Shortwave Listener antenna ???
 

I have an old shortwave radio and want a decent wire antenna
for it.
Would connecting a single insulated wire up through the wall,
through the attic and laid on the roof have a good chance of
working decently?
It will probably be about 125' from radio to the end of the
antenna.
I hope I don't need a ground at the radio.

"private" wrote in message
...
I have an old shortwave radio and want a decent wire antenna
for it.
Would connecting a single insulated wire up through the wall,
through the attic and laid on the roof have a good chance of
working decently?
It will probably be about 125' from radio to the end of the
antenna.
I hope I don't need a ground at the radio.


it would be safer if you did ground the radio, exposing a wire outside is
just asking for lightning to come visiting.

'private',
It ought to work fairly well. It would be nice
to have a ground at the radio but it really isn't
absolutely necessary. Keep the antenna as far from
the house wiring as possible.
'Doc

Hi,

Your best antenna is a magnetic loop, not cumbersome at all (dia. 1m),
light, easy to install.
I tested the Wellbrook ALA 1530 ane 330 : very fine. (I kept it as spare
receive antenna)
See at http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry/qsl-ala330.htm

Thierry
ON4SKY, LX3SKY
ex-SWL ONL5183

"private" wrote in message
...
I have an old shortwave radio and want a decent wire antenna
for it.
Would connecting a single insulated wire up through the wall,
through the attic and laid on the roof have a good chance of
working decently?
It will probably be about 125' from radio to the end of the
antenna.
I hope I don't need a ground at the radio.

I have done a fair amount of shortwave listening and would recommend
one of the following:

1) Run coax (58U) from the radio to the centre of the attic. String
up a wire dipole as long as practically possiable. (Average house
would allow for a 30-40ft total - two 20 ft pieces from centre) Raise
the centre if possiable, slopping down at the ends. Try to ground the
radio at the very least.

2) Try to get something outside. I know this means drilling and
perhaps something visiable to the eye, but belive me it is worth it.
I used a modified marconi for a while running along a fence and had
excellent results. A simple method is to run the coax outside and
ground the braid to a ground rod. The centre conductor is then
connected to your 125' piece of wire and run along a fence, rooftop or
from a homemade posts.

Keep in mind it sounds like you are looking for a simple installtion
so I will not go into the millions of other improvements you can make
to the above examples. These are just two I have used and pulled
stations from all over the world.

Homac







private wrote in message ...
I have an old shortwave radio and want a decent wire antenna
for it.
Would connecting a single insulated wire up through the wall,
through the attic and laid on the roof have a good chance of
working decently?
It will probably be about 125' from radio to the end of the
antenna.
I hope I don't need a ground at the radio.

In article , says...
I have an old shortwave radio and want a decent wire antenna
for it.
Would connecting a single insulated wire up through the wall,
through the attic and laid on the roof have a good chance of
working decently?
It will probably be about 125' from radio to the end of the
antenna.
I hope I don't need a ground at the radio.

I wouldn't lay the antenna right on the roof -- get it up a little ways,
at least, and the higher the better. And yes, by all means, disconnect
it from your equipment if there's a risk of a lightning strike!

As for grounding, it's a good idea if you can but it's not essential.

What kind of radio are you going to use?

--

-- //Steve//

Steve Silverwood, KB6OJS
Fountain Valley, CA
Email:
Web: http://home.earthlink.net/~kb6ojs_steve

"David Robbins" wrote in message ...
"private" wrote in message
...
I have an old shortwave radio and want a decent wire antenna
for it.
Would connecting a single insulated wire up through the wall,
through the attic and laid on the roof have a good chance of
working decently?
It will probably be about 125' from radio to the end of the
antenna.
I hope I don't need a ground at the radio.


it would be safer if you did ground the radio, exposing a wire outside is
just asking for lightning to come visiting.

If lightning does decide to stop in for a visit, what good will
grounding the radio do?
None. Might even make things worse. If you have an exposed wire in
the air, grounding the wire itself *OUTSIDE* to a decent ground, when
not in use, is the only safe protection unless you take more expensive
and complex methods. IE: gas tubes, ground windows, etc, etc. If you
direct lightning into the house, having the radio grounded will not
help you much at all. Grounding a radio in itself, is NOT lightning
protection in any form or fashion. MK