rooftop antennae for tuner and TV

Actually, it is the other way around. Get a very good TV antenna and you will also get very good FM. The FM band is between TV channels 6 and 7, so the TV VHF will work great.

I have a large Winegard TV antenna in my roof/attic crawl space. I patched it into the cable TV junction (which I don't use for cable), and with the help of a antenna preamp to boost the signal, I get TV in every room just by plugging the TV into the cable wall plug.

In the 2 rooms with the audio systems, the tuner is just plugged into the cable wall plug as well. One of those rooms has a small TV, so I just use a splitter.

Generally, an antenna designed for FM only will offer limited usefulness for TV, especially UHF. The FM band exists within the TV bands (I think FM frequencies are between channels 6 and 7 -- or is it 7 and 8? -- of the TV frequencies). So, while a TV antenna should be able to pull in FM signals, an antenna designed for FM frequencies would probably not have the spectrum bandwidth for all TV signals.

this is probably a dumb question. how do you get channel 6 , 7 or 8 on the tv antenna to work on you fm tuner. there is no channel to select. I have radio shack rooftop TV/antenna. it gets great reception for tv but it doesn't do anything for my fm tuner.am i doing something wrong ?

All26lin: The FM band frequencies are between the frequencies for channel 6 and channel 7. Your FM tuner only goes from 87.5Mhz to 108Mhz. Those TV channels are below and above that range. Since a VHF TV antenna has the ability to pick up channels 6 & 7, it also gets FM by default. Do you have a UHF only antenna, which is only for channels 15 and up?

There is another possibility of why you cannot get FM from your antenna if it receives VHF (channels 2 to 14). Very strong nearby FM stations can sometimes interrupt the picture quality of VHF. Some antennas are design for this problem. They have a circuit that blocks the FM band (an "FM Trap"), or they reduce FM considerably. Check with Radio Shack about your model of antenna. If it has an FM trap, the antenna may have a switch to bypass the trap, so FM will pass through.

Secondly are you using a powered antenna preamp to boost the signal? These preamps sometimes have an "FM Trap" to block the FM signal. They usually have a switch on the preamp to turn it on/off. If you turn the trap off, then you should be able to get FM. If a antenna preamp has an FM trap and no switch, then you would need a different preamp. You can imagine what happens if you live in area where an FM station interrupts the TV picture, and then you add a preamp which boosts the FM.

For those looking for an all purpose antenna, make sure it sais it is for VHF, UHF and FM. It it just sais VHF/UHF only it probably has an FM trap.

There is a great selection of Winegard and many other brand of antennas and preamps of all types including FM only at:
http://www.starkelectronic.com/

Philjolet,

I've had a
weingard antenna (used for TV only) for years. Works well, surprisingly inexpensive.

Sugarbrie, thanks for great info. I was on my way to Radio Shack this weekend to get a voltmeter, now i feel competent to shop for an antenna as well.