FM Antennas - How To Improve Your FM Stereo Reception 

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I listen to AM radio just about everyday! I don’t have any issues with it. I think you seriously are underestimating just how many people still listen to AM radio.

Dude! You're killing me! I love a.m. radio! And I am under 70.

I'm very sad, from my 33 years old, that you're just waiting for some to dig a tumb for AM radio. While you do that, I can't wait the day i'll have a peice of land where i'll can grab a few sets of mast and rig myself a tall or taller mast to hang various antenna on it, especially something to pickup nicely am stations. U know, I have a Marconi 1961 tube furniture stereo-hi-fi cabinet. And the best AM I EVER HEARD was from that damn thing. Well tuned, it was almost as clear as FM, very warm sound, not the harsh AM sound you get in those automobiles digital tuners anymore. All the brightness was there, there was very little sibillance distortion. I now knew that AM was capable of great results with proper equipments. I hope you will fild the joy to explore AM one day and perhaps, build yourself an am transmitter just for the joy of hearing at the other end the stuff your transmitter transmit. That's how HAM radio starts! Keep going strong with your channel. I really enjoy discovering more about antennas! Cheers

You mentioned you would be surprised if a handful of viewers listened to AM radio so I'm thinking you were shocked when you read the comments. I love your interpretation of AM reception, so damn cute.

You're a Great American for helping us old guys listen to the oldies station! Thank you! Stereo receivers are notorious for poor radio reception. Not all of them, of course, but many.

I still listen to AM for sportstalk in my area. I also know a couple guys that still even listen to shortwave as a hobby.

AM is great. at night I hear stations from all over the USA.

I listen to AM radio daily lol. I use an AM indoor loop antenna. I like to DX far away AM stations. BTW I also own that FM loop antenna and I can tell you it works very well. Thank you for the video.

I listen to am radio all the time! I listen to sports broadcasts with it.

Wow, you have a lot of hate for AM radio. I listen to it everyday. It's still a great source for sports radio especially from out of market, out of state games.

We have old house that has a dual electric / AM radio outlet. This was high tech back in the day when radio was king. AM antenna is still in attic, just need to find an old timey AM radio to use the AM antenna outlet ...

Most of the noise on AM radio is caused by "noisy" electrical devices with their switching power supplies. Solar panels don't help either. When I go camping in the Adirondacks, away from the noise it's clear as a bell.... at night. During the day it's dead. I use my OTA antenna to my FM receivers and they work very well. They are hard to find but I also have an HD tuner which adds many commercial free programming channels as well as repeated AM stations such as KYW and distant FM stations such as WOLD in north Jersey. Great video. BTW I have a 1938 Philco floor radio 38-7 with all the NYC stations on the dial that works.

I'm tellin ya, I see a day where we will need the old airwaves again.

AM radio is alive and well. I just paid $90.00 for a CCRadio EP Pro. There are hundreds of oldies stations on AM.

Add me to the list that still loves AM radio. I'M 56 and have several tube radios and I like to dx . Run a 50 ft longwire outside and you'll pick up a lot of stations, especially at night, stations across the dial.Have Shortwave band on these radios also. Static not an issue. I know you can get most of these stations on the internet but dxing is a hobby for me picking up radio the old fashion way.

For FM reception I use a 3 element Yagi antenna has a matching transformer 300 ohms to 75 ohms and can be summed with a UHF antenna for TV using a VHF+UHF combiner. I get 25 out of 28 channels in STEREO the others are in MONO because they are very far from my area. In Romania all FM stations are broadcasting vertically so you need a vertical antenna for a better reception. All the radios in my house have a 75 ohm input just like a TV set. Soon we will have DAB digital radio on VHF High Band. The problem is that FM and DAB especially the ones with weak signal are heavily affected by LED TVs, monitors, LED light bulbs and you don't have a stable reception that's why I use an outdoor FM antenna. The Yagi FM antenna is the best. In some cases an active splitter may be necessary for a stable reception on weak stations.

