dreamed of the cute little high gain antenna. (To be sure, I know you know, but for others, antennas are generally passive, their gain is derived from their size and shape. Having recently retired from a career that started with designing satellite antennas, I'm sitting here listening to my Scott 310 E through an APS-13 pointed at Boston. Enjoying it but missing work, too. The DSP age has allowed degrees of freedom we never could achieve with analog means. We've seen a few examples of software-derived radio that do cool things while finding new problems as well. Getting enough dBm at your FE is still where its at. As you say you can't ignore the physics!
Regards to all,
Jim
P.S.to all in general If something works for you that defies conventional wisdom, great! Invest some organic clock cycles at trying to figure out why. Aye, there's the rub...
Edits: 04/28/14
Just wondering if the Terk FM50 Pro antenna lived up to your expectations, unlike the AF-1 antenna you tried out. I'm still in the market, though I now have a couple of 'rabbit ear' type antennas; like your prior experience with the AF-1, they are "better than nothing but not by much."
Holly
Holly, I did not get the FM50 Pro. I bought a Britta omni-directional (non powered) Loop antenna and put it my attic. I have had good results with this one, better than the Terk AF1 by a considerable margin. I did try the Terk AM Advantage antenna. It did absolutely nothing for me so I returned it (to Amazon).
I now have a C Crane twin ferrite loopstick AM antenna. It does strenghten AM signals considerably and works to a certain extent. But signals from weak, distant stations still come in with noise, but are now stronger. I may need to have my tuner aligned.
Andy
Oh! In your previous post you said that you had ordered the FM-50 from Amazon per the reviews you had read, so I thought that was what you ended up with. lol
Thank you for the info about your experience with the Brita antenna thus far; I sure wish I had an attic, that would make things so much easier! I imagine I will eventually end up getting an outside antenna so I have added this one to my wishlist. :-)
Holly
Holly, I don't remember all the particulars, but I think I cancelled the FM-50 and went with the Britta instead.
There is a writeup on the FM-50 in the Audiocritic,, online volume 23 or 24. Peter Aczel was very enamored with it. And he is in a position to know alot about FM reception. I'm not 'dissing' the FM-50, but I decided to try an attic mounted Britta instead. The FM-50 may work very well indeed for you, mounted in your living room or elsewhere. It can also be placed in an attic, if you ever have one. Note that the Terk is directional, while the Britta is not. This was a factor in my decision. The Britta is small, and maybe you could place it in your living room.
Best,
Andy
Edits: 04/11/14
hmmm - didn't think it would work just in my living room, but that is an idea. I have pretty high ceilings too - kind of a cathedral design in the '50's ranch style house so I could put it up as high as possible....
Good point about directional vs omnidirectional; I need to make that decision too. Really, first things first - I need to find a tuner I fall in love with and then decide upon the best antenna for it in particular. I may first try just making a dipole or rhombic antenna to see if either of those will work for me instead of throwing a lot more money at antennas.
Holly
You could fall in love with the MR78 tuner that I currently have on offer with Ebay. Just a suggestion.
:^ )
My ebay ID is andyo5. It is very lovable, but I have moved in the direction of automation vs. absolute capability.
:-D I am quite sure I would love the MR 78, but my wallet would divorce me for lack of funds; I am afraid that I don't have near that amount of spare cash to spend on a tuner (or anything else, for that matter.)
I have read wonderful things about that McIntosh tuner model; I don't imagine it will remain for sale for very long, some happy and lucky radio fool will snap it right up!
Holly
I completely understand. Mac tuners are nice, but expensive. Of the few FM tuners still available in the new US market, I'd probably go with one of the NAD tuners shown on the attached link. They are both budget minded and made by a quality company. Maybe you could find a used one on Ebay.
I hadn't considered NAD - I had been concentrating on tube tuners, actually, but do have some solid state tuners on my list. I will definitely look into the NAD tuners; thank you for the suggestion!
Holly
Oh, OK. I dfid not realize that you were looking at vintage tuners.
If multipath rather than week stations is your problem, then a BIC Beambox might do the trick. They are getting tougher to find because it has been a while since they made them, but when you do find them, they are dirt cheap. I think I paid $2 for mine. I don't think they even knew what it was at the thrift store.
