Indoor AM/FM Antenna

mykey · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 58

you will need to extend an antenna outside and beyond
your apartment, the concrete walls block radio waves.
if you have wood walls there is some hope of an indoor
antenna.
even a powered antenna such as turk will not work well
inside a concrete building.
the highest point such as a roof is the ideal location
or you can try aiming at window, extending or draping the antenna
from a window.
the ideal fm antenna is a VHF TV antenna. you can aim it at
the favorite station. if amplifier is used it should be a PREAMP
located AT the antenna. an amplifier at the end of the antenna
wire will have more noise in the signal than a preamp.
AM signal has two conductors, one is attached to ground such as a
metal water pipe. the second conductor is generally a long wire,
400 feet should do it if possible. the remaining wire can be wound
on a spool. the long wire allows the receiver to conduct AM wave
lengths which are very long compared to TV and FM. you will be
surprised
how well a long wire works even when most of it is coiled up
on a spool. you can use thin wire with no problem.
you can get antenna and pre amp at radio shack or make your own,
most of the time the fancy expensive antennas do not work any better
than the cheap home made ones.
or the alternative is paying the cable company for the FM adapter if
cable is what you have. normally FM is filtered out of a TV antenna
signal because it can interfere with the TV picture quality. The cable
company sells it as an extra service.

Archived from group: alt>home-theater>misc

Tiziano · Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 3

I live in an apartment and would like to try using an indoor AM/FM
antenna in order to improve reception of radio broadcasts through my A/V
receiver. (Hooking up the receiver to the cable jack with coaxial cable
does not improve the quality of reception...)

Is there a site that rates _indoor_ AM/FM antennas commonly sold in the USA?

PS: I am not interested in the build-your-own antenna, nor can I afford
XM radio. Also, installing an antenna outdoors is out of the question.

Thanks.
--
tb

mykey · Joined: 01 Aug 2007 Posts: 58

On Jan 20, 7:26 am, Tiziano wrote:
> Indeed I live in an apartment complex (Dallas, TX) and placing an
> antenna outside is completely our of the question! As far as the
> building material used for the apartment complex, it is basically wood,
> Sheetrock, plaster... No brick or concrete walls.
>
the wood construction will allow you to try rabbit ears for FM
you can mount the ears upside down from the ceiling to
get it higher up, but you need to aim rabbit ears, it's directional.
a long wire strung across the apartment ceiling, the remaining
wound up on a roll will work well for AM
(a short wire will not work as well)
or try a FM powered antenna sold by circuit city...etc...
Learn more about antenna setup at
http://www.palomar-engineers.com/Loop_Antenna/loop_antenna.html
a "loop" AM antenna implies that the wire has been coiled in ready
to use form, but needs to be aimed at the weakest station.
the rabbit ears do not have as much gain as a VHF TV antenna
which if you are motivated enough can be hung upside down
from the ceiling, but again it needs to be aimed.
the fancy FM powered antennas such as TURK are
popular among hi fi enthusiasts, but still need to be mounted
high as possible, and are directional just like the VHF antenna.
but hey, a powered antenna not aimed properly will just amplify
noise.

Tiziano · Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 3

Indeed I live in an apartment complex (Dallas, TX) and placing an
antenna outside is completely our of the question! As far as the
building material used for the apartment complex, it is basically wood,
Sheetrock, plaster... No brick or concrete walls.

I am not looking for one of those antennas that allows reception of
broadcasts within a very wide radius. Nor do I expect perfect stereo
reception for all stations... If I can pick up good reception of
stations located within a 20-30-mile radius from where I live I'll be
more than happy!

What I am after is some advice on what brand to chose based on the
parameters that I indicated. If there is a site that gives some advice
on what to pick as an indoor antenna (brands names, model numbers),
please let me know. Or maybe some of you have had good luck with a
particular brand of indoor antenna...

PS: I fully understand that just because an antenna works well for
somebody, it does not necessarily mean that it will do the same for
somebody else. I just want to narrow down the choices to a few models
and then test them out --that's all!

Thanks.
--
tb

on 1/20/2008 8:52 AM Char Jackson wrote the following:
> On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:59:14 -0800 (PST), mykey
> wrote:
>
>> you will need to extend an antenna outside and beyond
>> your apartment, the concrete walls block radio waves.
>
> I'm pretty sure the OP said "installing an antenna outdoors is out of
> the question" (you forgot to quote anything so I went back and
> looked), so your advice to string 400 feet of wire outdoors is moot.
> Plus, you assumed the part about the concrete walls. The OP never said
> that.
>
>
>

Oliver Costich · Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 5

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 18:59:14 -0800 (PST), mykey
wrote:

>you will need to extend an antenna outside and beyond
>your apartment, the concrete walls block radio waves.
>if you have wood walls there is some hope of an indoor
>antenna.

Not necessarily. I live in a house with "CBS" construction (concrete
block with steel rebar) and I get tons of FM with an indoor antenna.

>even a powered antenna such as turk will not work well
>inside a concrete building.
>the highest point such as a roof is the ideal location
>or you can try aiming at window, extending or draping the antenna
>from a window.
>the ideal fm antenna is a VHF TV antenna. you can aim it at
>the favorite station. if amplifier is used it should be a PREAMP
>located AT the antenna. an amplifier at the end of the antenna
>wire will have more noise in the signal than a preamp.
>AM signal has two conductors, one is attached to ground such as a
>metal water pipe. the second conductor is generally a long wire,
>400 feet should do it if possible. the remaining wire can be wound
>on a spool. the long wire allows the receiver to conduct AM wave
>lengths which are very long compared to TV and FM. you will be
>surprised
>how well a long wire works even when most of it is coiled up
>on a spool. you can use thin wire with no problem.
>you can get antenna and pre amp at radio shack or make your own,
>most of the time the fancy expensive antennas do not work any better
>than the cheap home made ones.
>or the alternative is paying the cable company for the FM adapter if
>cable is what you have. normally FM is filtered out of a TV antenna
>signal because it can interfere with the TV picture quality. The cable
>company sells it as an extra service.