Radio Road

Longish thoughts!

121.127.210.240

This Post Has Been Edited by the Author

In Reply to: RE: FM tuner recommendations posted by OakIris on February 14, 2014 at 12:42:10

Here's the 'executive summary' or 'abstract' - The ROI you will get depends on you (and your SO.) :-)!
You should first determine what's the value to you of a good FM tuner, and a good antenna for/while living in Denver, where your home is. You cannot pay someone to do this for you.
FM esp. in stereo can be a very good source - especially where stations use very little processing and where they do a lot of live acoustic concert broadcasts, or replay them. I record for one such station.
You wrote "most of the radio stations I listen to have a decent signal." ? What does that actually mean, I ask? :-)!
IME a tuner with a tubed front-end has to be driven pretty damned hard to sound really good and with low multi-path* on that quite strong signal. Both aspects point at a directional antenna with gain.
So, the very best reception usually requires a directional antenna with gain aimed at the cleanest - *least reflections! - signal in the air above and around your home. It is also vital that the radio-system is in full-limiting when pointed at any desired station. This a function of how much signal reaches the radio's front-end from each station. I have never heard a tuner in overload JBTWay! ;-)
A longish boom multi-element FM antenna - perhaps with a rotator - may be necessary. The other directional alternative is one or more DIY wire rhombics hidden under carpet or a big rung OR stapled to a large ceiling. A double Rhombic can be arranged / overlaid to give a wider arc than most boom antennas, while still minimising multi-path.
Rhombics also have heaps of gain - once each of the 4 equal sides approach / exceed the ~3m wavelength of FM.
Before you even consider a serious tuner AND what antenna?, you (both?) need to nut out, using say a cheap used SS tuner / the FM Fool web-site / your car radio - WHICH stations in the Denver area are 'truly desired' by you, and where each transmitter/s is/are. In case of more than one txer one will give you the most signal where you are. You may be lucky and find that some stations share a transmitter site/tower.
Then you'll know what you may want to aim at. This lets you list you how many compass bearings there are that are outside an arc of about 15-20 degrees.
Denver is up in the Rockies - mountains are a great source of reflections which cause the problem called *multi-path. *Multi-path signals - even when not grossly audible - will reduce the listen-ability of FM.
I live in Canberra - one of the world's most spread-out capital cities - which is backed into three valleys / bowls of our own Great Divid(e)ing Range - right next to the highest bits called the Snowy Mountains. So Multipath on FM (and ghosting on analog TV) - both due to reflections - could be a big problem for some residents. Like us!
Happy to advise.

Warmest

Tim Bailey

Skeptical Measurer & Audio Scrounger

Edits: 02/14/14

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