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20 element fm antenna

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hunterw
Posts: 98
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 3:51 pm
Location: Traverse City, MI

20 element fm antenna

Unread post by hunterw »

Been searching the web for a yagi fm antenna, not many out there these days but i did stumble upon this one.

https://www.innovantennas.com/en/our-a ... 0shop.html


Any thoughts? Looks a little overkill but any gain would help, especially along the Michigan coastline for getting the across the lake fm signals.
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Ben Zonia
Posts: 2464
Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2006 10:35 pm
Location: Honor

Re: 20 element fm antenna

Unread post by Ben Zonia »

I like this statement at the link.
If you wish to stack several antennas, contact us for more information
I have to ask two questions of the people who contact them on this.

1. Do they have neighbors?

2. Do they have wives?

The k6sti site shows smaller antennas which perform as well or better in many ways. Brian Beezley could probably improve on this design with more modern modeling.
"I had a job for a while as an announcer at WWV but I finally quit, because I couldn't stand the hours."

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Turkeytop
Posts: 9726
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2010 9:27 pm

Re: 20 element fm antenna

Unread post by Turkeytop »

When I lived up north, DX was the only FM available. I had a six element Yagi. When I moved down here I brought it with me. But I couldn't use it. The strong local stations just overloaded the front end of my receiver.
Deleted User 15924

Re: 20 element fm antenna

Unread post by Deleted User 15924 »

Ben Zonia wrote: Sun Sep 17, 2023 12:34 pm The k6sti site shows smaller antennas which perform as well or better in many ways. Brian Beezley could probably improve on this design with more modern modeling.
Your comment goes along with my first thought.

A beam that's almost 30' long?
I'm thinking the cost of that beam is 1/10th the cost of support needed to keep it 30' in the air.
Be a whole lot cheaper, and much better reception, getting a 3 or 5 element above the trees.
k8jd
Posts: 626
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 3:35 pm
Location: Commerce, MI

Re: 20 element fm antenna

Unread post by k8jd »

Good for a rural area. I imagine if you turn it 5 degrees off a readable signal , it will be GONE ! :shock:
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Ben Zonia
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Re: 20 element fm antenna

Unread post by Ben Zonia »

You would probably do better with an interferometer arrangement with two 10 element Yagis several wavelengths apart, and with some type of phasor to control the phase and field ratio. Not only could you rotate both to a common azimuth, you could use the phasing network to put other nulls in the correct direction to null other signals. I tried an old Rembrandt antenna switch just to experiment, and you could switch it to get two or three cochannels on a fairly regular basis, usually Class As and short spaced Class Bs in the same general region. You could probably null a few translators that way too, to recover former regulars from neighboring markets.
"I had a job for a while as an announcer at WWV but I finally quit, because I couldn't stand the hours."

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jimh
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2011 12:02 am

Re: 20 element fm antenna

Unread post by jimh »

Ben Zonia wrote: Sun Sep 17, 2023 12:34 pmBrian Beezley could probably improve on this design with more modern modeling.
I doubt it. The guy behind Innovation Antenna is probably at the forefront of antenna modeling and construction.
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TC Talks
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Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2005 2:41 am

Re: 20 element fm antenna

Unread post by TC Talks »

Is anything on the FM band worth all this work and cost?
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Ben Zonia
Posts: 2464
Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2006 10:35 pm
Location: Honor

Re: 20 element fm antenna

Unread post by Ben Zonia »

jimh wrote: Tue Oct 17, 2023 8:14 am
Ben Zonia wrote: Sun Sep 17, 2023 12:34 pmBrian Beezley could probably improve on this design with more modern modeling.
I doubt it. The guy behind Innovation Antenna is probably at the forefront of antenna modeling and construction.
Hams were always experimenting with 2 meter and 1.25 meter Yagis, and a little further up, about 50 years ago. They found if they hacked off a bunch of directors from a really long Yagi they built, the signal actually increased. It was a Corollary of "The Law Of Diminishing Returns".

This guy at the link below talks about the "90% Principle" in PA Sound Systems. I think it's applicable to many other things. Even academic grading scales, before they went all nuts with pluses and minuses, and GPAs above 4.0. In the old days, 90% was an A, that was it, and it helped to budget your time among classes and other commitments, to get a 4.0, that was it . You didn't have to go all nuts trying to get A+'s.

https://www.prosoundweb.com/the-law-of- ... 20dB%20out.
"I had a job for a while as an announcer at WWV but I finally quit, because I couldn't stand the hours."

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