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The C.Crane Twin Coil FerriteTM AM Antenna does what it says it will do. After unpacking and putting the antenna to work I am impressed. The product box claims the antenna is, “The best antenna for ANY radio portables to home stereo.” Outside of one unverified exception I have to agree. Using the Twin Coil Ferrite TM AM Antenna with my C.Crane CCRADIO Plus and my ICOM R-70 receivers improved reception and reduced the effects of sky-wave fading.
In the simplest terms, my description of this antenna is that it selectively, tunes, and amplifies an AM radio signal of a specific frequency and inductively couples the amplified signal to either the internal loop antenna of your receiver or directly to the receiver’s external antenna connectors.
I had a very good idea what the antenna did before I bought it, but frankly I wasn’t sure it would live up to the advertising hype. Over the years I had experimented and built other aids to AM radio reception and had always opted for a large outdoor receiving antenna. The most recently used external AM antennas at my home have been a 160 meter Amateur radio dipole a ten foot square loop antenna, and an eighty-foot end-fed long-wire antenna. These antennas are big, bulky and in the case of the loop awkward to use.
The big advantage to this antenna is that it does not have to be located outdoors and it really does work. There is no magic nor smoke-and-mirror deception. This antenna is not the super-deluxe mystery antenna that uses your house wiring to provide everything from AM radio to HDTV reception. The Twin Coil FerriteTM AM Antenna really is the AM antenna for the average consumer that lives in reception-challenged areas of the country, or anywhere else. In my opinion, anyone can set it up and use it effectively.
The Twin Coil FerriteTM AM Antenna is indoors with you at your AM radio. Using an optional extension cable the antenna element can be located outdoors or on another floor in your home. In fact I purchased a fifty-foot extension cable thinking I might have to get the antenna element out of the basement where I listen to my radios. That turned out not be necessary. There is a decided advantage to keeping the product at the radio. The antenna element has directional characteristics. You rotate the antenna element to get the best signal strength. Mounting the antenna element facing one direction on an outside wall negates the ability to rotate it for best signal.
My receivers are located in the walk-out basement of my home. The basement has concrete walls surrounded by earth on three sides. There are a few small windows. Even surrounded by concrete I hear AM radio stations on my receivers. The reception is weak and at night the fading on a weak signal means the signal sometimes vanish for periods of time.
To make the antenna work you apply power to the tuning control with the supplied AC adaptor or a standard nine-volt battery. The antenna element connects to the tuning control using the supplied five-foot cable. Connect the output ferrite stick connects to the tuner control and is positioned on or near the radio you want to use. As described in the product manual, when you use the antenna for the first time, you find the physical place your radio where the signal from the tuner control is strongest. C.Crane calls it the sweet-spot. (Here is a link to the product manual.)
This product has a few wires and cables. Wires and cables annoy some people. I was able to keep most wires and cables behind the radio and behind the tuner control. This might not be a solution if you are wire intolerant 
An under-counter AM radio might present a few challenges. In a case like this you would take weekend project time mounting the product in a place where it could be adjusted and the cables disguised. In my radio room, my bedroom, or the den I just move everything to a table and set it up within a few minutes. Portability was a concern of mine. This product is easy to bundle up and take along. I saved the sturdy product box for that purpose. Note that C.Crane warns customers on page 13 of the manual against placing the tuner control near water or moisture.
Take the time to read the manual! Page six covers initial use after all the cables are connected and power is applied. Get the hook and loop fastener out of the box find the sweet spot and mount the ferrite stick to the radio. Use the large tuner control dial to adjust the tuner to your favorite frequency and the smaller knob to fine tune the signal. Having a radio with a signal strength indicator is a big plus because the meter gives you a visual indication of signal strength as you use the tuner control. On many portable radio models you will be listening for a signal peak. When you listen for a signal peak tune the large dial slowly and when a louder signal is heard adjust the smaller dial for maximum volume.
