Best indoor FM antenna?
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amptramp
Well-Known Member
It may depend on the space you have and the level of permanence you want but there are and escalating set of possibilities. Many sets come with a dipole made of ribbon cable that can be mounted or left hanging behind the tuner. Going a step up the gain scale, I have an Archer 15-1823 FM rabbit ears antenna that may be adequate for your purpose and is easy to point in the direction of best signal. If you need something with more gain, there are FM antennas that are loosely grouped into directional and omnidirectional that could be mounted in the attic. There are some homebuilt loop antennas and J-pole antennas that are described in other threads in the Tuner subforum. If you live in a metropolitan area like I do (2 km west of Toronto), you may get dozens of stations without having to try all that hard. If you live in an area with few stations, you have to figure out if they are all in one direction or they are scattered around you and that will determine if you need an omnidirectional or unidirectional antenna.
amptramp's suggestions are all good. Bub12349, are you seeking the simplest solution or is there a closet/attic space that's easily accessible to mount an antenna and run the cable to your stereo, in case the rabbit-ears don't work well? Amptramp's last sentence is important in determining your choices.
Bub12349
New Member
I live about 30 miles north of Boston, so I get a lot of stations, at least in my car. I think I'll try dipole first and if that doesn't work well, I'll try rabbit ears. I do have attic space where I could put an antenna. If I went this route, is there a particular product you recommend? BTW I will probably be using a Sansui TU 717 or 719. Thanks!
Car radios often out perform home receivers, but you may have sufficient signal strength with an interior T-type dipole. Your particular receiver or tuner may have a sensitive front-end that gives you good reception with low noise without going outdoors..
There are several antenna suggestions AK members can give you depending on your specifics. Amptramp's mention of trying to get stations from one general direction or several, will determine some antenna choices. Do a Google regarding FM antennas and you will get an idea of what's available. There are no magic 100+ mile, small, indoor, bullets. Nuttin' new here, just the good old laws of physics.
There are several antenna suggestions AK members can give you depending on your specifics. Amptramp's mention of trying to get stations from one general direction or several, will determine some antenna choices. Do a Google regarding FM antennas and you will get an idea of what's available. There are no magic 100+ mile, small, indoor, bullets. Nuttin' new here, just the good old laws of physics.
I'd recommend the Stellar Labs 30-2460 4-element FM antenna for your attic. Mount a vertical mast upside down from the roof rafters/supports and attach the antenna to that. The big box home improvement stores usually have antenna masts (5 foot length I think) in stock and, you can buy a mounting kit there, too (usually). You can source the antenna from Newark Electronics. I actually have two of those antennas in my attic driving two tuners (two different systems) and get great results. Or, you might want to try "You Do-It Electronics Center" in Needham Heights, MA since I see you are in the Boston metro area. I have no idea if they stock FM antennas but I'll bet they have the mast and other items necessary (coax or twin lead and the mounting brackets).
Splatter Pak
High-End Scrounger
I've done well with the Grundig AN200 antenna. I measured the diameter of the coil, counted the coils and determined the antenna is about 900 inches long. The antenna length of a certain brand of popular powered antenna is 2 to 3 inches - I know, as I have taken a few of them apart. The Grundig is good, but these days I'm using the attic antenna that came with the house - haven't even seen it, just used the leads hanging from the garage ceiling...
FauxHall
Super Member
CCrane's. It looks almost like a standard dipole T-cable but it certainly has some magic!
Note that mine do NOT look like the current offering so I can't vouch for it - much thicker cable.
https://ccrane.com/fm-reflect-2-dipole-antenna/
I own two from when I lived in downtown Abu Dhabi. Here in the far boondocks I can get tons of stations in Arabic and Farsi - but not the one I like in Abu Dhabi, 250 km away.
Note that mine do NOT look like the current offering so I can't vouch for it - much thicker cable.
https://ccrane.com/fm-reflect-2-dipole-antenna/
I own two from when I lived in downtown Abu Dhabi. Here in the far boondocks I can get tons of stations in Arabic and Farsi - but not the one I like in Abu Dhabi, 250 km away.
user510
Active Member
I'm in a rural area, apartment. Unable / not allowed to rig an outdoor antenna. What I've tried so far indoors:
Std. dipole antenna as is usually supplied by mfr.s
Folded dipole antenna which does increase gain noticeably. Look it up on the web as to how to create one. Easy mod to a dipole gets it done.
