AM/FM Antenna Recommendation

[1911]

Does anyone have an AM/FM antenna recommendation for an older Kenwood KT-7500 tuner? I purchased an AM/FM/DAB flat strip antenna made by Monarch (RGTECH) only to find that it does not work on AM even though it's advertised as such. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[highfigh]

How far are you from the transmission towers?

60 miles and indoor don't go together if you want good Fm reception unless you spend some money.

Is the receiver in a basement, first or second floor, behind a big refrigerator, in an apartment tower...? It all matters.

 

[-Jim-]

Does anyone have an AM/FM antenna recommendation for an older Kenwood KT-7500 tuner? I purchased an AM/FM/DAB flat strip antenna made by Monarch (RGTECH) only to find that it does not work on AM even though it's advertised as such. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

According to the limited information in your manual this receiver has 3 Antenna inputs, which is typical for the period when this was manufactured. The RGTech Monarch Indoor AM/FM Antenna has an "F" connector which you would connect to the 75 ohm posts on your Kenwood, and that is only for FM tuning. Your Kenwood should have come with an AM Ferrite Bar antenna (a "loopstick antenna") which should work decently if you are local to the stations you want to listen to. Do you still have that? Or are you looking to pull in long distance signals?

 

[TLS Guy]

Does anyone have an AM/FM antenna recommendation for an older Kenwood KT-7500 tuner? I purchased an AM/FM/DAB flat strip antenna made by Monarch (RGTECH) only to find that it does not work on AM even though it's advertised as such. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

Since you mention DAB, you must live in Europe or Australia. We are a US site, and our recommendations are useless to you. In the US we use HD radio, which is a not very good system on the side bands of the FM broadcast. As mentioned AM and FM need totally different antennae, and connect to different terminals.

DAB requires a different antenna to analog FM. So you need to investigate what the requirements are in your country. Lastly your Kenwood is pre DAB and can not receive a DAB signal. Most countries that use DAB, have a sunset date for analog FM, so that tuner may not be any use much longer.

 

[1911]

@highfigh: I am in a big city in TX, so I am not far from the transmission towers. Located in a ranch-style house (all one floor) close to big windows.

@-Jim-: I've already returned the RGTech Monarch. My Kenwood KT-7500 tuner does indeed still have the AM Ferrite Bar antenna still attached, but I would like to try and pull in distant stations, if possible.

@TLS Guy: Nope. I'm a Texan, born and raised. I mentioned DAB because AM/FM/DAB is what was printed on the RGTech Monarch antenna box. I am aware that AM & FM antennas are different, thanks. I was irritated that it did not work for AM even though it was marketed as such.

*****
I am looking for recommendations for a good quality AM/FM antenna that is compatible with my Kenwood KT-7500. I have seen units like the Solarcon ANTOP Amplified AM/FM Antenna and the TERK Amplified AM/FM Stereo Indoor Antenna (tower), but I am not sure if there's a better option.

 

[TLS Guy]

@highfigh: I am in a big city in TX, so I am not far from the transmission towers. Located in a ranch-style house (all one floor) close to big windows.

@-Jim-: I've already returned the RGTech Monarch. My Kenwood KT-7500 tuner does indeed still have the AM Ferrite Bar antenna still attached, but I would like to try and pull in distant stations, if possible.

@TLS Guy: Nope. I live in TX. I mentioned DAB because AM/FM/DAB is what was printed on the RGTech Monarch antenna box. I am aware that AM & FM antennas are different, thanks. I was irritated that it did not work for AM even though it was marketed as such.

*****
I am looking for recommendations for a good quality AM/FM antenna that is compatible with my Kenwood KT-7500. I have seen units like the Solarcon ANTOP Amplified AM/FM Antenna and the TERK Amplified AM/FM Stereo Indoor Antenna (tower), but I am not sure if there's a better option.

I do have experience with indoor amplified antenna and used TERK when we had our secondary bolt hole town home. They are not much use, because the signal to noise ration is poor. The problem with amplified antennas is that they amplify noise as much as signal.

So this is the hard truth about indoor antennas. If you can't get a decent signal with in indoor dipole, then your only option is a loft or roof antenna.

