Paul's Antenna Attic

Below is a listing of antenna specs as published by the manufacturers. Many antenna manufacturers have been known to stretch the truth in their claims, so please note that TIC does not vouch for the accuracy of any of this information. Thanks to our contributor Paul Baptista for compiling it. A word from Paul: "The purpose of this page is not to start a debate on the individual specs unless someone has the equipment to measure them on a purchased unit. My intent was to scan the market and provide what is out there in a catalog format. I left out the prices on purpose so folks can do that on their own."

Our contributor Hank comments, "Having used both the Winegard HD6065P and the APS-9, I found both to be very good antennas. I noticed no demonstrable improvement in the number of stations I could receive when I switched from the APS-9 to the HD6065P, in spite of the fact that the Winegard is significantly larger. In my opinion, most anyone would be very pleased with either antenna.That said, when I then progressed to the APS-13 (which is what I now use), every important spec seemed to get better. More gain, much improved directionality, *definitely* superior front-to-back ratio. In any situation in which an admittedly rather large antenna is feasible, I'd go with the APS-13."

September 2014 update: Our contributors Tim and Ann report: "We have an APS-13 antenna that is getting long in the tooth and will have to be replaced in the next year or so. This antenna has served us well and has contributed (greatly) to our enjoyment of listening to multiple FM tuners and listening to good FM stereo broadcasts from (mostly) college radio stations in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Our home is in the northwestern part of North Carolina where the NC/VA/TN state borders kind of intersect. We have never received off-air TV signals because of our location -- we didn't even receive analog TV signals before the switch to digital TV. We are waaay back in the Blue Ridge Mountains. One has to have a good directional deep fringe Yagi antenna to pull in the available FM stations.

Since we're going to have to procure a new, good, directional FM antenna soon, we began conducting research on what will replace our venerable APS-13. And we are depressed because APS is no longer in business making great FM antennas. The sad news is only a handful of American companies still make dedicated FM antennas. The good news (kind of) is there are still some companies across the pond in the United Kingdom that make excellent dedicated directional yagi FM antennas, but they are a bit pricey. [NOTE: Anyone who has hands-on experience with any of these UK-made FM antennas is invited to post any thoughts or impressions in our FMTuners group.]

Here are the results of what we have learned so far.

American FM Antenna Companies:

Antennacraft: http://www.antennacraft.net/Antennas/AntennasFM.html

Channel Master TV and FM Antennas: Channel Master's web page indicates that they currently offer a single FM antenna with a published gain of 5 dB (Model CM-3026 with a current list price of $49.95) and a top-of-the-line TV antenna (Model CM-5020 with a current list price of $159.99) with a published gain of 3.5 dB for VHF L frequencies.
https://www.channelmaster.com/collections/shop

InnoVAntennas FM Antennas (distributed in the US, manufactured in the UK): http://www.innovantennas.us

Winegard Antennas: Winegard no longer lists any FM yagi antennas on their website. They only show a single omnidirectional FM antenna with zero gain. They do list some VHF TV antennas that will receive FM, the best of which is the Model HD8200U with a specified gain of 6 dB for Channel 6 (87.75 MHz, just below the FM band).

United Kingdom FM Antenna Companies:

Blake UK: 3, 4, 6 or 8 Element Folded FM Aerial
http://www.blake-uk.com

"The Aerial Shop" - Ron Smith Aerials
http://www.ronsmithaerials.com/catalogue/menu.php

Triax FM Antennas
https://triax.com/en/

Our contributor Ed K. adds, "Fuba (Germany) used to do first rate FM antennas up until they went bust around 1996. I know that many DXers still use them. The company has been restarted, but is a pale shadow of its former self and out of the FM antenna business."

Indoor Antennas

Our contributor Eli reports on the BIC Beam Box, Model FM10: "I have an FM10 that I just got from Glenn Davis (thanks Glenn!). There is a four-position direction switch on the front, so I assume there are strong nulls at 90 degrees to the selected direction, but I wonder about any back lobes to the chosen direction. My impression (not backed up by any rigorous testing) is that the Beam Box is not completely bipolar (like a dipole) but gives its strongest response in one direction. For those who are curious, there is a tuning knob on the front panel and a 4-gang variable capacitor inside the FM10. This cap needs the grounding contacts deoxidized just like the variable cap inside your analog tuner. I assume that the Wide-Narrow switch on the front panel engages either 2 gangs (for Wide) or all 4 (for Narrow). I didn't actually trace the circuit to determine if this is what the Wide/Narrow switch does - I just made that assumption based on a quick look at the innards. In my playing around, so far, the Narrow position always gives better results. I get a stronger signal using Narrow than using Wide, so any of the differences you would expect from a stronger signal will apply (less noise, etc.). Otherwise, I'm not aware of any sonic differences."

Our contributor John L. adds: "I did a quick, simple directionality test of a BIC Beam Box FM10, a Godar FM1A and a Radio Shack rabbit ears with the ears horizontal. The tuner used is a Denon TU-767 with a 7-segment signal strength indicator. The IF band switch was in the wide position. I connected the antennas to the tuner one by one using the same six foot long coax cable. I oriented each antenna to give the maximum signal strength, which was the same direction for each; rotated it 90 degrees and recorded the signal strength; and rotated it another 90 degrees and recorded the signal strength. The weather was overcast and rainy. The station tuned to is WBGO, 88.3, which broadcasts from Newark, NJ. I was in my fourth-floor Manhattan apartment, which does not have line of sight to Newark and is in a high RF, high multipath environment. The BIC FM10 lit 4 segments max, 3 segments with a lot of background hiss at 90 degrees, and 3 segments with less hiss at 180 degrees. The Godar lit 5 segments max, 4 segments at 90 degrees, and 4 segments at 180 degrees. The Radio Shack rabbit ears lit 6 segments (with the 7th flickering) max, 6 segments at 90 degrees, and 5 segments at 180 degrees.

"My reception of WBGO often includes annoying background hiss. The FM10, despite delivering less signal strength, usually reduces background hiss compared to the other antennas. This wasn't the case in this instance as the only hiss noticed was as mentioned for the FM10. The Denon does not have high blend and does not automatically switch to mono at low signal strength. For some stations I get better reception with the FM10 in the wide band position and some are better in the narrow band position. My experience is that indoor antenna reception depends on each particular situation. The only way to determine how an antenna works in your situation is to buy 'em and try 'em."