selectatenna...Any good?

[fmradionuts]

I've seen these for years and never tried one. Any thoughts? How's it opposed to a homebrew loop? I like the size. ??? :

 

[rbrucecarter5]

Overpriced. I can do the same thing with an old pizza box, 100 feet of wire, a beer can, some paper, and some tin foil.

 

[Tom Wells]

That beer can capacitor must be a trick to fine tune, how do you keep it tuned where you want it?
I would be using a real variable capacitor as soon as I could.
The selectatenna is probably good, but is there any way besides proximity to couple it in?

I use a 1920's loop, about 2 feet tall, a vertically-squished loop, where the outer loop is reasonated with a crosley "book" condenser,
and the "inside loop", about 4 turns, is coupled to the radio.
You can vary the angle of coupling between loops to assist or reduce pickup from the inside (untuned) loop.

This does anythong a loop could hope to do, except cancel IBOC hash.....

How much are they asking for the selectatenna?
Too much. Better go wind your own. You won't believe how easy it is to make a "HOT" AM loop.

 

[mimo]

I had one and I loved it, the ex wife has it now. Since I don't have the technical know-how to build an antenna, I found it did perform exactly as I hoped it would. It does strengthen many distant signals to nearly full strength. I used to use it to make stations I was just out of range of into listenable signals. Even where there was nothing but the faint hiss of am static and not a trace of a signal, most of the time it was able to pull something in on the empty frequencies. The better the radio, the more you'll pull in. I remember hearing WWL 900 miles a way with it on a CC radio and a select-a-tenna. At night it does reduce the fading to almost none. The antenna does take some time to learn to use, the distance you have it from the radio will affect how much stronger it makes the signals....to0 close and it doesn't help, to0 far and again it doesn't help. The distance you keep it from the radio decreases the higher up on the dial, and to reduce fading at night you sometimes have to rotate the antenna. Overall I found it worked wonders for a beginning dxer or someone who does just want to have clearer reception or more stations. I found it makes a lousy radio into a decent one...a decent radio into an amazing one...and a really go0d radio? It will surprise you.

 

[rbrucecarter5]

That beer can capacitor must be a trick to fine tune, how do you keep it tuned where you want it?
I would be using a real variable capacitor as soon as I could.

Agreed - but if you make the paper fairly tight around the can, it will stay where you slide it.

Here is the link: http://www.tompolk.com/crystalradios/cokecancapacitor.html

The 475 pF makes up for the lower numbers of turns caused by only using 100 feet of wire. It is almost guaranteed to cover a good portion of the AM band. And if you add / remove windings, you can probably cover the whole thing.

The upper part of the bad - the tuning gets tricky because the can capacitor is linear and not log taper.

 

[KE4KLS_Radio]

I have a Select-a-Tenna (regular model), and while the price is a bit high, it does a great job at cleaning up the AM signal. I also use the Terk AM advantage on my 70's stereo, as you can connect it straight to the terminals. Probably if there more companies building these things, the price would come down, but if I recall the company that makes things is the only game in town. Also if I recall they have been making these things for a number of years.... The "wow" factor with these is that it can take a cheap radio and make it a DX monster; however with a good GE Superradio or CCRadio there is not quite as much difference in overall improvement, but it is good for digging out signals when you don't have real estate for an outdoor antenna and you want that extra bit of signal. A previous poster was correct in that you have to play with the direction of the antenna and the tuning, but that's part of the fun....

Bill in E. Central FL

 

[Mike Walker]

Actually the Select A Tenna is only "expensive" if your time is worth nothing. You CAN make something which will work as well. Doing it right will take planning, and a lot of detailed work. Plus the few parts you'll need aren't free.

If it's a project you'll enjoy, then go for it! But if you just want a good antenna to listen to a station, and don't want or need the hassle, BUY ONE. I have a Select A Tenna. My biggest complaint has always been that the damn thing is top-heavy. It'll tip over if you look at it. There's practically no difference in performance between it and the Terk AM Advantage (which I also have). The AM Advantage is less expensve, more readily available, more physically stable (it doesn't tip over), and more lightweight...so it's easier to move around.

Both can make a real improvement! But get them away from flourescent lights, tvs, and computers. They're just as happy to boost the audibility of spurious noise as the desired signal.

 

[fmradionuts]

Thanks everyone for the info!! Mike, I might look at the TURK, a portable unit is great when on the road in other states DXing.

 

[Mike Walker]

Don't expect the Terk to be too portable. It's still big enough anyone would notice it on a desk (a big ole' rubber loop with a knob).

 

[KE4KLS_Radio]

Having both the Terk and regular Select-A-Tenna, the Select-A-Tenna is more sensitive and has a better peak in gain. Since it is slightly taller and a narrower footprint, it has the tendency to be top-heavy and tip over easy, where the Terk has a rubber footprint and less prone. The Select-A-Tenna also has a metal variable capacitor, but the Terk uses a smaller mylar variable capacitor. I bought the Select-A-Tenna at CCrane, the Terk on sale at Circuit City when they had it available. Would imagine you could still find the Terk on e-Bay, though. However, for overall performance I would choose the base model Select-A-Tenna.

Bill

 

[KE4KLS_Radio]

See the link from radio-intel.com for these two antennas:

http://www.radiointel.com/review-2loop.htm

 

[flytrap]

another old trick i used to do is to hold an AM radio next to a telephone pole. You'd be surprise at what you pick up. including lots of static too. You can also set the phone on top of the radio (best if you use an old telephone) not very selective but it will make it loud.