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New LongWire Antenna - What Type Wire?
On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 17:34:13 -0600, James Douglas
wrote: Now I may extend the antenna to include a piece that runs across the top of the roof, which on my house is about 30' up in the air! Would that be good or bad, again I have 150' around the fence that runs in the shape of a C, what if I added a "extender" across the roof vent and ran a wire down the to main antenna? I have heard that "higher is better" I am also thinking about adding a two foot extension to the fence posts so that I can get the antenna up a little higher but am wondering what the neighbors are going to think? I do have a balun from Erickson Enginering, which seems to help so far although conditions have not been favorable here lately, and also have 8' copper rod pounded into the ground. Doubling back in the same plane is probably counterproductive. I'd get as big an ''L'' shaped configuration as I could. I'd also keep the antenna away from the house as it probably has lots of noise sources. Use the ''BalUn'' to match the wire to some co-ax to get the signal into your house from a safe distance away. http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx...ed/balun3.html The higher the better. (That's for Steve!) |
New LongWire Antenna - What Type Wire?
On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 17:34:13 -0600, James Douglas
wrote: James Douglas wrote: As my existing fence is falling down and I have saved the 3K to replace it it's also time for a new antenna. What type of wire would be best? My existing antenna is around the fence about 8' in the area and the area is shaped like [ with the long side running North/South. I ended up getting 500' of #14 stranded copper, with 15mils insulation for $28.00, they wanted $32.00 for 200' taken from the large spool? WTF? Now I may extend the antenna to include a piece that runs across the top of the roof, which on my house is about 30' up in the air! Would that be good or bad, again I have 150' around the fence that runs in the shape of a C, what if I added a "extender" across the roof vent and ran a wire down the to main antenna? I have heard that "higher is better" You might run the extension, and clip it to your regular fence antenna with an alligator clip -- have someone attach and unattach it out in the yard while you listen to signals. That way, you can see if it improves reception or not. I am also thinking about adding a two foot extension to the fence posts so that I can get the antenna up a little higher but am wondering what the neighbors are going to think? Just tell them you wanted a higher fence :-) Bob k5qwg I do have a balun from Erickson Enginering, which seems to help so far although conditions have not been favorable here lately, and also have 8' copper rod pounded into the ground. |
New LongWire Antenna - What Type Wire?
In article ,
James Douglas wrote: James Douglas wrote: As my existing fence is falling down and I have saved the 3K to replace it it's also time for a new antenna. What type of wire would be best? My existing antenna is around the fence about 8' in the area and the area is shaped like [ with the long side running North/South. I ended up getting 500' of #14 stranded copper, with 15mils insulation for $28.00, they wanted $32.00 for 200' taken from the large spool? WTF? Now I may extend the antenna to include a piece that runs across the top of the roof, which on my house is about 30' up in the air! Would that be good or bad, again I have 150' around the fence that runs in the shape of a C, what if I added a "extender" across the roof vent and ran a wire down the to main antenna? I have heard that "higher is better" Yes higher is better but you will want to keep the antenna away from your electrically noisy house so I advise against this. I am also thinking about adding a two foot extension to the fence posts so that I can get the antenna up a little higher but am wondering what the neighbors are going to think? This will not be worth the trouble. You would need to move it more like 10 feet to make a difference. I do have a balun from Erickson Enginering, which seems to help so far although conditions have not been favorable here lately, and also have 8' copper rod pounded into the ground. The UNUN is good for random/long wire use. -- Telamon Ventura, California |
New LongWire Antenna - What Type Wire?