Rotate the antenna element for best signal strength, especially when adjusting the tuner control seems not to make a big difference in strength. My observation has been that a careful adjust and readjust of the tuner control and rotation of the antenna element produces the best signal results. When everything is peaked you experience improved signal strength, fewer long fades, and in some cases reduced noise and interference. C.Crane tells new users that when you are using the product for the first time to read the manual and have a bit of patience. That is good advice. Once you have the knack you can use the product with excellent results.
I am still trying the antenna with various types of radios and as I try each one I’ll share my experience. The RadioShack Accurian HD radio did not seem to work with the Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna connected directly to the antenna terminal of the radio. The loop antenna that came with radio was misplaced and until I can obtain a replacement I cannot determine whether AM radio reception will improve on the HD radio. I did wind an attach a multi-turn coil of insulated stranded hook-up wire but also did not have good results. My suspicion this has more to do with the design of this radio and little or nothing to do with the design of the C.Crane product.
The ICOM R-70 took to the antenna right away. Using the supplied RCA female patch cord with two bare ends one bare end attached to the long-wave high-impedance antenna input and the other end to the ground terminal. This allowed tuning from 530 KHz to 1600 KHz. The IC-R70 has a signal strength meter that made tuning the antenna a breeze.
The Icom R70 in my radio room is normally connected to an end-fed long-wire antenna. The long-wire picks up everything. It does not have the directional characteristic of the Twin Coil FerriteTM AM Antenna. End-fed long-wires have a characteristic to be careful of and I learned this the hard way. When there is a lighting storm and the lightning is close by voltages can be induced in this antenna that will damage radio equipment. My radio was damaged by a close-by lightning strike and required $200 in repairs. The C.Crane product allows me to use my AM radio indoors powered by a battery during a lightning storm. No external antennas! No danger of damage to me or my equipment.
I’ll soon be trying the antenna with ICOM R8500, the ICOM 756 PRO-III, a couple of inexpensive AM table radios including an old RCA tube radio from the late 40’s.
The Twin Coil Ferrite TM AM Antenna is an excellent product. It spends most of it’s time on the nightstand next to my radio peaking the signals of stations I enjoy listening to as I fall asleep. I’m very pleased and I suspect most other folks that buy one will have the same positive experience.
Remember that you cannot escape the laws of physics as those laws apply to the science of radio-wave propagation. All you can do is try to minimize the effects of fading, adjacent channel interference, and signal strength with add-on products that mitigate those effects to a degree. There is no magic pill. When the station you do not want to hear is stronger you rotate the antenna element to minimize it’s strength and improve the strength of the station you want to hear. When both of those stations are coming from the same direction the stronger station is going to win even if it is the one you do not want. This product is an excellent supplemental antenna solution and it is not too terribly complicated! Perhaps we should just give Mr. Crane time? Maybe he will some day defy the laws of physics. This Twin Coil Ferrite TM AM Antenna comes real close
In an earlier article on improving AM broadcast reception the emphasis for signal improvement was placed on improving the antenna circuit. FM radio is no different.
Perhaps your situation is like mine. When I first turned on my Accurian HD FM Radio at home I decoded just one local FM HD radio station. Any FM radio using the supplied wire antenna had fuzzy reception. The major reason is that my home is far away from the major radio markets of D.C., Virginia , and Baltimore, and Delaware. The laws of physics always apply.
FM radio has different characteristics than does AM because the intelligence on the radio wave is frequency modulated rather than amplitude modulated. The major differences between the two modes of operations can be explained by:
The short explanation is that if you have two stations heard on the same frequency the station with the strongest signal wins. When signals compete with one another the stations are alternately heard as the signal strength of each rises and falls. One moves to the front while the other is suppressed and inaudible.
The most important of the characteristics is the height above average terrain of the FM radio station’s transmitting antenna in relationship to the height of your FM-radio receiving antenna at home, terrestrial obstructions, buildings, and local vegetation. FM radio stations vary in output power as do AM stations but height is king. Antenna height has more to do with improving range than does the output power of the radio wave. A station has to quadruple the power to double their useful range but only to double their antenna height to accomplish a major improvement. The relationship is characterized mathematically as an improvement of about 40%. Distance is the square root of two times the geometric mean of antenna height and earth radius. The distance a wave travels improves as the square root of antenna height.
