Peter P. Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 I have two stereo systems; my main system on the ground floor with a middle-of-the-road 30+ year old component digital FM tuner, and a system in my below ground level basement with a middle of the road stereo more recent vintage receiver. Both systems have rabbit ear antennas. Problem was, as I listen to a weaker, distant station on the main system, the muting circuit would cut in/out constantly so the signal would drop constantly. I actually get better reception on the basement, below ground level system and there are no dropouts with the weak station. So I start reading up on antennas and cable and learn that 300 ohm twin lead cable has lower loss than RG-59 coax but is more susceptible to interference. One of the rabbit ear antennas has 300 ohm cable and the other has coax but it's way too thin to be RG-59. The system with the problem has the 300 ohm rabbit ears. I get the bright idea to switch antennas and put the coax equipped rabbit ear antenna on the main system and the problem is solved, yet I see no discernible difference on the signal strength meter on the main system. It only has 3 LEDs so it's not so measurable. The only thing I could conclude is the 300 ohm rabbit ear antenna was picking up interference which was reducing signal strength. Comments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmusic Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Signal strength is everything in FM reception, without a good strong signal you will not have clear and solid sound from your tuner. I use 6 cable and an outdoor FM antenna with a rotor, small investment for great results... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Richard Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 Multipath. The twin lead to the tuner and the antenna portion are both picking up the signal and causing interference. That won't happen with coax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr clean Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 Here you go for the best offered today antenna wise https://innovantennas.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&view=category&virtuemart_category_id=26&Itemid=206&lang=en The longer the boom and the more elements the gain is higher. Yagi antennas don't add gain they just focus it in one direction mainly. Think of it like a adjustable flash light beam. The bigger the antenna the tighter the beam. I have a large yagi here but its not for fm. If the stations you want are not on the fringe out 100 miles plus a smaller beam may be fine giving you a wider slice but not as much distance. If wanting to hear way out getting every station you can get the biggest you can keep up. I have a 60 ft freestanding tower with a 26 ft yagi I use for 2 way. Ive talked over 15000 miles! I just use the vhf side of my tv antenna and it works pretty well out 60 or so miles most of the time. An omni antenna picks up in all directions or at least a clover leaf pattern. Im talking an antenna like this. http://www.teamelectronix.com/store/p27/Outdoor_Fm_Antenna_FMSS.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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