Antenna Pix: DIY and Store Bought

loopstick

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Usual disclaimer: looked for thread like this but didn't see one. If one should turn up I'll blow this one away and graft this post onto existing thread. YMMV. Void where prohibited by law. Not available in stores.

Here we have the Winegard HD7084. Put it up years ago for OTA TV but does great job with FM.

tv_fm_zpstzov8ghl.jpg


AM loop was made originally to pick up weak ethnic station far far away. Many people have man caves. Only true nut jobs have antenna caves.

amloop_zpsn9t1cr7k.jpg
 
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loop: i have one like yours under my house (we're on piers), the old owners used it for tv and it has coaxial out. what do you recommend for hooking it up to my marantz 2220b?
 
loop: i have one like yours under my house (we're on piers), the old owners used it for tv and it has coaxial out. what do you recommend for hooking it up to my marantz 2220b?
It just occurred to me that you're referring to some VHF / UHF loop type antenna you want to connect for FM. That should be pretty straightforward. Here's how I couple the loop in the pic to the AM inputs of receivers / tuners:

coupling_loop_zpskdp30kdv.jpg


ambarant_zpsklzo6j3r.jpg


typamloop_zpsprpq6lti.jpg


hookup_zpsrweyga5i.jpg


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Very nice work with the AM loop antennae!

I have built and used loop antennae for LW, MW and SW use. Back in the day you couldn't swing a piece of antenna wire without hitting a nice variable capacitor. :D

Not so much to try and receive now, although I have been using an indoor loop for receiving some of the amateur radio bands since I moved and do not yet have any outside antennae installed and it is way to cold where I am to even think about it.

Again, very nice work and thanks for the pictures.
 
Since cutting the sat/cable cord a few years ago, I hardly ever pass up a chance to show off my antennas!:thmbsp:
 

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Very nice work with the AM loop antennae!

I have built and used loop antennae for LW, MW and SW use. Back in the day you couldn't swing a piece of antenna wire without hitting a nice variable capacitor. :D

Not so much to try and receive now, although I have been using an indoor loop for receiving some of the amateur radio bands since I moved and do not yet have any outside antennae installed and it is way to cold where I am to even think about it.

Again, very nice work and thanks for the pictures.
tnx fer kind wds :thmbsp:
 
A 7 element yagi I built for FM, out of a 367x (some big Channel Master combo antenna).

yagi1.jpg


AM is either a long wire out through the woods or a Grundig AN200. This thing is really pretty good. It's like a 1-antenna phasing system. I can even work around IBOC hash with it.

419ctjD-fTL.jpg
 
2X on the Grundig AN200! Mine gets a CLEAN FM signal from 40+ miles away, across the high plains of east New Mexico. It works much better than my own DIY antenna. I checked the box, having used it for AM in the past - the box said nothing about AM or FM use.
 
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Alrighty, lot's of great antenna pix I run across at AK every day so I'm going to start adding them to this thread with proper credit, etc. Here's one from sKiZo. Maybe somebody can explain what those unusual ones are. :tresbon:

sKiZo_antenna_zpsgqhcnzuu.jpg
 
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Alrighty, lot's of great antenna pix I run across at AK every day so I'm going to start adding them to this thread with proper credit, etc. Here's one from sKiZo. Maybe somebody can explain what those unusual ones are. :tresbon:

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The one on the left is a HF multiband dipole. It's hard to tell what frequency the vertical groundplane antenna might be for.

Noise must be a bear with that dipole broadside to that transformer.
 
Ya, eh ... somebody explain them to me too ... :D

farm-titles.jpg


Also, a Ratshack C band - the original receiver used an atypical LNB design, so I converted it to industry standard and still scan for wild feeds using a Drake combo box.

c-band.jpg


Also have a 14' fiberglass "flying saucer" I salvaged from the neighbors.

flying-saucer.jpg


Leaning up against the fence at the back - I plan to use it for a roof for a gazebo under the trees ... kind of a Pantheon look ... but mostly so I don't wake up covered in bird crap ... I HATE it when that happens! <G>

Not shown, a couple 125 foot long wires set perpendicular. I used to run those into a phasing box so I could get something of an omni coverage from them. Those don't see much action anymore since the DX Ultra went up. That sucker can drag the world in quite nicely ... not many signals can hide from it when conditions are right. It's rated up to 80 meter at 1kW for transmit. They're normally set up as conventional horizontal, but I set mine up as an inverted corner "V" to fit the available space. Very flexible design.

PS ... the power pole is handy for catching the occasional lightning strike. That soaked up a boatload of joules a couple years back - enough to fry the transformer anyway. Only damage to the house was to my shorts ... I was sitting on the porch when it happened, enjoying the storm ...

Noise must be a bear with that dipole broadside to that transformer.

You'd think, but it's really not that bad! Certainly better than the long wires I was using. Pure dumb luck, and it's not like the power company's gonna move their poles if I ask em anyway. I think I get more interference and coupling from the braided steel guy wires on the vertical, but I'm getting too old to be chasing up and down replacing nylon lines, and everything matches up nice. Biggest noise issue I have is with what sounds like a bad insulator on an electric fence ... tick, tick, tick, tick ... tried tracking that down a few times without any luck as it's intermittent, mostly weather related. Doesn't help that it could be anywhere within maybe a 20 mile radius.

PS ... for a sense of scale, the vertical antenna is 60 feet to the top of the radiator ...
 
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Nice antenna farm, sKiZo. I have a pic somewhere of a Winegard BUD I installed. Twice. Good times. I also have the tick-tick-tick of an electric fence, basically the next lot over. It discharges thru weeds thinking they're horses. Real Marconi spark gap stuff with giant radiating loop. :sigh:

But for some reason it doesn't affect vintage gear much, it does chew up portables like SR-III and RF-2200. Anyhoo, here's one I found from sberger, the link is to his post:

sberger_ant_zpsek8xfbjx.jpg


Original post: Finally a roof top antenna!

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Well now ... sxty8goats ... that's different! Add a couple more elements and a switch box and call it a passive omni ...

Made one change here ... swapped out the Magnum ST-2 whip for an Antenna Craft FM-6. The Magnum drags in a LOT more stations, but it misses my favorite college station about 30 air miles out. The FM-6 pulls that in digital and even gets the HD Radio sub-carrier. The ST-2 only captured analog, and that was noisy. Been listening for maybe an hour now and haven't heard ANY distortion, so the HD signal isn't dropping out at all. The FM-6 is the real deal for $22. About 6x6 foot, so not much of a windload, if anybody cares.

antenna-craft-fm6.jpg


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003EB03OA/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(Not sure why Amazon calls it a "70 FM". Maybe something to do with an HD upgrade? Box even says FM-6, and if you do a search for FM-6, this pops up. Anyway. That's the one I got.

Next step I suppose would be to put BOTH up and add a selector switch. I can stack the FM-6 onto my tv antenna mast and put the ST-2 back where it was ... Or just stack the ST-2 over the FM-6. Both FM, but one vertical and one horizontal, so I figure they wouldn't couple too bad if at all ...
 
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