• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Best FM Antenna

S

stevex

Member
Hi, this AK newbie lives in a small town with only one FM radio station. What is the absolute best omni-directional FM outdoor antenna available? And a big plus is if it also has an AM antenna element, but not necessary.
It seems like most of the FM antenna posts here are about 10 plus years old and most of their links no longer work. And hopefully FM antenna technology has improved in the past ten years. I'm presently using a Kenwood KT-8300 which is supposed to be very sensitive but still receives only the one FM station with a small indoor antenna. Your suggestions and opinions are appreciated.
Thank you.
 
Register to hide this ad
Well back in my Day it was either Jerrold Log periodic antennae or Finney Yagi antennae. Winegard was to busy with TV antennae. later on Terk made the best interior antennae. I would start looking at Winegard first The more elements the narrower the pick up pattern and usually two to 4 times the gain of an omni antennae. Make sure the antenna covers from 86 to 110 MHZ radio frequencies.
 
FWIW, I had a KT-8300. It’s a nice tuner. If you have a mast to mount an external antenna, you’d probably be happier with a directional antenna on a rotor, although the omni will be an improvement.
 
gberchin said:
https://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2435/outdoor-omnidirectional-fm-antenna/dp/55W7744
https://www.newark.com/stellar-labs/30-2460/four-element-directional-outdoor/dp/97W3565
Click to expand...
I have both of them, omni and directional, in my attic. The omni was good, but directional was better for a station 24 miles away, and surprisingly was very good for stations off axis and in the opposite direction. Omni has by definition zero gain, the directional has up to 7 dB gain.

Check out my below post on it (under Similar threads) there are links to websites to calculate antenna direction and line of sight between antenna and tower, including the height of both. You can get your gps coordinates from Google earth, and all FM towers will have their gps coordinates listed.

Inside an attic, lightening grounding is generally not needed, but outside you want to make sure antenna is properly grounded, otherwise lightening can follow the cable to your receiver and blow out the FM tuner section.
 
Last edited:
Sandman1221 said:
I have both of them, omni and directional, in my attic. The omni was good, but directional was better for a station 24 miles away, and surprisingly was very good for stations off axis and in the opposite direction. Omni has by definition zero gain, the directional has up to 7 dB gain.

Check out my posts on it, there are links to websites to calculate antenna direction and line of sight between antenna and tower, including the height of both. You can get your gps coordinates from Google earth, and all FM towers will have their gps coordinates listed.

Inside an attic, lightening grounding is generally not needed, but outside you want to make sure antenna is properly grounded, otherwise lightening can follow the cable to your receiver and blow out the FM tuner section.
Click to expand...
very interesting . . . I may have to seriously consider directional as the next nearest city with transmitters is 60 miles away. I'm learning. But how do you use a directional - rotate it 5 degrees, tune through the entire dial, rotate it another 5 degrees, tune through the dial again, then repeat, making note of all radio stations on the dial and their direction? I apologize, but I really am a newbie at some of this stuff. And how hard is it to install an outdoor directional with rotor etc? Do I need to hire a crew or can I with a friend or two install it?

And can non-directional antennas be stacked with Y connections for more db gain, although it would look funny having half a dozen around the perimeter of my house.
 
A directional Stellar Labs antenna is actually very omnidirectional, in one direction it is very good due to forward gain, but is good in most other directions too. I thought what you are thinking, but after I installed it, I got all the stations I wanted that were in other directions, plus better reception on the one distant station that I tuned it to in real time using a Nest camera pointed at my Kenwood KT7500 tuner's signal meter, while I was in the attic looking at the signal strength meter with my phone over WiFi.

Just make sure wherever you mount it, that there are no obstructions in the signal pathway, in particular things made out of metal. Those metal things could include things on your roof, like aluminum flashing, aluminum ridge vents, or a 4'x10' aluminum framed solar hot water panel filled with copper tubing that is filled with water, of course!

It sounds like you just need to point it towards the one town anyway, at 60 miles away you will need elevation to get line of sight, depending on how tall the tower is and the signal strength. There are websites that will tell you how good your reception can be, under optimal conditions, to a given tower.
 
