New from California

[Anymouse 12]

Hello all,

 

I'm probably not a typical user in the respect that my hearing (often plagued by tinnitus) is not good enough to distinguish stellar audio from good audio.

 

However I can distinguish good audio from cr4p audio. And I'm fan of broadcast radio, both FM Band and AM Band.

 

No one listens to broadcast radio---especially the AM band---for the audio quality of the broadcast, and as a result most tuners do not put a lot of effort into the quality of their signal tuning---especially on the AM band.

 

There was an exception, the Carver TX-11a/b.

 

I do not currently own one but I have heard their reception and even I can tell the difference in quality. I don't list to radio for the quality audio, but that doesn't mean I should settle for mediocre.

 

Anyway, my current tuner (an inexpensive Yamaha R-S201) is starting to show signs it may not last much longer. The remote works perfectly, but on the unit itself, one of the input buttons actually triggers the Treble. Maybe a bug is shorting a contact and a can of air would fix it, but anyway I decided that when I see a Carver TX-11a or TX-11b that doesn't look abused and is being sold at what I can afford *not until after Christmas, no one contact me with one* I just might pick it up.

 

Of course a TX-11a/b is just a tuner, it also needs an amp, but that I'll think about later.

 

So that's why I registered. I know Carver is mostly tube products now (and looks to be among the best for that as well) but I suspect when I do find one, if I have any questions I'm more likely to find knowledgeable resources here.

[Cring08 149]

Welcome to the forum!

 

They guys on here will steer you in the right direction.

[Zenith4me 1,386]

Welcome to TCS. 

 

I have the 11b tuner and love it. It's the only tuner I use.

[itchitch 3,997]

@Anymouse

 

Welcome to the site!

The demographics of the members here suggest you are not alone in your hearing degradation

 

I listen to FM in my home office. There is something nostalgic about it to me. Especially around the holidays.

 

I have owned the TX-11 series and they are fantastic tuners.

They were replaced, in my system, by a Phase Linear Model 5100 Series Two.

 

It does a very good job of pulling in the weakest channels in my area.

It has an extremely fast response time as well.

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by itchitch

[AndrewJohn 8,182]

Welcome to the site, @Anymouse.  Glad you found us.

 

Teh key, I have found, is to have a good antenna, along with the TX-11a or b.

 

If you put your TX-11 in the source stream, and have a minimal or one of those desktop antenna's, you need to live downtown of a major city to get anything..., just my opinion.  Once you have a good antenna, you will draw in signals that the TX-11a/b can really process and with Bob's ACCD, you will be amazed at the sound quality.

 

I had a thread here about my antenna, an amazon special I mounted in my attic.  There's another thread or two about building a "Copper Cactus" FM antenna.  Also another very good choice.  Antenna's will amaze your experience with bob's tuners.

 

And, when you are ready to pick up a TX tuner, please let me know - I may still have one from my stash, after Christmas 😉 

 

Here's the threads: 

 

 

[Receiver2000 2,463]

Welcome Anymouse!!!! Great to have you.

[Anymouse 12]

18 hours ago, AndrewJohn said:

Welcome to the site, @Anymouse.  Glad you found us.

 

Teh key, I have found, is to have a good antenna, along with the TX-11a or b.

 

If you put your TX-11 in the source stream, and have a minimal or one of those desktop antenna's, you need to live downtown of a major city to get anything..., just my opinion.  Once you have a good antenna, you will draw in signals that the TX-11a/b can really process and with Bob's ACCD, you will be amazed at the sound quality.

 

I had a thread here about my antenna, an amazon special I mounted in my attic.  There's another thread or two about building a "Copper Cactus" FM antenna.  Also another very good choice.  Antenna's will amaze your experience with bob's tuners.

 

And, when you are ready to pick up a TX tuner, please let me know - I may still have one from my stash, after Christmas 😉 

 

Here's the threads: 

 

 

Thanks!

 

For the AM antenna, I do have a plan. The cheap small loop antennas that come with receivers just don't work where we have our receivers, there are just way too many local sources of interference (I'm a computer nerd) but I do have a plan. The cheap small loop antennas do actually work in the sewing room where there's a nice big open window but they don't work anywhere else in the house.

