Outdoor FM Antenna OMNIDIRECTIONAL

WOW, Great reception. I live in the country up on a hill. I can get several more stations and all are crystal clear. Even the stations I was getting with a small wire antenna, now they come in in full stereo.

The antenna improved my reception a lot over the indoor dipole I was using. It is only about 25' above ground, being the lowest on my mast but I can now tune a crazy amount of stations on my Sangean HDT-1X tuner. It IS somewhat directional, with the strongest signals being longways across the rail. It was easy to assemble and looks to be very sturdy. I would recommend.

This is a very good antenna-- but I almost sent it back!Why?It is advertised as "outdoor omnidirectional," but it is not truly omnidirectional, and-- get this-- it can be used successfully indoors! I found out the hard way-- after mounting it outdoors near the peak of a three-story house in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Some rotational adjustment of the antenna is necessary depending on the direction of the FM stations I like to listen to, especially distant, urban FM stations. I can't imagine getting up on a ladder to twist and turn it in the right direction if I want to fine tune the FM reception each time I change a station, can you?I took the antenna down, and I was about to pack it up for a return, when I said to myself, "Let me give it one final try-- installing it indoors, on the interior of my third-floor bedroom, mounting it on something that I can easily adjust." So, I put the antenna on an old 1-inch x 4-foot wooden pole-- a former curtain rod-- wedging the pole vertically in between the contours of a hot-water radiator that is in front of a window. I plugged the coaxial cable that I had attached to the antenna into to the back of my Bose Wave Radio, and "Voila!" FM stations that had been previously inaccessible began to come in loud and clear.This old, wood frame house has a clear view of the Eastern horizon, but the Kittatinny Ridge over in New Jersey prevents any signals reaching me from New York City, 68 miles away. However, if I twist the pole mount on its axis about 20 degrees to the south, I am able to get a clear signal from my favorite public radio station, WHYY-FM, Philadelphia, which has its transmitter located in Roxborough, 67.5 miles from my house. If I rotate it a few degrees more to the East, I get WPRB-FM, Princeton University, which is 56 miles away. These distances are all straight-line measurements. According to the map on the Radio Locator web site, I am OUTSIDE the fringe reception area for both of these stations, but thanks to this antenna, the signals come in clearly.One word of advice: The wide black plastic clip that joins the two pieces of the antenna together is a pretty good pointer. For Philadelphia stations to the South of here, I rotate the antenna until this plastic clip is roughly pointing in the direction of Philadelphia.None of this is in the directions, of course.I am now very happy with this antenna.

Almost fully assembled, I only had to add the aluminum elements. The fasteners are light-duty so I don’t know how long those will hold up outdoors but my install in in an attic so I’m not concerned.This “halo” antenna is a simple dipole wrapped in a circular form to reduce space and add some durability to the mount. Several have shown images of a more “S” pattern and I am sure that works fine but I decided that n following the design as a halo.I can confirm this a a bit directional. One reviewer suggested it was 4db stronger off the curved end with the plastic holder. I can confirm that a station that is noisy when that end it pointed away is quiet when pointed towards the station. So, it definitely has a front-to-back difference.For me, I will point that plastic end towards a cluster of FM Towers and be happy with whatever else it receives.

Having been an Amateur Radio (HAM) operator since 1954, I have had a lot of experience with antennas, both commercial and home-made.This antenna is simple a folded dipole that is wrapped around in a circle. Hams call this type of antenna a "Halo" antenna. We most commonly use these on the 6-Meter band. In the '60's, they were quite popular for mobile operating setups.While a straight folded dipole is bi-directional with the maximum signal pickup being at with angles to the antenna arms, wrapping the antenna into a Halo configuration pretty much creates a circular reception pattern. In my case, with FM stations surrounding me by 360 degrees, that's what I need.Testing with my spectrum analyzer shows that, as expected for this type of antenna, the pattern of the antenna is not quite circular but is slightly dumbell shaped, with the ends of the dumbell (best signal pickup) being pointed directly along the metal support bracket of the antenna.If you want the maximum signal pickup from a particular station, point the end of the antenna that has the coaxial cable connection box in the direction of the station. This will give got a slight signal increase of about 4 dB. Note that the weakest signal pickup directions will be at right angles to this pointing direction. But, in any case, modern FM receivers are so sensitive that I doubt you will be able to tell the difference unless the signal is so weak that is noisy.In the attached photos, the direction of maximum pickup is towards the right of the antenna, in the same direction that the parabolic antenna is pointed.As for construction quality, the aluminum tube used for the antenna is reasonably thick and quite stiff so it should retain its shape through the years. If you mount the antenna so the coaxial connector is facing downward, then the four small weep holes in the bottom of the plastic case will let any water condensation escape to prevent corrosion of the matching transformer that is enclosed in the box.A nice touch is the inclusion of a black soft plastic boot to cover the coaxial cable connector where it attaches to the antenna. Be sure to slip the cover over the end of the coax cable BEFORE you install the connector because you will not be able to install it after the connector is crimped on the cable.After you tighten up the coax connector on the antenna, the boot may be slid up the coax cable and over the connector. The boot then slides nicely into a ring-shaped recess under the bottom of the plastic box. This forms a shield that will prevent wind-driven rain from getting to the connector and eventually wicking into the coax cable. Water and coax cables are a bad mix, because the water will cause a high signal loss.So I am well pleased with this antenna, and think that is worth it for the modest price. I am now able to receive FM stations from as far distant as 90 miles, depending on weather conditions.I almost forgot, got to fmfool dot com to get your own reception map for the FM stations at your location.Happy listening!