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antenna suggestions?
Hi all --
Been lurking for several weeks now. Have enjoyed the helpful & knowledgeable folks that post. Have even enjoyed the goofy flamer posts, tee hee. I'm really enjoying the different perspectives that world SW newscasts offer. This post is long, please bear with me. I tried to include details that might help anyone who cares to reply. Maybe someone has some ideas for antennas. Did my research and bought a Grundig Yachtboy 400PE several months ago; it was rated as one of the best. It came with a thin wind-up antenna about 20-ft long. I strung this out a window, perpendicular to my house, with the far end mounted to a pole about 8-ft high. I've also just ran it around the room at ceiling level. Both performed the same, and neither seemed significantly better than the whip alone. Then I bought a 75-ft length of 14g stranded copper wire. First I wrapped a bared end around the whip, which was ho-hum. Then read a post here about coiling the end several times (like a phone cord) and sliding the coil over the base of the whip -- this made a fantastic difference! I've tried a few different ways of positioning the outdoor wire. They all seem to work about the same. First I wrapped it around my house, starting on the east side, across the back (north) and ending on the west directly opposite the 'out' window. Kind of like a "U" lying on its side. The sides were about 6-8-ft off the ground; the back/north section was about 10-12ft high. House has aluminum siding, if that makes any difference. I've tried laying it out in the middle of the yard, just one long length running pretty much N/S. Have also tried running it along top of my metal hurricane fence, maybe about 4-ft high for almost the entire length. Mostly, I'd like to ensure the best reception possible. Is there anything else I can try? I'm unemployed at the moment, so money is short but I have lots of time to play around. I'm a fair do-it-yourselfer, and have tools and such. I have a few electrical skills; was married to an electrician for several years so the basics rubbed off. I own my place so I can do just about anything I want, within city ordinances. And I don't care if the neighbors think I'm weird, ha ha. If I threw the wire up and over my house, would that do anything? My house sits fairly tall, the roof peak is maybe 25 feet up. I also have a tall tree, but I'd be limited to what my ladder can reach, maybe 12-15 feet or so. Could I make some sort of giant loop that follows the fenceline around my property? How would I "finish" the loop and connect it to my radio? The workable area of the lot is about 120x50 feet. The east side of my lot is pretty much open, no buildings within a good 200 feet. Some other things that might matter: I use compact fluorescent bulbs in almost all of my light fixtures. I've read that fluorescents can cause interference. I got a great deal on fluorescent bulbs a while back (10 cents on the dollar), so I stocked up. My electric bill has dropped at least 25% since I did this. But can this affect my SW radio? My radio is plugged into the non-backup part of the UPS for my PC, which "conditions" the power supply. It seems to eliminate some SW interference vs a regular outlet, but I'd be interested in what the experienced SWer's think. I guess maybe what I'm asking for is ideas to experiment with, because I'm not a shortwave expert. But I do like messing around with stuff like this. Maybe not normal for a female, but to me it's much more fun than makeup, clothes and hairdos. Thanks --- LJ |
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