In article ,
Al Arduengo wrote:

I just completed an atempt at construction of the "broomstick" antenna
the plans for which were found on the internet. I used a 84" x 1.5"
pole, a 14" aluminum pie pan, approximately 100" of 14/2 solid household
wire. I followed the instructions as closely as possible in the
construction. To my dismay the contraption provided absolutely *no*
increase in signal strength that I could discern. Before I call this a
flop I wanted to ask a few questions of the group:

1. Has anyone else built one and found it to work?

This has been covered many times and it does work. It just does not work
well.

2. Does it really matter if the wire turns are actually touching each
other or can the be spread by up to 0.5"?

It would help if the turns were separated. The larger the separation the
better. The largest separation would result in one turn or a straight
wire.

3. As much as I hate to show my lack of antenna theory knowledge, does
the type of wire covering matter? The instructions said to use 16 PVC
covered wire but I could not find this description on the available wire
at my Home Depot.

Size (diameter) here does not matter.

4. I made contact with the wore to the aluminum disk by stripping 1" of
the end and wrapping it round a nail between the pan and the end of the
stick such that when the nail was driven in it pressed the disk against
the bare conductor. Is this valid?

Sure.

5. Does it actually matter if the feed line is connected to the whip or
the external antenna jack of the receiver?

Yes depending on the radio the jack may have a desensitizing circuit to
prevent overloading the radio.

6. How much wire should I use ideally? As much as I can fit on the
pole? Enough for a quarter wave at 5MHz?

This antenna will have a tendency to work at the quarter wave length and
higher frequencies.

7. I have to assume that the benefit of this sort of antenna must be
only nominal since if it worked as well as a stright wire, it would be
more widely used. How much of an increase in received signal strength
should I expect?

See #2.

It took me the better part of a day to gather the supplies and construct
it so I hesitate to let the project go until I hear from experienced
users that it is not worth it. I welcome any suggestions or critique.

Sorry you wasted your time. You can use the wire to make another antenna
type. Lot's of web sites tell you how.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California