Hi guys,
Wondering what you guys think works the best for single wire antenna for old radios.
Reason I am asking is because I recently bought some 20 gauge hookup wire which I thought I would use for an antenna.
Well, it did not work as expected.
Had to go back to my other single wire that I had strung up.
I like to just staple some wire to the back of the cabinet on the consoles.
Don't know why this stuff would not wok, but need to know what everyone else likes to use.
Murf
Discovered a break in the wire. Probably from stapling the wire to the back of the cabinet.
(This post was last modified: 02-19-2019, 07:34 PM by murf.)
i use tractor supply electric fence wire which i think is either galv or tin coated.
I have all my small radios in one spot in the garage.
i come into the garage with the long wire into a 10postion rotary switch.
I rotate to the radio i want to listen to on my switch, power up and enjoy.
I use the old telephone pole glass or porcelain insulators to hold the wire. I transition to insulated thhn #14awg when i pass through the garage wall and into my rotary switch.
here is a pic of my originally installed long wire. I scaled it down to what seems to be about 200ft of bare wire.
its an interesting topic either way because i have often wondered myself this question i have...........
-what is the ideal wire type and wire gauge to use if you choose to use a long wire antenna only?
the second question i have asked lends better to knowing the answer before you build a long wire.....
-i was told a few times its better to get "out" and go "up" as high as you can with a long wire.
my future plan is to take that long horizontal run i have and swing that whole distance straight "UP".
i believe from what i am learning from others there is no net gain in going horizontal **unless** its a beverage antenna.
(This post was last modified: 02-18-2019, 09:55 AM by jcassity.)
There is no need to over think antenna wire for receiving. Location is the most important thing.
I use the wire sold for "invisible" dog fences, as I had some left over from installing the system. Although I can still see the dogs (sorry, bad joke), the wire is perfectly serviceable for antennas, and is available cheaply enough.
Need a good ground for these outdoor antenna wires.
Thought I would string a wire from the house to a tree and just hang it from a crotch in the tree with a counterweight on the end so that the tree movement from high winds does not break the wire.
Could use an insulator or pulley type system in the crotch.
Best to go east to west or north to south?
Could experiment I guess.
murf
Experimenting is fun, if you have the time and patience.
Another question, how do you plan to bring the signal into the room with the radio(s)? This can be just as important in getting clean signal as the antenna itself. It is easy to add all the noise from your house back on to the feed. That can be avoided if you go to the small trouble of making an isolating transformer. The antenna, and outside ground are connected to the primary winding, the receiver antenna & ground to the secondary. The secondary can also connect to the inner and outer conductors of a coax line that lead to the radio. This part can easily be wound on a small ferrite ring in about 10 minutes. Don't connect the two grounds together - this is the secret to a quiet antenna!
Yes, please do Ed.
Also, best wire would be insulated or bare wire?
Did look on ebay and you can get the kind used for your wireless dog fence, or the electric fence wire.
Both are offered in insulated or bare.
Apparently, the electric fence wire must be coated and not insulated. Would not do much good insulated.
murf
(This post was last modified: 02-18-2019, 07:45 PM by murf.)
Here is a good source for antenna wire to make a "long wire" type antenna. For that use I would recommend their type 511, which is 7 strands of copper plated steel wire, 14 gauge total size. https://www.thewireman.com/antennap.html . They also carry insulators, ground rods, etc. https://thewireman.com/antacc.html#1 . You can also find the old fashioned glass antenna insulators as well as the old style lightning arrestors on eBay, which is where I have bought them, being something of a traditionalist. You may have to rebuild the lightning arrestors though, which is very easy compared to restoring a radio. For the lead in from the antenna I recommend 14 gauge stranded copper wire, the kind used in automotive work, which you can buy pretty cheaply. Since the type 511 wire above is copper plated, it will be pretty easy to solder the lead in to it.
I think I have posted this before but here goes. I don't have the room for a long wire antenna but did some investigating and came up with this. The wire from the phone company to my house is probably near 70'. There are 4 wires inside this cable, two of which actually are for the phone. In my case, the red and green. The other two, black and yellow are dead and not connected to anything. I checked for any kind of voltage both AC or DC on them and there is none. So, I've connected my radio to those wires through a .001 mfd. cap and have a quick, cheap and well working 70' longwire antenna!
I've done that before when I lived in Evansville, only I used either the red or green wire through a .001 uF cap. The phone line was disconnected at the pole. I had just switched to a cellphone and got rid of my land line, so I decided to put the unused phone line to work. It was nice, picked up signals fine.
At the risk of being redundant here is a link to a presentation given at the New Jersey antique Radio Club, I found this well done and wish I was as good a presenter......
With antennas I have always tried to be simple. I have connected the antenna lead from a Stromberg Carlson 430M to a radiator in my house and had super results. That is something to do for fun and cannot stay on permanently. Antenna work can be very interesting and experimenting makes me realize again why Radio is fun. Need to always keep in mind lightning, falling from trees, etc............I do not go up on trees or the roof any longer.
