Terk Indoor/Outdoor FM50 Antenna

[polkatese]

Folks,
Do you have any feedback or opinion on Terk FM50 Antenna? If not, any specific brand/configuration that you have successfully use (i.e. with amp or w/o). Thanks in advance..

[pjdami]

Polkatese,

I have tried and currently own Terk products. I have tried the regular unamplified FM indoor antenna (the square flat box), the Terk Edge, and the Terk Tower. The one that I find works the best is the amplified Terk Tower as I can pick up FM stations about 65 miles away from my house. The unit is located in the middle of a room also. I use this antenna with my B&K PT5 preamp/tuner.

I'm afraid that FM sensitivity / reception design has gone away side in the past decade. No longer do most receivers have a real good sensitivity of like 8 dbf like the old receivers like an old Marantz for example. Nowadays FM sensitivity is as bad as 38 dbf in some receivers.

The IHF usable sensitivity for my Rotel RSX 1055 is 14.2 dBf and the B&K is 12 dBf which aren't too bad. I have an old Onkyo dedicated tuner that I need to hook up that has excellent reception with just stock rabbit ears.

If you do try out the FM50 let us know how it works out. That particular model looks like their top of the line?

Paul

[polkatese]

Paul,
thanks for the feedback. I believe it is Terk TOTL, and you are right, tuner reception nowadays is inadequate. I live in two storey house, and reception upstair is adequate in the morning, and goes to inadequate in the afternoon (using the supplied dipole) on the Rotel 1065. On the B&K, I have the tower parsec from DAK (15 years old) and reception is null allday, unless for very local stations! I am also considering a dual HDTV OTA and FM antenna, which would be ideal case...

[Tour2ma]

I bought my Mom a MOTL terk amp'd antenna at BB and it allows her to pull in her favorite FM whereas she could not before.

[polkatese]

Tour, did you get an indoor terk?

after looking into all the options, I have decided to mount an outdoor Channel Master Advantage 3018 or 3016 in the attic. It will turn into a weekend project, but it will served me better. I can get them at Lowe's ($59.91 or $34.67, with full UHF/VHF/FM specs) antennaweb.org determined that I need a Medium Directional to receive broadcast zones (lt. green for the distance to the towers to the NBCDT, CBSDT, et.al) btw, it's a very useful site to decide what kind of antenna needed. Anyone has experience mounting one in the attic?

[jdavy]

I like terk and have had many of there antenas. But as for tuner sensetivity, my Harman Kardon does very well. I would be interested in hearing the specks from someone but one thing I like that it will not play any audible sound until it locks on to the station. :)

[Tour2ma]

Originally posted by polkatese
Tour, did you get an indoor terk? Yes, strickly an indoor model.

[pjdami]

jdavy,

Your H/K has an IHF sensitivity of 13.2 dBf which is pretty good by today's standards (better than most).

I've always used the IHF sensitivity to "judge" how good a tuner is on paper. The lower the number the better. I know specs don't always tell the truth though. I have an old Yamaha R-V98 receiver that has a usable sensitivity of 9.3 dBf and its great at picking up stations but I don't use this receiver anymore. Its at my parents house hooked up to my ole Cerwin Vega three ways (the ones with the 12 inch woofers but hideous midrange)..
This receiver on a stock rabbit ears antenna picks up stations better than some newer Onkyos I had with a Terk antenna. And the antenna is just "thrown" behind the receiver.

[Tour2ma]

FM reception is fairly lost in the priorities of today's AVR's.

I was pleased to look and see 12 dBf for my Ref 50's tuner. By contrast my old Technics ST-G6T tuner, one of the few pieces I have ever bought on spec's alone, clocks in at 12.8. When I selected it years ago it busted the price performance curve.

Now where's that Dynaco FM-5 manual?

[SDA SRS 1.2]

The best FM antenna I've found, although pricey and outdoors or large attic only, is the APS-13 from Antenna Performance Specialties.

[bikezappa]

The simple R S rabbit ear antenna will work as well as most higher priced passive antennas. It costs about $2 and will greatly improve the FM reception over the supplied wire dipole. This $2 antenna will improve your reception better than buying a $1000 tuner. Cheap upgrade. Digital tuners suck period. :)

[faster100]

Originally posted by pjdami
jdavy,

Your H/K has an IHF sensitivity of 13.2 dBf which is pretty good by today's standards (better than most).



My integra for stereo is 17.2 dbf and mono 11.2 dbf

[rick325]

I've tried several different terk models with only limited success. I hit the jackpot, ( can you tell I live in Las Vegas) with a C. Crane FM antenna. It cost around $24.

[polkatese]

So, I took a day off to crawl up the attic to install a CM 3016 from Lowe's. Hot as hell when it's 90F outside! So, I tested it out without any booster/preamp and RG6. For FM, it works great! Got all the distance stations, and the RDBS on 1065 works. After that, I tried the OTA HDTV channels reception. None of them work..may be because it's such an ugly smoggy day outside. Nonetheless, at $35 and some mounting hardware, it is a cheaper option compare to the Terk, and it *suppose* to give the OTA channel too. Oh well, looks like I need to crawl back to the attic to work on the alignment and may be installed a signal booster. Stay tune..

[Tour2ma]

Originally posted by polkatese
Stay tune.. Very Punny... :D