FM aerial for old music system

degsie

I have an old AIWA stereo system, and for the longest time I have struggled with getting good FM reception :mad:. The current 'aerial' is two long parallel wires that split about halfway along so you can string it up and it's useless. The FM connector at the back of the unit are designed for push-in wires (like speaker type connector) and is marked 75ohm. What are my options to getting better reception? All the aerials I see have coax connectors which does not suit my situation. Has anybody any ideas? Ta.

winston_1

Put an FM aerial on the roof, run coax down and connect the inner to one terminal and the screen to the other. OK so it is not balanced but it will work much better than what you have.

Antenna

winston_1 wrote: »

Put an FM aerial on the roof, run coax down and connect the inner to one terminal and the screen to the other. OK so it is not balanced but it will work much better than what you have.

The terminals probably are unbalanced if marked 75 Ohms so fine for connecting co-ax cable, provided its connected the right way round (OP could you post a picture of it?) . The screen (outer) of the cable would go to a terminal with an earth symbol

If there happens to be a (now disused since last October) VHF Band III TV aerial on your roof or attic and vertically polarised, try connecting to that for FM reception, not a correct aerial of course for FM but will perform better than an indoor one, provided there is no masthead amplifier in the path. I remember an installer I know (who tried both) saying a (vertical polarised) Band III TV aerial worked better for FM than a Halo FM aerial!

The current wire aerial, if that is currently installed like the letter 'T' at the end, try rotating the 'T' through 90 degrees (so now like a T on its side -I) so that one leg is going straight up and another going straight down, with the wire from the middle (back to the receiver) being at a right angle to the up and down sections for at least the same length as one of the legs. FM transmissions in this country are nearly all vertical polarised only, whilst in the UK usually mixed polarisation, the instructions may suggest installing the wire aerial like the letter T which does not suit vertical.

degsie

Here is a pic of the aerial connector...

winston_1

Looking at that picture the input is not balanced as the bottom connection has an earth symbol to which you should connect the coax screen with the inner going to the top terminal.

degsie

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll give the coax solution a go.

Anchises

http://www.nsw.wicen.org.au/technical/projects/coaxial-folded-dipole-antenna

You might be interested in this antenna if you're into diy.

I had poor FM and made one recently. Cased in mini-conduit , it works fine
out of door , mounted on low level roof facia.

A.