Antenna goes up this week- advice on aiming?

thedelihaus

Nocturnal transmissions
I had to move from my ideal am/fm reception location of boston- being in the city I had great reception- even ran my very modest Technics sa-80 without an antenna and got okay reception. With a cheap ribbon antenna, the reception was great.

Moving 28 miles outside the city, I cannot pull in my beloved college station radio stations- mostly 88.1 and 90.3.

So a cheap Radio Shack FM antenna goes up this week or weekend. Mounting will be to the chimney.

Besides sitting in the living room with tuner, amp and speakers set up, and with a friend up there aiming the antenna as I watch the dial, any recommendation as to tuning the antenna?

Cheers and thanks,

Paul

WZBC-
http://www.wzbc.org/
http://www.zbconline.com/

WMBR-
http://wmbr.mit.edu/
http://wmbr.org/?p=cr
 
Easy to do with a compass, barring severe multipath problems.

Here's a map for 88.1:

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WMBR&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

Here's a map for 90.3:

http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=WZBC&service=FM&status=L&hours=U

Just locate yourself relative to these two transmitters and point your antenna in their direction. The Radio Shack antenna is not highly directional so a few degrees one way or the other shouldn't make too much difference in signal strength.

I used this method for my first, highly directional installation (before rotator) and it worked just fine.

If by chance you're right in between, then an omnidirectional antenna might work or you could get two directional ones and switch between the two. Adding a rotator is the best solution but that's another $60 to $80.
 
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Also, if you are using a directional antenna, the narrow end is the "front" and the wide end is the back. Many people point the back end toward the station that they want to receive thinking that the big end is the front. While it will work somewhat with the signal entering from the rear, certainly better than from the side, there will be a big difference when the narrow front end is correctly pointed at the station. The instructions that come with directional antennas rarely mention this.
A 4 element antenna is directional but not nearly as directional as a 12 element antenna. Consider that the more elements that a narrow bandwidth (limited frequency range as opposed to broadband like a VHF/FM/UHF TV antenna) antenna has the more directional it is, hence the higher it's gain or 'power' is. A smaller antenna covers a wider but shorter area. A larger antenna has a narrow but longer range. Your proximity to the stations that you are most interested in will determine which type is best for you.
 
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Whitehall,

Thanks for the maps. I'm just a bit past the "Distant" range on both the two stations, in the early area of the fringe.

Ultrahog, thanks for the tips as well.

Hopefully the antenna and one of my tuners/receivers will work well with receiving stations- I'm running a Sansui tu-717, a Technics 7600, a Kenwood 7500, and a Pioneer 608 (similiar to a 6800- just a dark-dial version). Receivers are a Technics SA-80 and modern Marantz 4320 and Onkyo Home Theater 502.
 
Yes....definitely worth the $70 to get a rotator with remote control. You can then 'point' your antenna at various stations. Do it now and you'll only have to install this once, rather than twice if you do it later.
 
Hey guys,

How's this thing wire up? I imagine it has to run to a power source, but is it a plug-in unit or is it a hard-wire? And the control- is it a big dial, or as the case with you carl, something remote-controled? And if it's remote controlled, do you need to hang out your window and aim it at the antenna?
 
Occasionally, I have to aim the antenna slightly away from the transmitter-receiver straight line, in order to lower noise. A tuna with a multipath meter helps a lot :D I also sometimes have to aim towards a bounced signal, thanks to mountains behind me, and a four-story brick hospital less than a quarter mile away.
Tom
 
This
is the one I have. You wire the cotrol unit inside the house and then use the hand unit to turn it on, etc.

Carl
 
CarlV said:
This
is the one I have. You wire the cotrol unit inside the house and then use the hand unit to turn it on, etc.

Carl

Same set up I'm using with an APS13.. definately recommended. Although going to the APS I have sync it more often, seem to move and get out of alignment with high wind.

X
 
The difference between the ChannelMaster and the Centronics/Zenith that was critical to me was in the degree of control at the box. The CM unit required the remote control to access the pre-positions while the C/Z unit allowed me to use the box or the remote. Since I have my reading chair within arm reach of my receiver and the rotator control box, I opted for local control. After all, I'll probably lose the remote!

If you normally sit across the room from your gear, then you will be using the remotes in any case and it won't matter as much.
 
Yes.....definitely run coax. RS will sell you the length you need with an F connector on each end. One length is best. And they will also sell yoiu an adapter to attached same to the antenna and your tuner/receiver may well have an F connector on the back (many do). If not, then you will need two of the adapters. They are about $5. RG-6 is generally considered the best and will be about $25/100 ft. Much better than twin-lead. The 'cheap' RS antenna is actually a very good FM specific yagi and is what I use.
 
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