FM Radio Antenna Question

[mike1961]

Hello - I thought I would post this question here because it's more of a general hardware question. I have utilized the FM Radio plug in and it works great with my Hauppauge card (but it does not seem to work with the NVidia DualTV card). Anyway, I was wondering if I'm not in a great area for antenna reception, what is the best way to improve the reception? I can't install any large ugly antennas on my roof but I was wondering if there are longer ones (extensions) with the ones that come with the dualTV? Also, I've heard of these antennas that plug in the wall and somehow use that as an antennna. Do they work at all? I have satellite DirectTV so I'm not sure if I can somehow utilize that for FM radio. Would be nice to have an internet FM radio plug in at some point.

All input appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike

[blade]

Originally Posted by mike1961

I can't install any large ugly antennas on my roof but I was wondering if there are longer ones (extensions) with the ones that come with the dualTV?

Can you put one in your attic? You can get small ones that are still much larger than you'd want sitting inside your house. I have one in my attic, but haven't gotten around to hooking it back up yet.

I haven't tried any of the small desktop style antennas. I've heard they work well, but have no first hand experience with them.

You can make one like what comes with the card. All you need is a very poorly shielded piece of 300 ohm wire. Longer isn't necessarily better, the length of the antenna determines what frequency it will tune best. It's been 20 years since I've made an FM antenna so I don't recall all the details.

I haven't bothered to read this, but from a quick glance it appears to explain what you need to know about making one.

[mike1961]

I was thinking longer because my Sage Server is downstairs in a two story house. But I'll read the articles and research it further.

Thanks for the feedback,

Mike

[blade]

As you know they are T shaped. If I remember correctly as long as the crossbar length remains the same you can make the tail as long as necessary without affecting the optimum frequency of the antenna.

If you're just wanting a longer tail so that you can place it higher that shouldn't be a problem. You might want to make your own anyway if there is one station that you can't quite tune to your satisfaction. It can make a big difference in certain situations.

I thought you were wanting a longer antenna to get better reception. That is possible, but you'd need to calculate the length needed to make a full wavelength antenna. I'm guessing the one that came with your card is a half wavelength.

[mike1961]

Where I'm at, I'm getting some static in many if not most stations so I'm just looking for better clarity on all the stations. I'm thinking that you are right that if I place the antenna higher up (rather than on the first floor in the closet) I'll get much better reception. I'm glad to know that the length of the "tail" is not important which means I can run it high into the attic or sticking out onto the roof perhaps laying flat or something so that it is not at all conspicuous.

Thanks,
Mike

[warrenlj]

I live in a mountainous rual area and bought a terk fm antenna booster on ebay awhile back and it helped alot.

[SHS]

Go for Omnidirectional FM Antenna like a Winegard PR-6010