FM antenna that is available and maybe better than the Stereo Probe 9

[KY-Near-Cincinnati]

I saw this on YouTube and thought it may be of interest to some here...FM antenna that is available and maybe better than the Stereo Probe 9

[Mike-CT]

It IS the Stereo Probe 9, just back in production and made by Sky Blue Antennas of Minnesota. I read that this is sturdier than the original SP9, which I use daily and I think mine is made well.

[antennanut]

I had a SP 9 that was up almost 30 years. It was in perfect shape and I was po'ed when the person that took the tower down didn't keep that antenna for me. Instead it ended up in a dumpster. Was NOT a happy camper to lose a perfectly good antenna that was no longer made.

[Mike-CT]

Makes you want to cry, doesn't it?

[antennanut]

I may have.

I also had a Channel Master 3617 that was a victim of being thrown in a dumpster, but I wasn't as upset - only because I didn't figure I'd be able to put up such a large VHF antenna again regardless of where I lived.

[N1LF]

I have been using the new SBFM-9 for about two months now. I also keep careful measurements of the noise floor level at each 10 degrees of azimuth, and the mid-day signal levels of a handful of locals and semi-locals. I can only compare the antenna to my Korner 9.2 and an Antennacraft FM6 which have previously been mounted on the same rotor at the same height.

The SBFM9 has about 3 dB more forward gain than the Korner 9.2 and about 4 dB vs. the FM6. It's F/B ratio is inferior to the Korner 9.2, but much better than the FM6. The antenna is very sturdy and well suited for long-life outdoors. Assembly is straightforward.

In one of the worst seasons that I can recall, the antenna has still managed to put new stations in the log on both tropo and meteor scatter.

I plan to remove the printed circuit board balun, and replace it with the Channel Master 3203 high-performance matching transformer instead. I expect this to provide a bit less loss and improve performance even more.

Highly recommend purchasing this if you have anything smaller than a 9 element Yagi currently.