When I lived on Benedict Lake which was around 80 miles from the MPR transmitter I used a roof Yagi-Uda array, and that is the preferred option.

Here in Eagan, I am quite close to the transmitters, and an attic dipole antenna has enough forward gain to do the job.

So the pecking order of gain from an antenna is in order of increased forward gain is as follows,

Simple di-pole

Folded di-pole

Folded di-pole with reflector

Folded di-pole with reflector and one or multiple directors.

So it all depends on the power of the transmitter, your distance from the transmitter and the sensitivity and signal to noise ratio of your FM tuner.

Now, FM technology has improved over the years, since your vintage tuner. Phased locked loop IC chips were a huge advance.

In this age of streaming though, the FM section very much tends to be an afterthought on current gear. The age of the high end analog tuner seems to have passed.

I use Quad FM 4 tuners in a couple of my systems. I think they were one of the best, if not the best FM tuner of all time.

I don't think I have used an AM radio for about fifty years.

 

[MrBoat]

We used to be able to tell by the reception in the car radio, how difficult it was going to be to set up an antenna or what type, believe it or not. We could at least find reliable stations and tell how consistent they were. I lived in a town where the nearest FM station was about 55 miles in one direction, and 90 in another. I could usually use the supplied wire that came with the receiver to get the most powerful popular stations, even at those distances.

I never did like AM except when I was a boy around 50+ years ago to listen to ball games on a transistor radio when I was supposed to be sleeping.

Anymore, they can shove them where the sun doesn't shine for the ridiculous ad to actual music content ratios. Between that, the lawyer ads, and those for erectile dysfunction, and real estate hustlers just tells of the lack of quality with anything free over the air, these days.

 

[TLS Guy]

We used to be able to tell by the reception in the car radio, how difficult it was going to be to set up an antenna or what type, believe it or not. We could at least find reliable stations and tell how consistent they were. I lived in a town where the nearest FM station was about 55 miles in one direction, and 90 in another. I could usually use the supplied wire that came with the receiver to get the most powerful popular stations, even at those distances.

I never did like AM except when I was a boy around 50+ years ago to listen to ball games on a transistor radio when I was supposed to be sleeping.

Anymore, they can shove them where the sun doesn't shine for the ridiculous ad to actual music content ratios. Between that, the lawyer ads, and those for erectile dysfunction, and real estate hustlers just tells of the lack of quality with anything free over the air, these days.

In Minnesota we have MPR!

 

[lovinthehd]

Another consideration is the wider reach of internet radio station options....my OTA options no matter the antenna are just limited. I don't have but one or two stations OTA, so just don't bother...and even last I lived in a metro area, the OTA options outside of some limited range college/university stations were just limited, particularly with content.

 

[-Jim-]

I listen to AM radio for traffic reports once in a while, local news or Sports while I'm driving. I don't find myself listening to FM radio much at all as I'd rather play tunes off a USB stick. (I have thousands of tunes - over 450 Gigs on my Archived Hard Drive.) Even though my cars have had Satellite Radio for ages, I hated the sound from the compression they use on music. So I never signed up for that.

As far as my Receivers go, all of them have Tuners and I make sure they work, but I almost never use any of them. I see no need for them on my next purchase - whenever that may be.

 

[TLS Guy]

Another consideration is the wider reach of internet radio station options....my OTA options no matter the antenna are just limited. I don't have but one or two stations OTA, so just don't bother...and even last I lived in a metro area, the OTA options outside of some limited range college/university stations were just limited, particularly with content.

I am actually listening to the Minnesota Orchestra live this evening on MPR classical FM. They do have a stream but it is Mp3 and only 128 kbs. The FM via my Quad FM4 definitely sounds better, and substantially better. It is also better then the FM radio in my Marantz 7705 AVP. Marantz no longer include HD radio in their offerings, Not that, that is a lot better.

So I am glad I have my Quad FM4s.

The Minnesota do stream some of their concerts in AV, and those offerings have been excellent.

As higher resolution streams become more prevalent, I think analog FM will die off. I don't think there is much FM listening in the home any more, just in cars.

 

[1911]

I hear y'all and I agree. I do; however, listen to AM almost every day and while I don't listen to FM much in the house, it's a nice option to have.