Let’s review what Wikipedia says about the inverse square law from the perspective of the radio receiver in your home:
Doubling the distance from a transmitter means that the power density of the radiated wave at that new location is reduced to one-quarter of its previous value.
As you travel farther from the radio station signal strength dramatically decreases but improves as you put your receiving antenna as high and in the clear as possible.
FM stations may also have some directional characteristics and portions of their output power specifically used for vertical, horizontal or circular polarization of their transmitted wave. The simplest way to understand polarization of the radio wave is to look at two antenna types your car antenna and the TV antenna atop some homes. The car antenna stands straight up, vertical, and the TV antenna is sideways or horizontal. FM stations send out waves using both polarizations to give receivers in cars and receivers connected to antennas at home a better chance to receive a stronger signal. When you rotate an antenna ninety degrees from the horizontal or vertical from a station transmitting only horizontal or vertical you reduce your received signal strength significantly. Circular polarization takes horizontal and vertical polarization into account as the wave literally screws through space.
So how does this all effect you? Well we have read that an antenna has high and in the clear as possible, using the right polarization directed at the station I want to hear is the antenna I need to improve the signal strength at my home or office. When the antenna we want is selected we also have to determine how the signal is going to move from the antenna into the home and get distributed to all of our FM radios. Excellent quality antenna cable and a good signal amplifier are a must when cable lengths may exceed 25 feet and if you expect to distribute the signal with splitters to multiple receivers.
First let’s consider the human part of this equation. Not everyone in a family or in a home owner’s association thinks antennas are beautiful. Every time I see an 
antenna I sees a work of art. I wonder about how it was made, how well it works, it’s design frequency, what is connected to the antenna and so on. Another person sees an ugly jumble of metal just ruining the otherwise wonderful appearance of a beautiful home. Been there. (That’s my chimney. The six-meter Amateur radio ground plane antenna at the lower left was formerly atop the flag pole where my family could see it from the living room. I thought it was a clever idea but the antenna didn’t fly with the flag in that spot for long. The antenna to the lower right in this picture is my FM HD omni-directional antenna. The antenna on the chimney is a DB408 commercial radio antenna used for GMRS. Poetry in a bad photograph.)
But wait! What if everyone wants to listen to a specific radio station and that radio station is too weak using the rabbit ear antenna on top of the FM radio? Do you smell a possible compromise? Whatever the compromise, you may be able to get past the objections by placing an antenna in an attic or at a less noticeable place on your home or property. What I did was group my scanner antennas and FM antenna on the backside of a large wooden chimney not easily seen from three sides of the house. The grumpy is only heard walking toward the house from the wrong direction.
There is one very important thing you must check before putting up that antenna. Look at the back of your FM radio and determine if the manufacturer put an antenna connector there. Many boom boxes came exclusively with rabbit-ear antennas. On some radios there is no way to connect the typical 300 ohm or twin lead or 75 ohm coaxial cable. Your only recourse with a radio like this is to move the radio to a higher place our home or office. Get it out of the walk-in basement and on the third floor of your home facing a window in the direction of the radio station you want to hear. Buy a new receiver you can connect an antenna to when your results do not meet your expectations. It is possible to add an antenna connector jack to some radios but it is a task best left to someone that knows how to make the modification.
Before we put the antenna up allow me to emphasize the importance of the cable used to connect the antenna to the radio. Buy the best coaxial cable you possibly can. Do not skimp on quality. Purchase a better-quality quad-shielded low-loss cable. A weak signal received at a well-placed antenna still needs to travel the length of the coaxial cable top the FM receiver. Low-quality cable guarantees your attitude about the antenna investment is discouraging.
On runs over fifty feet I recommend an antenna mounted signal amplifier. Given that you ignored my plea to buy good cable or you are using an older unknown quality cable already in your home an amplifier will give you a fighting head start. The signal is amplified at the antenna so that it is actually usable at the FM tuner. An amplifier can make the difference in FM HD radio reception. In my case the outdoor antenna was not enough, an amplifier was required. There was just enough attenuation on fifty-feet of good-quality cable to prevent decoding of WAMU-2. Back up on the roof I went to install the amplifier. A pole mounted amplifier also permits using a splitter in the home to route cable feeds to multiple receivers. When a pole mounted amplifier is not available consider a distribution amplifier in lieu of a splitter. Your local TV ad radio store or neighborhood RadioShack can help you make the choice.
