FM antenna recommendations?

Someone suggested rabbit ears, but where can I find rabbit ears in 2003? I live less than 20 miles outside NYC and I have a hard time getting reception that is steady.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

The absolute best would be a tower/rooftop directional yagi on a motorized shaft controlled by a rotor. As far as indoor ones go there are a few specialist units a popular one being an omnidirectional type but, I don't think any approach a good outdoor one.

Another solution is to connect to your TV cable if you use one as many also carry FM as well as AM signals upconverted to FM frequencies.

 

I use a simple powered antenna. I think it's a Jensen indoor power antenna. It does very well! Actually any loop antenna should do well, and usually most tuners can be very sensitive if of recent build....

But yes, tower and rooftop antennas are best. Then there's large stick antennas you can mount on the side of the roof....

 

Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of using a rooftop antenna. I am currently using one of those T-shaped flat wire things. My digtal cable doesn't have any FM radio signals and I don't think I can rig it up to my receiver in a way that would work. I understand that a huge cable out to a pole would become my antenna, so could hook up a cable to a splitter on one end and with some kind of adapter to hook up to the receiver.

 

I thought Radio Shack still carried some rabbit ears

 

That's too bad, because if you have normal analog cable TV, it's interplexed into the cable. THAT'S the best.... Trouble free....

 

I almost wish I still had analog cable. The digital cable is a little too compressed looking for me. Especially old vids on VH1 Classic. I watched Fast and Furious the other night and the scene transitions were bad because of it.

 

Terk and a couple of others make powered indoor antennas. Haven't tried them since I have rooftop. Some places still do sell rabbit ears too, but I find them unpredictable and clumsy.

http://www.terk.com

 

Finco FM4G or a Channel Master yagi are the only way to go; IMO. Finding those may not be easy however.

 

http://www.audioadvisor.com/store/mfglisting.asp?hdnMfg=Magnum/Dynalab&MFGID=73

Two antennas from Magnum Dynalab, one $100.00, the other $30.00.

 

I use a Magna Dynalab here.
While my father gets great results with his, I don't with mine. We live only a block or two away from each other. While he can listen to WNED in Buffalo in perfect stereo, I can't even get it in mono on at least as sensitive a tuner. We both have ours mounted on chimneys at aproximately equal height. YMMV and all that, but if I did it again I'd buy a big multiple element Yago. Jeff

 

I use a Magna Dynalab here.
While my father gets great results with his, I don't with mine. We live only a block or two away from each other. While he can listen to WNED in Buffalo in perfect stereo, I can't even get it in mono on at least as sensitive a tuner. We both have ours mounted on chimneys at aproximately equal height. YMMV and all that, but if I did it again I'd buy a big multiple element Yagi. Jeff

 

I've seen several kinds of rabbit ears at Best Buy, in an obscure corner of the TV dept. But your mileage will surely vary, and you have to be a devoted fiddler-arounder. (My grandfather was a master, and knew where you had to sit in the room and in what posture, to get the best results with those things...)

 

You can still buy plain old rabbit ears at places like Target or K-mart as well as Radio Shack. They are cheap and can serve surprisingly well. Avoid powered indoor TV antennas. These can work well for TV but rarely do for FM.

 

Rabbit ears hooked up to the Samsung stereo I had in high school suited me fine until I got a local Real Country affiliate. Now I have an RCA minisystem that does get lots of FM stations to the point that I can get a country station from Fosston, Minnesota that does play classic and new country, very clearly. If you discover the ABC Real Country radio network through the FM antenna, you have found a great place to enjoy new and classic country music on the radio. BTW, digital cable is cheaper than analog cable in my area, plus in my bedroom, it goes perfect with my stereo setup. Using the AUX on my minisystem, and my digital cable on, I can play the Music Choice stations with the TV off which is perfect if I can't get radio stations playing certain formats I am in the mood to hear and don't want to play CDs. I don't need an XM or Sirius satellite radio setup in my bedroom at all and don't need an antenna at all anymore.

 

I don't consider finding it a problem. The real problem is fitting this in my apartment....

 

AudioPrism makes some really good FM antenna which are quite stylish and will work very good indoors. There must be a dealer near you that handles it. www.audioprism.com