FM antenna

[coldcathode]

Anyone know of a cheap DIY FM antenna to go in a garage attic?

I have a workshop in my garage and I have very poor FM reception. I would like to construct something cheap to put up in the attic to improve my reception between 88 and 108


Any ideas?

 

[scott wurcer]

The college radio guys pass this one around...


http://www.wryr.org/Antenna_instructions.pdf

 

[coldcathode]

Scott,

Have you built this?

Is best reception parallel or perpendicular to the loop?

Which corner does the other 300 ohm lead attach to? The directions only mention "adjacent" corner? I am assuming one of the two corners nearest the merge?
Like attached?

 

[scott wurcer]

Sorry, I did not need it since a simple dipole up high enough worked for me. If you want to try it I would first follow the picture they have. I know the words and the figure don't exactly line up, I also found it a little confusing. Possibly the AARL handbook has a description of the quad principle. 3-6dB extra from a few feet of wire seemed like a good deal at the time.

 

[infinia]

Here is another quad optimized for lower FM band
http://www.ham-radio.com/k6sti/cpquad.htm
a little more complicated with more directional gain

don't forget the balun

 

[DigitalJunkie]

A J-pole antenna might be a bit tall for an attic,but I used one just stuck into the dirt,in a flowerbed.It was piped in to my Sansui TU-717,and I could hear all kinds of stuff!
Just one suggestion,for those who have the space.

 

[Geek]

X2 what DigitalJunkie said. Here's some math:
http://www.hamuniverse.com/jpole.html

Another, if you need even more gain, is the colinear. A little more complex to build, but can approach 9dB gain - from an omni vertical.

Cheers!