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Car radio whip antenna question
On Jun 10, 2:06*pm, Twitchell wrote:
In article , bpnjensen says... On Jun 10, 12:55=A0pm, Twitchell wrote: I've seen some car radio whip antennas that look like they have a wire wr= apped around them. =A0The wraps are not close but lazily spiral down the length= of the antenna. Does this help reception? =A0Is the coil attached somehow to the car or j= ust the antenna itself? twitch My antenna on my minivan is like that. I think the supporting whip is fiberglas/or some insulating material, and the wire is the actual electrical element; and in the interest of saving length and providing strength, they wrap the wire around the slightly shorter antenna pole. *The wire is then connected to the lead of the antenna. *It works fine, about as good as a metal whip of similar length. *Antennas for cars are pretty uncomplicated critters... :-) I was wondering if I could improve my portable radio FM reception by wrapping it like the car antenna by just wrapping it with a wire.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Where do you use your radio? If it's inside a building with a heavy metallic or masonry contruction, that may be the problem. To your question - my guess is not. FM wavelengths are fairly short - about 1 meter in length - and your antenna is probably a pretty good length already if it is a half-meter or so (roughly 20 inches or a bit more). Wrapping a wire around it would not affect its resonant wavelength, and attaching a wire to it may or may not help, but too long an antenna is not terribly helpful as a rule either. A better choice might be to either take the radio to a place where there is interfering metallic or masonry building in the way, or make an external antenna for it. |
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