I've found that 2 75 cm. (length is important) pieces of wire works a treat. Connect one to one side of the antenna input and the other to the other side and orient them in a vertical plane with one wire going up and the other going down and you will have a significant improvement in reception. In my case I had 5 s points across the dial. A pretty good result for stripping the ends off the couple of bits of scrap wire. If you are using external antennas insure that they are mounted vertically.

AM is perfect for talk radio. I listen to it every morning for news, weather and sports. I seriously doubt it is as dead as you say. Of course, for music, I switch to FM.

this is really a fun video, not only have I enjoyed listening to radio as a hobby, I am an amateur radio operator, so listening to discussion about antennas for radio whether it be for music or other purposes is quite fascinating. I didn’t realize that they were still dedicated outdoor FM commercial radio antennas available anymore so thank you for all the great information.

I’m an am radio listener. DXing on that band is actually really fun especially at night. During the day I get stations from 275 miles away in Boston and on rare occasions 460 miles away in New York City. I live in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick which is surrounded by water and if you’re not already aware am radio signals travel much farther through water than they do over land so I’m technically cheating the system when it comes to daytime DXing. But at night I’ve gotten stations from well over a thousand miles away. I’m honestly not sure what the most distant one I’ve received is. All I use is a few foot wire touching the ground which is definitely far from the best. I have plans on making a much better antenna setup in the future. Just go into am radio DXing not knowing what you’ll find because to be honest I have no idea what I’ll pick up sometimes.

My home is 75 miles from a major city in each direction and in the mountains. It was built wired for coax cable TV, which I don't use. I have a Philips version of the Bose table radio (better than the Bose BTW but not sold since around 2008)....and it has the coax antenna connection. Hook it up to the cable and then unhook the cable junction for that room on the outside of the house. Plug in a outdoor antenna (in my case I just used a $7 TV dipole rabbit ears fastened to the roof eave) no drilling, no fuss. crystal clear for 50 to 80 miles. Mountain helps a bit.

As a 40 year radio broadcaster, you're not too far off on your AM radio predictions, but as a DXer, I still love the band. I love hearing Oldies stations that still broadcast on AM radio too and I think there'll always be a place for AM radio. Remember that when the internet goes away sometime, somehow, someway...AM/FM radio is going to become VERY important again. ;-)

Thank you for making this video. Antenna Man, your channel name implies an understanding of how antennae work. This video informs about some options but does not impart any understanding. I believe you have the ability to produce a video which not only informs of options, but also explains the underlying concepts of how antennae work. I look forward to such a video.

1. On one of your speaker wire antennas, try splitting the two wire at the end not connected to the receiver, for about 28 inches (a bit under0.75m), and extend the two ends in opposite directions, and preferably not along the remainder of the wire going to the receiver (a "T" configuration). It should do noticeably better than the piece that is still joined. If you're going for stuff at the low end of the FM band, make the arms slightly longer; high end, slightly shorter, but it shouldn't be all that fussy. 2. Some receivers have a little jumper wire for you to connect or not to one of the terminal screws (or maybe optionally to a third ground screw). This choose between 300 ohm and 75 ohm impedance. For a dipole, including the T configuration above, 75 ohm is the better choice. In the old days we used to have "folded dipole" antennas, also a T configuration, but made from 300 ohm twin lead, including the arms of the T. The conductor path is like drawing an outline around the T (you can look at it as a squashed loop. The extra conductor going across the top manages to make this antenna about 300 ohms at resonance, which is a good match to the feed line portion going to the receiver, which is what those 300 ohm screws were designed for. 3. It's also worth trying a single wire connected to just one of the 300 ohm screws, try each screw in turn to see which one is better than the other. Or if you just have a 75 ohm F connector, try connecting a single wire to the center connector (sewing pin in the hole and a clip lead is good enough for testing. The length is probably best around 28 inches (about 1/4 wave at 100 MHz, reduced slightly for velocity factor). Try to route the wire so that it spends as little of its length as possible close to the receiver or any of its wires. If you've ever had a portable radio with a telescoping antenna, that's the scheme that we're going for here. (The radio and its other wiring act as a ground plane or counterpoise, and the impedance is lower, often quoted as 50 ohms, though it's quite variable depending on the details of the counterpoise and other conductors around.) 4. Many newer homes have foil backed insulation in the walls. Much older homes may have something like chicken wire as part of the support for actual plaster. And there are usually wires in the walls. Most antennas will work better if not to close to such conductors. Even better if they can be outside of such a conducting (even partial) box, i.e.; outdoors, as we see with TV antennas. But there is a trade off between getting better signal by putting the antenna "over there" or "out there", and the losses in the "feed line" connecting the antenna to the receiver. So try the simple things first. With FM, once the signal is good enough to get rid of the static, it's not worth trying for more. And I only rarely listen to AM, unless you want to count SSB on the ham bands. But that's a whole other kettle of fish.