Weather proof your connections with liquid electrical tape or a product like STUFF. You do not want to be back on the roof after every storm season replacing connectors and cleaning out moisture when your reception fails.
Now to antennas. You have some choices. There are vertical antennas, horizontal antennas, and directional antennas. I opted for a horizontal non-directional antenna made by Winegard, the HD-6010. I wanted omni-directional capability without the need for an antenna rotator. These antennas are available starting at $39.99 and up. It mounts to an antenna mast of 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 in diameter. Five and ten foot masts are available at your neighborhood RadioShack or hardware store and appliance store. The HD-6010 has two phased 300 ohm dipoles looking for signals in four directions with equal effect
YOU CAN BE KILLED raising an antenna if the antenna and mast fall on live power lines or other electrical transmission sources. Know what is over head and within reach of a falling mast. Climbing ladders and walking on roof tops is DANGEROUS. Know what you are doing or PAY A PROFESSIONAL to set up your antenna for you. When working in an attic ALWAYS lay down plywood sheets or other suitable boards to permit safe movement above ceilings. Falling through the ceiling can cause injury and really tick off the rest of the family.
An omni-directional antenna is great when you are just on the fringe of an urban reception area. When in a truly reception challenged area consider a directional antenna. A special FM directional antenna is available like Winegard’s HD-6000 or HD6055P antennas. The latter has more elements making it more directional and very sensitive to signals in one direction. Directional antennas should have an antenna rotator to turn the antenna in the direction of the desired station.
The C. Crane Company offers a unique vertical antenna design called the Fanfare FM Antenna you might consider. The C. Crane SE-879 FM Stereo Antenna can be mounted for horizontal or vertical polarization depending on your receiving conditions. The C. Crane folks know AM and FM radio. Browsing their catalog is a real rush for the radio enthusiast.
Since listening to far-away FM stations is a wireless hobby and fringe areas are also numerous you find other excellent choices for horizontally-polarized directional antennas. Google it! Also take time to visit the various on-line websites that support the FM-DX hobby like the Worldwide TV-FM DX Association, and DXFM.COM. Google “FM DX.”
Do not pass up using your television antenna as an excellent outdoor FM antenna. The FM band is 88-108 MHz. TV channels three through six are just below 88 MHz. Channel seven is just above 174 MHz. The elements on most TV antennas do an excellent job of receiving FM. The TV antenna may already have an antenna rotator installed on it making reception of the more distant FM HD stations easier.
The Internet is a wonderful place. You may find other excellent do-it-yourself articles like this one written by Mr. Bruce Carter entitled, An FM Antenna Case History. This is where I swiped the antenna safety label photograph above. Good authors are cognizant of safety issues when writing on the topic of antennas. Carter has some good tips in this article.
Ask questions here in the blog or join the PopularWireless on-line community at our Personal Wireless Bulletin Board. Many of our readers have put up outdoor FM antennas. Once you complete the project and get your radio hooked up you will be glad you did.
Lastly, consider purchasing an excellent quality FM tuner designed for exceptional FM reception. Selecting a good FM broadcast receiver explained here by FM-DX enthusiast Todd Emslie can make difference in sound quality and hearing that elusive radio signal. Just in case you have more antenna questions a Google search produced this article by Galen Carol entitles FM Antennas. Need help finding FM stations near you or wondering what the station’s coverage map looks like? Mr. Carol recommends RADIO-LOCATOR.COM.
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Those of us with wireless hobbies like Amateur Radio, short-wave listening, broadcast band DX’ing and so on know the usual gripes about antennas. Some folks just do not find the wires above our homes as amazing and attractive as the aficionados do. To me an antenna is a work of art. To others they are simply ugly wires blocking a view.
The problem. Hide the legs of an eighty meter dipole. (Ugly wires to some.) On one side allow another long wire antenna to turn right and go off to another support AND minimize the appearance issues with my landscape.