David wrote:
I've also had excellent results with solid steel wire, which is $4 for 120 feet. I used plastic coated clothesline wire for years. It's stranded steel and is super strong. The ends were over a hundred feet apart and it was stretched pretty tight. Never any sagging due to ice. A split bolt on each end held it around the insulators. The cast from Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds' never showed, so I can't comment on hundreds of birds perching on it. mike |
Something Different - On-the-Fence Loop Antenna for the Shortwave Listener (SWL)
JD,
Something Different - - - On-the-Fence Loop Antenna for the Shortwave Listener (SWL) You should first install an 8-Ft Ground Rod at the Foot (Base) of the new Fence. Note - This will be the Starting and Ending Point for your Wire Antenna Element + The Mounting Place for your Matching Transformer { A Balun = Loop-to-Coax } + The Connecting Point for your Coax Cable. Start by running the Wire Antenna Element out along the Bottom of the Fence to your Far-Point. Then a short Wire Antenna Element Leg-Up to the Top of the Fence. Next run the Wire Antenna Element back along the Top of the Fence to your Starting-Point. Finally a a short Wire Antenna Element Down-Leg to the Bottom of the Fence. Mount your Matching Transformer to the Ground Rod Connect your Coax Cable to the Matching Transformer. Connect your Two Wire Antenna Element Ends to the Matching Transformer. You now have an On-the-Fence Loop Antenna [ Bent-Around-the-Fence ] FWIW - Two On-the-Fence Loop Antennas One Rigged on the Fence along one Side of the Yard One Rigged on the Fence along the Back of the Yard Set at 90 Degress and being about 8-ft apart at their Starting Points from a common Corner can give you more Receiving Antenna Options. Note - Separate Ground Rods, Baluns and Coax Cable Feed-in-Lines are recommended if you choose to use two On-the-Fence Loop Antennas. As to the Question of Antenna Wire Size : # 14 AWG Insulated Copper Wire with 19-Strands and using PVC Insulation is cost effective and durable. HomeDepot type - THWN or THHN in 500 Foot Spools TIP - One of the most important details of an On-the-Fence Antenna is the Stand-Offs used to keep the Wire "OFF" the Fence and in the Air. TV "Stand-Offs" with Plastic Insulator Head and 3.5" Wood Screw base hardware. RadioShack Catalog #15-853 (4 Pack) http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2104003&cp Other On-the-Fence Shortwave Listener (SWL) Antenna ideas http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...nce+rhf&qt_g=1 hope this helps - iane ~ RHF |
New LongWire Antenna - What Type Wire?
A good source of 'cheap' wire for antennas is any hamfest flea market
(or possibly any flea market as a matter of fact. You can usually find partial or full spools of it piled in boxes and being sold on the cheap. Some companys that use lots of wire will discard it because they no longer need the color codes on its jackets, or they get rid of partial spools once they get down to a certain amount left. Enterprising employees scoop these up and show up at flea markets with it. It may not be exactly what you would purchase if you were buying 'new' but it will work and in most cases will be just a fraction of what you would pay for something new to do the job. Think Spring......antenna construction time is fast aproaching. |
New LongWire Antenna - What Type Wire?
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Something Different - On-the-Fence Loop Antenna for the Shortwave Listener (SWL)
In article .com,
"RHF" wrote: JD, Something Different - - - On-the-Fence Loop Antenna for the Shortwave Listener (SWL) You should first install an 8-Ft Ground Rod at the Foot (Base) of the new Fence. Note - This will be the Starting and Ending Point for your Wire Antenna Element + The Mounting Place for your Matching Transformer { A Balun = Loop-to-Coax } + The Connecting Point for your Coax Cable. Start by running the Wire Antenna Element out along the Bottom of the Fence to your Far-Point. Then a short Wire Antenna Element Leg-Up to the Top of the Fence. Next run the Wire Antenna Element back along the Top of the Fence to your Starting-Point. Finally a a short Wire Antenna Element Down-Leg to the Bottom of the Fence. Mount your Matching Transformer to the Ground Rod Connect your Coax Cable to the Matching Transformer. Connect your Two Wire Antenna Element Ends to the Matching Transformer. You now have an On-the-Fence Loop Antenna [ Bent-Around-the-Fence ] FWIW - Two On-the-Fence Loop Antennas One Rigged on the Fence along one Side of the Yard One Rigged on the Fence along the Back of the Yard Set at 90 Degress and being about 8-ft apart at their Starting Points from a common Corner can give you more Receiving Antenna Options. Note - Separate Ground Rods, Baluns and Coax Cable Feed-in-Lines are recommended if you choose to use two On-the-Fence Loop Antennas. As to the Question of Antenna Wire Size : # 14 AWG Insulated Copper Wire with 19-Strands and using PVC Insulation is cost effective and durable. HomeDepot type - THWN or THHN in 500 Foot Spools TIP - One of the most important details of an On-the-Fence Antenna is the Stand-Offs used to keep the Wire "OFF" the Fence and in the Air. TV "Stand-Offs" with Plastic Insulator Head and 3.5" Wood Screw base hardware. RadioShack Catalog #15-853 (4 Pack) http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2104003&cp Other On-the-Fence Shortwave Listener (SWL) Antenna ideas http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...rec.radio.shor twave&q=on-the-fence+rhf&qt_g=1 You describe a close to the ground vertical loop antenna. I expect that at most you would need a 2:1 BALUN but the right answer might