"Gray Shockley" wrote in message
.com...
On Mon, 4 Oct 2004 21:19:00 -0500, Michael Lawson wrote
(in article ):

I have a confession to make; I've always wanted an outdoor
antenna, but I was never either allowed to (when I was a kid)
or wasn't pratical do run one. Well, I now have the ability
to run one outside, but there are some questions I have about
some of the gagetry that is available these days.



Why not start out easy?

Grab one of the ten dollar RadioShack 66 footers - either the one
with
the insulators and lead (bell wire) or only the twisted copper.

The "random length" is really, pretty much, the baseline against
which
all the others are measured but it's also just a darn good antenna,
in
and of itself.

Actually, I was using that inside the house (just trimmed down to
20 ft or so). I stopped by Rat Shack to pick another one up, but
they were out. (The sales guy claimed that they don't stock it
much any more since it's seldom asked for. Probably if the store
wants it, they have to actually sell it every once in a while for
their
computer to start ordering more.) So, I dropped by Home Depot
and got 100 ft. of 14 ga. stranded copper wire and ran about
40-50 ft of it outside for the time being.

As far as lightning protection goes, the best protection is the
lead-in
out the window and screwed onto a ground rod (or a coax connector
that
is melded into the ground rod if you're usin' coax).

Here, in Central Mississippi, we have very violent storms and it's a
bad idea to keep an antenna connected for several months a year. I
use(d) a ceramic based knife switch (a BIG one) for normal use and
threw te thing out the window when the air had "that feeling".

Ouch. For a change, this year in Cincy has been pretty darn
tame for storms, but yeah, I can see doing that during the
summer. By the time I'd go inside during the summer, a lot
of the programs beamed at NA are already getting ready to
sign off anyway.

--Mike L.

= = = "Michael Lawson" wrote in message
= = = ...
I have a confession to make; I've always wanted an outdoor
antenna, but I was never either allowed to (when I was a kid)
or wasn't pratical do run one. Well, I now have the ability
to run one outside, but there are some questions I have about
some of the gagetry that is available these days.

Since I'm planning on running a random wire until I can figure
out a more permanent location for a trap antenna that I'll
build (assuming that I still have that old article from Pop Comm
(or was it Audio?) lying around), I'm not so concerned about
the antenna itself as some of the other goodies.

First, the coax. I noticed that Rat Shack was running a special
on their RG-58U coax for $0.11/ft, but I also know that RG-8 is
has better attenuation numbers. My run of coax is about
60-70 ft or so (at least initially, I'll probably remove some of
the built-in slack in my estimates once I'm satisfied with where
the antenna will be). Should I worry about attenuation for the
HF bands enough to use the RG-8 over the RG-58??

Second, a lightning arrestor. Are those Alpha Delta Transitraps
as good as advertised, or should I stick with a regular gas
discharge variety??

Third, has anyone run an external antenna to their Sat 800?? I'm
curious as to your setup, since it's a plastic case and the old
ground connection that I was used to on my old Icom R-70
isn't around, so I was wondering if anyone bothers to try to
ground the outer jacket of the coax. (Yeah, I know that that
ground on the R-70 was for the casing, and that this means we'll
open a can of worms here, but I figure I'd ask anyway.)

--Mike L.


MTL,

Concerning an External Antenna for the Grundig Satellit 800
Millennium Radio here are a few Posting/Messages to Read:

Grundig Satellit 800 M - Whip Antenna Noise
- Consider External Antennas
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...na/message/822

Grundig Satellit 800 "HUM" - Try an External Antenna
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...a/message/1380

On-the-Fence Antenna for the Grundig Satellit 800 M
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...na/message/797

Grundig Satellit 800-M ? Do I Need an External Antenna ?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...na/message/508

Antenna Options for the Grundig Satellit 800 Millennium Radio
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...na/message/486

SWL Antenna with built-in AM/MW Attenuation
for the Grundig Satellit 800 M
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...na/message/920


CONSIDER BUILDING A "LOW NOISE" ANTENNA:
Try building an Improved SWL Random Wire Antenna that uses a
9:1 Matching Transformer (Balun / MLB) then you may not see
any real 'improvement' in your receive signal.

This is the so called "Low Noise" SWL Antenna.
Three "Must" Links to Read -wrt- Low Noise SWL Antenna
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...na/message/949
[ Please READ These Three Links ]
http://www.anarc.org/naswa/badx/ante...e_antenna.html
http://www.anarc.org/naswa/badx/ante..._longwire.html
http://www.anarc.org/naswa/badx/antennas/grounding.html
ABOUT THE "LOW NOISE" ANTENNA 'DESIGN CONCEPTS':
A Random Wire Antenna Element coupled via a 9:1 Matching
Transformer at the Near-End of the Antenna with a Ground
Rod and Coax Cable Feed-in-Line to the Receiver. This is
the basic SWL Antenna that uses the "Low Noise Antenna"
'design concepts' that were popularized by John Doty.

GROUNDING:
A "Ground" for your Antenna to 'reduced' AM/MW Interference
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...a/message/1173

Some 'steps-to-take' in RFI-EMF Noise Reduction:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...a/message/1137


OTHER - External Antenna Posting/Messages that may be of Interest:

The 'common sense' Answer concerning the SWL Antenna
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...a/message/1187

Answers to 4 Random Wire Questions: Ratio/Balun/Size&Shape/Tuner
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...a/message/1045

Balanced -or- Unbalanced ? Antennas, Feed-Lines, Matching Transformers . . .
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...na/message/997

Antenna & Ground Wires - What Gauge ?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...na/message/991


iane ~ RHF
..
Some Say: On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...na/message/502
I BELIEVE: On A Clear Night...
You Can Hear Forever and Beyond - The Beyond !
..
..