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No more hissing or static !!!

SE Engineering vs Radio Shack Yagi

Hello Rajun Cajun,
The Radio Shack antenna will almost certainly give you better reception than the SE Engineering SE 879 FM. The Radio Shack antenna is very inexpensive but it is well designed and very effective. It is one of the greatest bargains in audio! It will give significantly more gain and is much more directional that the SE 879 FM. Don't waste your money on the SE 879 FM.

If you want to get a better FM antenna, the logical step up would be to a Winegard HD-6065 (about $75) or an Antenna Performance Specialists APS-9B (about $120). The king of all FM antennas is the APS-13 (about $200)

See the Winegard here: http://www.starkelectronic.com/fmpage.htm
The Radio Shack antenna you have is the same as the AntennaCraft FM-6 shown at the bottom of that page. It is an excellent antenna. I use one myself.
The APS antennas may be viewed here:
http://www.antennaperformance.com/

Before you blow more money on a more expensive antenna, you would be better off buying a rotor for your Radio Shack antenna. If all your wanted stations are in exactly the same direction, you don't need it. But if they are in different directions, get the rotor so you can point the antenna directly at the transmitter when you tune in a different station. This will increase the number of stations you can receive clearly.

Notice how the antennas are oriented in all the photos on the pages linked above. That's how yours should be mounted. The small end of the antenna should point at the station you want to receive. Imagine someone threw a baseball from the radio station transmitter at your antenna. All the skinny aluminum elements should be oriented as if they were skinny baseball bats ready to hit the ball as it arrives from the transmitter. The smallest skinny element would hit the ball first. The way you have it oriented now is optimized to pick up a signal from a satellite directly over your house.

The owners manual that came with your receiver should show you how to connect the 75 ohm coaxial cable directly to the receiver, if the previous post from dr*audio was not clear.

Making these changes should boost your signal strength a lot.

If you want more info about antennas and tuners, there are a couple of good yahoo groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fm_antennas/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FMtuners/

The second one is the main discussion group.

The same group also has an extensive website that includes some antenna information:
http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/

Good luck!

Eli
 
Welcome Eli (Sunwire) to AudioKarma! I see you are a new user. Are you an avid collector of vintage audio gear? If yes, give us a rundown of your gear.

Are you perhaps in the audio/electronics business? We always need new talent here as we grind our way through all this maintenance!

Paul
 
Whitehall said:
Having grown up on the Florida Gulf Coast, I am not in the least bit surprised that someone who calls himself "Rajun Canjun Gumbo Man" would mount an FM antenna pointing at the wrong planet.

Its success does make me wonder about polarization.
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This is the best laugh I've had all day, guys!

It seems strange, but in these days I guess it's common to not see many antennas. There was a time when every house had at least one mounted on the roof. And Radio Shack is about the only reliable place to get one, and yeah, they don't know from nothin about em. I am sure that even mounted like that it's better than the usual dipole on the wall or a coat hanger. Or those terrible 'amplified' things. Mounted correctly it will work even better, but be prepared to rotate it for some stations.

My friend is in town for tomorrow from Beau Bridge and I asked him 'where's the cajun food?" He said he came here (Illinois) for the 'good food'.

:D
 
Thanks Eli....

It is spelled Breaux Bridge Louisiana "Crawfish Capitol".......He went to Il for good food ? What's so good in Illinios ? Beef ? You can get Beef anywhere, but NOT authentic Cajun food......
 
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fabvsix said:
Thanks Eli....

It is spelled Breaux Bridge Louisiana "Crawfish Capitol".......He went to Il for good food ? What's so good in Illinios ? Beef ? You can get Beef anywhere, but NOT authentic Cajun food......
Click to expand...


Sorry about the spelling. I should have looked on a map.

I agree! Nothing here but PORK and cheese! But, for some reason he doesn't like Cajun food; too spicey, he says. Wow. Give me spicey anytime. I lived most of my life in California, so coming here was a real culture shock. I notice that almost everyone here is really fat, including me, now. But when I visited California recently I see that there's lots of fat folks there, too, now. It's a national epidemic. But, I say, hey, you can be fat and still eat good food. Salt and pepper is about the only 'spices' you can find here. Bland is in. Really bland.

:tresbon:
 
Overly seasoned or spicey food is NOT cajun food. If someone tell you "its too hot" then they over spiced the food. My cajun food has a kick, but for some ODD reason they still eat eveything but the plate/bowl........He must have encountered some BAD cajun food.....I had a culture shock when I moved to California and they were serving PLAIN white rice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YUCKO ok.....wheres that dark gravey ?????????????????????? Where is that good hard french bread ? You can have that soft crap they call french bread.......our young kids are clueless !
 
James, your ass better be at the Fest and ready to show us yanks some real cajun cookin :D

In that event, the cases of Anchor Bar wings like I brought to the first Fest will be on me :)
 
I'll do my best. If any of you folks are in New Iberia Louisiana, stop by my parents rest downtown. Mention my name, they will service you well. They are open M-F 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Open Friday night and Saturday night 6-9 by reservations only. Mom is 78 and still standing in a hot kitchen working those food preparers.....Dad is the hostest of the mostest.......He makes killer drinks, esp. an "Old Fashion" New Orleans style ! My dad was born and raised in New Orleans.....Mom is a Yankee from Chicago ! Studied music at LSU and met my Dad......The rest. name is Laginappe Too, downtown New Iberia. Just ask anyone and they will tell where it is......Tim if you ever come my way (Northern California), you have an open invitation at my place. I'll be sure to feed you well....... :yes:
 
Basic ingrediants are:
Onions, Bell peppers, Celery and garlic. Salt, red pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Real butter is best, but ya know its not too good for you so mix it with virgin olive oil......These items are in MOST cajun dishes as a base. Roux is just plain flour. How you brown it is THE secret........
Here is a recent shot of Al and Elaine. She looks pretty good for 78 going on 79 ? She was awarded the BEST gumbo in the state of Louisiana.
 

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I stand corrected. No more radio stations from Mars....... :banana: :banana:
 

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No More Hissing Or Static

fabvsix said:
I stand corrected. No more radio stations from Mars....... :banana: :banana:
Click to expand...


I hadn't checked this thread lately, but congratulations. I bet it does sound better now.

The cajun guy who can't eat cajun food has diabetes and an ulcer, so we'll give him the benefit of the doubt. However, he doesn't like fish, either. Go figure.

Bob :thumbsdn:
 
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