Antenna questions


Hi, I have a roofmounted FM-only omnidirectional antenna. It works great except for one station (important to my wife) which suffers from multipath distortion/static, so I am looking to install a directional in it's place.

1. APS is mentioned here, but their website says the antennas are non-returnable. I think it's pretty important to be able to try the antenna in your attic before installing on the roof, and return if necessary! Does anyone sell these antennas with return privileges?

2. The Radio Shack website has a chart that shows specs for their various antennas. "FM Gain" is 2.2 on the largest of the their antennas, and only 1.0 on the antennas (including a directional FM-only) that I am considering. What is up with that? Aren't directional antennas also high-gain? Should I worry about it? Since signal strength isn't a problem, maybe just a unity-gain directional is enough?

Thanks for any ideas.
ehart

Showing 2 responses by bob_bundus

that $22 RadioShaft antenna is working pretty well for me in my attic @60 miles out. It's probably only ~25' off the ground. I have one balun up top to convert the 300 ohm to 75 ohm RG-6 coax which the tuner accepts dirctly. I'm too afraid to mount it, or any antenna, outdoors anymore. Two really unfortunate lightning strikes have taught me how to compromise.
Eric you'd need a tuner with an internal antenna switch for two inputs (Magnum Dynalab MD102 is the one I use, but there are others) or attach an external coaxial antenna switchbox (going back to RadioShack).
No you cannot connect the two antennas together.
Although I'm unfamiliar, your Adcom / Technics units can certainly be improved upon.
Another option for additional gain up to +30dB is the Magnum Dynalab Signal Sleuth model MD205. Lists around $250; available discounted. The Sleuth is a tunable preselector with variable gain / loss as required. The Sleuth not only provides additional gain as needed, but can be offset-tuned or the gain-reduced even into a lossy mode, for rejecting undesired signals as required. Two knobs on the front panel make this easy, combined with the tuner's tuning & multipath meters.