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Cheap DIY FM Antenna

I bought a used Sansui TU-217 some months ago just to have some background music in my living room, I have two questions:

1-There are 2 300 ohm and 1 75 ohm taps in the back of the unit, which one should I use ?

2-My current antenna is a piece of wire connected to the 300 ohm tap. I don't receive some station correctly so I would like to build a small antenna. Thing is I don't have space to have a 3 feet piece of wire hanging inside my living room. Also I live in an apartment so putting it in the roof is not an option.

What can I build that's small and serves the purpose ?

Thanks !!!
foxtrot
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Sugarbrie...While what you say about the FM band being in the middle of the TV bands is correct, please note that amplified antenna, and mast-mounted RF amplifiers often have a "FM trap" filter to notch out the FM frequencies which adversely affect the TV picture.
gdoodle
113 posts
 
You said CHEAP, right? I built this one with a few feet of speaker wire and a few wooden sticks glued together. Slips nicely hidden behind my entertainment unit, though it is directionally sensitive. You can also build one right on a wall by wrapping around nails... read the directions and you'll see what I mean. couple of links to same project - one has an animation that helps you visualize the design.

http://www.wryr.org/Antenna_instructions.pdf
http://www.zbconline.com/antenna.html
http://www.zbconline.com/3dantenna.html
cmk
397 posts
 
Gdoodle, excellent sites. Are you using one of those designs? I'd like to try my hand at making one myself. Does the cable connecting to the cubial have to be 300ohm ribbon feeder cable as well?
gdoodle
113 posts
 
Cmk - I am using one such home brew antenna - its hanging on a nail behind my large entertainment unit - out of sight. Hooked up to my 70's vintage Kenwood receiver. Better reception than the store bought thing - but we are in the floor of a valley - hard reception on the low power NPR/classical type stations. I did blow $5 on the 300 ohm ribbon cable - not sure it was worth it. radioshack's is stiff and hard to work with - very hard to strip. Next time I would do that part with speaker wire and see if it sounded alright first.
cmk
397 posts
 
Gdoole, I'm having trouble locating 300ohm cable. Any suggestions? I was told normal speaker red/black wire would do. Around here, we don't have a radio shack...
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