A Worthy Antenna

[Lazarus Short]

A tuner is no better than its antenna, an often-overlooked but inescapable fact.

Some years ago, my favorite classical FM station got banished to the AM band, and its frequency sold for another rock station, of which there were already plenty. In Kansas City excess seems to be the Golden Mean. I bought a good AM antenna for KXTR, in the form of a Grundig AN-200, and it did a good job. Fast forward to Carlsbad - the nearest NPR/classical station is in Maljamar, some 40+ miles away over the high plains, and down into the Pecos valley. I tried various tuners and antennas, but nothing did more than a mediocre job, not even my DIY's. I pulled out the AN-200 and hooked it up to my Proton 300 (Schotz tuner, yay!). The FM reception was now like a direct wire feed! I could have told any of you that it was internet radio, and I think you would have believed...

The antenna is a passive loop. I counted the turns of solid-core wire, measured the diameter, and calculated: more than 900 inches of antenna element! [no affiliation with Grundig]

 

[laatsch55]

Ok, I finally have to ask...where does this "no afilliation" come from?...I don't care if you're the CEO, major stockholder or casual observer, if you have an opinion about something why should afilliation have any thing to do with it?

 

[Lazarus Short]

It's so no one will think I'm just a Grundig-paid troll. Oh, wait, this is a small, tight www forum, not AK. My bad...

On second thought, I'm a member at a www forum with a much smaller membership, and we regularly get posts offering bath/bed room hardware from the UK. Go figure...

 

[laatsch55]

And why should that preclude an opinion, let's say you were a Grundig paid troll, you still have an opinion and everyone's entitled....

 

[laatsch55]

I've been called a White Oak Whore---------UNTIL------they sat their ass down in the masters chair and got their shit blown away----it's all relative......and subject to change without notice..the locals up here can be brutal...

 

[BlazeES]

Blame is on the trolls and the racketeers. "Not affiliated" is a response by the good folk to fully disclose in an otherwise cynical world. But I totally get where you're coming from Lee...
It's ass but it's also one of those things that has become an interweb custom of sorts.

 

[laatsch55]

I think here we can rise above that..

 

[Lazarus Short]

OK, guys, now does anyone have a comment on the antenna? You know, the main subject of this thread...

BTW, I've been impressed with the performance, but does anyone here know what the "Schotz" in a tuner consists of? I gather it is a noise-reducing circuit.

 

[laatsch55]

I was hoping you would know...

 

[Lazarus Short]

The www did not yield much, but it seems Larry Schotz runs an RF R&D company.

 

[laatsch55]

I've made some inquiries...

 

[Web Police]

Nice antenna. I never have really lived in a place where a good antenna is necessary, I need the opposite to filter out all the stations hogging bandwidth.

 

[BlazeES]

OK, guys, now does anyone have a comment on the antenna? You know, the main subject of this thread...

BTW, I've been impressed with the performance, but does anyone here know what the "Schotz" in a tuner consists of? I gather it is a noise-reducing circuit.

I'm in need of a good antenna - two actually. The nearest major metropolitan distribution tower is 60 miles away and I have two different tuners that need a better loop.

 

[Lazarus Short]

Blaze, your situation may well call for a mast + directional yagi, or look into the Magnum Dynalab antennas. Check the www for DIY antennas - if you have an attic, you can do a lot with some sticks of wood and antenna wire.

 

[fitz43]

OK, guys, now does anyone have a comment on the antenna? You know, the main subject of this thread...

BTW, I've been impressed with the performance, but does anyone here know what the "Schotz" in a tuner consists of? I gather it is a noise-reducing circuit.

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/4574389

 

[BlazeES]

Blaze, your situation may well call for a mast + directional yagi, or look into the Magnum Dynalab antennas. Check the www for DIY antennas - if you have an attic, you can do a lot with some sticks of wood and antenna wire.

Magnum Dyn is new to me. Their 54" mast ST-2 may be just what the doctor ordered. Thanks Laz!

 

[orange]

I could just use the 21' mast at the corner of the house that feeds the TV signals if I wanted to but it doesn't make a huge difference when the main FM signals are on a tall mountain (Deer Point?) farmed with the Boise TV stations, and Clay Peak nearby.

 

[orange]

Ok, I finally have to ask...where does this "no afilliation" come from?...I don't care if you're the CEO, major stockholder or casual observer, if you have an opinion about something why should afilliation have any thing to do with it?

They expect you to disclose crap even if you just blew your nose in front of their offices...paranoia about the '1 percent' or corporate culture has made us all p----whipped a little.

Oh well, nothing critical, Dennis, just an observation...and it's excellent that you are still able to solve your recepttion problems nicely and easily.

 

[orange]

Nice antenna. I never have really lived in a place where a good antenna is necessary, I need the opposite to filter out all the stations hogging bandwidth.

Modify the filters or align it good if the alternate channel rejection is a problem that can't be solved easily with redirection of the antenna. A more expensive option is selective antenna technology to choose between the antenna that captures the signal better.

I remember traveling to Eugene, Oregon in 1981 and finding I could turn my portable radio in four directions and capture 3 or four signals at the same frequency!

 

[laatsch55]

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-...&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/4574389

Thanks for the trouble fitz!!