A metal slinky makes a great SWL antenna.

@JoltCola

3 жыл бұрын

During Hurricane Katrina, I was able to talk to the Naval Base at GITMO, North Carolina and even got some sporadic communications with a friend in Iowa. All from a cheap metal slinky as an antenna.

@qetuoification

5 ай бұрын

Do you stretch it out how does that work?

@RFComms

5 ай бұрын

@qetuoification I strectch it out keeping the coils semetrucal. On one end solder, the center conducter of your coax cable to the slinky. For improved performance, solder the shielding to a wire and attach it to the ground.

Only thing I would add is after you crimp and solder the eyelet on the end, use something to seal up the end to keep water from getting inside the jacket of the wire to corrode the wire. a few squirts of Flex Seal spray would do the trick.

Did the same thing for my Digitech AR-1733 radio; alligator clip, 20 meters of 12v wire & a 1" x 6 meter PVC "antenna pole"; ran up the hill in the backyard and attached to a fence pole. Can pick up stations from the US, China, Phillipines, New Zealand and others, right here in Queensland, Australia

Wrap a old key ring witl electric tape , afix it about 6 inches from the top . Then you can run it up a flag pole.

Nice information! Thanks!

VERY cool and VERY simple! I shared it on FB as a fun project with the kids or a science fair project.

It’s a quick and simple addition to your radios! 👍🏻 I set up one a few years back that ran from my room window upstairs to an apple tree 30ft away. I also connected a copper rod to it as well into the ground. I think it helped as well with some east west noise. My set up was not as portable. But you can still get France and Japan frequently when the atmosphere was good with these wire antennae. If you can pick up a repeater sometimes. 🖖🏼

what a cool and simple project to make for an antenna, excellent video

One of the best for an easier s/w antenna. Thx!

Solid electric fence wire is great for this application. It's cheap and you can get it in 1/4 mile length rolls.

Great video just reaffirms what I've already done really like the stash of toilet paper.

Outstanding!

Thank you for sharing, very interesting!

Thanks for the information. I'll try it on my Realistic DX-150B.

Very helpful! :)💓

Thank you for the great video. I just ordered a handheld SW radio & I want to try to build an antenna for it.👍👍

Great video! Just ordered my SDR dongle and hoping to get into this radio business. I'm a total noob but have to start somewhere 😃

Nice vid. Knowledge is power

Cool. Got a hand cranked one. Was able to pick up chatter as is inside.

Nice, without even grounding and / or counterp. 👍

I recall this technic from 1970s ARMY days, and it works.

@Radionut

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah I also remember being taught this at school when I was going to communication school at Fort Devens Massachusetts. We used it many times in the field especially in Germany during Highwinds situation because a small wire caught less wind than a big Yaggy

Thank you for a very informative video. I was wondering if a vertical or horizontal orientation made a difference. I have some empty plastic containers that I bought a stack of 100 blank CDs. I think a Tecsun PL-330 would fit inside & the antenna wire could wind around the outside of the container.

Outstanding

Years ago when I did SW DXing I was always messing about with antennas, had a few long wires going round the gardn and one on a tree. The long wire one on the tree I had on a pully so when the tree waved in the wind it didn't snap the wire. The wife at the time used to go mad at me messing about with this stuff.

Great video George as always I always say this wanted to tell you a few days ago or maybe a week you done a video on I probably butcher the name hostman gorilla fire rod I ordered me a couple of them I am please just punch with them they are great wonderful product just wanted to tell your viewers if somebody is just stumbled up on your channel I have about several products on your recommendation you always have really good quality stuff at a good price if you suggest it and someone's interested in it I suggest they buy because you always do a good job thanks keep up the good work

A friend, who was also an engineer, used to keep a "cut to length" piece of wire at each of his AM radio stations. Low Power (250 watts) on his "nighttime" transmitters warmed up the wire, but worked. Think about including a tennis ball for "placing" the paracord.

@geomcc39

3 жыл бұрын

tennis ball great idea !

@usernamemykel

2 жыл бұрын

He's demonstrating the any-length antenna for shortwave listening, not transmitting.

