Well, you think it would be simple…But OOOOOH NO! This is the situation: I live on an island in northern Maine. The closest FM radio station is in Bangor. When the weather is perfect, the Slovak accordian (seriously)players are not broadcasting, and the Canadian PBS station is being kind, in between these and the French-speaking station, I can get the Bangor station pretty good. I’ve been told I probably need an outdoor antenna, but no one has given me a simple solution. The Radio Shack web page assumes I know all about megahertz, etc., which I don’t. I would just like to put up some simple antenna that isn’t expensive and that I don’t have to climb up on the roof to install, e.g. bolts to the window sill or something. Help, help, help, help, help, help, etc.
For an indoor version, try Radio Shack #15-1863, for $6.99.
For outdoor antennas, try #15-2164, for $14.99, or 15-2163 for $19.99. This is probably the best antenna, if you point it at the desired FM station.
You should play with the antenna orientation no matter which one you get- each of these is directional, and having it pointed correctly can make a big difference. You might be able to return an antenna if it doesn’t work well for you.
Arjuna34
I forgot to mention to put the antenna up as high as you can, even if it’s inside. The outdoor antennas will work indoors, too- you can try them and see what results you get. If you aren’t going to mount something on the roof anyway, maybe you could try an outdoor antenna inside, and if it didn’t work well, take it back. Get it as high as possible, though.
Nothing like posting three times in a row …
Those Radio-Shack links don’t work anymore, even though I tested one before I posted :(. You’ll have to type in the part number on the web site. One more reason to dislike Radio Shack …
Arjuna34
Arjuna, do you think this RadioShack stuff is better than old fashioned sticking a paperclip into one of the AC holes and, therefore, using all the wires in you house as one big antenna?
Just use your VHF TV antenna.The Big one.
It will be directional so you will have to point it toward the station. It will work great.
Justwannano, I have satellite. But, hummmmm…is there any way to use the dish??
Check it yourself and tell us. Will take you ~2 minutes.
A satellite dish will not work as an FM antenna- the frequency bands are very different. A VHF TV antenna will work ok, but not quite as good as an FM antenna. If the stations are strong, you won’t notice the difference. The VHF TV band is very close to the FM band in frequency.
Peace, I’m a little confused- where are you sticking that paper clip- in the electrical outlet?? That’s not very safe!
Any of the Radio Shack antennas will work better than using the whole house wiring as an antenna, or a paper clip.
You don’t need to buy an antenna, though- you can make a simple FM dipole antenna yourself. Cut two pieces of wire, each 29.5 inches long. Connect one end of each piece to the two antenna terminals on the radio, and stretch them out. You’ve just made a “rabbit-ears” style antenna, equivalent to Radio-Shack #15-1863. Just about any wire will do. If you have some extra speaker wire or zip cord, you can get two conductors from that.
Arjuna34
That might not be a good idea. Some dishes (particularly the small ones) have electronics in the dish (the LNB), which could be damaged by connecting it to the antenna terminals of a radio. I’d be a little surprised if something actually got fried, but it’s possible. This is almost certain to damage something if you leave your satellite receiver hooked up while you do the experiment.
Arjuna34
Arjuna34. I’m sorry, I should have mentioned that I already tried an indoor antenna (rabbit-ears) from Wal-Mart. That’s why I’ve advanced to the outdoor antenna level, per people I’ve asked. I’m not a spring chicken anymore, so I can’t climb a ladder. That’s why I asked about attaching it to a window. I wasn’t going to try the dish thing anyway because I’d have to hang out a second floor window and figure out some way to get a wire on the dish, which is not within arms reach; and, it’s about -10 degrees out there right now; -30 with the wind. The Radio Shack outdoor antenna says it’s only for a 50 miles range and I’m pretty sure it’s more than 50 miles to Bangor as the crow flies. Would it do any good even so, or do I need an even more powerful antenna in that case? It’s looking like I’m going to have to construct a tower in the back yard. ha. Sheeeeeite!!! Thanks for the help.
Radio Shack 15-2163 says it’s good for 110 miles.
If you’re getting the station sometimes with an indoor antenna, any of the outdoor antennas, including the 50 mile one, should work pretty well, provided it’s pointed at the radio station. I’d try an outdoor antenna just sitting on a table on the second floor, to see just how well it worked. It doesn’t need to be near a window- normal wood walls won’t have much effect on the signal. It shouldn’t be near large pieces of metal, though (don’t put it on a metal table, for example)- that will alter the antenna pattern.
If you can dig up an old VHF TV antenna, as justwannano suggested, that would probably work OK.
