I just bought an old Denon AM/FM tuner UT-400. There are 2 pairs of external antenna poles on the back of it but only a small AM antenna comes with it.
The tunner can only pick up one local FM station. The quanlity is ok with this one station. Dose this means the tunner is ok and I need to get a FM antenna?
Probably. Take a piece of zip cord (lamp cord) about 2' long and split the cable down its middle between the two conductors about 17" of the cable's length. Strip off 1/2" of the insulation from the two conductors at the unsplit end of the cable. Connect the two stripped ends to your FM antenna posts (wrapping the wire strands in a clockwise direction so the wire is pulled tight as you snug down the nut) and spread the split ends as far apart as possible. If your reception improves, the tuner is OK. If you have no zip cord on hand, a single strand of wire about 18" long will be enough to tell if a better antenna will work. Strip the insulation at one end and attach it to your antenna post.
You can also buy a dipole FM antenna at any electronics shop or harware store that has any audio supplies. It connects just as the zip cord would. Dipoles are, by their description, virtually omnidirectional. If you experience strong signal strength but interference using a dipole, you will have to switch to a more directional antenna.
Do not buy a powered antenna unless you are certain you need the signal strength amplified. You can overload the front end of the tuner and get worse reception than with a dipole.
hzwang
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Jan
Thank you for such a helpful response! I will try what you suggested.
I just did some research and find Magnum Dynalab FM antennas are praised. I am wandering if they are truely better than what I can find at any electronis shop as you said. (I can't use outdoor antennas out my apartment.)
Try nothing beyond a simple dipole first. Tuners and antennas are a difficult pairing to make suggestions about. The location of the antenna is critical to your reception. I lived in a house where, because of multipath distortion from some nearby buildings, I could get much cleaner reception in the South side of the house than in the North side.
How close you are to the stations you want to receive is the main concern. You can literally be too close and miss the signal. If you have buildings or structures nearby that can create multipath problems, you can have a great tuner and only a very directional antenna will pull in the stations clearly. Where the station antennas are located is also important if the signals come from all different directions. Many large cities have relegated their antennas to a central location and so your antenna doesn't have to be very discriminating about direction if you live in a city with those priorities.
Start with the dipole from the electronics supply house and then judge what is needed from the reception you hear with a simple antenna. If the signal is clean and noise free, a better antenna in your location is a waste of money. Most high end tuners and antennas are designed for very crowded dial situations which, in the U.S., only occur in the NorthEast portion of the country. For 90% of America a dipole is sufficient. If you find you need a better antenna, a roof or attic mount antenna is generally the next step and will cost under $100.
hzwang
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Jan,
I tried a dipole I found at local RadioShack. It works fine. The cost is less than 5 bucks.
I can get good receiption of some FM stations. It's a pleasure to listen to radio on my audio system. There is only one local station playing classic music though but the joys comes with the fact that you don't know what's next. The sound quality is not comparible to my CD player but good enough for now.