Ribbon antenna as is sold by Magnum Dynalab model SR-100.
Omni-directional single element telescopic antenna as you would use in an old car. (but indoors)
Digital TV/FM antenna as is usually placed against window glass.
Rabbit Ears.
Again, this is indoor use only. Out of doors with the antenna on top of a roof opens up a whole new world...if that is an option explore it. I'd go with a Yagi first try. But you have to aim those. These can also be set up in an attic should you have such access.
Otherwise, most gain and cleanest reception is with the Rabbit Ear setup. With it, it is possible find an angle and length between the two telescopic beams that improves over anything else I've tried so far.
The least gain was the Ribbon Antenna from Magnum Dynalab. Although it wasn't completely useless and in another setting it might just be fine, so I'm not tossing it away. Besides those are not cheap. The Digital antenna does receive analog FM and was useful, I thought. But......Rabbit Ears. Go Rabbit Ears.
-Steve
Std. dipole antenna as is usually supplied by mfr.s
Folded dipole antenna which does increase gain noticeably. Look it up on the web as to how to create one. Easy mod to a dipole gets it done.
Ribbon antenna as is sold by Magnum Dynalab model SR-100.
Omni-directional single element telescopic antenna as you would use in an old car. (but indoors)
Digital TV/FM antenna as is usually placed against window glass.
Rabbit Ears.
Again, this is indoor use only. Out of doors with the antenna on top of a roof opens up a whole new world...if that is an option explore it. I'd go with a Yagi first try. But you have to aim those. These can also be set up in an attic should you have such access.
Otherwise, most gain and cleanest reception is with the Rabbit Ear setup. With it, it is possible find an angle and length between the two telescopic beams that improves over anything else I've tried so far.
The least gain was the Ribbon Antenna from Magnum Dynalab. Although it wasn't completely useless and in another setting it might just be fine, so I'm not tossing it away. Besides those are not cheap. The Digital antenna does receive analog FM and was useful, I thought. But......Rabbit Ears. Go Rabbit Ears.
-Steve
AmadeusMozart
Well-Known Member
As an old HAM I suggest a Quad - stick it in front of a window. A quad picks up less noise from the house - every little bit helps.
https://skegnessdx.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-infamous-faulkner-fm-loop-antenna.html
https://pa0fri.home.xs4all.nl/Ant/Quad/quadeng.htm
https://skegnessdx.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-infamous-faulkner-fm-loop-antenna.html
https://pa0fri.home.xs4all.nl/Ant/Quad/quadeng.htm
dinger
Active Member
Is your rabbit ears 300 ohms? Are you using a twin lead connection or converting to 75ohm?
user510
Active Member
300 ohms with a coaxial 75 ohm converter added on. Then coax into the Carver TX-11b tuner. The rabbit ears are of the type that install into a fixture
https://www.ebay.com/itm/291503479620?hash=item43def61b44:g:nSwAAOSw9N1Vjl06
like in the above link. I think I got my sample from Amazon for about $20. the ebay seller in the above link is asking a very high price for what I bought.
The caveat is that I had to provide my own base/stand to hold the antenna upright. So I did my own 3D print of a base to hold it. Still working on details so no photo of the working setup as yet. Soon, though.
And I should mention that even though I am seeing more gain (unamplified) than with my folded dipole which is almost as good. I'm still having issues pulling in the one station that should come in clean but does not. K214FI Raymond, Wa. The transmitter is a 19 watt omnidirectional whip up on top of a cell tower and is within 3 miles of me. I have a direct line of sight to it, but there is interference, sounds like cross talk coming from another broadcast. Possible the fault is with the broadcaster (KNKX, Tacoma, Wa.). sigh. I want that jazz they play but....
-Steve
https://www.ebay.com/itm/291503479620?hash=item43def61b44:g:nSwAAOSw9N1Vjl06
like in the above link. I think I got my sample from Amazon for about $20. the ebay seller in the above link is asking a very high price for what I bought.
The caveat is that I had to provide my own base/stand to hold the antenna upright. So I did my own 3D print of a base to hold it. Still working on details so no photo of the working setup as yet. Soon, though.
And I should mention that even though I am seeing more gain (unamplified) than with my folded dipole which is almost as good. I'm still having issues pulling in the one station that should come in clean but does not. K214FI Raymond, Wa. The transmitter is a 19 watt omnidirectional whip up on top of a cell tower and is within 3 miles of me. I have a direct line of sight to it, but there is interference, sounds like cross talk coming from another broadcast. Possible the fault is with the broadcaster (KNKX, Tacoma, Wa.). sigh. I want that jazz they play but....
