a little stereo antenna help, anyone?

Hey, I've got an old all-in-one stereo unit, and was wondering how to hook up the antenna to it. It just had some old speaker wire as the antenna, don't know if it was original, or just a quick-fix.

Here is a drawing, the white wire in the middle hooks to the middle screw and goes inside the stereo. I believe both parts of the speaker wire were hooked up to the screw on the far right, and not to the middle or left screws.

Does anyone know the correct way to hook up the antenna?

Thanks a lot.

 

Here is a link to see the pic... it was too big to upload and I couldn't figger out how to make it small enough.

http://groups.msn.com/CouchPotato/shoebox.msnw

 

.bmp images are large files for their size. Converting that to a .jpg would make it small enough to post.

Plain speaker wire isn't optimum for an antenna, and a single wire to that common post won't be doing much at all.

Cheap 300 Ohm wire antennas have two leads, one to the center (common) lug and one to the one marked 300 Ohm. You can pick one up at Radio Shack or probably most any similar electronics supplier for a few bucks. Should be better than what you've got. Orientation of that wire makes a difference. Move it around to find the best reception.

The 75 Ohm connector is for a real remote antenna, using 75 ohm coaxial cable. You'd need an adapter to split the cable out to screw leads. Or split out the cable and run the shield to the ground lug, and the inner wire to the center post.

 

Coathanger...

 

Haha! thats funny!
I have an old stereo and as an antenna there was a rectangular shaped thing that plugged right into the back where it says antenna (LOL)

A newer system I have comes with a thin wire (like one fifth the size of speaker wire) as an antenna and it screws in the back like you would attach a speaker wire to your amplifier.

As a last resort you can always take your stereo over to radio shack, they will tell you anything you need to know

 

here you go....

 

Gosh! She's funny and smart! You couldnt have made that any simpler lol!

 

I'm currently using a powered Terk AM/FM antenna. I live in the Bermuda Triangle of radio waves; even with a good Yamaha receiver, it needs some help.

 

is that a wire type antenna or something like rabbit ears that you would use on a tv?

 

It's an electronically amplified loop antenna, feeding a 75 Ohm coax cable. Small, about 6 inches in diameter.

 

gee. I'm not familiar with that...and you still have problems with the reception ? i'm sure you're familiar with tvs, the kind that still have those metal antenna poles, we used to put aluminum foil on them to make the reception better but I guess it wouldnt work on your antenna!

 

LOL. No, it wouldn't. Without help, I can get most stations, but signal strength is pretty low, and reception quality is not great. With the boosted antenna signal, stations are much stronger and clearer. A roof antenna is the optimum solution, but that's too much work and expense, at least for me, and as much lightning as we get around here, it would probably be toast within a month.

 

What are you currently for on your television?

 

thanks for the info, and for the jpeg info... I figured that might be the case, just didn't want to mess with it. I'm downloading a converter program right now, though.

and thanks for the image!

 

The white wire is for the internal antenna, unhooked it, then hookup one wire to the ground, and one to either the 300 or 75 ohm screw, but, not both at the same time…….I don’t remember which is the better way to go with……a little help….wobbles



And there is a Voice of America radio site, about ten miles away……..although they’ve said it doesn’t interfere, it does………the longer the wire, the better…….when I used to listen to radio of the world, I used a long wire of 100 feet, if you can’t string it straight, then wrap it around the outside of the walls or inside of your room

 

Long (plain) wire antennas work great with AM or short-wave, but FM requires a tuned length, and proper impedance for best performance. With the 300 ohm, the wire itself is the antenna. The 75 Ohm is for shielded coax cable, coupling an actual antenna, which is better, but more expensive and bulky.

 

Why dont you just move? Sounds like it would be easier! LOL!

 

Sell house (pay realtor)
Buy house (pay closing costs)
Move stuff (either rent a truck and break my back, or pay big bucks to commercial movers)

OR

Buy hi-tech antenna.

Nope, I think I'll stay put.

 

Yeah! I guess you right!