The materials used were a twenty five foot wooden pole once used to hold nets in the Chesapeake Bay. The pole was hauled up from the beach and stained with a cedar oil stain. Next a HUGE bird house suitable for Purple Martins is prepared for the top. My spouse and I found the birdhouse at our favorite Mennonite store in located in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. The next trick is to put the pole in the ground. This required four hundred pounds of concrete a DEEP hole, a couple of four by four fence posts and some heavy bolts. One bolt acts as a pin so the pole cab raised and lowered using the bolt as a pivot point. The entire structure is very heavy. Raising it took two people.
Antenna wires run from the house at two locations to just under the bird house. One wire is connected to a rope that goes through a pulley. At the end of the rope is a small weight. This allows the antenna wire to flex in the high winds we experience.The birds love the house and the wire. The view of the sky from the living room is enhanced. DX’ing on 80 meters is still possible and so is bird watching from the living room.
The opposite leg of the dipole also goes to a shorter wooden pole that has a bluebird house attached to it. Three years in a row that bird house has been occupied with lots of baby sparrows to our credit. The Purple Martin house is new so we have to wait and see how our purple buddies take to it when they return from wherever they go each year. Maryland skies are loaded with these tiny little acrobats each year as the swoop on the flying bug population.
The bird house support is crooked enough to have some character. One looks first at the post and the bird house and frankly misses the wires. I’ve had lots of compliments and my wife enjoys the birds that stop by. This was a big project that took some planning and execution across a couple of weekends but in the end it was well worth it.
When you live in or near a maritime community scanning the marine
VHF channels can be as entertaining as listening to police, fire, and medical calls. It can also be quite a bit cheaper when you stop to consider that a newer model digital scanner from RadioShack can cost you $399 on sale. The RadioShack PRO-96 hand-held scanner like it’s base/mobile cousin the PRO-2096 scanner are excellent scanners for digital public safety systems and even have marine VHF search capabilities built in. The PRO-96 is one of my favorites since I own one myself; however, you don’t need this super scanner to enjoy listening to marine VHF frequencies.
Several manufacturers, including RadioShack make inexpensive scanning receivers capable of scanning what the 
scanning enthusiasts call conventional radio systems. Many so-called conventional scanners are often not capable of scanning trunked public safety radio systems whether digital or analog. You don’t buy a conventional scanner to scan a trunked radio system but you might if you wanted to hear what was going on in the water surrounding your home. An example of a good low-cost conventional scanner is the RadioShack PRO-2018 desk-top scanner priced currently at $99. Also available is the low-priced PRO-82 hand-held scanner. Each scanner holds up to two-hundred user programmed frequencies.
How do I listen?
Programming conventional radio systems into a scanner is still much easier than programming trunked public safety systems. Don’t be afraid of making a scanner purchase to scan marine frequencies if your primary worry is that you will never figure out how to do it! It is not rocket science. Besides your local radio store will probably program the scanner for you if you ask.
Probably one of the easiest ways to listen to marine VHF channels is to use the grouped search function available on most scanners. On scanners like the RadioShack PRO-95, PRO-96 and others you can press the pre-programmed search button for marine channels and then start scanning all of the known VHF channels. It just takes seconds to enter the keystrokes. But if you have just a handful of of favorite channels you want to listen to you would enter those into a bank. Read your scanner documentation for instructions.
Where can I find my list of favorites?
Start by listening to channels that should produce some interesting radio listening right away. You will soon develop a list of channels for your area. These are the channels I suggest to start:
As you scan these channels listen for ships talking about other marine channels. You will quickly learn the working channels for maritime towing services, harbors, bridges, and pilots. Add those frequencies as you find them. In the Marin Links section of this website you will find a complete frequency list of marine channels.
Do I need a special antenna?
Not necessarily. It can depend how far away your listening point is from the waterway of interest. Simple VHF antennas for scanners are not expensive. Any outdoor antenna is preferable but if you are near the water chances are the antenna on the scanner will provide adequate results for with local signals.
SALE: Reg.
$169
