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My stereo receiver is in the basement with no outdoor antenna. I've been using just a dipole I made from some speaker wire. Even some of the local stations are noisy with the stereo light flickering in and out.
I spotted this outfit today in a store I was at and decided to try it. I'm disappointed to say the least. I wasn't expecting DX but I had hoped it would clean up the signals I do get. I can't tell any difference at all from my old antenna.
It may be defective. Tomorrow I'll try exchanging it for another one.
bmw wrote: ↑Sat Oct 14, 2023 8:18 pm
Their FM antenna is completely worthless.
A Terk AM antenna, however, is awesome. I scored one at a thrift shop some years ago for $1.
You're right. I've seen nothing but good reviews for that one. I have a similar one made by Grundig. It too is awsome.
This newest one, I took back to the store and exchanged it for another one. It works no better than the first one.
The store has a No Refunds policy. you can only exchange or get a store credit for something else. I won't waste any more time exchanging this one. I'll just get a credit.
You're likely seeing a lot of QRM on top of a weak signal, given that it's in the basement. You won't really 'clean up' a signal very well, no matter how much you amplify the signal. The signal to noise ratio will remain the same, the receiver will just be a bit more "confused" and signals that were slightly in stereo before, will now lock in stereo with lots of static present. The stereo carrier is above a certain threshold now, thus it will lock - with more noise. Basements are tough for receiving much of anything unless you live a few blocks away from the tower farm.
If you can't/don't want to tap into an antenna feed somewhere readily, try running some coax somewhere where there's daylight, and strip the end of it to make a dipole.
In most situations you do not want to use any kind of amplifier for FM reception. They increase noise and overloading if you have nearby transmitters. A folded dipole or a loop made out of 10 feet worth of wire is an indoor antenna. Location is the other important factor. It could be an attic or near a window where reception is best. Try testing the radio stations on a portable radio first.
