Ground level antenna
 

Will a shortwave longwire antenna work if it is laid on the ground or does
it have to be hung in the air from a tree or something similar?

Thanks for your input.

Pierre

A longwire is best as high as you can get it safely (keep it away from power
lines). However, the longer it is, the lower the frequency to which the
receiver will be most responsive. Low Frequency and Very Low Frequency
signals tend to hug the earth as opposed to High Frequency (shortwave)
signals. For your purposes, it would be best strung at least 20 feet above
the earth. Best wishes MM

"Peter" wrote in message
ers.com...
Will a shortwave longwire antenna work if it is laid on the ground or does
it have to be hung in the air from a tree or something similar?

It will work laid on the ground, just not as well as if you got it as high
as possible.

I have seen plans for underground antennas before, however, they only work
well from MF up to around 4 mHz. In other words, they work best on signals
that propagate via groundwave.


--
Tom Sevart N2UHC
Frontenac, KS

http://www.geocities.com/n2uhc

That's interesting ! I don't mean to be funny, but does an underground
antenna have less susceptibility to noise ? If one has lots of power lines
etc in the area, does that cut down on such noise, or would it be the same
for an antenna in the air a ways ? Thanks :)

Do a google on 'Snake antenna" OR "SNAKE" I HAVE SEEN AN ARTICLE WHERE COAX
CUT A CERTAIN WAY IS LAID ON THE GROUND, AND IT TRANSMITS

Yodar


"Peter" wrote in message
ers.com...
Will a shortwave longwire antenna work if it is laid on the ground or does
it have to be hung in the air from a tree or something similar?

Thanks for your input.

Pierre

Pierre,

Here are two Ground Level (Hidden) Antennas to consider.

* * * SNAKE ANTENNA:

Here is a short sample "Snake Antenna" Reading List:
http://www.kc7nod.20m.com/snake.htm
http://lists.contesting.com/_topband.../msg00302.html
http://atanasoff.rf.org/pipermail/ta...99/001042.html
http://dayton.akorn.net/pipermail/cq...ry/001596.html
http://www.qsl.net/ve3mcf/elecraft_r...enna_Snake.txt

Down To Earth Antennas = Outdoor Antennas Forbidden? Go for the Snake
!
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx...al/swlant.html
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx...ial/snake1.gif
http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx...ial/snake2.gif

* * * GRASSWIRE ANTENNA:
The GRASSWIRE another approach to hidden HF antennas by K3MT
http://users.erols.com/k3mt/graswire/graswire.htm
- - - This is a 'shorter' length antenna element with counterpoises to
give it some directivity.


OBTW: A 'copy' of the original Message and this Reply will be posted
on the "SWL Antennas and AM & FM Antennas" eGroup on YAHOO !
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWL-AM-FM-Antenna/


iane ~ RHF
..
..
= = = "Peter"
= = = wrote in message gers.com...
Will a shortwave longwire antenna work if it is laid on the ground or does
it have to be hung in the air from a tree or something similar?

Thanks for your input.

Pierre

Will a shortwave longwire antenna work if it is laid on the ground or does
it have to be hung in the air from a tree or something similar?

Up to 3 Mhz it probably works better than a higher antenna.
There is a beverage antenna which is highly directional and normally suspended
18 inches to 2 feet above the ground and aimed at the target station. It is
also a quarter mile or more long.
It was used in WW2 to listen to Jap AM stations from Hawaii.
I built (?) an underground antenna boput 12" down many years ago, and as I
recall it was very quiet. But interesetingly the drop in noise was greater than
the drop in gain, so overall it was favotrable. Most of my DXing ws in the AM
band.

Your posting has made me think about a FRACTAL underground beverage.

it sure does work! i use both the snake and the grasswire all the time.
in a high noise area like mine it actually works better than raising it
up to power line level. last year a tornado took all of my antennas and
i have not replaced them. i just use my wires laid right on the ground.

The higher you put it the better.

Bill, N5NOB

On Wed, 01 Oct 2003 16:46:20 GMT, "Peter"
wrote:

Will a shortwave longwire antenna work if it is laid on the ground or does
it have to be hung in the air from a tree or something similar?

Thanks for your input.

Pierre



My 30 yard long random wire goes from the gutter @ 25 feet high down
to a wooden post at the end of the yard. From there it goes another 20
yards at an average of 3 feet high. Works great compared to the whip.
Fed with coax, I dont get household noise at all.

While this setup works, gain is minimal. If all 30 yards were 9 feet
high or better then I might get up to 6 db of gain.

This site is worth a look:

http://www.cebik.com/fdim/fdim8.html

mike