-=jd=- wrote:
On Fri 10 Sep 2004 01:16:06p, (Steve) wrote in
message om:
I'm always curious about people's antennas, though they often go
unmentioned here. So, what's in your back yard (or on your roof, or in
your attic....)?
Steve
Mine defines "homemade", but worked out well for me:
I found a spool of 14 gauge stranded with insulation that precisely
matches the color of the ceilings in our home. Using white electrical
staples, I mounted it at the wall-to ceiling point, and ran it straight
through the family room, down a long hallway, and into my shack, across
the ceiling there, and terminating about 3' above my receiver, where I
joined it to coax and the coax to an antenna connector for input. It is
55' long, and mounted 7.5 feet above grade. I used this alone for about
a month, and was very pleased with the results.
In an effort to "notch it up a bit" (don't all antenna experimenters?) I
ran an additional 55' of the wire around the ceiling/wall juncture of my
shack. It goes around exactly 1 and 1/4 times, (also 7.5 feet up) and
again drops to 3' above the receiver, where it joins the coax at the
same point as the original wire. I now had a 110' longwire antenna,
center-tapped.
I read here a few months back where a poster remarked that doubling a
50' random wire to 100' would increase signal strength by only 3dB.
That's basically what I found, too. There is a slight edge to signal
strength since I went to 110', but only slight. The 55' alone gave me
good results. Receiver is an Icom R-75, by the way.
I like the relative "invisibility" of teh way I did it. 110' of
antenna, and no one even notices it unless it's pointed out to them.
Even my wife didn't notice it for more than 6 weeks after I installed
it, and had no problem with it when she did notice it ("Gee,you can
barely see it.")
Comments/suggestions welcome - I'm always trying to learn more.
Tony