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Old October 5th 03, 12:42 AM
Walter
 
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Default Ladder Line or Coax For Reception only?

Ladder Line or Coax For Reception only?


I have a 500 foot SkyWire Loop Antenna, about 30 feet off the ground
and I have it fed with Coax. I will only be using it to receive
Shortwave broadcasts from 2Mhz to 30Mhz. It will never be used to
transmit.


My questions are :

(1) Will using a Ladder Line instead of Coax improve my reception?

(2) If so, where do I change to coax? Or do I just run the Ladder line
into the house and straight to the receiver?

(3) What about electrical interference since the ladder line isn't
shielded?


Thanks.
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Old October 5th 03, 05:53 PM
Henry Kolesnik
 
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I'd use coax since it's easier to handle but ladder line will have less loss
but you won't be able to detect it. Twist the ladder line about a turn per
foot and any leadin pick up will be cancelled.
regards
hank wd5jfr
"Walter" wrote in message
om...
Ladder Line or Coax For Reception only?


I have a 500 foot SkyWire Loop Antenna, about 30 feet off the ground
and I have it fed with Coax. I will only be using it to receive
Shortwave broadcasts from 2Mhz to 30Mhz. It will never be used to
transmit.


My questions are :

(1) Will using a Ladder Line instead of Coax improve my reception?

(2) If so, where do I change to coax? Or do I just run the Ladder line
into the house and straight to the receiver?

(3) What about electrical interference since the ladder line isn't
shielded?


Thanks.



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Old October 6th 03, 12:34 AM
Nick C
 
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Default

Walter, you have a 500ft loop?? Wow.. can you provide pictures at some
point? I'd love to see this in action. I'm using a 100ft longwire that is
end-fed at this point by a matching balun. I use RG8 low-loss coax. I'm
tempted to try the more expensive Belden 9913 -- but it's about $100/50ft.

Also, I know that the greater length of antenna will increase gain, but
isn't the noise gain almost as much? (i.e. does a greater length of wire
ensure greater reception?)

-Nick
n7zya

"Walter" wrote in message
om...
Ladder Line or Coax For Reception only?


I have a 500 foot SkyWire Loop Antenna, about 30 feet off the ground
and I have it fed with Coax. I will only be using it to receive
Shortwave broadcasts from 2Mhz to 30Mhz. It will never be used to
transmit.


My questions are :

(1) Will using a Ladder Line instead of Coax improve my reception?

(2) If so, where do I change to coax? Or do I just run the Ladder line
into the house and straight to the receiver?

(3) What about electrical interference since the ladder line isn't
shielded?


Thanks.



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Old October 6th 03, 12:54 AM
Ralph Mowery
 
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Walter, you have a 500ft loop?? Wow.. can you provide pictures at some
point? I'd love to see this in action. I'm using a 100ft longwire that

is
end-fed at this point by a matching balun. I use RG8 low-loss coax. I'm
tempted to try the more expensive Belden 9913 -- but it's about $100/50ft.


For anything below 30 mhz you will see no return for the money by going from
a good grade of rg-8 to the 9913 type. It would be difficult to see much
differance even if the rg-8x is used. Especially at 20 meters and below.
You would be beter off spending the money on a beter antenna than the long
wire.
Or making the antenna higher.




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Old October 6th 03, 01:31 AM
Nick C
 
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Ralph, that's what I hear from other SWL'ers too. But, there are those that
swear by it. So, it'd just be an interesting test... albeit and expensive
one... ;o)

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
...
Walter, you have a 500ft loop?? Wow.. can you provide pictures at some
point? I'd love to see this in action. I'm using a 100ft longwire that

is
end-fed at this point by a matching balun. I use RG8 low-loss coax.

I'm
tempted to try the more expensive Belden 9913 -- but it's about

$100/50ft.


For anything below 30 mhz you will see no return for the money by going

from
a good grade of rg-8 to the 9913 type. It would be difficult to see much
differance even if the rg-8x is used. Especially at 20 meters and below.
You would be beter off spending the money on a beter antenna than the long
wire.
Or making the antenna higher.