I like am radio I look for away stations with a special antenna only nite I live LA I'll get az nv tx

some of us still listen to AM radio and even shortwave sometimes. AM is where talk shows are like Rush Limbaugh

I have a Weingard dedicated fm antenna,30 bucks,hooked to a vintage receiver and its awesome!

I also listen to AM talk stations quite frequently. I also still do some AM band DXing.

I listened to more FM radio before the internet came out. On a 30 foot tower using a VHF Antenna that had VHF low and VHF high. With preamp FM trap out was able to pull in stations from Cleveland, Ohio 150 miles away. Plus using a larger Antenna you get better highs and better stereo separation. Plus with the rotor you can fine tune the signal strength. Personally all the FM stations suck in my area. One station I do get and like is WOMC Detroit 104.3 (Detroit's Greatest Hits). As for long distance AM reception is to run a single lead wire from the radio outside to two insulators mounted on two different trees or two poles then run bare copper wire between the insulators and attached that wire coming out of the house to one insulator. Will greatly improve AM reception.

Damm I listen to AM. But for mostly sports and sometimes news. I am kind of done though with most major sports now so oh well. But I think maybe sports and sport talk keeps AM alive.

AM is for us old guys. I live in the Ozarks and would like to get better reception as cable/internet are not available except by satellite and we all know how well that works.

This is a great topic, I used speaker wire when I was a kid 30 years ago, It works the best in my opinion. The only reason I don't listen to AM is because of bad reception. Could you please explain a way that could work for AM. Thanks and keep up the great work.

I listen to radio differently than most people. I don't listen to radio to hear the closest radio station in my area. I listen to the radio to try to get the furthest stations i can possilbly get. I have a 4 1/2 foot copper wire vertically tied to a screw in my room. I can get radio stations 130-160 miles daily. Sometimes up to 200, I enjoy Dxing FM radio. I can safely say that I CAN get 160 miles daily on radio unlike TV, where 40-60 miles is the best I can do. The best FM antenna is one placed vertically because you can get stations in every direction. Straight up in the air catches signals 360 degrees. I build my own FM antennas.

For the die-hard AM listener, a tuned induction loop like the one Tecsun offers is excellent at helping you get distant AM stations. The problem I have in UK is getting DAB stations. That is a whole other thing and so I got an Internet radio instead and that is fantastic.

Remember when you could use cable TV to pull in stations? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

I listen to AM radio all the time to get local news and events. I also listen to FM, Shortwave, and 2 Meter Amateur Radio.

Thank you for this, Antenna Man! One never cares about the subject much... until they need it! Funny thing is I work at a radio station in my area but it's always great to revisit the basics. Thank you for the helpful tips, my friend! Stay well.

I just found this video today. I can share a report of success using Antenna Performance Specialties APS-13 outdoor FM antenna, which has a 16 FT boom. This in connected with RG-6/U to Sansui TU-9900 or Technics ST-G90L (quiet analog front end of the Sansui vs. the super narrow RF and super narrow IF selectivity of the Technics). No trouble to get FM stations from 200 to 300 miles away with decent quieting.

AM is mainly useful for talk-radio and sports radio listeners, at least where I'm at. The very few music stations are usually Spanish language, not my thing. As for FM, I suppose an outdoor antenna is especially useful if you have an HD radio tuner.

This Ant.Man is out of this world. Loved it all. And his home stereo is way beyond "classic". Thats a killer set up. Great. Thanks.

