In need of a good FM antenna

[sawyer1370]

I need to get a good powered antenna for my receiver, any suggestions on something inexpensive?

[Bill Atwood]

Yeah, me too. The reception on my new Marantz 8400 really blows.

[Nuz]

Me three... :)

[wje]

Check out the Terk branded antennas. The perform quite well for FM and are amplified, too.

[algaray]

I would go to the CCrane company where they specialize on radios and antennas. They have one called FM Reflect Antenna for $24.95 that should work well for an indoor antenna.

http://www.ccrane.com/fm-antennas.aspx

[Malor]

Those little Terk powered antennas SUCK. I bought two separate models and neither was even as good as a long bare wire.

I haven't bought one yet, but the InTenna at http://www.antennaperformance.com/ looks pretty good. It's recommended at an enthusiast site for vintage radio tuners, http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/ .

Again, I haven't bought these myself, but from my (very!) limited understanding of how antennas work, I think these guys really deliver the goods, where all the Terk stuff is junk.

[mbtobe]

[QUOTE=Malor]Those little Terk powered antennas SUCK. I bought two separate models and neither was even as good as a long bare wire.

[/QUOTE]

I completely agree. I have several Terk antennas in my basement ready for the next yard sale. They absolutely suck.

[sawyer1370]

Well I was kinda thinking about an indoor antenna actually. Thanks for the info.

[CCarncross]

I have yet to find any good indoor antennas. Maybe you will have better luck. I went with an antenna in the attic...

[Malor]

The InTenna is designed to be indoors, although because of its size, you'll probably want to put it in the attic.

A good antenna, from what I understand, has to be big. The little tiny ones just will not do a good job, no matter what. They may work for certain stations or certain segments of the FM band, but if you want the whole thing, you need a lot of wire, and it needs to be at least a half-wavelength long in one dimension. (preferably two). That means, with FM antennas, several feet.

[EC]

I use a Magnum Dynalab ST-2 antenna in my attic. For my other tuner I use the Magnum Dynalab Silver Ribbon which is by far the best indoor antenna I have used. I did have a powered Terk back in the 80's - all I will say is that I took it apart.

http://www.magnumdynalab.com

[meat_rocket]

Anyone know of any good indoor am/fm antennas?

[DJRobNM]

I have fallen for TERK's tricks as well regarding both FM and HDTV antennas. I found a little Jensen FM AM "shark fin" type unpowered antenna and it works much better than the included stuff. I hooked it up last night and was able to pull every major station in the area from a room that is pretty internal to my building.

[rocky1]

I'll tell you what i did which may or may not work for you.I have HD in my home inwhich i use a RS outdoor ant. for my local hd.I connected a splitter and ran one line into the receiver.The fm is fantastic.

[YeuEmMaiMai]

I use a regular "T" antenna and it is awesome.

[garyroboff]

I too have not found a good FM indoor antenna, and strongly recommend outdoor models. But Terk actually does make an excellent AM only antenna, called the AM Advantage. It is a tunable antenna, which means that every time a user changes the AM frequency he or she must adjust the tuning dial on the antenna. That may be too much for most people, but those who want better reception will be rewarded with significantly improved sound quality. I've used these antennas on a number of systems in different locations and have never been disappointed. One other point is worth noting if you are planning to use an antenna such as this with a receiver or pre-pro incorporating digital decoding circuitry: it's important to move the antenna as far away from the receiver or pre-pro as possible to minimize interference from the decoder.
Good luck!

[JasonColeman]

[QUOTE=Malor]Those little Terk powered antennas SUCK...[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I agree. I recently picked up the 16" or so high powered FM antenna to pick up our local NPR station and the Terk is actually worse than the supplied antenna that came with my 3805. What a frickin' joke. Unfortunately, I already threw away the box, so maybe I'll have to use it as a wristwatch caddy...:D

I'd love to hear more recommendations for sub-$50 FM antennas.

Jason