FM tuner? HAMs? help me

[shabtek]

I would like to tune in to an FM station 100+ miles away, a few times I have incidentally picked it up when driving down a hill 2 miles from here.
Can you recommend an FM receiver and antenna setup that could be so directional and discriminating?
I can mount an antenna 50-75' above grade.

 

[Speedskater]

All kinds of technical info on FM antennas and tuners:
http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/index.html

 

[Brian Roth]

Does that FM station have a stream available via the internet?

FWIW, when I was young and still living at home back in the mid/late 1960's, my Dad helped me to erect a 40' mast and install a FM antenna (I think it was a Winegard) on a rotator. I was into FM DX at the time, and used a Sansui receiver that was gifted to me since the power amp had blown up. But, the tuner still worked and I came out of the "tape send" RCA jacks into another power amp.

Bri

 

[shabtek]

yes they stream, I cannot stand the compression artifacts

 

[Brian Roth]

Re. the stream....comprehend your observation. Most radio streams are crappy.

I ASSume you already have a tower installed from your comment "50-75' above grade."

100 miles is a LONG path for reliably receiving an FM station without a tall tower. But, it depends on your terrain. I grew up in the plains of Oklahoma (City) and with my 40' stick I could reliably receive a signal from the "hip" FM station in Tulsa approx. 90 miles away.

Look up info about that distant station in the FCC database. The tower height is specified as "HAAT" which is Height Above Average Terrain. That can be deceiving, though, in hilly/mountainous areas. Here in my flat "Flyover" part of the country it is easier to calculate/guesstimate.

Regardless, 100 miles even in the flat plains bumps into a Big Problem which is the curvature of Earth. High frequencies (yes, FM radio signals fall into that) won't "bend" around the curve of the Earth.

Hence, you need a tall tower to overcome that curvature.

In my region, many TV and FM station antennas are co-located on huge "sticks"...actual height (not HAAT) are often 1500' tall steel structures above the actual dirt. That gives those transmission antennas a longer shot before the earth's curvature attenuates the transmitted signal. Line of sight....

Besides the height of the height of the transmission antenna, the power radiated is important. For FM, the spec is ERP...Effective Radiated Power. Full power FM stations broadcast up to 100 KW ERP.

So, look up HAAT and ERP for that station and report back <g>. Also your actual altitude ref. that station and the terrain.

What might be a huge problem is the desired station is transmitting with, say, only 5000 Watts ERP from a actual metal stick only 300' tall above the dirt. Feel free to PM me with the call letters for that station so I can "digest" that info.

I know enough about this to be dangerous! lol.

Bri

 

[Matador]

A 3-element Yagi can get you 6-ish dbi when pointed at the source, but at FM (around 90MHZ) you are looking at elements nearly 6ft long.

 

[CJ]

Marantz 10B will pull in every station within the milky way galaxy but is cost prohibitive, so go for an old Pioneer SX434 at $139.95.
Or call the station manager and tell him to aim the beam your way.

You have an old school tuner? Spray the brass bushings that ground the fin sections and watch the signal strength meter leap up like a frog in a dynamite pond

 

[PermO]

Get a Yagi antenna, mount it high and aim it in the right direction. (also note vertical vs horizontal depending on the broadcaster)

They don't really come cheap;

https://www.profmbroadcast.com/products/cat/18/fm-antennes/
I still have my old Aura tuner, supposed to be one of the best PLL synth tuners.

And if you mount an antenna, make shure to connect a surge arrestor in line to protect the hifi in case of a lightning strike.

 

[Brian Roth]

Since it's been decades, I don't recall exactly what antenna I used. But, it was specific for FM and it had multiple elements. I'm guessing at least eight. I had met a guy named Bob Cooper in OKC who was a FM "DXer" and he had a tower in his back yard that was at least 60' tall. I had spotted it when riding my bicycle (!) in my neighborhood, so I knocked on his door. lol He was very helpful.

Back in those days, the local electronics stores (remember those?) sold a variety of TV and FM-specific antennas. I did a few web searches and it looks like the mainstream antenna manufacturers don't seem to make FM yagis any more. Bummer. There is probably some niche manufacturer still making them, though...I didn't easily find one.

Sidebar. Bob started a company called CADCO. Community Antenna Development Company. This was LONG before "cable TV" as we know it today existed.

Back then, local companies in rural areas would erect a tall tower and install multiple receiving antennas to pick up distant TV stations, then distribute it via coax to local subscribers. Bob designed and built channel-specific preamplifiers that were mounted waaaay up on those towers. Bob also was a design consultant for the various CATV companies.

Bri

EDIT: CADCO

 

[Brian Roth]

http://www.ham-radio.com/k6sti/
Bri

 

[Tubetec]

Could you get a neighbour the far side of the hill to re-beam the signal via skywave AM ?
might only work after dark and suffer from fading depending on conditions , probably only effective for basic voice coms not hifi sound in any case .