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9 Element FM Antenna Is Being Manufactured Again

Outside of the rural Midwest and Mountain West, where local FM stations are relatively few, how many of these does Channel Master think they're going to sell?
 
KeithE4 said:
Outside of the rural Midwest and Mountain West, where local FM stations are relatively few, how many of these does Channel Master think they're going to sell?
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I think it is definitely a niche market, but not just DXers, but professional broadcasters who need to monitor their broadcasts from distant stations, rebroadcast distant signals, and pull EAS secondary signals in bigger antenna farm areas with numerous strong signals that make dependable reception difficult.
 
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When I lived in South Jersey, I once connected my TV antenna to my stereo system and I could get some of the New York FM stations.
 
Sounds like this is what I need when I move to Idaho. Put it on a tripod up on the patio and spin it in whichever direction I want. If they allow me to :)
 
The author of the site with the modeling, Brian Beezley, k6sti, says there are slight manufacturing differences between this and the Channel Master Probe 9. It's not identical. I'm hoping he'll model this Sky Blue Antenna to see if there are modifications for optimization that can be done, like he did with the Antennacraft FM-6. Regardless, it's good that somebody is building a high end FM BC antenna again.

New Long Range FM Antenna on the Market

https://bit.ly/3ROhJeK Just stumbled across this on the Antenna Man's youtube channel. Anyone tried it yet? Looks promising for sure.
audiokarma.org
 
One difference Brian mentions is that the directors on the Blue Sky Antenna are insulated from the boom. The Channel Master Probe 9 directors are not insulated from the boom. A compensation in the length of the directors would have to be made to make the performance identical. I hope Brian can work with them to optimize the design if necessary.
 
Like the trombone slides they are often visually compared to, folded dipoles have an audio resonance frequency, which gives a distinctive hum in high winds in my experience, at least years ago. I don't know if that has been redesigned to eliminate this, since folded dipoles have become more common again. Anyone else have experience with this? I know this was more pronounced with VHF Low folded dipoles, probably the length makes it more prone to uncontrolled vibration. Antennacraft may have redesigned its FM turnstile antenna, to the folded dipoles being on their side to help reduce this.
 
Schroedingers Cat said:
Like the trombone slides they are often visually compared to, folded dipoles have an audio resonance frequency, which gives a distinctive hum in high winds in my experience, at least years ago. I don't know if that has been redesigned to eliminate this, since folded dipoles have become more common again. Anyone else have experience with this? I know this was more pronounced with VHF Low folded dipoles, probably the length makes it more prone to uncontrolled vibration. Antennacraft may have redesigned its FM turnstile antenna, to the folded dipoles being on their side to help reduce this.
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I had two Channel Master Stereo Probe Nine installations, both in the same Missouri city, and both in place for at least five years. I never heard the phenomenon that you describe. Perhaps it requires the right combination of wind velocity, temperature, etc. for it to happen.
 
Just ordered an SBFM-9 from Ness Electronics....I'll post details when it arrives....
It's a crapshoot when I'll be able to get this antenna on my roof...I can't climb, and the local installer is pretty much booked up for the summer!!:(
 
I have an Antennacraft FM-10 on a 20 foot mast, bracketed to the eave of a one story house. I just turn it by hand, the "Armstrong Rotator". I had one on the roof, with a Channel Master Quantum Series on a Rotator, but it collapsed in a windstorm. The roof installer claimed it damaged the roof. What really happened was bird droppings from the birds perched on the antennas became corrosive (acidic) when it rained, and over time, did likely damage the roof shingles. Strange combination of circumstances, but it wasn't the antenna that damaged the roof.
 
KeithE4 said:
Outside of the rural Midwest and Mountain West, where local FM stations are relatively few, how many of these does Channel Master think they're going to sell?
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Exactly, the dial is full in most places. But if you lived in a super-remote location, it looks like it would be an amazing antenna.
 
It's where the dial is full that you need a highly directional receiving antenna to get cochannel and adjacent channels, especially IBOC sidebands, in the same general area, within 60 miles or so. Brian at the k6sti site says to buy or build one with a 30 dB Front to Largest Side Lobe Ratio for that reason. Unless he comes up with a plan to optimize the new antenna, that won't work that well. In remote areas, it would work better.
 

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