boomac Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I just plugged in my new, (vintage) MR78 Tuner. It arrived yesterday, in excellent shape, from the eBay seller. Sending that kind of money off to an unknown person is always a bit scary but it proved to be a smooth transaction and I feel pretty good about the deal. So, I quickly hooked it up for a test and using one of the plastic coated T antennas, I was able to draw in the local stations with ease. Since I plan to use the tuner with my other McIntosh gear, it will have to reside down stairs in the rec room. Any ideas on what antenna will produce the best results? Can the tuner be connected to the cable, (TV) and if so, what kind of success could I expect? I seem to recall that in the early days of cable you could hook up a tuner and the reception was fantastic. Are there other options? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Songer Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 You have PLENTY of room on the ranch there, dontcha Scott? You need a big, roof mounted directional antenna that you can rotate by remote control from your basement! I keep threatening to install one of these on my roof, but haven't as yet had the nerve . . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfyr Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 If the cable company has 'FM simulcast', you can split the cable feed and run it directly to your FM tuner without going through the converter. The downside to this is that most cable comapanies dropped this feature when the 'stereo ready' TVs hit the maket around 1985. Partly because all the folks that were buying the new 'cable-ready' TVs (which were nothing of the sort!) all had a small red LED that these folks demanded to work. And what they infact got was not the true high quality stereo of FM simulcast, but instead the inband TV mono signal was split and the second channel synthesized- delayed slightly in phase - a new low in fidelity! But you could NOT tell people who had spent the big bucks that their purchase was in vain! They were far to wise for that!!!!!!!!! Plus you lost the FM channels!!! So much for customer demanded progress! The irony was that we could go into the headend and simply goose the modulation depth up a tad and EVERY LED would light! Another marketing gimmick worthy of so many current marketing scams! So, check with your cable company and see if they have a separate FM feed. Also, you might want to consider having a nice rotor driven external directional antenna as well, run into a high-isolation quality AB switch (90 dB+ rejection- not the cheapy Radio Shack or HmDepot units). Get an antenna rated for HDTV as well. But PLEASE make sure that the antenna & cable are COMMON BONDED per codes to the input point of your cold water pipe!!! And NOT just to a ground rod or to the riser as so many hit and run cable installers do! And also run the input of the cable feed through a properly configured surge protector that is also properly referenced to the same ground potential! If you are not sure what that means, PM me and I will be glad to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 ---------------- On 8/9/2005 6:36:36 PM Allan Songer wrote: You have PLENTY of room on the ranch there, dontcha Scott? You need a big, roof mounted directional antenna that you can rotate by remote control from your basement! I keep threatening to install one of these on my roof, but haven't as yet had the nerve . . . . ---------------- Alan is giving you the true heads up! Don't waste your time and money get a good roof mount and be done with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylanl Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 If you don't want to put anything on your roof go with a Godar antenna and place it in your attic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott0527 Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 ---------------- On 8/9/2005 8:20:18 PM mdeneen wrote: Get an APS-13, mount as high as you can, then raise it a bit higher, then when you think you are done, raise it up a little higher. Add a motor rotor and enjoy! Everything else is just a bad compromise. mdeneen ---------------- In addition to what Mark said, make sure you mount the antenna as high as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfyr Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Speaking of getting the antenna off the ground... Find an old HAM operator willing to let go of his Rohn tower! Or maybe not! It's easier to buy one! Those old pit bulls never let go! And to ramble on a tangent a bit... Besides, they are too busy DXing on their SET equivalent mini rigs run off steroid multi-KW linears that literally blank out half the city when keyed! And I loved them as they operated the same from their cars! And had lunch after literally roasting a hotdog on the mobile antenna! Just DON'T dare touch that lightning rod when the rig is keyed! And I've never seen so many Rohn towers per square inch as in Hunstville! Talk about an impulse weapon! And what a hoot to listen as the entire city seems to track the movement of the FCC smokies trying to ID the 'users' in Huntsville, AL! Heck, I was never into HAM except for appreciating the tech aspect, and even I was caught up after each trip to Hunstville during their owl watches! And people wonder what all the NASA and GE engineers were/are really focused on! EDIT: Oh, just to clarify, most are DXing the world (literally!) off standard CB rigs! And not even SSB! The less the more challenge - off their MW linears! They are all HAMS (well there may be a few who aren't!!!) who don't feel the challenge of using their big HAM rigs. No challenge in the equivalent of jumping on the net! And you would be watching TV and suddenly everything would go crazy and the non-plussed matter of fact response was simply "oh, that would be Harry, or Jon, or Lynn, or whomever- as they each seemed to know each other's routine - or I guess you would after a few such occurances!!! Life during wartime! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwm Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 "Talk about an impulse weapon! And what a hoot to listen as the entire city seems to track the movement of the FCC smokies trying to ID the 'users' in Huntsville, AL! Heck, I was never into HAM except for appreciating the tech aspect, and even I was caught up after each trip to Hunstville during their owl watches! And people wonder what all the NASA and GE engineers were/are really focused on!" I dont know, this sounds more like "Chicken Banders" or so called "freebanders" to me and not 'hams'. (-: Unless you're lucky enough to have a rural QTH, I cant see anyone in their right mind running the LEGAL limit in a dense urban environment!! RJP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrestonTom Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 You will always do better with an outside antenn. Do not bother with the inside/amplified versions. The first question is: what is the problem? Are you not picking up stations or are you picking them up but there is interference? Second question; Are you in the city or the suburbs? I am in a rural are of SE Connecticut. I have had the best luck with a simple Yagi antenna from Radio Shack (get the $19 not the $14 version). Put it up on the roof and invest in a rotator (about $49). This will give you both sensitivity (the first question) and rejectivity/selectivity (the second question). FM is the real estate around TV station 5 or 6, so using a TV antenna would also work, sort of. Try what I outlined above, it is not all that expensive. Good luck, -Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 One of my '70's Audio mags had plans for an attic array...seems like it was a large X or something that was supposed to be as good as a yagi on a stick. Maybe I'll run across it... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillmbil Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 Ok lets see if I got this right? Buy an external antenna and mount it very very very very high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomac Posted August 10, 2005 Author Share Posted August 10, 2005 I think I'm going to buy a Yaga, put it on the top of the chimney planted in a pot full of either yeast or viagra! Seriously guys, thanks for all the info and suggestions. I'll probably go the attic route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviserated Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 XM Radio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptnBob Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 Don't want to belabor the obvious, but, because of recent events involving people who should have known better, I'll bring it up. Do be careful around power lines or you may get more of a signal than you had counted on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robster Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 Hi was happy with the Godar in the attic before I put up my APS antenna on the roof. It was a real pain but well worth it. www.antennaperformance.com also sells indoor antennas. Cheers, Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylanl Posted August 12, 2005 Share Posted August 12, 2005 Robster: Did the length of the cable to the attic hurt the Godar preformance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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