Ferrite Magnet antenna wire ; gauge question
 

Hi All:
radio shack has the following for sale:

Three-spool assortment .. Includes 40 feet of 22-gauge,
75 feet of 26-gauge and 200 feet of 30-gauge.

- anyone have any idea which type / gauge wire is best for a ferrite antenna ?

- Also found a good source for 365 Pf variable capacitors..

http://www.oselectronics.com/ose_p96.htm

"1 Gang Broadcast Variable Capacitor 14-365PF
The most popular Broadcast variable capacitor for use by amateurs,
experimenters, and hobbyists. Ideally suited
for uilding crystal radios, receivers, transmitters, or QRP tuners. Sturdy
construction with aluminum plates, low loss
bakelite insulation and ball bearing drive.

Specifications:

• Capacitance 14-365 PF
• 1/4" Diameter shaft 9/16" long
• Measures 1 3/8"W x 1 3/16"D x 1 5/16H

BC14400.........................$10.95

( They also sell ferrite rods)

Dan

The 30 is thinnest.

On 26 Oct 2003 14:08:45 GMT, (Diverd4777) wrote:

Hi All:
radio shack has the following for sale:

Three-spool assortment .. Includes 40 feet of 22-gauge,
75 feet of 26-gauge and 200 feet of 30-gauge.

- anyone have any idea which type / gauge wire is best for a ferrite antenna ?

- Also found a good source for 365 Pf variable capacitors..

http://www.oselectronics.com/ose_p96.htm

"1 Gang Broadcast Variable Capacitor 14-365PF
The most popular Broadcast variable capacitor for use by amateurs,
experimenters, and hobbyists. Ideally suited
for uilding crystal radios, receivers, transmitters, or QRP tuners. Sturdy
construction with aluminum plates, low loss
bakelite insulation and ball bearing drive.

Specifications:

• Capacitance 14-365 PF
• 1/4" Diameter shaft 9/16" long
• Measures 1 3/8"W x 1 3/16"D x 1 5/16H

BC14400.........................$10.95

( They also sell ferrite rods)

Dan

- Thanks..
- I'll try the 26; midway; not as delicate as the 30 & use ~60 turns on the
paper
wrapped over the ferrite bar.

Found A Salvation army; wi;l buy a radio, fumigate it ( ouotside)
disassemble it, get the coil & capacitor

& then poke around & see what I get !!

Dan


In article , David
writes:


The 30 is thinnest.

On 26 Oct 2003 14:08:45 GMT, (Diverd4777) wrote:

Hi All:
radio shack has the following for sale:

Three-spool assortment .. Includes 40 feet of 22-gauge,
75 feet of 26-gauge and 200 feet of 30-gauge.

- anyone have any idea which type / gauge wire is best for a ferrite
antenna ?

- Also found a good source for 365 Pf variable capacitors..

http://www.oselectronics.com/ose_p96.htm

"1 Gang Broadcast Variable Capacitor 14-365PF
The most popular Broadcast variable capacitor for use by amateurs,
experimenters, and hobbyists. Ideally suited
for uilding crystal radios, receivers, transmitters, or QRP tuners. Sturdy
construction with aluminum plates, low loss
bakelite insulation and ball bearing drive.

Specifications:

• Capacitance 14-365 PF
• 1/4" Diameter shaft 9/16" long
• Measures 1 3/8"W x 1 3/16"D x 1 5/16H

BC14400.........................$10.95

( They also sell ferrite rods)

Dan

Litz wire, a specially woven fabric insulated wire is required for
Loopsticks SKYCRAFT electronics in Orlando has it at iirc $0.08/ft
..
Yodar


On 26 Oct 2003 14:08:45 GMT, (Diverd4777) wrote:


- anyone have any idea which type / gauge wire is best for a ferrite
antenna ?

Unless you don't have it then use magnet wire. You'll never know the
difference.


"Joe Strain" wrote in message
m...
Litz wire, a specially woven fabric insulated wire is required for
Loopsticks SKYCRAFT electronics in Orlando has it at iirc $0.08/ft
.
Yodar


On 26 Oct 2003 14:08:45 GMT, (Diverd4777) wrote:


- anyone have any idea which type / gauge wire is best for a ferrite
antenna ?

I tried making my own loopstick antenna using that same Radio Shack assortment
of wire, and it worked pretty good. I used the red wire, fergit what size that
was.

Antenna worked pretty good without a pre-amp. Using that stick and the Kenwood
R1000, I got a nice deep null on WSCR 1000khz in CHicago, some 100km south of
me, and heard Cuba.

jw
wb9uai
milwaukee

"CW" wrote in message
news:hhYmb.25685$mZ5.115003@attbi_s54...
Unless you don't have it then use magnet wire. You'll never know the
difference.