It's interesting that you only used one side of an antenna. As with any electrical cirtuit there has to be a + (Plus) side and a - (negative/ground) side. Antennas are on different. for the best reception I recommend using two lengths of wire - one for the positive (+ or center lead) of the antenna and one to be attached to a common ground on the radio.

THKS

In the evening my shortwave radio is FULL of activity below 10 MHz. I use one of those MLA-30 magnetic loops with a Digitech AR-1780..

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. Would the antenna work any better if the insulation was removed?

Hi great video and your instructions nice and easy to follow. My only observation was you had some paracord but didn’t use it!! Best wishes from the uk

The Thumbs Down Guys clearly Have no clue , because These antennas work Amazing ,are inexpensive and work very well💯

a scrap fishing rod bobbin will wind and unwind antenna . good video

Thanks for this I have the exact wire stripper and crimping tool (I didn't know the end was even a crimping tool lol) and soldering pen... you mentioned slot cars ( t jets?) That's also how I learned soldering..now I'm into SW ....small world

@Iridium242

2 жыл бұрын

Yup same here, I used to race Group 27s back in the day at a local raceway in NY, had a blast doing it, but then went to college and kind of lost interest in it. Soldering wires and slot car chassis was how I learned

Just returned to SW since my teens in the 1960s. Thanks.

Lridium you have instresing information about instuling shortwave antenna 📻😎📻😎🎉🎉👍

I have a kit. Xh d-219. Radio. W/8 foot 16 gauge wire . Spare battery's. Head phone and gator clamp to connect to tip of lowered set antenna. On good days...the stations are tripping to get in 😊 tks

Please don't take my comment out of context I'm not saying you're wrong. I knew this already but Callum did a video a bit ago he's a antenna manufacturer DX Commander... On the shortwave bands RX only the higher you antenna wire is off the ground the more noise or interference you will hear do the same dipole or long wire and just lay it on the ground SW bands work in reverse of Am reception or FM or whenever your transmitting. A straight line a square loop or L shaped in the ground it works better and you will do better than having your antenna in the air...was only trying to help. No you didn't ask but I wanted to share!!!

Does one have to be concerned about attracting lightning? Good video!

I like the idea of this and plan on getting the components to assemble. I'm curious though. Will this setup work in the suburbs of a large city? I live just outside of Memphis and am wondering if there would be too much RFI.

Where does the Paracord come into play ? Great video. Easy to follow ...Thank you 👍

@Iridium242

2 жыл бұрын

To hang the antenna off the ends. That's why I use paracord

The lower to the ground the less interference (QRM), man made interference you will get. You can actualy lay it right on the ground and get the same performance on recieve as if you put it in the air. ty for the great video...73 NS9T.

Gonna send this to husband, he'll def want to do it.

Hi :) I have an Eton Elite Field which has a coaxiel input for shortwave antenna. Not quite sure what the difference is between using that or clipping to the attached antenna but I tried running a loop antenna to the input and the reception became much worse so I'm going to try making one for the first time. Are there any metals that are more receptive than others? I was thinking about using coated copper but not sure.

Knowledge. Check. Supplies. Check Location of install. Check Wife "Eye Sore" approval.............

Can a long wire antenna work well with analog radio. Or should it be shortened?

Newbie to radio. If I got into ham and studied for the tests, I would to transmit too. Could you suggest specific components from brand with model to antennae. Budget maybe $1500. Thanks

I. Notice, to get over air tv you only need the inside wire coax

I use a cheap fly fishing reel. It can be cranked back in with speed and ease.but mine is 24awg.

Well done video. Ordered the the si4732. How would you rate this wire antenna vs the loop antenna from the previous video on the si4732?

@Iridium242

3 жыл бұрын

The loop works better of course but if I could get the wire high enough it would be pretty close.

Would that survival paracord that has snare wire inside work for an improvised shortwave extension?

@JPA66

2 жыл бұрын

That’s an interesting idea! I have a 50’ length of that with a copper wire. Will give it a try.

comms will help in any situation

Lridium I like your utube videos

Lol I have the same hf radio

If i clipped this to an antenna on a handheld radio such as a UV5R or something similar in VHF/UHF, would I get similar results? Also can this be adjusted to make it suitable for transmitting on a certain band?

@Iridium242

6 ай бұрын

For receive it might help some but not much, to transmit you would need a far better connection and need the wire cut to the right length depending on band you are using

This is probably a dumb question, but I'll ask it anyway. A wire antenna doesn't need to be straight because the length is electrical, right?

Dose the antenna wire have to be insulated even if its attached to wood.?

@Iridium242

Жыл бұрын

I would just to be safe

Will the antenna work better with bare wire or does having insulation make no difference?

@Iridium242

2 жыл бұрын

No difference

thanks for the tip ! some shortwave channel's are better at night ?

@Iridium242

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah the lower ones are better in the night and the higher are better in the day, that is the most basic idea, there are reasons why but it would take a bit to explain it all lol

If you add an earth ground it will improve reception greatly. If you can drive copper or steel rod or hook it up to a water pipe. The rod doesn't have to be all that long either. Good instructions, good video.

@chriskaprys

11 ай бұрын

What part of this setup would that be? As in, if you can connect to a rod in the earth / water pipe, where would you connect the other end on the radio / antenna?

@closeoutsaleusa5322

11 ай бұрын

@@chriskaprys for an antenna to work, you have to have an RF ground such as a counterpoise or a set of radials that is connected to the ground of radio. You just connect the earth ground to the RF ground that goes to your radio. I have found this does help reception.

I don’t know much about radio waves but I’m wondering if bare, non-insulated wire would work better?

@Iridium242

6 ай бұрын

Nope wont matter in fact almost all my ham wire antennas are insulated and coated, just helps preserve the wire better

@keng8883

6 ай бұрын

@@Iridium242 thanks, I’ll give it a go.

Absolute beginner here with a tescun pl-330. Inside the appartement i get nothing but statics. Lots of equipment here and oh, about 50 wifi networks from me and other people.... Would this antenna work on a balcony, or do i simply need to go to a park? 😂

@Iridium242

Жыл бұрын

Its perfect for a balcony, The higher you get it the better it will work!

@CyberBeep_kenshi

Жыл бұрын

@@Iridium242 oh hi, that was fast! This all started because i want to hear numberstations (not from internet or recordings). It just fascinates me. It's all rather a high learning curve lol Cheers! Greetz from the Netherlands

How long is best.

Where did you get the the radio the black one Arduino

@Iridium242

3 жыл бұрын

The link for it on Amazon is below in the description, Its a pretty neat litle radio AM.FM and shortwave

@beachedbum8682

Жыл бұрын

@@Iridium242 The link is dead.

Lridium my hobbys are painting pictures and lisining to shortwave and ssb iam thinking about getting my ham license I have 4 shortwave receivers

Hey

@Iridium242

3 жыл бұрын

Hey!

For a simple wire antenna such as this, is there an optimum length? Can it be to long, or get into half and full wave lengths and cause an overload?

@Iridium242

Жыл бұрын

I would say get it as long and as high as practical and safe, the higher the better

ATS-20 is very functional, recommended. And cute! KO4ZHT

Lridium me and my cousin are going to a Swap meet in September 11 Sunday morning at 8 am in Milwaukee 2022

John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

@TheREALJosephTurner

Жыл бұрын

Make this antenna and get it hung up. There is absolutely no shortage of shortwave religious programs on the air. (Not saying this to make a joke- just informing those that might be interested in religious programming from all over the country- and world!)

The billionaire Walton family thanks you for the free plug. Instead of buying things online please allow me to invite your viewers to visit their local stores (hopefully mom and pop) before they are all gone. Thanks for shooting a very easy to understand video for constructing a very simple and inexpensive shortwave antenna.

If you were to ground this, would you ground it at the radio end or the end furthest from the radio?

@rjl9707

3 ай бұрын

Good question. I am asking the same. In the ground outside by the tree, or..?