In Detroit we have one AM station that can be picked up in the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. WJR was a powerhouse, but I don’t know of anybody under 70 that listens to it anymore. Then again I once picked up CKLW which is another AM station in Harrow, Ontario all the way down in Atlanta once.

Listen to AM all the time

AM radio has been with me my whole life. I live near New York City and maybe that is why reception is not a problem. Are you going to find Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, et al anywhere else? WOR 710 , Bloomberg 1130, and a few others are my go to stations. Even when I'm in my car, I split between AM and FM.

I live around the same area. Loved seeing you tuning in 97.9x WBSX Hazleton! Best FM station! Also getting WNEP16 and WVIA. Great videos by the way! So cool watching you tuning in my same TV/FM.

You have underestimated AM radio. Without it I can't listen to Rush or Hannity. Twins games? That's on AM also. There's more people using AM than you think.

Thankyou Tyler. I’m 57 and hark back to the days in Southern England when picking up distant stations meant hearing at least 50% of uncommonly heard tunes . For example receiving a good quality fm signal from the next nearest Local FM station in Portsmouth ( 22 miles away ) was not only a cool technical feat because the signal only reached about 12 miles but their chart depended on sales from 4 record shops in the city . Alas beyond the technical feat of receiving some distant mast , the actual content of most stations in Southern England at least is generic , homogeneous, repetitive and predictable- stuck in the 1980s with the same tired old formats and tunes Perhaps I need the mother of all FM Aries pointing West ☹️👍keep up the good work

I still listen to AM and short wave too

Back in the early 1980s my job took me to the Bahamas 180 miles from the Florida coast, where I lived about a year. I really missed Rock music so I bought four of the Radio Shack FM Yagi antennas (tuned specifically to the FM band) and built an array aimed at the Miami area. I connected the four antennas in parallel with 300 ohm twin lead which dropped the impedance to 75 ohms balanced. Then I used a 1:1 balun connected with LMR-400-75 cable. The results were amazing! I picked up FM stations from most of south Florida thus quenching my thirst for American radio.

Ouch, serious RF burn on AM radio. But yeah hams and others look forward to freeing up some AM radio spectrum, it takes up nearly half the MF spectrum. Some shortwave-listeners with significant acreage can do AM radio DX'ing with large wire antennas.

I love AM radio- there's nothing like tuning into a football game on Saturday afternoon while working in my garage- it's a sound quality all its own. I also love the AM talk radio, oldies, the farm report, and there are some good sports talk stations out there in my area.

With those AM loop antennas I've found that removing the wire from the plastic holder and unwrapping it to make a larger loop greatly improves reception. This large loop can then be fixed to the wall with painters tape.

I love the MW radio. I practice MW/SW DX. I use tuners, receivers, portables, table radios... I ❤️ the analog radio. 🇵🇷

I believe Rush Limbaugh is the most listened to radio personality (AM)

Thank you for helping Mike. Nothing like classic oldies.

I love AM radio and listen to it regularly and do a lot of people. Also it is used worldwide and is here to stay.

Really liked this FM video. You should do more. Also what about how transmitters work and things like that?

AM radio is still in demand: 870 AM out of New Orleans and 1200 WOAI out of San Antonio are go to stations on my dial all the time. During Katrina esspecially.

THANK YOU . This is the ONLY video on RU-vid on this topic. DUDE YOU SAVED MY LIFE . Thank you so much .

I listen to AM radio everyday...

I listen to AM radio every day. Some people enjoying hearing news, talk, weather and sports. On a good crisp night with no clouds or interference, I can pull in stations from Boston, CT and Pennsy listening in NJ. AM will never die.

I love AM, Thanks for all the info

Thank you Antenna Man. I have a Yamaha receiver HTR 5240 which I acquired used. It had no antenna. For years I messed around trying to get radio reception; even contacted Yamaha. When I saw your video I ordered the dipole antenna thru your link. It works! Now my stereo can make superb radio. Thank you again.

