I just completed an atempt at construction of the "broomstick" antenna
the plans for which were found on the internet. I used a 84" x 1.5"
pole, a 14" aluminum pie pan, approximately 100" of 14/2 solid household
wire. I followed the instructions as closely as possible in the
construction. To my dismay the contraption provided absolutely *no*
increase in signal strength that I could discern. Before I call this a
flop I wanted to ask a few questions of the group:

1. Has anyone else built one and found it to work?
2. Does it really matter if the wire turns are actually touching each
other or can the be spread by up to 0.5"?
3. As much as I hate to show my lack of antenna theory knowledge, does
the type of wire covering matter? The instructions said to use 16 PVC
covered wire but I could not find this description on the available wire
at my Home Depot.
4. I made contact with the wore to the aluminum disk by stripping 1" of
the end and wrapping it round a nail between the pan and the end of the
stick such that when the nail was driven in it pressed the disk against
the bare conductor. Is this valid?
5. Does it actually matter if the feed line is connected to the whip or
the external antenna jack of the receiver?
6. How much wire should I use ideally? As much as I can fit on the
pole? Enough for a quarter wave at 5MHz?
7. I have to assume that the benefit of this sort of antenna must be
only nominal since if it worked as well as a stright wire, it would be
more widely used. How much of an increase in received signal strength
should I expect?

It took me the better part of a day to gather the supplies and construct
it so I hesitate to let the project go until I hear from experienced
users that it is not worth it. I welcome any suggestions or critique.

Best,
-Al A.

In article ,
Al Arduengo wrote:

I just completed an atempt at construction of the "broomstick" antenna
the plans for which were found on the internet. I used a 84" x 1.5"
pole, a 14" aluminum pie pan, approximately 100" of 14/2 solid household
wire. I followed the instructions as closely as possible in the
construction. To my dismay the contraption provided absolutely *no*
increase in signal strength that I could discern. Before I call this a
flop I wanted to ask a few questions of the group:

1. Has anyone else built one and found it to work?

This has been covered many times and it does work. It just does not work
well.

2. Does it really matter if the wire turns are actually touching each
other or can the be spread by up to 0.5"?

It would help if the turns were separated. The larger the separation the
better. The largest separation would result in one turn or a straight
wire.

3. As much as I hate to show my lack of antenna theory knowledge, does
the type of wire covering matter? The instructions said to use 16 PVC
covered wire but I could not find this description on the available wire
at my Home Depot.

Size (diameter) here does not matter.

4. I made contact with the wore to the aluminum disk by stripping 1" of
the end and wrapping it round a nail between the pan and the end of the
stick such that when the nail was driven in it pressed the disk against
the bare conductor. Is this valid?

Sure.

5. Does it actually matter if the feed line is connected to the whip or
the external antenna jack of the receiver?

Yes depending on the radio the jack may have a desensitizing circuit to
prevent overloading the radio.

6. How much wire should I use ideally? As much as I can fit on the
pole? Enough for a quarter wave at 5MHz?

This antenna will have a tendency to work at the quarter wave length and
higher frequencies.

7. I have to assume that the benefit of this sort of antenna must be
only nominal since if it worked as well as a stright wire, it would be
more widely used. How much of an increase in received signal strength
should I expect?

See #2.

It took me the better part of a day to gather the supplies and construct
it so I hesitate to let the project go until I hear from experienced
users that it is not worth it. I welcome any suggestions or critique.

Sorry you wasted your time. You can use the wire to make another antenna
type. Lot's of web sites tell you how.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Telamon,

One of the more 'exciting' stories concerning the BroomStick
Antenna in the Middle East. This Guy built a 18Ft Long/Tall
BroomStick on 4" PVC Pipe. Plus, he had a 750 Ft Random Wire
Antenna connected to the Top of the BroomStick Antenna !

Hello - He had a 750 Longwire Antenna [.]