That's true. I have several radios with standard wire wrapped around
the ferrite rods. Usually when they use standard wire, the turns are
spaced widely enough to take up nearly the length of the rod. A wide
wire spacing, about twice the thickness of the wire should reduce losses
and increase the tuning frequency range, compared to close spaced wire.
In practice, the tuning range problem will probably be more noticable.
Just wrap a bunch of wire, spaced maybe 1/16 to 1/8 inch or so, over the
length of the rod. This probably won't tune to the top of the AM band.
Then remove turns until it tunes to the top when the cap is fully open.

Frank Dresser

Cool!

- May try 1620 U.S Virgin Islands
1160 Bermuda
810 & 1540 Bahamas, ( Also Albany NY)


In article ,
(J999w) writes:


Antenna worked pretty good without a pre-amp. Using that stick and the
Kenwood
R1000, I got a nice deep null on WSCR 1000khz in CHicago, some 100km south of
me, and heard Cuba.

Frank, thanks:

- took a 2-3 inch peice of paper wrapped it rond the ferrite,
then wound ~50 turns ( tight spaced) round the paper.
( About ten feet of 26 gague wire.)

Taped it in place, the whole thing slides tightly up & down the ferrite.

Will go to Goodwill & pick up a radio tomorrow; - found the price goes up if
you say it fer parts; - maybe if I say I've fallen & found JESUS Price'll go
down
- In any case..
This being NYC, I'll bring bus spray & a plastic bag; spray the radio whilst in
the bag. Tye it up, put it in the trunk & drive on home.

Once home, will take the bag ouot to the lawn,
unwrap it,

Kill whatever staggers out

( - New York! New York! It's a wonderful town !!)

Then clean the radio with Paper towels & bring it inside.
Plan on disassembling it in the Apt house Basement.

then bringing the cleaned up parts ( Capacitor, radio's ferrite.) upstairs..

& THEN I'll try the procedure someone from the ferrite group sent to Elfa..
& modify as needed..
with a few tricks..
SHOULD work.. !

Dan


In article ,
"Frank Dresser" writes:


"CW" wrote in message
news:hhYmb.25685$mZ5.115003@attbi_s54...
Unless you don't have it then use magnet wire. You'll never know the
difference.


That's true. I have several radios with standard wire wrapped around
the ferrite rods. Usually when they use standard wire, the turns are
spaced widely enough to take up nearly the length of the rod. A wide
wire spacing, about twice the thickness of the wire should reduce losses
and increase the tuning frequency range, compared to close spaced wire.
In practice, the tuning range problem will probably be more noticable.
Just wrap a bunch of wire, spaced maybe 1/16 to 1/8 inch or so, over the
length of the rod. This probably won't tune to the top of the AM band.
Then remove turns until it tunes to the top when the cap is fully open.

Frank Dresser

"Diverd4777" wrote in message
...
Frank, thanks:

- took a 2-3 inch peice of paper wrapped it rond the ferrite,
then wound ~50 turns ( tight spaced) round the paper.
( About ten feet of 26 gague wire.)

Taped it in place, the whole thing slides tightly up & down the
ferrite.

Will go to Goodwill & pick up a radio tomorrow; - found the price goes
up if
you say it fer parts; - maybe if I say I've fallen & found JESUS
Price'll go
down
- In any case..
This being NYC, I'll bring bus spray & a plastic bag; spray the radio
whilst in
the bag. Tye it up, put it in the trunk & drive on home.

Once home, will take the bag ouot to the lawn,
unwrap it,

Kill whatever staggers out

( - New York! New York! It's a wonderful town !!)

Then clean the radio with Paper towels & bring it inside.
Plan on disassembling it in the Apt house Basement.

then bringing the cleaned up parts ( Capacitor, radio's ferrite.)
upstairs..

& THEN I'll try the procedure someone from the ferrite group sent to
Elfa..
& modify as needed..
with a few tricks..
SHOULD work.. !

Dan

It'll work, but it's hard to give specific instructions on how to make
it work the first time. It's something to experiment with. By the way,
the variable capacitors from Ocean State Electronics are pretty good. I
have three of them, and they're date coded from 1999. They may still be
in production. The plastic dielectric caps are harder to tune and work
with. Nearly all of them are designed for AM/FM radios and have a bunch
of unmarked tabs sticking out. More to experiment with. You can also
use the original antenna winding to tune the AM band. There's likely at
least one smaller winding on the ferrite rod you can use to connect to
the antenna terminals of a radio.

Have you made a box loop? I never bothered with ferrite rod antennas,
because I figured a good sized loop would be a better performer. But
I'd be curious about a side to side comparision.

Frank Dresser