Tyler, your generosity of sharing your knowledge we are grateful for. I happen to be a fan of am radio for talk shows and ball games and sports talk. I seldom listen to music because it's just the same old stuff usually.

am yes for philly 1210 and 560 religeous and 99 etc.

A narrowband fullwave loop for FM is about two feet square (or less as ƒ goes up), has just the right bandwidth for stereo reception, and connects directly to the 300 ohm balanced terminals with no balun / transformer. However, it is sufficiently narrowband, that it must be designed for the channel you want to pick up. My workshop is directly under a high voltage distribution line, and the hash was so bad it even interfered on FM. A FW loop solved that. A tunable multiturn loop solved the AM side. Both are made from cardboard and magnet wire and hot glue. Antennas are easy and very satisfying to build.

Like cable TV, AM radio is probably being propped up by sports. I actually listen to a number of AM sports talk stations while driving. Also, when going down to my college team's football games, listening to the pregame show on the way down and while tailgating is nice. It's a good option for certain stations that don't need the higher fidelity for music. Regardless, I realize that about 80% of my generation (Millennial) probably doesn't even know how to switch to AM in their car. You're almost a dinosaur now if you even listen to FM.

I listen to 1580AM & 107.7FM CKDO Durham's Classic Hits. I listen to the AM one. Also at my bunkie when I have my radio without the TV antenna I scanned 10 stations tops, half of them are static. but when I plug in the antenna I scanned over 30 with only a few static stations.

My tube radio only picks up AM

You are very articulate and knowledgeable! Thanks,Tyler! We appreciate you and looking forward to utilizing your tips!

I don't really understand your frequent ridicule of PBS, and now apparently AM radio doesn't quite measure up to your thinking either. I enjoy television programming that doesn't cater to the lowest common denominator, and PBS is really the last place to get it over the air on a consistent basis. I also enjoy DXing sports events and sports talk on AM. Hopefully we will continue to have sporting events in the future. When you cut the cord it's wise to take advantage of all available options. I live in the country, and my internet is slow to begin with plus it is shared with two other users. I realize that to many that makes me a second-class citizen, but I don't mind. I like your information, but the judgmental opinions should really be scaled back a bit. I mean, I don't belittle you for not understanding the typical PBS show that contains no slow-motion explosions, or for having little understanding of AM antenna theory, do I?

Don't forget about the shortwave. I have a lot of fun listening to that.

AM radio should never fully die; those in mountainous regions get much farther distance signals on AM, useful for emergency broadcast information if one needed it. The only stations I get whem I am 50 miles to the southeast of my house are AM. Groundwave-propagation is a very nice feature.

Modern Radio's may include the AM radio band but they don't have the circuits required to provide good reception. If you have a working vintage AM radio and tune it across the AM band and then do the same with a modern radio with AM you will note a huge difference in reception and audio quality.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the on I've been waiting for you. The oldies station is a bonus. Again, Thank You!

Love how The Antenna Man has a picture of Mike The Mailman! Great stories! Love AM radio! And FM!

I always listen to AM radio here in SoCal before getting on the freeways, because it will save you A LOT of time!

Back in the analog days I used speaker wire as a tv antenna. It did ok and produced a mostly watchable picture.

I love fm radio especially the local college radio station. Thanks for the help

I can't remember giving anyone a Thumbs Down, but you earned it. Your comments about AM Radio is dead wrong, sure FM is different, but AM still has a space on your dial!. The country's #1 Radio program is on AM Radio, but I won't tell you who it is because I don't want to enlighten you.

I ran rg6 and a outdoor TV antenna. It's awesome!

Funny, but I remember reading back in the early 1970’s how congress was considering legislation to increase the number of FM stations. One option was going to mandate their inclusion in all new cars sold. You can find such stories in Motor Trend or Car and Driver magazines around 1971-1973

I’m another one that still listens to AM radio. It’s a nighttime band, I recommend C.Crane as a website with a lot of information for the AM listener. I use the C. Crane twin coil AM antenna which can be hooked direct, or includes a ferrite coil that you can use for inductive coupling with a radio without an external antenna connection.

am radio is great! ....at night you can get stations up to 800 miles

I have an Antennacraft FM6, a six-element log-Yagi array in my attic. Radio Shack once sold the antenna as catalog number 15-2163. Back in the 70s I had one on the roof to pick up WMMS FM in Cleveland which was kind of on the fringe. I had a crystal radio by my bed and would fall asleep listening to WHBC AM which is only around 6 miles from my house and I only had a 8' piece of wire on the crystal radio for an antenna but was still able to get them.