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Old October 6th 03, 03:36 AM
Ralph Mowery
 
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Ralph, that's what I hear from other SWL'ers too. But, there are those
that
swear by it. So, it'd just be an interesting test... albeit and expensive
one... ;o)


For a cheaper expirment try adding about 30 feet of some rg-8x or even rg-56
or 59 (I know 59 is 70 ohm coax but it does not mater for receiving) . That
will be about the same loss as you would gain if you switched out 100 feet
of rg-8 to the 9913. See if you can tell any differance.

Not because I wanted to see the differance but because I was replacing some
antennas. I replaced about 100 feet of old rg-8 with some new lmr400 and
could not tell any differance at 50 mhz. I know there is some but it is
light lighting a candle in the sun.. It is there but can not really tell
it.


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Old October 6th 03, 03:46 AM
Nick C
 
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Yea, I noticed that RS is promoting RG-6 'F' cable for their SW radios on
their web site. I was curious about this, so I check it's loss and it looks
on-par with RG-8x and is much more flexible. I might try that if I can find
a couple of F-PL259 adapters... it's really cheap coax.


-Nick

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
...
Ralph, that's what I hear from other SWL'ers too. But, there are those

that
swear by it. So, it'd just be an interesting test... albeit and

expensive
one... ;o)


For a cheaper expirment try adding about 30 feet of some rg-8x or even

rg-56
or 59 (I know 59 is 70 ohm coax but it does not mater for receiving) .

That
will be about the same loss as you would gain if you switched out 100 feet
of rg-8 to the 9913. See if you can tell any differance.

Not because I wanted to see the differance but because I was replacing

some
antennas. I replaced about 100 feet of old rg-8 with some new lmr400 and
could not tell any differance at 50 mhz. I know there is some but it is
light lighting a candle in the sun.. It is there but can not really tell
it.




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Old October 6th 03, 04:14 AM
CW
 
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They swear by it because they don't want to admit they blew a wad of cash
for nothing. You didn't say how long your coax is but you infered about 50
feet. With that short of a length, no matter what you changed to you would
never notice a difference. Look up the numbers. Easy way to test. Take your
radio out to the base of the antenna. Run as short a piece of coax as you
can to your radio. See if you can tell any difference.


"Nick C" wrote in message
...
Ralph, that's what I hear from other SWL'ers too. But, there are those

that
swear by it. So, it'd just be an interesting test... albeit and expensive
one... ;o)



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Old October 6th 03, 04:40 AM
Howard
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I made the switch to RG6 a few years ago and am pleased; with the
reducer for RG8x you can go directly to a PL-259 without an adapter.
The loss at HF is negligible, it's less expensive than the RG-8 family
of cables and the receiver doesn't care that it's 75 ohms. If your
existing cable is working it isn't worth the effort to switch -however
in future installations it's an option worth serious consideration.

Howard

On Sun, 5 Oct 2003 19:46:51 -0700, "Nick C" wrote:

Yea, I noticed that RS is promoting RG-6 'F' cable for their SW radios on
their web site. I was curious about this, so I check it's loss and it looks
on-par with RG-8x and is much more flexible. I might try that if I can find
a couple of F-PL259 adapters... it's really cheap coax.


-Nick

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
...
Ralph, that's what I hear from other SWL'ers too. But, there are those

that
swear by it. So, it'd just be an interesting test... albeit and

expensive
one... ;o)


For a cheaper expirment try adding about 30 feet of some rg-8x or even

rg-56
or 59 (I know 59 is 70 ohm coax but it does not mater for receiving) .

That
will be about the same loss as you would gain if you switched out 100 feet
of rg-8 to the 9913. See if you can tell any differance.

Not because I wanted to see the differance but because I was replacing

some
antennas. I replaced about 100 feet of old rg-8 with some new lmr400 and
could not tell any differance at 50 mhz. I know there is some but it is
light lighting a candle in the sun.. It is there but can not really tell
it.




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