Home > Consumer Reviews > Terk Amplified Indoor AM/FM Antenna (PIB)
Terk Amplified Indoor AM/FM Antenna (PIB)
See it at Amazon.com for $25.00Average Customer Rating
(2.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + Share75 of 79 people found the following review helpful:
This Dog Won't Hunt
(1 out of 5) by R. Lay on Nov 22, 2003 (Nags Head, NC USA)I live in what is called a "fringe area" on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We have a handful of local FM stations, but the best radio is just 50-90 miles north in Hampton Roads, VA. FM stations that come in well on your car stereo from these areas never seem to make into office and home stereo systems.
The TERK promises to amplify a signal if it's present. I live in a 3 story wood frame house, on top of a 30 ft sand dune, so altitude should be excellent for this type of antenna.The wood frame house should not block FM signals. No dice. 50 kw FM atations 40 miles north (Hertford, NC) and south (Englehard, NC) came in no better on the TERK than on a typical factory supplied dipole. 100KWer's in Tidewater such as WMYK (93.7), with a 1000 ft tower 50 miles north are barely registering on my Sony tuner. These stations come in fine on my Bose Wave and assorted portables. High end systems lack the "sensitivity" of smaller radios when it comes to boosting FM signals, and the TERK can't seem to overcome that problem.
My advice? If you want a solid signal for your high end system, and you live in a fringe area, go with either an outdoor TV antenna, or if possible, mount one in your attic. The FM radio band in wedged right between TV channels 6 and 7, so any outdoor TV antenna will do the trick. If you are confined to an apartment, I have no advice other than "save your money" and try other alternatives.
The TERK promises to amplify a signal if it's present. I live in a 3 story wood frame house, on top of a 30 ft sand dune, so altitude should be excellent for this type of antenna.The wood frame house should not block FM signals. No dice. 50 kw FM atations 40 miles north (Hertford, NC) and south (Englehard, NC) came in no better on the TERK than on a typical factory supplied dipole. 100KWer's in Tidewater such as WMYK (93.7), with a 1000 ft tower 50 miles north are barely registering on my Sony tuner. These stations come in fine on my Bose Wave and assorted portables. High end systems lack the "sensitivity" of smaller radios when it comes to boosting FM signals, and the TERK can't seem to overcome that problem.
My advice? If you want a solid signal for your high end system, and you live in a fringe area, go with either an outdoor TV antenna, or if possible, mount one in your attic. The FM radio band in wedged right between TV channels 6 and 7, so any outdoor TV antenna will do the trick. If you are confined to an apartment, I have no advice other than "save your money" and try other alternatives.
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
Mine's going back
(1 out of 5) by Amazon Customer on Dec 30, 2003I got this to replace my old venerable Terk AF-1 predecessor, but this doesn't even come close. This won't even pick up two of the stations I listen to regularly. Why do they even sell this?
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
save your money
(1 out of 5) by Randy F on Aug 3, 2004Connecting the signal amplifier added background hiss--and it still didn't work as well as rabbit ears I got at a 99-cent store.
18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
Rubbish
(1 out of 5) by Arne W Flones on Mar 16, 2006 (Ontario, CA)This is worse than no antenna. I have one of the most sensitive FM receivers in the business, a Tivoli Model Two, which has discrete components in the FM front end.
The station I listen to is KUSC-FM which is 91.5. I am some 30 miles from the transmitter on a mountain peak near Mt. Wilson. I should be able to snag that station with full quieting.
The antenna connection to the dongel which both supplies power and provides the connection to the antenna lead is totally unsheilded. This allows the stupid thing to pick up all sorts of noise from my computers in my office. That's the reason why I bought an external antenna in the first place, to get the antenna away from the RF of my computers. Furthermore, when I follow instructions and fold the AM loop down so that the red LED turns on, it splatters noise across the FM band.
The PI-B not only doesn't work, it actually makes things considerably worse than the built-in antenna in the radio.
Save your money. Either get an inexpensive dipole from Radio Shack. Or, find somebody that sells the Fanfare FM2G (or Fanfare FM2G-C).
The station I listen to is KUSC-FM which is 91.5. I am some 30 miles from the transmitter on a mountain peak near Mt. Wilson. I should be able to snag that station with full quieting.
The antenna connection to the dongel which both supplies power and provides the connection to the antenna lead is totally unsheilded. This allows the stupid thing to pick up all sorts of noise from my computers in my office. That's the reason why I bought an external antenna in the first place, to get the antenna away from the RF of my computers. Furthermore, when I follow instructions and fold the AM loop down so that the red LED turns on, it splatters noise across the FM band.
The PI-B not only doesn't work, it actually makes things considerably worse than the built-in antenna in the radio.
Save your money. Either get an inexpensive dipole from Radio Shack. Or, find somebody that sells the Fanfare FM2G (or Fanfare FM2G-C).
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
If I could rate 0, I would.
(1 out of 5) by G. Aaron on Apr 15, 2007 (NC)Made absolutely no difference vs. the factory supplied antenna. In fact once I moved the factory supplied wire a bit, the reception was better than with this product. If I could have given it 0 stars I would have, since it is not worth one star.