FM antennae recommendations please?

I'm doing some testing on a couple of different FM antennas and should have the results this weekend. The Magnum is included in this bunch.

I would imagine that a BIC Beam Box would work well for you. These are no longer in production but can be found both here on Audiogon and on Ebay. It is a slim line component sized box that houses an electronically steerable antenna. You can switch directionality to minimize multipath, which should work well in your situation. It is not the most sensitive or highest gain, but given your location right in the city, that may actually help you out with front end overload. No promises or guarantees, but something that might be worth checking into for just a few bucks. Sean
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No offense taken Sd. Testimonials from first hand users should always be welcome, regardless of whether or not they are all in agreement. After all, that is how we learn here i.e. comparing notes, experience and drawing conclusions from such. I am basing my statements about the viability of this product based on its' design and the situation at hand, not on previous use or ownership. As such, you would know better than i if it is a plausible solution. Your offer to donate this piece to someone in need is MORE than generous.

With the previous "disclaimer" above, I will agree that the Beam Box is LESS sensitive than a wire dipole. Guaranteed. Then again, if you are VERY close to several transmitters, front end overload is a real problem to deal with. The lack of sensitivity / output level from the BIC can somewhat help this out. In fact, if i recall correctly, i think that the Beam Box was appr 12 db's down from an optimally oriented dipole. That is a LOT of signal loss, something that most people could not afford to give up and still retain usable signal levels.

Chances are that if you are experiencing big-time front end overload, you are in a major city with a LOT of tall buildings, reflections, etc... Given the Beam Box's four switchable orientations, you can somewhat fine tune it for optimum orientation for each station. At the same time, you may be "de-tuning" the stronger nearby signals that were causing the front end overload to begin with. This occurs due to the differences in polarization.

Besides that, the convenience of flipping a switch to change orientations / directivity of the antenna is hard to beat, especially in comparison to manually re-orienting a wire dipole each time you change stations. That is, so long as there is enough signal there to begin with. The Beam Box would also get rid of the wire dipole in that situation, which most folks consider to be pretty unsightly.

BMP seems to be in this situation, which is what the Beam Box "should" work best in. I do not know for sure though, as i have never lived in a situation like that nor used a Beam Box. I simply threw it into the "center ring" for discussion as i thought it MIGHT do what he was looking for. Like anything else, there are trade-offs involved. Whether or not those specific to the Beam Box are acceptable to BMPNYC, only he can say if and when he uses one. Sean
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