Review on 📡 Enhanced TERK Indoor Omni-Directional FM Antenna for Improved Signal Reception by Brandon Woodson

This is an overview of the Terk FM+ indoor VHF antenna. (Square view.) Compared to the ideal placement of a 300 ohm two-terminal dipole, it is more convenient and practical because it is compact and can be manually realigned if necessary. The antenna has some issues that have been discussed both here and in other reviews, but it's cheap and reasonable value for money. When used vertically as shown, the antenna is only omnidirectional in the broad sense that it is not strictly directional (e.g. a dipole or beam), but it is not truly omnidirectional (in the sense that a vertical antenna is is). Very different results (for better or worse for a given station) can be achieved with different orientations, including rotating the antenna or laying the antenna on its side. The antenna has a slot for hanging with a picture hook, but this will severely limit your ability to experiment with different orientations. If you don't have a 75 ohm coaxial ("F-Type") input, the included red transformer and you may be disappointed with this antenna. Used alone, the red transformer levitates the coaxial cable and is effectively an extension of the antenna! This makes the system susceptible to RF noise (aka RFI, such as from some HVAC units) and also makes the system susceptible to detuning due to conductive objects near or in contact with the coaxial cable. You will get improved (but not ideal) results if you connect a red transformer to the Type F ground block with a short (1 foot) coax, connect a Trek FM+ coax to the other side of the ground block (with /oa coax extension) and connect the ground block to the radio chassis using as short a wire as possible. Note that the instructions assume the red transformer is a 1:1 transformer since they specifically state that it is connected to the radio's 75 ohm terminals. If you don't have 75 ohm connections, you'll need to find and use a 75 to 300 ohm transformer.