FM Reception Advice

If your radio or tuner receives a good signal, FM radio is capable of delivering the highest possible stereo quality and surpassing that of digital radio. Substantial enhancements to FM from forthcoming DSP radios, with the benefit that sound comes out of the speakers of all radios in your house instantly, do not appear to have been grasped by pundits e.g. DSP FM Tuners, car radio and chipset (PDFs).

DAB is: 'the new medium wave', 'Not so much CD as seedy', says The Radio Times in April 2006. The full article is here.

'...there's no DAB in Japan. There's no DAB in the USA, either...' When Stuff magazine reviewed a DAB/FM set from Sony, their photographer clearly found FM preferable. The entire article is here.

The situation is described succinctly in a letter to The Times on 24 December 2008, here. Statements on 26 June 2009 by BBC Radio's Tim Davie are interpreted as a possible downgrade/dump DAB exit strategy here. 'Britain should wait for better technology... the primitive DAB system... BBC has to degrade sound quality' states a Guardian editorial calling FM switch-off 'a solution to a problem that does not exist' and 'absurd' in July 2009, here.

The power Jackie transmits with on 107.8 is regulated by Ofcom and, if you are any distance away from our transmitter at Tolworth Tower, reception will always be improved by attention to the aerial.

Avoid indoor antennas as they are subject to drifting performance as you move about the room and will pick up interference from thermostats, computers and other appliances.

Though you can try different positions for the arms, the ribbon T antenna that is packed with most Hi-Fi sets is grossly inadequate and will work with only the strongest local signals.

Any outdoor aerial will reduce interference and improve the signal strength vastly. Mounting the aerial horizontally provides some discrimination against interference (both pirate and electrical) which is predominantly vertically polarised.

A Halo picks up signals from all directions. Prone to interference and multipath echoes from hills or buildings spoiling the station you want.


A Dipole provides useful reduction of signals from unwanted directions since it has a figure of 8 pick up pattern. Maximum pick up is broadside, with nulls off the ends of the rods.


A 3 element Yagi, with Reflector and Director elements added to a Dipole, will improve reception quality noticeably.


Higher gain and better discrimination against unwanted signals arriving from other directions is provided by more elements.


A rotator and Triax FM8 at DX Radio (long distance radio)
If you wish to hear stations in markedly different directions, the ultimate answer is to add a rotator and these are not expensive nowadays.

Principles of operation: The Triax FM8 is a well engineered antenna. The folded Dipole towards the rear picks up the signal and is connected to the coaxial cable downlead via a balun, which couples between the symmetrical or balanced Dipole and the unbalanced coaxial cable. In terms of fractions of a wavelength, the first rod is very close to the Dipole and mainly serves to alter the feed impedance and broaden the bandwidth to cover the whole 87.5-108 MHz band. The next four rods act as Directors and, at the rear, there are twin Reflectors, which yield a slightly higher gain and front-to-back ratio than a single Reflector. Antenna theory dictates that gain is largely a function of boom length, so aerials with large numbers of elements in close proximity, like this, may look impressive but are never used by professionals.


Nine Triax FM8 aerials at Malmo/Skurup, Sweden.
If you are still not satisfied, you could aspire to one of these in your garden. This astonishing installation was once available for remote online listening.

Coaxial cable is needed to run down from the aerial and will probably need a Belling Lee coax plug fitting at the end.

There are amusing instructions on how to wire up these plugs here.

Radio Aerials and FM Reception Problems BBC Factsheets are here.

The Australian Broadcasting Commission covers Common Reception Problems here.

Television, radio and satellite reception advice from Aerial Services (London) Ltd is here.

ATV have advice for TV, DAB and FM aerials, along with photographs of cowboy installations, here.

The excellent Triax FM aerials and specifications are here (Products > Aerials > FM Aerials).
Three pages of Triax products are listed online by TV Aerials.com in New Romney, here, while a nearby Triax
and rotator supplier is AES Electrics, 54 Nutfield Road, Merstham, Surrey, RH1 3EP, Tel: 01737 643 767.

Maplin sell unbranded dipoles and halos here.

Brian Beezley has technical aerial comparisons and high performance FM receiver information here.

Paul Groves has frequency lists of stations you may hear all around the British Isles on both AM and FM here.

If you have 'a satisfactory aerial', Ofcom will investigate interference to broadcast services, here, and state: 'If the interference is caused by an outside source (such as an illegal radio transmission or faulty electrical apparatus), we will take appropriate action and will not charge you.'

CAR AERIALS and their performance - for both AM and FM, longer and higher is better.

Tiny stubby VERY POOR	Stubby POOR	Heater aerial - uses the rear window de-icer FAIR	Bee sting - helical wound better than solid rod types MODERATE	Short whip MODERATE	Full length whip      GOOD	Coat hanger- actually, IF there is good firm contact and no corrosion from water GOOD	Long roof whip THE BEST