~ RHF
..
..
= = = Telamon wrote in message
= = = ...
In article ,
Al Arduengo wrote:

I just completed an atempt at construction of the "broomstick" antenna
the plans for which were found on the internet. I used a 84" x 1.5"
pole, a 14" aluminum pie pan, approximately 100" of 14/2 solid household
wire. I followed the instructions as closely as possible in the
construction. To my dismay the contraption provided absolutely *no*
increase in signal strength that I could discern. Before I call this a
flop I wanted to ask a few questions of the group:

1. Has anyone else built one and found it to work?

This has been covered many times and it does work. It just does not work
well.

2. Does it really matter if the wire turns are actually touching each
other or can the be spread by up to 0.5"?

It would help if the turns were separated. The larger the separation the
better. The largest separation would result in one turn or a straight
wire.

3. As much as I hate to show my lack of antenna theory knowledge, does
the type of wire covering matter? The instructions said to use 16 PVC
covered wire but I could not find this description on the available wire
at my Home Depot.

Size (diameter) here does not matter.

4. I made contact with the wore to the aluminum disk by stripping 1" of
the end and wrapping it round a nail between the pan and the end of the
stick such that when the nail was driven in it pressed the disk against
the bare conductor. Is this valid?

Sure.

5. Does it actually matter if the feed line is connected to the whip or
the external antenna jack of the receiver?

Yes depending on the radio the jack may have a desensitizing circuit to
prevent overloading the radio.

6. How much wire should I use ideally? As much as I can fit on the
pole? Enough for a quarter wave at 5MHz?

This antenna will have a tendency to work at the quarter wave length and
higher frequencies.

7. I have to assume that the benefit of this sort of antenna must be
only nominal since if it worked as well as a stright wire, it would be
more widely used. How much of an increase in received signal strength
should I expect?

See #2.

It took me the better part of a day to gather the supplies and construct
it so I hesitate to let the project go until I hear from experienced
users that it is not worth it. I welcome any suggestions or critique.

Sorry you wasted your time. You can use the wire to make another antenna
type. Lot's of web sites tell you how.

In article , rhf-say-
says...
Telamon,

One of the more 'exciting' stories concerning the BroomStick
Antenna in the Middle East. This Guy built a 18Ft Long/Tall
BroomStick on 4" PVC Pipe. Plus, he had a 750 Ft Random Wire
Antenna connected to the Top of the BroomStick Antenna !

Hello - He had a 750 Longwire Antenna [.]

I've seen you mention this before, but, as I recall the story, the 750
foot longwire was an existing antenna. One would assume the guy knew
how the existing longwire performed and would not be raving about the
broomstick if the performance were not significantly better than that of
the longwire alone.

Admittedly, the whole annecdote needs significantly more information to
be able to draw any kind of legitimate conclusion about the longwire or
either of the broomsticks. And it would have been nice if he'd used a
bit more scientific method and a lot less "kitchen sink" in his approach
to antenna evaluation. But, barring further evidence, I don't think it's
valid to completely discount the broomstick by assuming the longwire was
doing all the work.

I'm not saying the broomstick is a wonder antenna, just that there is no
clear evidence in this annecdote to shoot it down.

-- Jay

Jay Heyl wrote:

In article , rhf-say-
says...
Telamon,

One of the more 'exciting' stories concerning the BroomStick
Antenna in the Middle East. This Guy built a 18Ft Long/Tall
BroomStick on 4" PVC Pipe. Plus, he had a 750 Ft Random Wire
Antenna connected to the Top of the BroomStick Antenna !

Hello - He had a 750 Longwire Antenna [.]

I've seen you mention this before, but, as I recall the story, the 750
foot longwire was an existing antenna. One would assume the guy knew
how the existing longwire performed and would not be raving about the
broomstick if the performance were not significantly better than that of
the longwire alone.

Admittedly, the whole annecdote needs significantly more information to
be able to draw any kind of legitimate conclusion about the longwire or
either of the broomsticks. And it would have been nice if he'd used a
bit more scientific method and a lot less "kitchen sink" in his approach
to antenna evaluation. But, barring further evidence, I don't think it's
valid to completely discount the broomstick by assuming the longwire was
doing all the work.

