Barry Mann
August 17th 03, 02:24 AM
In >, on 08/16/03
at 01:47 PM, Steve > said:
>I live in an area with fair FM reception. I have an old BIC Beam Box
>antenna (passive, from the 70s) that really improves my FM reception,
>but now it's 30 years later and there must be something better, and
>certainly smaller.
In an urban high signal area, active antennas usually get into overload
trouble.
Small antennas are always a crapshoot. (even the BIC is small)
Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.
In an urban area you need a very directional antenna, you have signal
to burn. Unfortunately, small antennas are not very directional.
In a rural area, "gain" is usually more important than directionality.
Unfortunately, small antennas have little or no gain. ("gain" as used
here has nothing to do with passive or active) If you have a long run
of wire between the antenna and your set, a mast mounted amplifier can
be useful. Inexpensive amplifiers usually degrade the performance of a
good tuner.
Basically, you have to try the small antennas in your location and see
what happens. Always purchase them with a money back arrangement. In
spite of all the glowing copy on the box or an internet site, no one
can predict exactly what will happen. While they are more likely to
please, even full size antennas may fail to do the job in difficult
areas.
-----------------------------------------------------------
SPAM:
wordgame:123(abc):<14 9 20 5 2 9 18 4 at 22 15 9 3 5 14 5 20 dot 3 15
13> (Barry Mann)
[sorry about the puzzle, SPAMers are ruining my mailbox]
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at 01:47 PM, Steve > said:
>I live in an area with fair FM reception. I have an old BIC Beam Box
>antenna (passive, from the 70s) that really improves my FM reception,
>but now it's 30 years later and there must be something better, and
>certainly smaller.
In an urban high signal area, active antennas usually get into overload
trouble.
Small antennas are always a crapshoot. (even the BIC is small)
Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.
In an urban area you need a very directional antenna, you have signal
to burn. Unfortunately, small antennas are not very directional.
In a rural area, "gain" is usually more important than directionality.
Unfortunately, small antennas have little or no gain. ("gain" as used
here has nothing to do with passive or active) If you have a long run
of wire between the antenna and your set, a mast mounted amplifier can
be useful. Inexpensive amplifiers usually degrade the performance of a
good tuner.
Basically, you have to try the small antennas in your location and see
what happens. Always purchase them with a money back arrangement. In
spite of all the glowing copy on the box or an internet site, no one
can predict exactly what will happen. While they are more likely to
please, even full size antennas may fail to do the job in difficult
areas.
-----------------------------------------------------------
SPAM:
wordgame:123(abc):<14 9 20 5 2 9 18 4 at 22 15 9 3 5 14 5 20 dot 3 15
13> (Barry Mann)
[sorry about the puzzle, SPAMers are ruining my mailbox]
-----------------------------------------------------------