Antenna ideas

[1930]

I am trying to get a specific FM radio station at my shop using my home receiver.

I guess because the building is metal I am not getting much except for static with a simple single wire attached to the back of the unit and dangling off the wall.

I tried ( just too see what would happen ) running a thick/heavy gauge left over electrical wire out the door and depending on where I held it the station sound did improve but was not great.

I can pick up this station sitting outside my building in my car with not too much an issue. ( depends on what the weather is doing )

I can mount something on the roof if that is what is needed but I am not trying to spend alot of money, is this possible and what would I need to achieve my goal?

Looking on the internet I was able to find a thread made in 2005 but all the pictures are gone so its not much help.

 

[junkman104]

I made a J-pole antenna after finding this thread

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143610

They work the best of any i have tried.

 

[DekeT]

http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/

 

[Kaizen]

maybe a dumb question on this topic but why can't the whole building act as an antenna? its all one connected piece of metal so why can't an antenna wire just be screwed to it ? just something I've always wondered

 

[Badger 13]

I had the same issues. I used a magnetic base antenna, stuck it on one end of the roof and fished the coax under one of the panels. Works great.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I made a J-pole antenna after finding this thread

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143610

They work the best of any i have tried.

What's the distance of radio stations are you pulling in ? Relatively flat ground ?

 

[CJ7VFR]

Does this radio station broadcast on the internet as well? A lot of them do now.

If it does, then you can get a simple Bluetooth receiver that costs less than 20 bucks,
and hook that up to one of the inputs on your receiver.

Then you could stream that radio station, or any other internet radio as well as any music you have
in digital format (that you may have converted into iTunes or whatever) from your computer,
laptop, smart phone, or whatever has Bluetooth on it.

That is what I do now. I bought a cheap little Bluetooth receiver at Amazon.com, and hooked it up to
my radio at home, and now I can listen to anything I want, any time I want.

It works great, and because I have good WiFi at home, its all free, and the best part is that I can move
the Bluetooth receiver to any other radio or receiver I have in the house that has an extra input on it!

Jim

 

[eastbaysubaru]

Does this radio station broadcast on the internet as well? A lot of them do now.

If it does, then you can get a simple Bluetooth receiver that costs less than 20 bucks,
and hook that up to one of the inputs on your receiver.

Then you could stream that radio station, or any other internet radio as well as any music you have
in digital format (that you may have converted into iTunes or whatever) from your computer,
laptop, smart phone, or whatever has Bluetooth on it.

That is what I do now. I bought a cheap little Bluetooth receiver at Amazon.com, and hooked it up to
my radio at home, and now I can listen to anything I want, any time I want.

It works great, and because I have good WiFi at home, its all free, and the best part is that I can move
the Bluetooth receiver to any other radio or receiver I have in the house that has an extra input on it!

Jim

That may be fine for FM stations (which is what the OP is talking about here) but all ballgames (baseball, football, etc.) are blocked from streaming by their respective leagues. Because of the residential ballasts in the florescent light fixtures in my garage I can't pick up AM radio stations very well. I'm going to have to either replace the ballasts with commercial grade ballasts or run an antenna up on the roof. Not quite sure which direction I'm going yet (leaning towards an antenna) but I would suggest an antenna for your situation.

-Brian

 

[jkwilson]

maybe a dumb question on this topic but why can't the whole building act as an antenna? its all one connected piece of metal so why can't an antenna wire just be screwed to it ? just something I've always wondered

Usually the building siding is grounded. Either from incidental contact with soil or through electrical boxes. Grounded metal won't work for an antenna.

 

[jvitez]

It'll be way easier to add a good external antenna than change every ballast with no actual guarantee that the ballast change will be good enough.

http://www.godarusa.com/

I think your best bet is this:

http://www.godarusa.com/id84.html

I've got Godar's FM1A for a vintage tuner in my office 2 channel stereo system and it works very well.

Here's another site to check out:

http://www.fmdxantenna.com/

 

[66HertzClone]

I purchased the one below, it gives me excellent reception of many NY stations that without it I just wasn't able to get a clear reliable signal with before. It is mounted to chimmney where the TV antenna had been before, I used the better grade large diameter coax.

 

[junkman104]

What's the distance of radio stations are you pulling in ? Relatively flat ground ?

I live in the mountains where signals are screwy. I am 100 miles from Chattanooga, Knoxville, Asheville and have a complete dial full of stations with a home stereo receiver to choose from inside a pole building.

 

[toplessHO]

I made a J-pole antenna after finding this thread

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143610

They work the best of any i have tried.

J hook
I made one myself with a piece of #10 copper wire
works great.
You need to find the frequency of the station and use the formula
for the J hook and tune it. Mine cost nothing and was made with spare parts
I put it inside a piece of 2 inch PVC pipe so it wouldnt be damaged

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Any good old non-amplified external TV antenna designed for analog TV reception will work great for FM radio... Last time I bought one it was a whopping $40.00. Of course, there's always an outdoor antenna made for radio...

http://www.solidsignal.com/cview.as...r-tv-antennas-supplies&c=AM-FM Radio Antennas

Tommy

 

[NUTTSGT]

I live in the mountains where signals are screwy. I am 100 miles from Chattanooga, Knoxville, Asheville and have a complete dial full of stations with a home stereo receiver to choose from inside a pole building.

Thanks for the answer, I was wondering if you were in the mountains. 100 miles is great as the station I'd like to pick up (atleast better than I can now) is about that distance.


I mentioned to the wife about what a good Father's Day gift would be. . . . a cheaper Sherwood receiver from ABC Warehouse. . .. might have to try to make a J-pole.