australian antenna problems

[duck duck]

another question ?
rxv667 when you unpack and assemble your amp you receive
a lenght of wire for the fm antenna with a dodgie connector on one
end its does the job if standing on one leg with your finger up your nose
but as soon as you move or walk out of the room or turn it on the next
day hey presto no receiption again is there any solution?

 

[highfigh]

another question ?
rxv667 when you unpack and assemble your amp you receive
a lenght of wire for the fm antenna with a dodgie connector on one
end its does the job if standing on one leg with your finger up your nose
but as soon as you move or walk out of the room or turn it on the next
day hey presto no receiption again is there any solution?

Don't walk out of the room?

Seriously, without knowing how far from the antenna you are, the broadcast power of the station, the weather conditions and the topology of your area, it's really hard to offer anything constructive. FM is good for about 50 miles/80KM on a good day. With a little cheesy antenna, it's even less. Any kind of TV antenna will help if the problem is caused by low signal strength but if you're close to the antenna, you probably have too much signal strength. If you have a metal roof, you'll need an external antenna.

 

[duck duck]

thanks highfigh
i am on the side of a mountain and i do have
a metal roof.you mentioned tv antenna ,does
that include the one i'm useing for my tv or does
it have to be another?

 

[Rickster71]

Yes, the FM and TV bands are very close
together.
With FM, the higher up the antenna the better.

 

[TLS Guy]

Yes, the FM and TV bands are very close
together.
With FM, the higher up the antenna the better.

It will be better if you use an antenna designed for FM. You can research that in Australia. A roof antenna is always best.

 

[Rickster71]

It will be better if you use an antenna designed for FM. You can research that in Australia. A roof antenna is always best.

I agree 100%; though in the OP's case it wouldn't hurt to try it. Since he already owns the TV antenna, and it's light years better than the piece of wire he's using now.

 

[duck duck]

thanks for the advice guys
just pluged into tv antenna worked fine on
the commercial stations but not on triple j the
station i listen to.i'll check out external fm antenna
hopefully that will do the job or it's back to standing on one leg
with my finger up my nose.

 

[Rickster71]

Check to see if you have equivalent to something like this down there: http://www.fmfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29
It's a tool will analyze your location to determine which broadcast FM radio signals are available in your area.
It will compute the expected signal strength for every channel "in the air" at your location

 

[TLS Guy]

This is the antenna I use. I live a long way from the transmitter, but this device, known as a Yagi-Uda array gives a very good signal without a preamp.

You must Understand the antenna is directional. The three shorter elements at the front are the director elements. Then there are two active elements and behind those three reflectors. An antenna like this has an awful lot of forward gain. If you look at the polar diagrams, you will see it is highly directional. The greater the forward, gain, the more directional it is.

You need to point it at the transmitter of your favorite station. The directors should be nearest the transmitter. If it is the wrong way round it will block the station.

If you have more than one favorite station in different direction, you will need a motor to change the direction of the antenna.