FM Reception

The only thing more difficult than chasing hum (noise) problems, is trying to chase good FM signals. I understand your problem, and the only solution I can think of to try, beyond what you have already done, is to get a FM antenna (outdoor type) and put it in the attic of your Condo. If you do not have access to the attic, I do not know what to suggest. The reason the outdoor type antenna's are more effective, are the fact that they have much better front to rear rejection. Some of these are referred to as "ghost killers." These antenna's have specifically high gain in one direction (and sometime ONLY for FM signals!) and low gain from the sides and rear. This design I am speaking of will more likely provide enough signal for stereo reception, especially if CAREFULLY aimed at the FM source. If you are trying to receive from more than one location, you will need a motorized rotor, with a compass control to locate the correct tower. Best luck!

I must agree with Mr. Porter if your problem is multipath related - you will need a directional gain array. One thing I would also consider is doing away with the Turk if it is amplified. I have found over the years that unless you are willing to buy a very high quality amplifier (Blonder-Tongue, etc.), a passive antenna arrangement provides much better overall performance. I cannot tell you how many cheap amplified units I've seen (unfortunately including some Turk models)that cause significant degradation to the signal (either by noise or overload). Believe it or not, one of the most effective indoor setups remains the classic twinlead "T", and it does have some directional ability - so you may wish to try this as well. A few other bits can generally help, including the use of shielded RG6 (not RG59 - high loss) lead in if your run exceeds 15 feet. While 300 ohm twin balanced cable may provide better signal transfer under ideal conditions, a shielded RG6 cable will reject spurious RF and other interference. As a very last resort, if airwave reception is truly impossible, see if your cable provider offers analogue FM service (not Music Choice or some other digital format). This is a fading service, and the reception quality is nowhere near that of a quality outdoor antenna setup. However, it is better than no reception. You may also have that rare reception situation where a better tuner may be appropriate. I say rare, because the differences in selectivity (not musical ability, where differences can be substantial) among tuners does not approach the selectivity gains that a quality outdoor directional antenna will yield.

One clarification on my earlier post: selectivity and multipath are discrete concepts. However, I've discovered that the more selective tuners tend to have better multipath rejection performance, particularly analogue models that allow some detuning. That is why I refer to the former, more commonly advertised concept. Where a manufacturer provides any multipath rejection data, that should be your touchstone.

as a last resort, you may need to consider cable or internet radio. there are some unfortunate locations for which even the best of antennae will not suffice.

with cable fm an analog tuner is a plus - the cable provider does not always rebroadcast on the exact freq.and you need to be able to detune slightly