Arjuna34
I have lots of experience getting FM radio from far away, so here’s my two cents worth.
In Australia, part of our VHF television band takes in the whole 88-108Mhz FM band, so we have had antennas here that are precisely matched to the FM band. They work really well, provided you have some height. Other TV antennas that are built for the higher end of the VHF range are also good, because they are not that far away in frequency.
For long range reception, the best tips I have are:
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get as much height as you can, with a clear view to the horizon.
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make use of a masthead amplifier (in Australia we call them boosters) to boost your signal level at the receiver. Most rural TV installations in my part of the world have a booster of some sort. The most common gain level is in the order of about 24dB. It makes a huge difference to the quality of your reception.
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get a good receiver, one that can discriminate bewteen two stations that are close together in frequency.
“You don’t need to buy an antenna, though- you can make a simple FM dipole antenna yourself. Cut two pieces of wire, each 29.5 inches long.”
Arjuna34, since suziek is only interested in getting one, specific station, shouldn’t suziek cut the wire to a specific length depending on the frequency of the station, not 29.5"? IIRC, the ideal length is one half the wavelength of the frequency of the transmission you want to receive.
Yes, your right. Ideally, you’d tune the antenna to the exact station- 29.5 inches is in the center of the FM band. For a station at frequency F (in MHz), cut each wire 2951/F inches long. For example, if your station is at 88.5 MHz, cut 2951/88.5 = 33.3 inches.
In practice, end effects and local proximity of metal objects, etc. change the effective length slightly. The common practice is to cut the antenna long, then mount it. Next, prune the antenna 1/4 inch at a time, check each time see if the signal has improved (normally you’d use an SWR meter or impedance analyzer to check for an optimal match). Or, you could use a Transmatch or other antenna tuner to optimize the signal for a particular frequency, but I think that’s getting beyond the scope of the OP 
Arjuna34
The TV antena will still work better than that dipole. More surface area.
DVous is right. The FM band is in the VHF tv band,between ch 5&6 IIRC. As far as cutting the dipole to the fm frequency I believe you are wasting your time. Ideally you are just eliminating the lower frequencies. Not much sense in that with a modern tuner.I have seen vhf antennas hanging from upstairs windows before. I have no idea how well that worked but if you have no other way and don’t care whay the neighbors think give it a try.
Check to see if your booster has a FM block. In some it is an internal switch and others a jumper.It is used when the local fm station causes interferance.
A VHF TV antenna will work better than a dipole, due to higher directivity (increased gain in some directions, at the expense of lower gain in other directions), not really because of more surface area. Of course, that makes proper orientation that much more important.
As I said earlier, pruning an broadcast-band FM antenna is probably not going to help much. I only mentioned it since Yeah brought up the subject of precisely cutting the antenna wires. However, the purpose of the pruning isn’t to affect the bandwidth of the antenna, but rather to present the correct impedance to the receiver. Ideally, the impedance of the antenna is matched to the input impedance of the radio (typically 300 ohms for an FM radio). If the antenna is cut correctly, at the desired frequency the impedance will be purely resistive and present a good match to the receiver. This is pretty much independent of the tuner. A Transmatch, or “antenna tuner” can be used to match an antenna to a receiver, but it’s purpose isn’t to provide selectivity (rejecting all but the desired signal).
My advice is still the same as justwannano’s- see if you can obtain an old VHF TV antenna, and try it, making sure it’s pointed to the radio station, and as high as possible (even if indoors).
Arjuna34
suziek
Around here towers cost about $75. a 10’section. Plus concrete base,labor etc. Before I spent that much I would try a telescoping mast. I couldn’t find one in Antennacrafts catalog but did find one in an old Channel Master catalog. It is about $85. for 50’.You will still need some sort of base and a lot of guy wires but you’ll save a lot of money.
Also do you have a couple of strong friends?
It is between 7 and 8. Channel 8 is slightly above 108 Mhz. On some FM tuners (usually not the digital tuners), you can get sound for channel 8 by tuning all the way to the top of the dial.
Arjuna, actually, these are from my childhood:
Attach wire to a paperclip, stick it into one (not two!) AC holes. Not safe, but possible. And it worked!
I lived near a military base, when a boy. I saw their high radiomasts (SW?, FM?). I was envious. So, I’d attach wire to a stone or something, and throw it up a tree, as high as I could. I could get better reception on my SW radio.
I still believe that for radio antennas, especially in FM band, the higher, the better, for any type.
Are you sure that currents generated in any antenna, including satellite dish, can “cook” anything"?