Thanks again, everyone.


But can I damage G5 with an external wire? If so I'll use the whip
inductor. Please advise....

Yes, you can, as most of these portable recievers do not have strong
input protection, *nearby strikes can damage the input. *Don't make
the wire longer then necessary and remove the mini plug from the radio
in case of natural photo flash. You might add the inductor or resistor
to lower the risk on damage because of built-up of static
electricity.


Wim (or anyone),

So, an early post stated "the longer the better" but you say not so
long. What is a good length to try? I assume I'll want to experiment
with longer and shorter. Bought 24 gauge speaker wire, 100 ft. for
$6.50 at Home Depot. But I'm nervous now, I don't want to do anything
until I understand.

I presume you mean, disconnect the antenna during storms with
lightening flashes. OK.

So, I'm thinking there are three kinds of potential damage from a long
wi static, lightening, and overload from a strong signal.

There are four ways to connect the antenna that I've encountered:
miniplug into antenna out, alligator clip to whip, bare wire wrapped
around whip, and inductive coupler (insulated wire wrapped around tube
placed over whip). (Leaving the balun out for the moment)

Am I right that too strong a radio signal (from too long a wire) can
hurt the radio? I presume this is true anytime too strong a signal
reaches the inside electronics. But my brother tells me the whip is
connected to an internal amplifier that the antenna input jack is not
connected to. So maybe the antenna input jack is safe in terms of
overloading signal from the long wire. And maybe the inductor can also
induce too strong a signal in the antenna which is then amplified,
causing damage, is this so? So, connecting the wire via the antenna
out jack and miniplug is safe with regard to overload, but inductive
coupler, alligator clip on whip, and bare wire wrapping around whip
(i.e., all connections to whip) are not. True?

As for lightening, it seems all connection methods are dangerous. For
static, all but the inductive coupler are dangerous. Right?



Using a special transformer as mentioned in other postings gives you
more signal output in case of short wires. So you can have a shorter
wire (for example when you have limited space). I do not share the
opinion that these transformers *reduce interference significantly.

When you live in a residential area, you probably don't need this as
noise will be dominant with moderate wire lengths. * More signal does
not always mean better reception as noise will raise also.




If I can figure out how to safely connect the antenna to the radio,
then is a good way to solve this noise issue to use a very long wire?
Or will it just pick up more residential EMG noise? I am in a
residential area, I have apartment buildings on two sides, 100+ feet
away, house on third side.

Maybe tuning to wavelengths is the only way to get a wire to elevate
signal above noise.

Thanks very much!

Jim