You need to get out of the cities for AM. Even better at night.

I love AM radio. The music is classic mostly instead of the auto-tuned, computer-generated stuff today.

Listening to AM radio is frequently done by sports fans. Games are often "blacked out" when streaming the station on the internet, requiring listeners to tune in to the AM broadcast. When games are available to stream, there's often quite a delay when compared to the broadcast. Sometimes the AM station also broadcasts on FM translator stations, but those are extremely weak signals. Also, I love finding games of teams hundreds of miles away on the AM band.

There is actually one local alternative station I listen to on AM because I sorta like the feel that AM radio gives in its sound (the quality really isn't that bad when there isn't much interference). Sadly the AM broadcast is daytime only, but their FM translator is 24/7. Plus they are the only AM station here that plays anything I like. The others pretty much consist of religious content, conservative talk shows, and country music, none of which I am into.

890 WLS Chicago still plays in my shop at night . 1340 KLID is the daytime traffic.... Been tuning these two for almost 50 years .

Local College Radio station 1320am KKSM is one of my favorites . Also late at night I love listening to The Navajo indian station on KTNN 660 AM.

I love AM radio. I`ve spent hundreds on great AM receivers.

I've used rabbit ears on FM radios off and on since the '90s. I've also used speaker wire. Also twisting the speaker wire on a clock radio antenna wire. I've known for years that if I ran the speaker wire outside of the window (especially effective on a mobile home with metal siding) I would get better reception. I currently want a Winegard rooftop antenna to split to my laptop and radio. We have a kind of 20-25 ft. tall storage tank that I can mount a short antenna pole on the ladder. I still listen to two AM stations. 650 WSM Nashville and one out of Chicago that will play a 1940s radio programs. I listen to WSM mostly with my phone though. It was exciting not to have signal dropouts and static if there was a thunderstorm between Nashville and Louisiana. I have to wait until after dark for either station to come in being on traditional AM radio.

Well I am one of the people who loves AM radio, I love sports talk radio, I live in South Bend Indiana, and the Chs I typically listen to are out of Chicago, get them pretty good in the car, but not so much in the house. Oh and I am getting up there, I am 50 yrs old.

I’m a new subscriber and love your content! Perhaps some of your subscribers like me may also listen to the aviation band or do some scanner monitoring? Antennas are important there too. Great channel! Keep up the great work!

Dart barrels are a great way of 'attaching' speaker cable or plastic aerial to the ceiling,.back in the day there were more holes than ceiling in my bedroom (when living with parents 35+ years ago),many times I'd get the merest hint of a station,few more holes and voila, a pirate radio station, from miles away(London 50+ miles) those were the days 😀

I LISTEN TO GRAND OLD OPREY IN CAROLINA AT NIGHT , WLS CHICAGO ,BRAVES IN ATLANTA . AM IS HERE TO STAY , THANKS FOR YOUR INFO ON FM.

In the automotive industry, what annoys me the most is those stubby antennas. They are usually powered stubby antennas boosting gain, or crappy pcb printed antennas. When my original 31 inch antenna broke off from my car because it kept banging on my snowboard thats on my roof rack, I changed to a stubby for a bit and hated it. Going from Philly to Palmerton I normally can get 94.5 or 97.5 out in the mountains, with the stubby they cut out just 25 miles away from the city. The pcb antennas doesnt work either as my friends car has those pcb "shark fin" on his roof for the antenna.

Looking for antenna tips here and came away with a killer music streaming link. WOWY is the bomb.

I live in the country about 65 miles in any direction from a fm station and will try some of the ones you mentioned. By the way I love am radio looking for far away signals at night like I would do on short wave and listening to talk radio stations don't give up on am yet.