• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

What is best YAGI for bringing in FM station?

J

joshzz

I need a lightweight yagi antenna to bring in our station's signal sent to a translator about 20 miles away. All recommendations are appreciated!! :)
 
Winegard HD6055P might work for you, or the Antenna Performance APS-13 if you are mounting on a pole or top mounting on a tower.

For side mounting, there's the Kathrein Scala HDCA-10/HRM FM that have a rear mounting point for attachment to a tower leg.
 
For a specific frequency, you're better off with a log periodic cut for that specific frequency than with a Yagi cut for the whole FM band. Kathrein makes a few models that would work for you.
 
josh said:
I need a lightweight yagi antenna to bring in our station's signal sent to a translator about 20 miles away. All recommendations are appreciated!!
Click to expand...

If you can supply the geographic coordinates of the tx and rx locations, the licensed ERP from your FM transmit station in the direction toward your translator site, the heights above the earth for the radiation centers of the antennas at both ends of the path, the input sensitivity of the receiver at the translator site, and the frequency of the main FM station-- that will help a lot in providing the answer you are seeking.
 
How "lightweight" are we talkin' here?

If you're looking at something like a consumer antenna, think about the costs of climbing up there in bad weather, to replace it.

Kathrein/Scala makes a "lighter-duty" FM LPDA, which looks a lot like their heavy-duty CL series, but a bit smaller box material for the booms.
And, their cut Yagi's are not too bad either. A five-element can be held above your head...a ten-element could be held with two hands.
 
kenglish said:
How "lightweight" are we talkin' here?

If you're looking at something like a consumer antenna, think about the costs of climbing up there in bad weather, to replace it.
Click to expand...

Been there, done that with the Winegard. They work OK, but every time there is a big storm, I had to pay someone to come out to climb the tower to change it, fix it or do something caused by high winds. Although they cost more, the Kathrein/Scala are a much more durable product. It's "pay me now, or pay me later."
 
josh said:
We were told that we needed to be at 100 feet to adequately feed the translator.

Does this help? josh
Click to expand...
Depends. A more important piece of the puzzle is how far the translator's transmit antenna is from the receive antenna. 100' of separation is adequate for most translators...less if it's a very low power translator. As far as height goes, on flat ground with a few hundred watts at a few hundred feet on the primary station, I've seen satisfactory results just a few feet off the ground. If the primary station is very clear on a car radio at the translator site, you may not need very much receive height.
 
Don't know why, but I have never been able to locate a CP FM receiving antenna, either LP or Yagi.
Seems to me that that would be ideal.
 
The APS-13 is the best Yagi antenna. Paired with a sensitive receiver, it's possible to get full power stations up to 150 miles away at all times.
If you can pick up the station static free in stereo on a car radio at the translator site, you may not even need a Yagi.

Does the primary station broadcast in HD? If so, then you could use the HD1 audio to feed the translator.
 
If you use a CP receive antennas, check the transmit antenna as well. More than one use lefthand CP instead of righthand. In some circumstances, the atnenna patterns better in lefthand.
 
Does the primary station broadcast in HD? If so, then you could use the HD1 audio to feed the translator.


hI NICK,

The primary station is another translator . we don't broadcast in HD. Sincerely, josh
 
If off azimuth interference is an issue, a horizontal yagi array can produce creative nulls and very good forward gain by varying the spacing. If simple gain is the issue, a stacked array of good quality yagis will help.
 
josh said:
Does the primary station broadcast in HD? If so, then you could use the HD1 audio to feed the translator.


hI NICK,

The primary station is another translator . we don't broadcast in HD. Sincerely, josh
Click to expand...
Could you receive the original station over the air at the proposed translator location? You don't have to daisy chain the translators.
 
I had a totally crazy idea the other day....wonder what the FCC would say to it?

I know that there are some Auxiliary Broadcast frequencies in the 26 MHz range..maybe in some other HF bands as well.
Could a station put DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale), the "rest of the world's HD Radio", on there, and use it for an "over-the-horizon STL", so to speak?
The FCC has already cleared DRM for use on shortwave in the U.S., and it's a non-proprietary system, so no licensing fees.

I won't even start asking about copyright implications, though. I'm not sure if DRM can be encrypted, so I guess it might be considered another "broadcast" stream.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom