On Jun 10, 4:01*pm, bpnjensen wrote:
On Jun 10, 12:55*pm, Twitchell wrote:

I've seen some car radio whip antennas that look like they have a wire wrapped
around them. *The wraps are not close but lazily spiral down the length of the
antenna.

Does this help reception? *Is the coil attached somehow to the car or just 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 can't believe I have never seen that before. Wouldn't there be a
chance for eventually the wire to work itself free, is it glued or
clipped to the whip?