Dave
If I could find one for that price, I would buy one too!
I don't know what sort of problems with reception my tuner will have because I don't have the tuner yet. I think I am going about this backwards - I need to get the tuner first and then see what sort of antenna I will need according to what problems the tuner does or does not have with picking up the stations I want. lol - that would help me with knowing what antenna connections I have to work with, too.
I still want to find out what my options are, though, so thank you for the information about the BIC and its ability to sort out multipath issues.
Holly
I don't think you are at all. The best tuner in the world will always benefit from a better antenna, one which is capable of de-tuning multipath.
That being said, get yourself the rabbit ears ($9 on Amazon) and you'll have an adjustable (easier than a dipole on a stick, I would say) antenna to use when you finally score a tuner. You can always upgrade the antenna at your leisure.
And unless money is very tight, you should be able to find some very good tuners for very little money. I found a Yamaha T-80 tuner for $35. While not my best sounding tuner, it's got great RF performance, and the ability to fine tune stations. If that's not enough for you, it's great for breaking in (if you believe in such things) interconnects and tone-arm wire!
Good luck.
Thank you for the encouragement, 1973shovel. I think I can get the rabbit ears locally - Best Buy even carries a promising version - and a very nice fellow-inmate is going to send me some tuners for me to audition in my system, so I may be giving a tuner its forever home soon! :-D
Holly
Looks as if no one yet has an opinion on using rabbit ears in general or about the antenna I linked in my original post in specific. I can't find any reviews about it, either. Why won't someone make up my mind for me! lol I will probably just have to experiment for myself once I have a tuner with which to experiment.
Holly
on the floor you could orient the dipole more easily to different transmitters.
The pattern of a dipole is a figure 8 when viewed from above, the axis through the 8 being what you point at the transmitter or strongest reflection
IME a dipole on a strip is fine when there's just one transmitter site or a main direction for most transmitters.
Warmest
Tim Bailey
Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger
That's kind of why I like the idea of the rabbit ears - you can move them around easily, given a long enough cable length, to find the best reception for various stations. Obviously an outdoor antenna with a rotator would be much better, but rabbit ears may be all that I need.
Holly
Save your money! Build a folded dipole out of 300 ohm twin lead and tape it to a broom stick or strip of wood. The wooden support allows the antenna's orientation to be easily manipulated.
IMO, everybody in this hobby should be capable of tackling this kind (elementary) of DIY project. To that end, should you not already own soldering equipment, acquire a 25 - 30 W. pencil and 63/37 tin/lead rosin core solder. I've provided a link to construction methodology. The page shows taped connections. Solder the connections to obtain better reliability.
Eli D.
I do prefer the rabbit ear for ease of use, stability in that it retains its set "direction". Fooling with a dipole mounted to a broom stick is a PITA
ET
.........
Would that antenna work as well as a DIY dipole ?
It sure looks nicer than a broomstick :)
It is a dipole so would work as well with some small variables.
ET
Thank you for the link, Eli. I have the tools to make the antenna, would need to get some supplies together, but I am not quite ready to take this on right now. I have a few other projects going right now that take precedence over making an antenna, and need to get an antenna very soon as I have a chance to audition some tuners in my own system within the next week or so if all goes as planned. :-)
Holly
I have tried rabbit ears and the Magnum Dynalab extender type aluminum strip antenna. The latter is better, although not optimal by any means. The Magnum Dynalab whip antenna is not much better; not worth the extra cost. If your signal is weak, there really is no alternative to a roof or attic antenna.
Neal
Thank you for your response, Neal. I realize an indoor antenna is not ideal, but I don't have an attic and I am hoping that the rabbit ears antenna I just purchased (vintage RCA) will work for me. The stations I listen to are local and have good signals.I will find out this weekend - received my new FM tuner yesterday (an Eico Classic 2200,) but have to do some rearranging to fit it on my equipment rack; I am going to wait until Saturday to do this.
If the rabbit ears antenna is inadequate, I will look into my outside antenna options, but installation will have to wait for warmer weather. :-P
Holly
Edits: 03/12/14
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