fm tuner recs

[skatz]

I pledged for the local WHQR station and took the opportunity to talk to the agent about my reception difficulty, he was astounded and said he would pass it on, so maybe I will hear back from an engineer at the station. Meanwhile, I explore available radio tuners. Many must be missing chips and are not available now. There are a couple of more expensive Marantz NA players and tuners, and a few lless exppensive like
Grace audio, but a lot are just not available. There's a Galaxy one that looks available and interesting.

[marvin]

Steve, I don't have a lot of experience, but do stream some local stations over the internet or even Amazon Echo devices connected to a receiver with DIY speakers.

I listen to both AM & FM. WGN AM produces a stereo signal that sounds far better than I can get even in my cars.

WFMT classical also sounds cleaner that OTA.

You should be able to stream almost any station over your computer or smart speaker just to test the quality. Use headphones if you want for testing. See how that works and then move ahead.

FYI, the Amazon Echo devices have a direct out 3.5mm jack for direct connection to your receiver or pre-amp.

[skatz]

Well, I suspect that even with a large antenna it would be a noisy signal given that the station is so weak to begin with. They are in their fund drive now and I may call and tell them I would pledge if only I could receive them at home. I can usuallly get them in the car on the way to or from work. I think the only realistic chance I have is to try an internet capable tuner, which may not be optimum sound but should let me listen. Hell if the music and performance are good, a portable pocket radio can put a smile on my face. As my brother says, I listen to the nusic, not the sound.

[JRT]

This is probably not an original idea, but it is new to me, and is certainly unusual... Perhaps you could make a largish stationary directional indoor antenna using wire and locate it on the listening room floor under a large throw rug.

[skatz]

Well, I am at a point of giving up on getting over the air FM to listen to.. Can anyone tell me about the SQ I might expect from internet radio? There are some tuners in my price range that look interesting, but I am totally unfamiliar with internet radio. Do you even get a stereo signal? How good is it?

[skatz]

WHQR is the local station I am trying to get. UNCW broadcasts something like 220 TV channels but no classical FM that I am aware of. My $20 TV antenna gets all of the TV channels a guy could want. Classical music seems to be another story here. I will investigate WUNC based on your tip, thanks. And Paul, no I folllowed the advice and tried to improve the signal gathering first, have not bought the tuner yet. I'm wanting to get FM sensitivity data on the Sangean a Yamaha and a Project but its not easy to come by. These are all $200 or less. I called a pawn shop; they have never heard of a tuner!

[JRT]

I found an indoor fm antenna on aliepxress which I just received. It came with a damaged connector but I was able to get it hooked up. It works in terms of strengthening signals, but it does not help with reception on this particular station, which is still noisy and unlistenable even with the amplified antenna. It is just very weak. The station has several repeater stations, but I get no better reception with them, but have not tested all of them.

Is WUNC the FM radio signal which you are trying to receive?
Their music streaming service might not be excellent, but might be an adequate low noise alternative until the FM radio signal reception problem is resolved. They have two streams selectable at the link below.

https://www.wunc.org/wunc-music

[Paul K.]

Steve.so you did buy a Sangean HD Radio tuner? The only reception problems I've had with mine really aren't caused by the tuner. The station I listen to is broadcast by Ohio State University and every now and then they have problems that cause my tuner to switch from their HD-2 channel ,which is classical music 24/7, to their HD-1 channel which is PBS, or to go completely off air for a bit. The only actual problem I've had with my tuner is the front panel power switch became intermittent in its operation after several years, then finally stopped working completely. The little remote that came with it is what I use to turn it off and on now, and I've always used the remote for everything else.
Paul

I found an indoor fm antenna on aliepxress which I just received. It came with a damaged connector but I was able to get it hooked up. It works in terms of strengthening signals, but it does not help with reception on this particular station, which is still noisy and unlistenable even with the amplified antenna. It is just very weak. The station has several repeater stations, but I get no better reception with them, but have not tested all of them.

[skatz]

I found an indoor fm antenna on aliepxress which I just received. It came with a damaged connector but I was able to get it hooked up. It works in terms of strengthening signals, but it does not help with reception on this particular station, which is still noisy and unlistenable even with the amplified antenna. It is just very weak. The station has several repeater stations, but I get no better reception with them, but have not tested all of them.

[JRT]

... The only inexpensive tuner that is capable of HD is the Sangean that I am aware of so that is likely what I will get, and some sort of antenna I will build or buy. Paul seems to like the HD signal of the station he listens to via the Sangean, so I will follow his lead.

Any news?

[skatz]

I saw that one. I think it may be the same as the Denon I mentioned above, but I also don't know anything about it.

[Billet]

PE sells this one, but I don't have any experience with it. https://www.parts-express.com/Rolls-...er-1U-245-1175

Other Rolls products I have bought have all worked pretty well. If I wanted to buy a new unused tuner, I'd probably try it. No HD though, if that matters...

[djg]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D90a49IJMI

[skatz]

What I have discovered is that there are hardly any separate tuners sold these days unless you are in the several thousand dollar range, which I am not. I have discovered that the local radio PBS station I am trying to get also broadcasts an HD signal for classical, but the regular broadcast FM classical is only35 watts, so i know why the signal is hard to get. There are several repeaters in the area at different frequencies, but I have not tried reception on all of them yet. The parent station is 100, 000 watts. The only inexpensive tuner that is capable of HD is the Sangean that I am aware of so that is likely what I will get, and some sort of antenna I will build or buy. Paul seems to like the HD signal of the station he listens to via the Sangean, so I will follow his lead.

[Billet]

I listen to a public radio classical/Jazz station, it sounds great. Check out your local colleges, some of them may have good stations. The ends of the dial are a good place to start. I haven't listened to commercial radio in years.