-Steve
Vinyl Rules!
Well-Known Member
IMHO the Stellar 4-element antenna is the best solution. If you want something better than rabbit ears, look for a used BIC Beam Box FM-10 antenna.
https://swling.com/blog/2021/07/the-beam-box-model-fm-10/
You can find some on eBay.
https://swling.com/blog/2021/07/the-beam-box-model-fm-10/
You can find some on eBay.
user510
Active Member
Oh yeah. The Fisher.
That is nice looking up on top. Magnum Dynalab SR100 -- an antenna that looks like art. I'm keeping mine, for sure. In a lot of ways it gives some of the flexibility of rabbit ears. Pull up on the central ribbon and the rabbit ears shrink. Push down on the central ribbon and the rabbit ears grow. Find a configuration that brings in the best gain.
Fwiw, I was complaining about reception in my area. Today there's more to it:
the station is KNKX ( in my area I find the call sign of it to be K214FI - FM 90.7). It's transmitter is listed as being within 2 miles of downtown Raymond. And I was getting a bunch of interference. Cross talk. Like another broadcaster was over-powering it. So I spent some quality time on the web and came up with some interesting info. First, using radio-locator.com I was able to pull up some data on the particular transmitter that we citizens of Raymond must listen to if we want to hear this station. Info such as a coverage map, and I was definitely well within the transmitter coverage. The transmitter itself is listed as being 19 watts. Hmmm, not too much horsepower. Also I found a number for its elevation (1247 feet above sea level) and I then knew that the transmitter was above me. Then this data sheet also listed the location of the transmitter in Lat/Long.
Knowing the Lat/Long I was able to look it up on Google Earth and home in directly to the tower that carries this puny little tranmitter. And guess what.....! The Google Earth view let me know that the tower was one I could see from my balcony. I have a direct line of sight to the transmitter yet there was this interference. Hmmmmm
So, in a closet I have an old Channel Master Yagi style antenna still in its box. I pulled it out onto my balcony hooked up the 300 ohm clips to the folded dipole and ran a converter/coax from it directly to my tuner. Then I pointed the Yagi at that tower. And the result was........no change. Sill lots of interference. That told me that the fault was not at my end. Either there was an equipment malfunction or another signal was over-powering that puny little transmitter. Not my fault.
So next step was to get in touch with the broadcaster which is located in Tacoma, Wa. I surfed to their website and found the email for making contact with the station. info@knkx or some-such. And I described my experience in that email to them much as I have here in this post. That was two days ago.
Last night it was near midnight and I thought to try the station again. Ahhhhh, nice clean undistorted jazz in the night. Today its a rainy and cool day in Raymond. But the Jazz from FM 90.7 is coming in nice and clean. Somebody must have heard me. All they gotta do is play that jazz for me and I'm so much better.
-Steve
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user510
Active Member
Update: 6/30/'22
The reception is muddied up again and as described in post #17 this thread. No changes made at my end. Still listening with indoor antennae. A collection of different devices, but for now....the rabbit ear antenna brings in best gain. Several other stations come in clean. KNKX FM 90.7 in Raymond (K214FI - FM 90.7) has problems with its local transmission.
-Steve
The reception is muddied up again and as described in post #17 this thread. No changes made at my end. Still listening with indoor antennae. A collection of different devices, but for now....the rabbit ear antenna brings in best gain. Several other stations come in clean. KNKX FM 90.7 in Raymond (K214FI - FM 90.7) has problems with its local transmission.
-Steve
ConradH
Lunatic Member
There is all sorts of complicated maths used to design antennas. The first assumption is the antenna will be far from any objects so as soon as you put it inside all bets are off. The best inside antenna is the one that gives you the best results, and that's often a simple dipole as shown above. You might do better by buying something, but just as likely not. I'd get some wire and try the various designs you can find with a search. OTOH, wire prices are up and some of the antennas are really cheap!
https://www.rfcafe.com/references/r...-television-antenna-radio-news-april-1947.htm
https://mikestechblog.com/build-an-indoor-fm-antenna-with-these-plans/
https://www.rfcafe.com/references/r...-television-antenna-radio-news-april-1947.htm
https://mikestechblog.com/build-an-indoor-fm-antenna-with-these-plans/
