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DIY stereo antennas?
- Thread starter john5220
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I assume you want an antenna for the 88-108 MHz FM band? If so, the easiest thing to do is probably take 2 pieces of wire, each 2.5 feet long and connect one wire to each of the two FM antenna terminals on the back. You want to orient them the same way the transmitter antenna is oriented so you can experiment with the wires going vertical (one up, one down), horizontal (one left, one right), and see how you get the strongest signal. That'll work if your receiver is in a place where it can pick up signals. If your receiver is in a basement or something you might need something more elaborate, like an antenna on the roof or in the attic but I'm not sure about your specific situation.
I assume you Googled “DIY FM antenna” and found many options and videos. What specifically would you like to know?
Numerous stuff on Youtube, diy mostly dipoles. If placing antenna remotely use coax.
dly66
Addicted Member
I have used cubical quads for FM. I believe they are inherently 75 ohm have run 18 ga solid copper wire inside PVC to an Ideal F splice adapter. With older receivers use a balun and feed the 300 ohm terminals. I use a run of coax cable between the two. An FM cubical quad is around 30 inches per side I recall.
I built one using 1/2" copper pipe. Works great, pulls in every crappy station in the area clear as a bell.
(We are in a FM wasteland but the J-pole is not at fault.)
As a ham, I made several antennas, but just a few for FM. I’ve made a quad out of wire - easy to put together, but bulky. Basic wire dipole. Easiest to make and easiest to hide. Currently working on a folded dipole I’m making from 1/4 inch solid aluminum rod. I have thought about hanging this vertically for omni reception. I like the durability of the solid rods and have a decent supply of 1/4 &3/8’s rods. Ising larger diameter will help increase the bandwidth of your antenna. I typically tune the antenna for middle of the band or 98MHz . If you listen to the higher end or lower end of the band, you might want to tweak yours for those frequencies.
Some other antennas I have made for VHF include a “Moxon” which is directional. It is made up of a dipole radiator and a single reflector. These elements are bent towards each other and form the shape of a rectangle. Gain is minimal, but front to back ratio is similar to a 3 element yagi. It performed very well on 2 meters. I’ve made a 4 element yagi from the 3/8’s rod also for 2meters. It got pretty heavy due to the boom I used was heavy alum. Box tubing ( 1/8” wall thickness). Another was a basic dipole made from aluminum arrow shafts. A friend is into bow hunting and I asked about old arrow shafts. He brought me a bundle with about 30. Some would slip inside of others easily and made it easy to make longer lengths. I made a basic dipole for 6 meters using the arrows. I joined them with pop-rivets. It worked very well about 20’ off the ground. It was mainly used to work a couple of repeaters, although I did work some DX a couple of times.
On my project list is a turnstile style antenna.I’ll probably make it using folded dipoles made from the solid rods. The folded dipoles will make it more compact and the solid rods will make it more durable. I like the solid rods because they are easily bent. Arrows are very thin walled and brittle. They will snap if you bend. Regular soft tubing is probably more bendable. Although I never have bent any, it might have to be filled with sand to keep from kinking. I have used arrows for straight elements and solid rod for bent corners.
Some other antennas I have made for VHF include a “Moxon” which is directional. It is made up of a dipole radiator and a single reflector. These elements are bent towards each other and form the shape of a rectangle. Gain is minimal, but front to back ratio is similar to a 3 element yagi. It performed very well on 2 meters. I’ve made a 4 element yagi from the 3/8’s rod also for 2meters. It got pretty heavy due to the boom I used was heavy alum. Box tubing ( 1/8” wall thickness). Another was a basic dipole made from aluminum arrow shafts. A friend is into bow hunting and I asked about old arrow shafts. He brought me a bundle with about 30. Some would slip inside of others easily and made it easy to make longer lengths. I made a basic dipole for 6 meters using the arrows. I joined them with pop-rivets. It worked very well about 20’ off the ground. It was mainly used to work a couple of repeaters, although I did work some DX a couple of times.
On my project list is a turnstile style antenna.I’ll probably make it using folded dipoles made from the solid rods. The folded dipoles will make it more compact and the solid rods will make it more durable. I like the solid rods because they are easily bent. Arrows are very thin walled and brittle. They will snap if you bend. Regular soft tubing is probably more bendable. Although I never have bent any, it might have to be filled with sand to keep from kinking. I have used arrows for straight elements and solid rod for bent corners.
r_brumett61
Well-Known Member
I wanted to try this one once.. never did though.
https://www.gammaelectronics.xyz/audio_01-1982_FM.html
https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Audio/80s/Audio-1982-01.pdf
Page 24.
https://www.gammaelectronics.xyz/audio_01-1982_FM.html
https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Audio/80s/Audio-1982-01.pdf
Page 24.
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I remember when I was a teen, making a dipole antenna from twin lead. It was about 18 feet long. I don't know where I found the plans .. maybe a one of my dad's copies of Radio Electronics or Popular Electronics?? It worked very good pulling in stations from real far away.
gridleakrick
Well-Known Member
Do google search for fractal fm antenna. Very interesting designs and claims.
Rick
Rick