 

[TLS Guy]

I hear y'all and I agree. I do; however, listen to AM almost every day and while I don't listen to FM much in the house, it's a nice option to have.

Back then even AM radio was not well catered to. The AM section will be an afterthought and poor. Anyhow, the red AM terminal on the back marked AM is for the AM antenna. Now AM signals have a very long wave length. So all you need for an AM antenna is just a very long length of wire. So just connect a length of wire to that AM terminal and stretch it out for as long length as you can live with. As I said the longer the better. Unfortunately that unit never came with a tuned ferrite rod antenna on the back, which a lot did. These were tuned to the units AM section. Even so they were inferior to a long length of wire run as far as you can stand.

Below is a picture of the most powerful AM radio station in the world. This is the BBC AM radio transmitter at Droitwich. This one station can cover a good portion of the globe and can broadcast deep into Russia. The point is see all those long wires strung about, as AM has such long wave lengths.

In truth though, you may find that you get very bad AM reception with that unit, and will be much better off with a portable radio for AM. These Roberts radios are about the best of their kind.

 

[1911]

@TLS Guy: That BBC AM station is very cool!

My KT-7500 does have an AM Ferrite Bar antenna, which I imagine was tuned, but I'm not sure. I will see how it performs as soon as I get my preamplifier back from repair. I will try the long wire approach if the ferrite bar doesn't work well. Can I have bends in the wire - as in running it along the ceiling moulding along the perimeter of the room? What gauge wire should I use?

Also, I do have an old Zenith tube radio that I use for AM at home and reception isn't the best, but it does work reasonably well.

Thanks.

 

[TLS Guy]

@TLS Guy: That BBC AM station is very cool!

My KT-7500 does have an AM Ferrite Bar antenna, which I imagine was tuned, but I'm not sure. I will see how it performs as soon as I get my preamplifier back from repair. I will try the long wire approach if the ferrite bar doesn't work well. Can I have bends in the wire - as in running it along the ceiling moulding along the perimeter of the room? What gauge wire should I use?

Also, I do have an old Zenith tube radio that I use for AM at home and reception isn't the best, but it does work reasonably well.

Thanks.

14 or 16 AWG wire will be fine, and yes, you can have bends in the wire. The long wire will actually work better than the Ferrite rod.

 

[-Jim-]

In my youth my Dad strung a single wire back and forth in the length of the attic space of the house (40 or 50 feet) numerous times. He got stations from all over the place, particularly at night when atmospheric conditions were best. And besides he never listened to anything during the day. One of my brothers eventually hooked it up to his Pioneer receiver for a few years until he went to university. (He worked hard and got his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering.)

 

[TLS Guy]

@TLS Guy: That BBC AM station is very cool!

My KT-7500 does have an AM Ferrite Bar antenna, which I imagine was tuned, but I'm not sure. I will see how it performs as soon as I get my preamplifier back from repair. I will try the long wire approach if the ferrite bar doesn't work well. Can I have bends in the wire - as in running it along the ceiling moulding along the perimeter of the room? What gauge wire should I use?

Also, I do have an old Zenith tube radio that I use for AM at home and reception isn't the best, but it does work reasonably well.

Thanks.

Here is a history of the Droitwich transmitter.

I suspect the US will follow. The UK will stop AM broadcasting in 2027. That will be the end of the history of Droitwich. Hopefully it can be preserved as an historic site.

 

[1911]

I did hear something about them killing off AM somewhere. Bad idea if you ask me.

 

[highfigh]

Since you mention DAB, you must live in Europe or Australia. We are a US site, and our recommendations are useless to you. In the US we use HD radio, which is a not very good system on the side bands of the FM broadcast. As mentioned AM and FM need totally different antennae, and connect to different terminals.

DAB requires a different antenna to analog FM. So you need to investigate what the requirements are in your country. Lastly your Kenwood is pre DAB and can not receive a DAB signal. Most countries that use DAB, have a sunset date for analog FM, so that tuner may not be any use much longer.

DAB+ works with a regular car antenna that has a Morotola plug- some marine stereo head units have this ability.

 

[1911]

@TLS Guy: Thanks for posting that link to the history of the Droitwich Transmitter. Very interesting.