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Outdoor FM Antenna
Unlike a few years ago not much options are available for a dedicated FM Broadcast antenna. Forget TV antenna that have no gain on FM ALI has inexpensive FM antennas with many elements but shipping is $150 to $260 dollars- too expensive. Wilson sells an FM antenna for $350- again too expensive. The only reasonable 4 cost option is Stellar Labs four element on eBay for $68 shipped. This horizontal mount antenna will receive full power FM stationers away with full quieting up to about 60 miles away in flat terrain. Two antennas could be bought taking the first two elements of one and use a 3/4" EMT conduit coupling attaching the two front elements to the four element to get 6 elements. This should receive FM stations to perhaps 80 miles away. For four elements 1 inch EMT for 15 foot length should be ok with 50 MPH winds. A wooden dowel inside the conduit in top section with mounting clamp at bottom 5 feet from house will allow much higher wind speed. EMT conduit is expensive thus two sections of 2" EMT costs about $135. The wood dowel is mandatory with 6 elements or use a roof mount tri-pod.
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Channel Master has had this one on the market for years - $69.00... https://www.channelmaster.com/products/fm-antenna
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"The Channel Master is good for only 20 miles reception. Bad deal." FM broadcasting is limited to line of sight, so far as I know, at least for high quality audio reception. Which means that you can only receive what is above the horizon. At sea level, the horizon is about 4-5 miles away, or so the internet tells me. At 330ft above sea level, the horizon line is about 22 miles away. Furthermore, good reception is dependent upon many things other than distance, like bandwidth of the antenna, directionality, etc. If you live much more than 20 miles from the nearest high quality FM station, then I hope you are in a high rise building, but I don't see why you bash the Channel Master and the Magnum Dynalab on the basis of their range, which is a kind of meaningless figure anyway. |
thecarpathian, iti is just info. You buy a low performance Magnum Dynalab if you think my info is useless. |
jimbennet- it’s good to see there’s still some FM guys hanging around. FM fans are an endangered species. Long live FM radio! To me, a stereo rack isn’t complete without a proper FM tuner. LP’s/tuner and occasional CD for this audiophool...No relying on an internet connection/paid membership for streaming and computer.
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Jim, are you trying to select an antenna to buy, or are you just playing around here? If the former, anyone who potentially could help you would need to know where you live and the locations of FM broadcasters in your vicinity. I disagree that FM stations commonly have 1000 foot towers. In the DC area the major towers are no more than 300 ft. That’s 22 miles to the horizon. Maybe add 100 feet or so for height above sea level. |
I have a Channel Master FM antenna mounted on a tower at 45'. When you start talking about stations 80 miles away, good luck. A lot depends on if it is a high power station or not. It is my understanding that many years ago, the FCC (in order to create more revenue), reduced the spacing between FM stations. Again if I understand what they did correctly, on lower power stations, instead of spacing them 150 miles apart, they changed the spacing to 75 miles. Back in the early 70's I could pick up (occasionally), a station 175 miles away. Now my limit is 60-8060-80 miles. There is no cutting corners. The only way to get a stronger signal is, a higher gain antenna, more height on your receiving antenna, or getting closer to the transmitting antenna. Chances of buying a cheap antenna and adding elements to it, well good luck. |
We used to use our cable’s TV signal for FM, I think all FM is between channel 6 and 7, but Cable Companies now deliberately block FM. I have two Radio Shack TV/FM antennas, one on the chimney for OTA digital TV, aimed at a point I found on the internet, the other inside my attic, for my main system preamp’s FM tuner, aimed at WBGO’s 88.3 antenna at Columbus Circle in NYC, some 30 miles away. I get great strong FM from both, I use a 2 way splitter to feed the FM of a Yamaha Receiver in my Garage/Shop system from the TV one on the Chimney something like this, mines a bit bigger, my memory is thinking 80" long, something like that?
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Yeah! @lewm , what’s wrong with you, man??!😆 |