Upgrading Antenna for EDM FM Transmitter

[mpageler]

My EDM FM transmitter is in the front of the basement with short  wire antenna that came with  transmitter.

Curbside reception on car radios is ood.  But I like to go out to the drive and lister to the display via a personal radio with earbuds.  But  reception is sporatic as I move around.  Have a Porter Cable Jobsite radio in  garage and it has same reception issues. 

To improve reception quality on both of these radios, should I upgrade my antenna.   Maybe a rubber antenan in the basement or extending a cable out the basement window to a outdoor antenna.  

Did some quick seaching for antenna products but don't know what would connect to the small diameter jack on the EDM.  so any and all antenna suggestions would be appreciated.

[TheDucks]

Antennas (transmitting) are designed for the frequency of operation. The length of the driven element and or load coils to make the 'electrical length' correct for the frequency range.

Failure to get it right, results in high SWR, poor performance and possible damage to the output driver.

The more elements, the more (narrow) directive. A Dipole (1 element) has equal front and back (perpendicular to the elements) pattern. Since you probably don't need signal in or behind the show, a dipole wastes that energy.  a 3 element beam (Reflector, Driven, Director) points more to the front.

FWIW I expect a cheap 'city' VHF TV antenna with a matching coil  (Most TV antennas are 300ohm. you need 75ohm (incl. coax and connector)

Edited November 19, 2017 by TheDucks

[k6ccc]

Best answer if you don't know anything about antenna design is to go find a local ham radio operator and ask him for help.  If you look at the bottom half of this page, you can see what I did a couple year years ago.  It works quite well.

http://newburghlights.org/Technical.html

 

[Richard365]

I went a bought this FM  radio transmitter years ago. It goes from 0-15 watts. So distance is no problem. They give you different antenna lengths, so you can pick the correct length for what frequency you will be using. 

https://m.ebay.com/itm/CZE-15B-FM-Transmitter-Broadcast-Radio-Station-0W-15W-w-Adapter-Antenna-US/172837095331?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20161006002618%26meid%3D088b3c11a31d47e0b4cfebc195601b1a%26pid%3D100694%26rk%3D11%26rkt%3D30%26sd%3D182812443257&_trksid=p2385738.c100694.m4598