# FM antenna in the basement?



## jmmdm2

I've searched on this a bit but either I'm not using the correct key words or it's just not out there.

My HT is in my basement. My receiver came with the cheapo little wire for FM reception.

I really enjoy the local stations that keep me updated on events in the area. 

To make matters worse, my house is behind a hill. I want to know if there's a solution for better FM reception. I want to run an antenna on the roof or maybe even up the hill behind the house to get the best reception possible.

Has anyone done this?


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Yup. I have an old Radio Shack omni-directional FM antenna in my attic. Works fine. TV antennas make great FM antennas, too, but they're directional. They'd be a good choice if you lived way out in the country.

Regards,
Wayne


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## nova

I had an old Radio Shack TV antenna in the attic of one of my old houses. House was new at the time and in a new neighborhood so I really didn't want it on the roof. Worked very well. In my current house, I have my computers, AVR, and 5.1 system set up in my yet to be finished basement, on this system I have an old pair of rabbit ears hooked up for FM. This also works pretty well.


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## jmmdm2

Thank you for the suggestions guys!

What sort of wire did you use to connect between the antenna and the receiver? My Sony 5400ES has a plastic fitting that has a single wire running from it and that plugs into what looks like a coax input on the receiver. I tried using a piece of cable wire but once the ground made contact, reception got worse.


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## nova

I use coax to the rabbit ears. And on the antenna I used coax from the receiver up to the antenna, then a 75 ohm coaxial "F" plug to 300 ohm twin lead connection to hook up to the actual antenna.


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## jmmdm2

I went searching for options...

http://www.magnumdynalab.com/fmantenna-st2.htm

I can pick this up for 109 + shipping on ebay but is it worth 109? I decided to try my plain old coax idea and it improved reception quite a bit. I'm only using the solid internal wire in the coax fed into the receiver and the insulation is cut far enough back to have no contact with the threaded portion of the plug. The wire runs outside, up the side of the house and it's laying on the roof for the moment with no termination. Simply a bare wire end.

The receiver is picking up many new signals but most do not have enough power to illuminate the STEREO indicator on the receiver. I wonder if this antenna will provide any better reception than my current set-up.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Well, it gets mixed reviews at Audioreview.com. I think for the price I'd get an outdoor antenna, especially since that option's open to you.

Regards,
Wayne


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## nova

I dunno,... I'd suggest something simple like this Channel Master 3026 Omnidirectional FM Antenna for about $40. :dunno:


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