3 Pack Metal Springs (For Ages 3 and Up)
RHF
"3 Pack Metal Springs (For Ages 3 and Up)"
= = = Translation: 3 Mini-Slinkies = = =
I Saw the Mini-Slinkies at the Dollar Tree Store an throughout of the
various normal size Slinky Antennas that I had read about, made and
used over the years. And the Light Bulb went On! What about building
a Mini-Slinky Antenna. Plus these three were only a Buck. (33Cents
Each) Vertical Antenna for a Buck -&- Dipole for Two.
Where to Find Them: Dollar Tree Stores
Price: $1.00 USD
(Hey, Its being sold at the Dollar Tree Store)
Country of Origin: Taiwan (ROC)
Each metal spring is made of High Permeability Mystery Metal for
enhanced Ground Wave Gathering Properties due to its Gravitometric
Characteristics. Translated the Spring Metal is Iron and Magnetic.
Each Metal Spring is approximately 23 Feet Long. I would say that
there are endless possibilities: But That would be stretching the
truth since each spring has two ends: one where it starts and one
where it ends. Sometimes this is difficult to discern because each
end appears to be I-Den-Ti-Cal.
Now How Does this package of three metal springs relate to the fine
art of radio listening.... ANTENNAS !
ANTENNA #1 =Vertical Mini-Spring Mono-Pole=
The Vertical Build Concept: My Idea for the Vertical Antenna was
something like the BroomStick Antenna (Without the Stick). I imagine
that with a Top Hat and simple antenna tuner the vertical could be
used in this fashion. But the number of coils in the Mini-Slinky is
much smaller (~100 Turns) that a the number of coils on a BroomStick
Antenna (450~600 Turns) of the same length (~7 Feet).
HOW TO: Take one spring and attach a 5-8 Foot quality of 22 AWG
stranded insulated wire to one end. At this same end attach a 8 oz
Fishing weight. Bend half a coil turn of the opposite end 90* from
the normal coil position. Find a Location for the Vertical Antenna.
Put a very small Cup Hook in the Ceiling or a Push-Pin in the wall
with-in an inch of the ceiling. Suspend the bent end of the
Mini-Spring from the cup hook. Gently lower the weighted end down to
the floor. Let the Fish weight rest on the floor. Connect the un-used
end of the wire to your radios external antenna terminal. Or, use an
Alligator Clip connect to the end of the wire to clip-on to the radios
Whip Antenna.
ANTENNA #2 =Horizontal Mini-Spring Center Feed Dual Random Wire=
The Horizontal Build Concept: My Idea for the Horizontal was
something like a Mini "Dipole" BUT since it is not cut for a specific
frequency like a true dipole: I call it a Center Feed Dual Random
Wire. Switching between the vertical and the horizontal the
horizontal seems to be the better of the two with may be a half S-Unit
signal improvement and slightly less noise to my eyes and ears.
(This could be factual or just my personal perceptions.)
HOW TO: With each spring, bend half a coil turn at 90* from the
normal coil position. (These are your far end Tips.) Use a 5-8
Foot piece of TV Twin Lead and attach the one of the two leads from
one end of the TV twin Lead to the one of the un-bent ends of a
spring. repeat this step with the other lead and other coil. Find a
Location for this Horizontal Antenna. Put a two very small cup-hooks
in the ceiling or a two push-pins in the wall with-in an inch or two
of the ceiling. Suspend the two bent ends of the Mini-Springs from
the cup-hooks/push-pins. Use a third cup hook or push-in to support
the center where the TV Twin Lead attaches. Cautiously guide the TV
Twin Lead down to the radio. Attach the two wires of the un-used end
of the TV Twin Lead to your radios external Hi-Z Antenna Terminals.
Or, in the case of the Sony ICF-2010 use a 1/8" Stereo Plug with one
wire connected to the Tip and the other wire connected to the outer
barrel with the middle barrel un-used.
IMPROVEMENT: Vice using TV Twin Lead as a feedline a TV Matching
Transformer (300>75 Ohm) can be used with 75 Ohm TV Cable as a
feedline to the radio's LO-Z Connector/Terminals. This should make
it act more like a dipole and have lower noise.
ALTERNATIVE POSITIONING: The two legs of the Center Feed Dual Random
Wire can be corner feed in a room (vice across a single wall) this
may add to the directivity and expand the length by a factor of two or
more depending on the respective sizes of the walls.
BOTTOMLINE: The Mini- Slinky simply allows the use of more wire in a
given indoor space. Plus Low Price and Novelty :o)
NOTE: "MY THEORY" on the indoor Mini-Slinky Antennas of this size is
that they are both equally vertical and horizontal signal receptors
with out respect to their positioning up-right (vertical) or laying on
their side (horizontal). This is due to the nature of the Slinky
'coil design' and the limited aspect radio (3:1~2:1) of the coils to
their stretched out length of about 7-10 feet to ~23 feet wire length.
PORTABILITY: Both of these Mini-Spring Antennas will collapse down
and fit into a small zip-lock sandwich bag for storage and
transportation while travelling.
TRAVEL & OUTDOOR USE: Using these Mini-Springs 'OutSide' with a 20~40
Lb Fishing Line to hang them and tie them off between trees and other
object works very well.
WHERE TO FIND THEM: To Get your Own Set of Three Mini-Springs
(Slinkies) for your own Antenna Projects. Here is a Link to locate
your nearest Dollar Tree Store.
GoTo=> http://www.dollartree.com/site/fr_locator.cfm
~ RHF
.
Lloyd, N0VFP
website that sells them:
http://www.antennasmore.com/helitrix.htm
BTW, I went to my local Dollar Tree, and they were sold out on the slinkys!
:(
"RHF" <rhf-...@usa.com> wrote in message
news:3ef6beca.03021...@posting.google.com...
-----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News ==----------
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers =-----