Last edited:
I just found this on another AK post regarding stacking antennas:

" This is done all the time when you live out in the boonies and have stations spread across you in all directions. Personally, I've used the Lindsey products, but Channel Master and Wineguard (to name a few) all have antenna combiners. Insertion loss is minimal compared to the gain of multiple antennas. Just say NO to rotors!! "

To me that sounds like a good way to go.
So what are your thoughts on stacking 3 of these, each pointing in a different direction?
 
Each with its own cable, and then a switch box to select the antenna you want? You need to look into that, I know you want to keep an FM antenna away from anther antenna, like one for TV. Contact Stellar Labs support. But I would start with one, and see how that works first.
 
Of course, there is always internet radio, that is what I use now, much better stereo separation on a bad weather day, and still better on a good weather day, for a distant station.
 
Last edited:
Can antennas be stacked like batteries are stacked in parallel - the result is the same operating voltage but three times the current strength potential?
My internet is down so much . . . is there an internet web site that includes my local radio stations live? My alexa picks up all the major stations but not my local AM or FM stations.
 
stevex said:
Can antennas be stacked like batteries are stacked in parallel - the result is the same operating voltage but three times the current strength potential?
My internet is down so much . . . is there an internet web site that includes my local radio stations live? My alexa picks up all the major stations but not my local AM or FM stations.
Click to expand...
Check on the Radio Garden app, they have a graphical interface (spin the World to your location) that makes it easy to search for a station.

What is the station name and location, I can look.

As for stacking antennas, it sounds like you want to connect them via one cable, if that is the case pretty sure it will not work. Going to need a separate cable for each antenna, that runs to your Tuner.
 
You definitely can stack antennas. You have probably seen stacked folded dipoles on FM or VHF transmitter sites.
Stacking antennas requires proper spacing and cable lengths to allow proper phasing of the received signals. You can find formulas and instructions online, but these antennas at VHF are usually large. A basic yagi would be less complicated and smaller footprint. The front to back rejection can also be a major advantage as well by reducing possible interference from a nearby transmitter.
 
Sandman1221 said:
Check on the Radio Garden app, they have a graphical interface (spin the World to your location) that makes it easy to search for a station.

What is the station name and location, I can look.

As for stacking antennas, it sounds like you want to connect them via one cable, if that is the case pretty sure it will not work. Going to need a separate cable for each antenna, that runs to your Tuner.
Click to expand...
One cable would be nice, but I don't mind having three equal-length cables terminating at the back of the receiver. That would negate any signal out of phase with the other two antennas, correct?

As for stations, this link has all the stations in my area. Most I never heard of or have never been able to pickup with any receiver I have ever owned. I'm only interested in the stations listed in Alturas, not in Cedarville, Reading, etc..

https://radiostationworld.com/locations/united_states_of_america/california/alturas/radio_stations/
Thank you.
 
stevex said:
Can antennas be stacked like batteries are stacked in parallel - the result is the same operating voltage but three times the current strength potential?
Click to expand...
Yes they can. It's called a dipole array. Dunno whether FM in the US is vertically polarized but in the EU it is (car antennas are vertical). You can stack dipoles vertically, say four in-line, so your antenna radiation pattern becomes a disc instead of a donut. There are may excellent antenna books explaining how to stack. HAM radio amateurs (like myself) do it often too. The trickiest part is the distance between the dipoles and the phasing harness to feed them (or rather, get the FM signals to your receiver). You can also build a vertical whip with phasing stubs every half-wave. Again, many designs exist.
 
Bob in WI said:
Buy a good antenna. Mount it as high in the air as is practical. Don't try to get too cute.
There's lots of things you "can" do...... but likely don't need to.
Keep it simple & see how it goes.
Click to expand...
I agree in the kiss principal. But I'd like to pull in as many live stations as possible from surrounding cities. So your first sentence sums up my question - buy a good antenna. But what is considered a good antenna? I just don't know.
 
stevex said:
One cable would be nice, but I don't mind having three equal-length cables terminating at the back of the receiver. That would negate any signal out of phase with the other two antennas, correct?

As for stations, this link has all the stations in my area. Most I never heard of or have never been able to pickup with any receiver I have ever owned. I'm only interested in the stations listed in Alturas, not in Cedarville, Reading, etc..

https://radiostationworld.com/locations/united_states_of_america/california/alturas/radio_stations/
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Zip, nada, on Radio Garden, oh well. You are in the mountains, definitely check to see if you have line of sight with a station you want to get, otherwise you are wasting your time and money.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom