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FM Booster

I've never had much luck with these. They tend to overload the radio when amplifying local stations and distant stations come through with noise. I would recommend getting a good tuner and external antenna for the best results.

Thanks

Tom S
 
it's not splatter into adjacent channels i'm worried about, but more about catching the HD signals. Now, maybe, just maybe, could this give me the push I need to make FM HD listenable in the country? (of course while having the vehicle parked)
 
oldjohnny said:
it's not splatter into adjacent channels i'm worried about, but more about catching the HD signals. Now, maybe, just maybe, could this give me the push I need to make FM HD listenable in the country? (of course while having the vehicle parked)
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I'd recommend a decent auto antenna. The trend is to eliminate whip antennas - with disasterous results for reception. Both AM and FM can benefit from a 55 inch whip antenna like they sell at CCrane. Even if you have to drill a hole in a fender, the improvement in reception is well worth it.
 
Napa Auto Parts sell a 51" one with a booster coil near the top works great for about $15 with a good apline Kenwood or Pinoeer radio
 
oldjohnny said:
Mhhh, I don't know about the whole "drilling" part into the car, but I am interested in buying one.
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It looks like CCrane doesn't carry car antennas any more. But I had a 1974 Nova. Reception sucked because some moron had the idea of putting antenna wires in the windshield. Didn't work for AM, or FM. I found a 60 inch whip somewhere, took the fender off - found that there was already a hole in the support metal underneath - it took about five minutes to drill out the fender metal. I even found a rubber plug in the firewall, popped it out, popped a grommet in for the antenna wire, the whole job was done in a couple of hours. SUPER DX - I started with a Delco AM FM I got at a scrap yard, the AM performed as well as those Delcos from the 60's, FM wasn't half bad either. 100 miles or so from short towers in a city near me.

Pioneer even blew that away - I drove around Austin, TX, listening to KRBE Houston almost like it was a local - 170 miles. AM by that time was largely irrelevant, but it was really good, too. All from a 60 inch whip. Some people swear by a loading coil at the bottom to effectively lengthen the antenna for a better match on AM. I'm not sure what that would do to FM, but they claim it doesn't hurt.

Lengthening the whip works so well for both bands I got some of that galvanized fence wire and wrapped it around my 31 inch whip on my present car, extending it up to 60 inch. WHAT a difference! It looks like crap but now - but all those dropouts caused by IBOC done wrong on FM stations - GONE - FM as solid as it was back in the days before this IBOC nonsense. AM is incredible - but there is nothing much on there I want to listen to. Some of the graveyard channels on 1230 and 1240 are listenable over 100 miles away, and a 500W on 1410 comes in over 80 miles away. If classic country was my thing, a 680 almost 300 miles away is really strong. They don't particularly take advantage of their potential - they must have a wierd pattern or don't set it up right. But it is a lot stronger than before.
 
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