Best outdoor antenna???

frank, check your mail. ;~)

doug s.

Hey Doug! The guy who has the Rotel RHT-10 NEVER told me before he sent it to me that it is the 220 volt version. When he sent the Technical Manual via e-mail, it made me worry about two things: 1) will it be costly to convert to 100v? and 2) it looks like the 220v version may be set up and optimized for European stations. Do you have any ideas on this? Would Joesph Chow be able to help? If so, do you have Joseph's phone number? Or, do you have someone else in mind I could turn to?

Thanks again Doug, as always you are a great help to a relatively novice FM guy like me.

Frank

PS, I contacted you this way because Audiogon is having problems with AOL e-mails bouncing back and it wouldn't go through to your e-mail.

the aps-13 is generally considered the best directional fm antenna available to the home user at a somewhat reasonable cost. but, for a high-performance antenna on a budget, consider the winegard hd6065. it is at least as good as the aps9a (if not better?) at half the price of the aps9a.

yes, you will need a rotor if you are wanting to get stations in different directions, & yes, it's possible to receive a signal off the back of one of these directional yagi's, so if you have a really strong station directly behind you when you're trying to pick up a weak station in front of you, look for an antenna w/the best front-to-back ratio. and, this is one of the few situations where an antenna tuner like the md signal sleuth may actually be of some benefit. re: the st-2 whip antenna, i and most other fm fanatics who have tried one have found that a $3 wire dipole almost *always* works better, but the dipole, like a directional yagi, also needs to be oriented for best results for a particular station.

re: lead wire, in theory 300 ohm twin lead works best, but in reality it does not. its lower signal loss is almost never realized, due to its susceptibility to interference from adjacent objects, (even its support brackets), movement, & poor weather resistance. rg-6 coax is usually the best choice. avoid rg-59 - too much signal loss. for really long runs, you may wanna consider rg-11, but it's usually not necessary.

doug s.

I was going to buy an APS-13 but ended up buying an MD-10FM antenna. The initial reason I did this was size and turning radius limitations on my roof. The MD-10FM is 142" and would be the biggest Yagi I could fit on my roof with the rotator. However, when I opened the MD-10, at least to me, the gauge of the aluminum and build quality looked better than the APS. To be fair to APS, the APS-13 I saw was a few years old so it may have changed since then. But the MD seems to have a very nice build quality.

I haven't hooked it up yet but anticipate doing so within the next few weeks. I am using the MD ST-2 whip antenna right now but want to pull in a classical station (that's about 80 miles) away a little better and with the ST-2 it is not real strong during the day. On most other stations the ST-2 is fine but who knows how much better it will get with the Yagi!

I am a Magnum Dynalab dealer (DISCLAIMER); Having sold many tuners, antennae, and combinations of both, my conclusion is no best antenna exists. The best combination for you will largely be dependent on your location to include number of available stations and their distance from you, topography, proximity of other buildings, RF sources, etc. which will all affect your reception. Your tuner is another variable but not as important as location IMO.
I suggest talking with other folks in similiar situations and when you finally purchase hardware (antenna, rotor, signal amplifier, etc.) do so with an agreed upon money back evaluation period.
Good luck.

Yagi's should be used with a rotor, however they are not as effective at reducing signals from the rear as they are from the side, therefor if your two favorite stations are 180 degrees apart you can point it at the furthest one and you may get a usable signal from the other. With San Antonio only 10 miles away you should be able to do this easily. But get a big Yagi (lots of elements). Use the 75ohm coax - it's more immune to interference and can be routed anywhere/way. Using an Omni not only doesn't sufficiently amplify distant signals, it can cause multipath problems (in some areas). Have fun.........

The ST2 doesn't have much gain if you're trying to pick up the Austin stations. I am 45 mi's from Boston and it had problems...If you're that distant you should consider a yagi and rotor.

I agree with the magnum dyna labs whip antenna have used one for years

I like the Magnum Dynalab ST-2FM antenna. It is an omni directional whip style 75ohm single lead antenna. I am located in a tree filled urban area between Detroit and Ann Arbor, MI. Both public radio stations have exceptional music programming and excellent fidelity and bandwidth. I can also receive some Canadian stations very well. Enjoy!

The Only way to go and with an antenna rotor.

http://www.antennaperformance.com/ (antenna)

http://www.warrenelectronics.com/Antennas/ant_rotors.htm