Agree wholeheartedly with the dipole comments - I live on the Gulf coast of
Florida, right on the water, and have an 80-ft longwire, end-fed, about 35
feet up and sloping down to a fence post. Coax to a Grove TUN-4 and an Icom
R75 and a Drake. Reception is fantastic! Can't go wrong with a long...wire,
that is:)

John
KF4ANC

"Paul" wrote in message
...
Would an antenna like the one in the link be any good? I am looking for a
decent shortwave antenna. I mainly listen to 11.175 USB and 5-9mhz USB.


http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...gory%5Fname=CT
LG%5F008%5F009%5F002%5F000&product%5Fid=278%2D1374

Any advice would be helpful.

thanks,

Paul

TailGator wrote:

Agree wholeheartedly with the dipole comments - I live on the Gulf coast of
Florida, right on the water, and have an 80-ft longwire, end-fed, about 35
feet up and sloping down to a fence post. Coax to a Grove TUN-4 and an Icom
R75 and a Drake. Reception is fantastic! Can't go wrong with a long...wire,
that is:)

What you have is a sloping inverted-L antenna. A real longwire is much
longer than 80-ft for most of the HF spectrum.


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starman wrote in message ...
TailGator wrote:

Agree wholeheartedly with the dipole comments - I live on the Gulf coast of
Florida, right on the water, and have an 80-ft longwire, end-fed, about 35
feet up and sloping down to a fence post. Coax to a Grove TUN-4 and an Icom
R75 and a Drake. Reception is fantastic! Can't go wrong with a long...wire,
that is:)

What you have is a sloping inverted-L antenna. A real longwire is much
longer than 80-ft for most of the HF spectrum.


TailGator & StarMan,

FWIW: More 'properly' called a "Random" Wire Antenna
- - - Vice a [Longwire] Antenna


IIRC: A 80 Foot single wire would be 'about' . . .
* Half Wave Length at 6 MHz
* * One Wave Length at 12.5 MHz
* * * Two Wave Lengths at 25 MHz


NOTE: Not enough information to determine if this would be a:
[ ] Simple Top End Feed Slopper
(Vice the Bottom End Feed Slopper)
- - -or- - -
[ ] Inverted "L" Sloper
(The so called "Lazy L" or "Tilted L" Antenna.)


iane ~ RHF
..
..


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"Random wire" is the correct term, unless it is, as noted, a truly long wire,
something like 500 feet.

Bill, K5BY

= = = starman
= = = wrote in message ...
RHF wrote:

starman wrote in message ...

What you have is a sloping inverted-L antenna. A real longwire is much
longer than 80-ft for most of the HF spectrum.

TailGator & StarMan,

FWIW: More 'properly' called a "Random" Wire Antenna
- - - Vice a [Longwire] Antenna

Are all inverted-L's, random wires?

StarMan,

In a word "NO" !

If, by 'design' for a specific band of frequencies an Inverted "L"
Antenna has the Horizontal Top Section equal to One Wavelength and a
Vertical End Section equal to One Half Wavelength; then it would be
considered a Longwire Antenna for that Band.

EXAMPLE: 25 Meter SW Band (11.6 - 12.1 MHz) Inverted "L" Antenna
- - - Horizontal Top Section = 85 Ft (One Wavelength)
- - - Vertical End Section = 42 Ft (Half Wavelength)
* * * NOTE: This same Inverted "L" Antenna would be useable on the 49
Meter SW Band (5.95 - 6.2 MHz)
- - - Horizontal Top Section = 85 Ft (Half Wavelength)
- - - Vertical End Section = 42 Ft (Quarter Wavelength)

FWIW: Most people think of the term "Longwire Antenna" as they apply
to the low frequencies especially the AM/MW/BCB where a One Wavelength
Antenna would be Bottom 540kHz = 1860Ft; Middle 1120kHz = 900Ft; Top
1700kHz = 590Ft. But, a Longwire Antenna is a Longwire Antenna when
its length is equal to One Wavelength (or more) at a given frequency.
It then follows that the same "Longwire Antenna" would be Two
Wavelengths, a Half Wavelength, and a Quarter Wavelength at other
frequencies. However, at all other frequencies this "Longwire
Antenna" is simply a 'random' wire antenna.


iane ~ RHF




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In article , starman
wrote:

RHF wrote:

starman wrote in message
...

