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Anntenna Question

Hi,

I recently had electricians put a Radio Shack FM antenna on my roof. It's wired with RG-6U cable through a couple of patch panels down to where my receiver is located. Probably about 100' of wire in all.

It doesn't help reception -- in fact, I've gone back to the little wire dipole anenna that comes with the receiver because it sounds better. I put a little Radio Schack antenna amplifier in the mix about 10' from the antenna, and that doesn't help either.

The problem is that I don't know of any way to check whether there's actually a signal on this wire! I have access to bench-quality DVM, but that's about it. Would I require an oscilliscope to check?

I'm also not sure this is the right type of wire, or that I'm hooking it to the receiver correctly.

Any advice appreciated. Thank you!

- Eric
ehart
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
As always, Bob has analyzed the problem systematically. My gut, tells me the problem is in the multi-room coax installation; either in terms of multiple splitters (although that much coax would act as an antenna of some sort and you should get some kind of signal) or in terms of a break in the walls or at one of the panels. Either way, it seems to me that if you follow Bob's fault tree, you should be able to narrow the problem down pretty tightly.
ehart OP
215 posts
 
I want to thank everyone for their responses, especially Bob for his step-by-step advice.

I went back to the cable that goes to the antenna, put an ohmeter on it (as Bob advised), and it's open. I can't "see" the Balun at the antenna. So something is not right in the antenna setup. The problem is not the cable in the house.

Now if I can figure out how the heck to get up on my sharply peaked roof!

- Eric
seaflited4ae
1 posts
 
I just purchased a new VHF marine antenna and VHF marine radio for my boat. My question is, can I use the old VHF antenna by converting the end plug from VHF to AM/FM end plug and simply plug that into my old AM/FM radio? Put another way, is the signal from a vhf antenna usable for AM/FM? I know you can buy a signal splitter and use the output from the splitter for both types of radios. The splitter costs as much as a new antenna. My existing AM/FM antenna consists of a 3' piece of covered wire. Thanks in advance.
ausjoe
98 posts
 
The guys over at Audio asylum suggest limiting the RG6 cable run to 25 feet or less for least loss. Also agree about the signal splitting being a problem. If you are lucky your antenna is above your audio room. You could even try running cable out a window and up to the antenna temporarily to see how it works.Be very careful if you get up on a steep pitched roof!!! Use rope and fastening system. If a metal roof use climbing shoes. Also get a helper. My two cents.
ehart OP
215 posts
 
Just wanted to let everyone know after all these years that:

1. I did get the small FM antenna working satisfactorily, there was a bad connection that I fixed per Bob Bundus' troubleshooting tips.

2. I just last month replaced that antenna with a tripod-mounted APS-9 with a rotor, tripod-mounted to my roof.

It's great, a noticeable improvement over the previous omnidirectional FM antenna. I used to get noticeable but acceptable static on our primary listening station. Now I notice no static at all. I was crossing my fingers that the APS-9 (rather than the APS-13) would be enough, and it certainly is.

Radio shack is phasing out their antenna stuff (which is where I got tripod, mast, and other mounting gear). Antennas seem to be on the way out!

- Eric
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