Newbie question, connecting two FM antennas simultaneously

[singzh]

Hi, I have a cheap Radio Shack antenna connected to my MR74 tuner via 300 ohm connector, and have a 75 ohm cable from the HDTV antenna connected to the tuner simultaneously. I found this worked very well with the MR74.

I live in GTA, Cananda. If I did not connect the 300 ohm antenna, I could not get good reception for 91.1. At the same time, the 75 ohm antenna gave beter receptions for all other stations, like CBC2 (94.1), 94.7, etc. So I connected both antennas simultaneously.

I found that only Denon audio equipments have this statement in their manuals: "Do not connect two FM antennas simultaneously."

None of any other brand tuner/receiver manuals mentioned if you can connect two FM antennas simultaneously.

What's your thought?

Thanks,
Tim

 

[fmdxantenna.com]

Hi Tim,

I've always thought, "go with what works" and it sounds like it is working for you.

It certainly isn't going to hurt anything

Regards,
Lake
http://www.fmdxantenna.com
AM FM Reception Guide

 

[R-2-R]

Two FM antennas simultaneously!?

I've never tried that but hey, if it works, go for it!:scratch2:

 

[singzh]

Thanks, but I am not sure if that is safe

Thanks. Just I've done extensive restoring / upgrades to this beautiful MR74 recently. It sounds phenomenal after the work. I do not want to do anything harmful to it.

Anyway, thanks again for your inputs.
Tim

 

[PioneerMike]

I agree with everyone that it's not likely to do any harm to connect them both and experiment. One thing to keep in mind, depending upon how your FM input section is built connecting both antennas may give an impedance mismatch. Now this wouldn't cause any harm but when you have the best impedance match between antenna and receiver is when you get maximum signal transfer.

Another option would be to get a Radio Shack simple mechanical antenna switch and go between whichever gives the best signal.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[ng0k]

It's possible that the impedance from one of the antennas (I'd guess the dish) is so high or low it doesn't even come into play. RF likes to take the path of the most closely matched impedance for your tuner. I don't know if you did an A/B compare of them individually but in any event you won't hurt anything.

 

[jhoyt]

When I've played with multiple tuners and antennas, I used an old video switchbox with F-type connectors. You can matrix several tuners and several antennas, and route them as you wish. The only drawback is that if you run one antenna to several tuners, you get a greatly reduced signal. But you are looking to do the opposite. It could be a great solution, and they can be found really cheap. I've gotten mine at thrift shops for $5 or less each.

 

[singzh]

Thanks again for your inputs. Two antenna worked very well with the MR74 so far.

I listened to my MR74 at least 3 hours a day recently with 2 antenna connected. Everything seemed to work fine.

The upgraded MR74 sounds just wonderful. Very, very colse to tube tuner with more low end authority, and more details, comparing to my Fisher FM-100B, EICO-97, Sherwood S-2100II (the FM section exactly the same as S-3000V). It is much beter than all the SS tuners that I have owned so far - Pioneer TX-9100, TX-7800, TX-9500II, Luxman T-03 (same as T-117), T-530 (same as T-02) and a Sony ST-5130.