Multiplex Tuner Repair

Hi Rich,
I've got threads going on about basically the same thing so thank you for being patient. Yes, Ive got metal window frames in this building as it was built in the 1960's. The station wattage shouldn't be too much of a problem, currently I'm listening to a weaker station that's further away and it's clear in mono. The tuning meter gets buried to the right when I have the classical music station on and mono sounds beautiful but stereo is a nightmare.
If the fm tuning is slightly out of alignment as well as the multiplex, could this explain an inconsistency between stations? My other thought is that classical recordings can be very delicate with a good deal of open space surrounding the instruments which could be the reason why the problem becomes more noticeable.
What it comes down to is that this is my first tube engineered component and so I'm learning a lot in a very short period of time. I'm enamored with the tube sound so far, I have it fed into an ASR Emitter II Exclusive. What's frustrating is that I replaced the 4 multiplex tubes with all Telefunkens and 2 of them are military grade so I'm impatient.

Sorry Rich I forgot to mention that I've got a single Monster 12 gauge copper wire on the 300 ohm antenna screw and that's connected to the thinnest wire of a TERK Edge without a power connection. No ground, I take it out of the window sill if I anticipate a storm.
Thanks!

What I suspected ... metal window frames. In three words ... lots of luck.

You need an outdoor antenna ... window sill placement can be iffy, roof placement would be ideal. Can not imagine your building being ok with attaching anything to the facade, that is usually a municipal violation, as facade attachments are associated with falling bricks.

If I include the years working with my dad in his TV repair shop that had tin ceilings, no less, then this has been my experience for the past 50 years. I have given up on using receivers, all together.

Will your building allow you to place an antenna on the roof? Does the local cable company provide antenna hook-up?

On the plus side, you have good mono reception.

Rich

I have good mono sound and bad stereo sound. I have good mono reception and good stereo reception according to the meter. My thought however is that my stereo reception needs to outshine that of my mono reception but I am at a point where I don't believe the issue lies in reception alone.
The window sill is cement and it's possible that I can bracket an MD ST2 to the sill but I need to bring the ground into the apartment somehow. For what it's worth, the upstairs neighbor has a satellite dish mounted to the front brick facade.
I appreciate your familiarity with this Rich, can you give me any suggestions as to how I might ground the MD ST2 dipole?

It is all about reception. It may help to view the reception dilemma in the following way ... if several people were throwing balls at you at the same time ... it would be easier to catch one ball (mono) as opposed to two or more balls (stereo) at the same time. Also, the balls would not be thrown to you at the same speed. That is what you are asking your tuner and antenna to do and produce audiophile quality sound, at the same time.

The easiest thing to do and the one thing that would have the best chance of succeeding is to ask your management company if you can install the following on the building's roof, AnntennaCraft FM6 .

If the building already allows FIOS or DirecTV or Dish Network to install antennas on the roof, this type of antenna should be allowed.

The physics behind this is simple ... an antenna which has a direct line of sight to the radio signal will do a pretty good job of reproducing the sound.

The MD ST2 is very similar to the old style car radio antennas that were mounted vertically off to the side of the front or rear hood. That is pretty much how you would install this antenna.

You could place the antenna in a vertical position in a room corner near your tuner and see if it improves the situation any. Bracketing a 5 foot antenna vertically to a window sill may catch management's attention though. The ground, I believe, can be attached to a radiator, pipe, or outlet box.

My focus on management attention is because I am a coop board president and deal with this fairly often, as NYC takes facade attachments very seriously for multiple dwellings ... a $2500 fine per occurrence if outside of NYC regulations.

Rich