"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
In article , Higgins
wrote:
I'm not terribly interested in a homebrew solution.

Why not? A longwire antenna will beat any of the active antennas hands
down.
Problem is that it may be so good that you'll find yourself needing a more
selective radio.

If the friend lives in Montgomery Village, Gaithersburg, outdoor antennas
are prohibited, so it would have to be a stealth one. All of the
subdivisions started in Montgomery County in the past 45 years forbid
antennas, to the best of my knowledge.

That said, I'd certainly try some sort of wire antenna even indoors or
temporarily outdoors before going the Terk/etc route.

Is the friend in an apartment? Does it have a balcony? If in a house, does
it have a deck, a wooden fence, even a short one? What sort of "indoor"
receiver does the friend have?

R J Carpenter wrote:
"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
In article , Higgins
wrote:
I'm not terribly interested in a homebrew solution.

Why not? A longwire antenna will beat any of the active antennas hands
down.
Problem is that it may be so good that you'll find yourself needing a more
selective radio.

If the friend lives in Montgomery Village, Gaithersburg, outdoor antennas
are prohibited, so it would have to be a stealth one. All of the
subdivisions started in Montgomery County in the past 45 years forbid
antennas, to the best of my knowledge.

A little #22 magnet wire under the eaves will do an amazing job and nobody
will ever be the wiser. I did this in apartments and college dorms for
years for receiving and transmitting. I had a 40M dipole with trap coils
between my balcony and two adjacent buildings even, once.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

for receiving and transmitting. I had a 40M dipole with trap coils
between my balcony and two adjacent buildings even, once.

Hey Scott, do you know a place where I could get simple instructions for an AM
loop antenna for a modulation monitor? I have a surplus TFT 713 and would love
to use it to pick up 630 WMAL at home. Belar wants $345 for one of their
circular antennas but I'm sure I could build one cheaply with some PVC, wire
and some caps, right?

Dave Sproul, Bethesda. MD

In article , DaveSproul wrote:
for receiving and transmitting. I had a 40M dipole with trap coils
between my balcony and two adjacent buildings even, once.

Hey Scott, do you know a place where I could get simple instructions for an AM
loop antenna for a modulation monitor? I have a surplus TFT 713 and would love
to use it to pick up 630 WMAL at home. Belar wants $345 for one of their
circular antennas but I'm sure I could build one cheaply with some PVC, wire
and some caps, right?

The Toys for Tots should be fine with just a long wire attached to the
input. The loop antenna will have lower gain but higher directionality.
The real deal with the loop antenna, though, is that the gain on it is
calibrated and you're paying for the accurate calibration of a measurement
device. You don't want a measurement device, you just want as much gain
as you can get.

Dave Sproul, Bethesda. MD

Since Hardin and Weaver are gone, there's no reason to listen to WMAL. But I am
up in your neck of the woods on a monthly basis if you want to bring it over
and try it with a wire.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

(Scott Dorsey) writes:
Since Hardin and Weaver are gone, there's no reason to listen to WMAL.

But you can still get Corr (but not Trumble), I think.

"Oh...that's nice".
"Yes indeedy!"

A little #22 magnet wire under the eaves will do an amazing job and
nobody
will ever be the wiser. I did this in apartments and college dorms
for
years for receiving and transmitting. I had a 40M dipole with trap
coils
between my balcony and two adjacent buildings even, once.
--scott

Can you elaborate?? (And presume I'm stupid about radio). Do you just
mean a long, straight run of #22 wire??? Or coiled?? Or what?? Thx

In article , Higgins wrote:
A little #22 magnet wire under the eaves will do an amazing job and
nobody
will ever be the wiser. I did this in apartments and college dorms
for
years for receiving and transmitting. I had a 40M dipole with trap
coils
between my balcony and two adjacent buildings even, once.

Can you elaborate?? (And presume I'm stupid about radio). Do you just
mean a long, straight run of #22 wire??? Or coiled?? Or what?? Thx

Right. The best possible antenna is HIGH, CLEAR and LONG.

#22 varnished wire is easy to get (scavenge a yoke from an old TV set)
and very convenient for the job. It's thin enough and colored well
enough to be almost invisible.

There is a discussion of this in The Boy's First Book of Radio and Electronics.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."