I'm not saying the broomstick is a wonder antenna, just that there is no
clear evidence in this annecdote to shoot it down.

-- Jay

He made a base loaded long wire.


-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

= = = longwave wrote in message
= = = ...

- - - - - S N I P - - - - -

He made a base loaded long wire.

- - - - - S N I P - - - - -

LW,

Not really, the 18 Foot tall PVC Pipe 'wire wound' Broomstick
Antenna at these Shortwave HF would efectively appear to be a
[Hollow] Metal Tube acting as a vertical antenna element.
( A piece of Copper Pipe. )

The better arangement would be to take a piece of PVC Pipe with
a "T" on Top. Start with a piece of wire, and have a single
loading coil wound for a specific frequency; and then run the
wire up to the "T" and through it and out horizontally for as
many feet as you can run the wire.

Indoors - Stick the PVC Pipe in the corner of a room and have
the top wire circle the room at near the ceiling level.

Simply - A Folded Inverted "L" Antenna with a Loading Coil
designed for a single target Shortwave Band.

If this is then your thing - The 'build' a series of them
if you need coverage on more bands.

iane ~ RHF

..

longwave wrote in message ...

He made a base loaded long wire.

And this means what, exactly? That the 6m pipe with 1200m of wire did
nothing but provide a better impedance match between the radio and the
existing longwire?

According to what I think I know about antennas,
I'd say it works a little better than a dummy load.

I had one in the early 70's when I was (only) SWL'ing,
and the reception became much better when I "pulled"
the wire to a L-type horizontal antenna. I guess that
the total length from the feedpoint to the capacitance
"hat" is never enough however much one uses wire.

Matti Ponkamo OH1GPU, Naantali, Finland

"Al Arduengo" wrote in message
...
I just completed an atempt at construction of the "broomstick" antenna
the plans for which were found on the internet. I used a 84" x 1.5"
pole, a 14" aluminum pie pan, approximately 100" of 14/2 solid household
wire. I followed the instructions as closely as possible in the
construction. To my dismay the contraption provided absolutely *no*
increase in signal strength that I could discern. Before I call this a
flop I wanted to ask a few questions of the group:

1. Has anyone else built one and found it to work?
2. Does it really matter if the wire turns are actually touching each
other or can the be spread by up to 0.5"?
3. As much as I hate to show my lack of antenna theory knowledge, does
the type of wire covering matter? The instructions said to use 16 PVC
covered wire but I could not find this description on the available wire
at my Home Depot.
4. I made contact with the wore to the aluminum disk by stripping 1" of
the end and wrapping it round a nail between the pan and the end of the
stick such that when the nail was driven in it pressed the disk against
the bare conductor. Is this valid?
5. Does it actually matter if the feed line is connected to the whip or
the external antenna jack of the receiver?
6. How much wire should I use ideally? As much as I can fit on the
pole? Enough for a quarter wave at 5MHz?
7. I have to assume that the benefit of this sort of antenna must be
only nominal since if it worked as well as a stright wire, it would be
more widely used. How much of an increase in received signal strength
should I expect?

It took me the better part of a day to gather the supplies and construct
it so I hesitate to let the project go until I hear from experienced
users that it is not worth it. I welcome any suggestions or critique.

Best,
-Al A.

For some odd reason, people expect that if you wind 100' of wire onto a
stick, it will perform like a 100' random wire- or better than say, 50'
wound onto a stick. It's all about capture area.

Dale W4OP

Al Arduengo wrote in
:

It took me the better part of a day to gather the supplies and construct
it so I hesitate to let the project go until I hear from experienced
users that it is not worth it. I welcome any suggestions or critique.

It's not worth it. Lousy antenna. I have one out on my patio waiting for me
to reclaim the wire off it. A 20 foot longwire out performs it.