Problem is TV aerials are nowhere near the FM frequencies. OK they are better than no aerial, but given your proximity to Rowridge & its massive 250kW, a length of wire thats around the right length will be better. How to make a simple T shaped half dipole can be found on www
This is my aerial, Antiference I think
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Wasnāt that expensive and if you have a local transmitter it gives a very strong signal. My 01 is very happy with it.
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Correct - Antiference FM1083T
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Indeed - and you can create a dipole as well with two measured pieces of copper wire, one up and one down attached to a wooden rafter in the loft - the impedance should be around 75 ohms so ideal for connecting to 75 coax directly.
You can focus on the middle of the band or your favourite radio station
So say 98 Mhz is 2 * 2.4375 feet - and multiply by 0.95 if you use cooper for the velocity factor - so 2.316 feet per each half of the dipole - et voila 
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Wouldnāt guess youāre still an imperialist Simon
Considering where the majority of FM stations are across the band, I prefer to use 95MHz as the band centre point, this gives an easy to remember half wave dipole length of 1.5m (0.75m each side)
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Actually I quite fancy the idea of knocking up a dipole - havenāt messed around with aerials for forty years or more. Might be an entertaining way of spending the next three weeks of Borisās lockdown!
I seem to remember that George J (formerly of this parish) did a big square one for his Troughline
It was the dipole calculator I had to hand 
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Best keep it vertically polarised for omni directionalā¦ if horizontal you will need to face it square on to the transmitter for best performance.
And if you are bored there are loads of designs you can try with bits of wireā¦ the J pole antenna is a good one you can string upā¦ and has an ever so slight performance gain over a dipole.
The Collinear J-pole needs a bit more height, but has almost omni directional gainā¦ now that is a big plusā¦
I didnāt get a specialist Ron Smith arial but did ask our local satellite dish installer to install a proper VHF arial, a little perplexed (and this was 15 years ago) as it was an unusual request.
It has worked splendidly ever since , but if you go on ebay and get a VHF internal arial , I was sent one that contained all the various adapters. About a fiver.
I was using a Magnum Dynalab until a few months ago and they have different connectors to Naimās NAT 03 . Problem solved
LOL, not sure how a collinear J would go down with the local conservative-with-a-small-c residents of Locks Heath, tempting as it may beā¦come to think of it Iām not sure my Dearly Beloved would be that pleased either! It would be the slippery slope to resurrecting my old G6 call-sign, leading to āNot more boxes, Dearā¦ā
All things considered, I think a discretely mounted Antiference or Blake is the way to go.
OTOH, when I retired I did keep hold of my course notes on Antenna Design for Payload Systems Engineersā¦theyāll be around here somewhereā¦and Iām told I need a hobby! :evil grin:
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Chickenā¦ I was looking forward to hear about your exploits with theseā¦ perhaps strung up in the loft
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Guilty as charged, sir!
The neighbours I can deal with, butā¦
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My aerial is a similar set up to yours with four elements. It works well in central London and was recommended by the installer as the best choice short of an enormous Ron Smith rig.
These days it feeds a NAT05XS, previous to that a NAT03.
In my experience the NAT03 - though lovely in its own way - is not up to the performance of the NAT05XS which has a much clearer, musical and lifelike performance.
Iāve not tried a power supply on the āXS so canāt comment on any potential improvement that brings.
Happy listening.
John.
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I was very close to getting a NAT05XS. Cosmetically it would have been a good match with all the other black boxes. But Iād always hankered after an 01 and when an early example came up at my local dealer I couldnāt resist. It worked out quite well because when I took it home it didnāt work. After it had a trip back to Salisbury I now have a fully serviced nice example serviced at the dealers expense. A good example of why itās a good idea to buy from a dealer rather than blind online.
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Nah, been planting tomatoes and sitting in the garden with the catā¦itās wot us retired folks do.
As Iām ānot allowedā to go to Screwfix and buy one of their cheapo āomnisā**, Iāll grab a 4 element from Blake (Ā£35 ish); I think I have enough coax to be able to hang it in the garage (next to the study) just to see what it does
**No officer, Iām buying this stack of copper central heating pipe because I want to make a collinear-J FM aerialā
For sure, playing around with this VHF stuff is quite fun.
PS. I watched a cracking Youtube video of a chap making a collinear J from 15/22mm tubing. My immediate thought was āyeah, bring it on!ā, followed swiftly by āSHE would never let me loose with a blow torchā¦ā
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I have a power supply on my 05xs and I can confirm that it further improves and already goes tuner
I call that a blessing
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What power supplies can be used? I know the Flatcap would be the natural pairing but they are not DRād so wonder if anyone has tried a HiCap DR or otherā¦
You can use a Flatcap, Hicap or Supercap. I would guess that a Flatcap would be the most sensible option, although a Hicap is a possibility, but then youāre getting into the cost territory of a nice serviced secondhand NAT01ā¦
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