 

There's a company (I won't name it, don't want to seem like a spammer) that makes some 75Ω coaxial stuff compatible with both the medium wave (500kHz to 1700kHz) band as well as VHF band. I'm using their amplifier and splitters currently to distribute FM signal to four wall jacks. They make an antenna but it's not ideal for me, neighbors don't want a large outdoor antenna and it's too tall for inside the attic above the garage.

 

What I'm planning to do is make a 48" perimeter small loop antenna, hexagon shape (most make square shape but I worry about bend radius) and experiment with both 22AWG and 26AWG with different number of turns until I find the best combination of wire gauge and turns - willing to make two of the antennas if the combination best for high end of medium wave is different from low end of medium wave. No capacitor, it doesn't need to resonate.

 

There's a vendor on AliBaba that makes (or at least sells) a 1:1 BalUn for medium wave. Their BalUn has 50Ω output on the unbalanced side but I suspect I can just put an adapter to 75Ω F-jack on it, I'm not *that* worried about the impedance mismatch, that matters but more for transmitting and I understand it takes both a scope and wave generator to find the actual impedance of a small-loop antenna anyway, none of the equations out there are very real-world accurate.

 

If I find different AWG/turns work better on higher kHz vs lower kHz, then I'll put together some bandpass filters and use a signal combiner, I found one specifically designed for medium-frequency band that some Ham operators use, and I can get it in 75Ω.

 

The company I won't mention does make a band separator which I'm hoping works in reverse to combine AM and FM (I suspect it's just a low-pass filter on AM and high-pass filter on FM) so that the antenna signal can be distributed along with FM to the four wall jacks.

 

I seem to be the only one in the house who is interested in AM but I want it usable at any of the wall jacks.

 

That un-named company also makes an AM twin-lead adapter but I suspect that it's just red wire = core and black wire = shield as they don't advertise it as a BalUn or Transformer. So with the receiver grounded already from the coax to FM jack on the receiver, I probably could just strip a piece of coax and just connect that to the AM antenna jack on a receiver.

 

Anyway whether one AM antenna or two that get combined, if they work, they are going into the attic above the garage where there aren't many local sources of interference and where the FM antenna is and hopefully will allow AM reception to work at any of the four existing coaxial jacks I put in for radio.

 

That's all hypothetical, as I work on the antennas I may learn and change the plan, but I will figure out something that works. I know AM over 75Ω is possible with the right parts, so long as one is careful how the coax run is laid. Hopefully I was.

 

I'm not an Electrical Engineer but freshman and software years of college way back when, I was an EE major until I discovered math was my actual love. So I suspect I can figure something out.

 

And even though the coaxial network is all indoors, it is still grounded. Interestingly, my speakers used to occasionally pop especially when I changed inputs on the receiver. After grounding the FM coax (which I did just to reduce interference) that popping stopped, I guess the occasional speaker popping was static buildup inside the receiver that now has another discharge path. My current receiver is not exactly the worlds best receiver...

 

EDIT - that FM antenna you referenced just happens to be the one I'm using for FM, or very similar. Classic Halo folded dipole design.

 

I can confirm it works extremely well, much better reception than the advertised 35 miles. As an experiment, I also hooked it up to the TV and it gets all the same channels as our ClearStream 2Max. Reception for UHF isn't quite as good, some minor pixelation, but its gets them. It does however do a better job at FM than the ClearStream 2Max.

Edited November 2, 2023 by Anymouse

[AndrewJohn 8,182]

On 11/2/2023 at 4:49 AM, Anymouse said:

There's a company (I won't name it, don't want to seem like a spammer) that makes some

 

No worries about naming products, sources, and even product vendors and good value websites to find parts, etc., etc...., it all helps the community find similar solutions as you find yours.  It's all in the spirit of sharing knowledge that helps others in the community.

 

I don't think anyone will consider you to be spamming, especially as you put a "what I learned" or "how to" thread out on everything you learn.

 

Spamming usually is something that is non-audio-related, or out to sell something..., so no worries there - you are just sharing knowledge that can help someone.

[Kurt 1,388]

Welcome to the Carver Site!  

 

[BobTFM35 1,622]

Welcome, and enjoy your journey down the Carver Road to Everlasting Enjoyment.