What you have is a sloping inverted-L antenna. A real longwire is much
longer than 80-ft for most of the HF spectrum.

TailGator & StarMan,

FWIW: More 'properly' called a "Random" Wire Antenna
- - - Vice a [Longwire] Antenna

Are all inverted-L's, random wires?

Depends on how you connect it to the radio. With just a single vertical
lead-in then yes but use a coax grounded in some way then no. Another
thing to consider is that the vertical portion should be a significant
portion of the antenna to qualify as an inverted L. An antenna that is
15 feet high and 150 feet long the vertical portion is only 10% of the
total pickup area. I would consider that to be a horizontal random/long
wire.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Not at all. In any case, he asked about an inverted L.
"RHF" wrote in message
om...
StarMan,

In a word "NO" !

If, by 'design' for a specific band of frequencies an Inverted "L"
Antenna has the Horizontal Top Section equal to One Wavelength and a
Vertical End Section equal to One Half Wavelength; then it would be
considered a Longwire Antenna for that Band.


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"Telamon" wrote in message
...

Depends on how you connect it to the radio. With just a single vertical
lead-in then yes but use a coax grounded in some way then no.

Feedline type has nothing to do with it. The classic inverted L was
connected with a single wire feedline. Coax feed is often used now but not
always. I, and many others, have run inverted Ls (transmitting) right off
the back of the radio.

Another
thing to consider is that the vertical portion should be a significant
portion of the antenna to qualify as an inverted L. An antenna that is
15 feet high and 150 feet long the vertical portion is only 10% of the
total pickup area. I would consider that to be a horizontal random/long
wire.

There is a bit of truth to that. It is generally excepted that an inverted
L is most efficient when the verticle portion is as long as possible.
--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Better look up long wire. Verticle length has nothing to do with it.
"RHF" wrote in message
om...


If, by 'design' for a specific band of frequencies an Inverted "L"
Antenna has the Horizontal Top Section equal to One Wavelength and a
Vertical End Section equal to One Half Wavelength; then it would be
considered a Longwire Antenna for that Band.

RHF wrote:

= = = starman
= = = wrote in message ...
RHF wrote:

starman wrote in message ...

What you have is a sloping inverted-L antenna. A real longwire is much
longer than 80-ft for most of the HF spectrum.

TailGator & StarMan,

FWIW: More 'properly' called a "Random" Wire Antenna
- - - Vice a [Longwire] Antenna

Are all inverted-L's, random wires?

StarMan,

In a word "NO" !

If, by 'design' for a specific band of frequencies an Inverted "L"
Antenna has the Horizontal Top Section equal to One Wavelength and a
Vertical End Section equal to One Half Wavelength; then it would be
considered a Longwire Antenna for that Band.

EXAMPLE: 25 Meter SW Band (11.6 - 12.1 MHz) Inverted "L" Antenna
- - - Horizontal Top Section = 85 Ft (One Wavelength)
- - - Vertical End Section = 42 Ft (Half Wavelength)
* * * NOTE: This same Inverted "L" Antenna would be useable on the 49
Meter SW Band (5.95 - 6.2 MHz)
- - - Horizontal Top Section = 85 Ft (Half Wavelength)
- - - Vertical End Section = 42 Ft (Quarter Wavelength)

FWIW: Most people think of the term "Longwire Antenna" as they apply
to the low frequencies especially the AM/MW/BCB where a One Wavelength
Antenna would be Bottom 540kHz = 1860Ft; Middle 1120kHz = 900Ft; Top
1700kHz = 590Ft. But, a Longwire Antenna is a Longwire Antenna when
its length is equal to One Wavelength (or more) at a given frequency.
It then follows that the same "Longwire Antenna" would be Two
Wavelengths, a Half Wavelength, and a Quarter Wavelength at other
frequencies. However, at all other frequencies this "Longwire
Antenna" is simply a 'random' wire antenna.

I doubt if most people try to make their inverted-L resonant for a
particular frequency. However in many cases it does turn out to be
resonant (like a longwire) at some frequency, particularly at the high
end of the HF spectrum where it's one or more wavelengths long.


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