be 1:1 with the antenna that close to the ground. The loop is balanced and the coax is not so a BALUN is used here. The loop is a complete antenna unlike the single wire antenna, which still needs a counter poise to complete an RF circuit. The counterpoise or RF return for the signal wire is the ground stake. Generally an optimal situation would be a voltage type transformer as a UNUN so the single wire and ground would be the primary and the coax on the secondary. The single wire is not balanced and neither is the coax so UNUN is used. The loop as a complete antenna does not need the ground as a counterpoise. Useful construction tip would be to bury the coax or if that is not convenient then use clamp on ferrite for a RF choke to stop noise from the radio end of the coax on the outer shield from getting to the loop antenna then into the radio input. The clamp on ferrite would be a current type 1:1 BALUN. -- Telamon Ventura, California |
For Tomorrow - - - The Multi-Element Dipole-on-the-Fence Antenna
In article .com,
"RHF" wrote: For Tomorrow - - - The Multi-Element Dipole-on-the-Fence Antenna * Its 60 to 125 Foot Long * Its Only 4 to 5 Feet High * What Could / Would You Do To Build A Muti-Element Dipole-on-the-Fence Antenna . . . Snip What you are advocating is to tie several elements at the antenna output point together. What can happen is that power from one element can end up going down another element instead of the coax to the radio input. The trick here is to cause one elements to be high impedance when another is at resonance so the relative physical and electrical lengths of the elements must be taken into consideration. -- Telamon Ventura, California |
Something Different - On-the-Fence Loop Antenna for the Shortwave Listener (SWL)
"Telamon" wrote in message .. .. In article .com, "RHF" wrote: JD, Something Different - - - On-the-Fence Loop Antenna for the Shortwave Listener (SWL) You should first install an 8-Ft Ground Rod at the Foot (Base) of the new Fence. Note - This will be the Starting and Ending Point for your Wire Antenna Element + The Mounting Place for your Matching Transformer { A Balun = Loop-to-Coax } + The Connecting Point for your Coax Cable. Start by running the Wire Antenna Element out along the Bottom of the Fence to your Far-Point. Then a short Wire Antenna Element Leg-Up to the Top of the Fence. Next run the Wire Antenna Element back along the Top of the Fence to your Starting-Point. Finally a a short Wire Antenna Element Down-Leg to the Bottom of the Fence. Mount your Matching Transformer to the Ground Rod Connect your Coax Cable to the Matching Transformer. Connect your Two Wire Antenna Element Ends to the Matching Transformer. You now have an On-the-Fence Loop Antenna [ Bent-Around-the-Fence ] FWIW - Two On-the-Fence Loop Antennas One Rigged on the Fence along one Side of the Yard One Rigged on the Fence along the Back of the Yard Set at 90 Degress and being about 8-ft apart at their Starting Points from a common Corner can give you more Receiving Antenna Options. Note - Separate Ground Rods, Baluns and Coax Cable Feed-in-Lines are recommended if you choose to use two On-the-Fence Loop Antennas. Interesting. I have a fence on 2 sides of my property. Previously, I ran a longwire along the two sides (right angle). The end closer to my house was fed directly to my second floor receiver (no transformer or coax). This was used primarily for LW and MW, but served as a secondary antenna for HF (primary is Cliff Donley's 33 foot folded dipole in my roof). I want to replace the flimsy longwire and the 'fence loop' looks promising. Could you (the group) comment on the use of this setup for LW, MW, and HF (each leg is about 85 feet long) with regard to the loops vertical polarization, and whether bending the loop at the right-angle would add or detract from its performance. While you're pondering, how about a vertical 'conical loop'? HankG As to the Question of Antenna Wire Size : # 14 AWG Insulated Copper Wire with 19-Strands and using PVC Insulation is cost effective and durable. HomeDepot type - THWN or THHN in 500 Foot Spools TIP - One of the most important details of an On-the-Fence Antenna is the Stand-Offs used to keep the Wire "OFF" the Fence and in the Air. TV "Stand-Offs" with Plastic Insulator Head and 3.5" Wood Screw base hardware. RadioShack Catalog #15-853 (4 Pack) http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...tId=2104003&cp Other On-the-Fence Shortwave Listener (SWL) Antenna ideas http://groups.google.com/group/rec.r...p=rec.radio.sh or twave&q=on-the-fence+rhf&qt_g=1 You describe a close to the ground vertical loop antenna. I expect that at most you would need a 2:1 BALUN but the right answer might be 1:1 with the antenna that close to the ground. The loop is balanced and the coax is not so a BALUN is used here. The loop is a complete antenna unlike the single wire antenna, which still needs a counter poise to complete an RF circuit. The counterpoise or RF return for the signal wire is the ground stake. Generally an optimal situation would be a voltage type transformer as a UNUN so the single wire and ground would be the primary and the coax on the secondary. The single wire is not balanced and neither is the coax so UNUN is used. The loop as a complete antenna does not need the ground as a counterpoise. Useful construction tip would be to bury the coax or if that is not convenient then use clamp on ferrite for a RF choke to stop noise from the radio end of the coax on the outer shield from getting to the loop antenna then into the radio input. The clamp on ferrite would be a current type 1:1 BALUN. -- Telamon Ventura, California |
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