Indoor antenna options?

[Chandos]

So, I was doing some digging in the garage and I found an kenwood XT-80 sitting in a long forgotten corner. I mean this thing was covered in dust and I have no idea where it came from.

Anyway, I decided to hook it up and see how it sounded, I love the sound I am getting from it but the reception is just alright.

I have a 6 foot dipole antenna, suspended down from the roof right now, and I have done a bit of searching on Google, It seems 6 feet is the optimal length for an FM dipole.

Was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on things I could do to improve reception.

 

[motorstereo]

A dipole is about is good as it gets indoors. Mount it up as high as possible for it to work as good as it can.

I was recently reading an article about indoor antennas in my stereo review collection. Surprisingly the simple dipole actually worked better in their tests than the beam box and the other gimmicky indoor jobs.

 

[Stonerboy779]

ATM I am using 8feet of 16awg speaker cable for perfect reception haha mind you never had any issues with reception in my house.

Are you currently experiancing unsatisfactory FM quality?

 

[Chandos]

I wouldn't say the quality is unsatisfactory just the range at which I can pick up stations. I don't know much about radio theory, Could I use a set of say 6 dipoles connected in parallel or series?

 

[Pyrrho]

You should just use one. A dipole antenna receives stations best when the signal is coming perpendicular to the top of the "T". That is, for example, if you have the antenna stretched east to west, it will pick up stations north and south the best.

 

[Resident]

I have a Kenwood KR 5150 that picks up statios unbelievably well with its simple dipole antenna. Most are at least 20 miles from my location to boot.

I would say though best is as high and flat as you can get it.

 

[McBru6177]

Try placing a pair of basic rabbit ears in the attic and run some coaxial cable between the walls to your tuner. I tried this and my FM signal is full strength with no variation.

 

[Chandos]

I have a Kenwood KR 5150 that picks up statios unbelievably well with its simple dipole antenna. Most are at least 20 miles from my location to boot.

I would say though best is as high and flat as you can get it.

I think I am just expecting too much then, I can pick up stations at least 30-35 miles away with pretty decent reception.

 

[ConradH]

I've had great results from this indoors, but I wouldn't build it quite the same way. I made some horizontal strips of wood with holes in the ends, then hung a V of wire down to a coax connector, and then another inverted V from the shield to an identical piece of wood. The whole thing isn't all that big and can be hung from the center of the upper wood strip. You can see from the graph that it doesn't do as well as a dipole in the middle of the band, but outperform it at the ends. It can be built in an hour or two from next to nothing.

 

[Chandos]

Thanks for this, I'll take a look at it in the morning looks like it requires too much thinking for this hour of the night.

 

[motorstereo]

I think I am just expecting too much then, I can pick up stations at least 30-35 miles away with pretty decent reception.

Placed right those simple dipoles will work quite well. I have mine set up upstairs as high as possible and it picks up stations in stereo from 70 miles away.

 

[mrbruce]

Also take a look at "Cheap easy homebrew antenna WORKS" thread in the Tuners forum. Several people, including me, have built antenna that can produce better results than the dipole, at a low cost. I do agree with others, that the dipole is surprisingly good as well as uncomplicated.


FYI - I would welcome anyone's directions on how to link to a specific thread and/or post, versus me having to do the embarrassingly lowtech method of typing in the title of an old thread.

Bruce

 

[ofajen]

You should just use one. A dipole antenna receives stations best when the signal is coming perpendicular to the top of the "T". That is, for example, if you have the antenna stretched east to west, it will pick up stations north and south the best.

Mine seems to work OK oriented vertically.

Cheers,

Otto

 

[pw5599]

Yes, perpendicular as Pyrrho said. The reason why is that's what's optimum for the nature of FM radio signals.
Make your own:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-FM-Antenna

 

[catman]

G'day all, this one works well, having built a couple myself. Regards, Felix (vk4fuq) aka catman.

 

[OvenMaster]

 

[Dave1027]

Try placing a pair of basic rabbit ears in the attic and run some coaxial cable between the walls to your tuner. I tried this and my FM signal is full strength with no variation.

I use rabbit ears too but I have them in my room. I found it gave me better reception than the wire dipole and looks better too.

 

[westend]

Also take a look at "Cheap easy homebrew antenna WORKS" thread in the Tuners forum. Several people, including me, have built antenna that can produce better results than the dipole, at a low cost. I do agree with others, that the dipole is surprisingly good as well as uncomplicated.


FYI - I would welcome anyone's directions on how to link to a specific thread and/or post, versus me having to do the embarrassingly lowtech method of typing in the title of an old thread.

Bruce

Here's how to link: When replying to a thead, choose the "Advanced Post" form.
<click> on the little icon that depicts a globe and chain at the top of the post window.
Another window will pop up instructing you to insert the URL of your link in the box.
<copy> the URL and <paste> it into the box.
<click> OK
The link will now appear in the post window, some of it duplicated and selected/highlighted. You can enter any text you wish, replacing the highlighted text.
Hope that helps.

I've built a couple of antennas in the past few weeks, a tuned J-pole and a UHF array. The UHF array works well for FM, too.

J-pole:

Grey-Hoverman UHF antenna (works great for OTA HDTV):