external Grundig YB400PE antenna recommendations?
Mike S
shortwave reception inside my mobile home (metal box) without an
external antenna is non-existent. After reading several of the antenna
discussions here I was wondering if I could get recommendations about
the best way to build an outdoor antenna. I can put up a large diameter
loop outside, say up to 6 feet diameter, mounted above the roof, or I
could run a straight wire about 40' running roughly East-West above the
roof, or a combination of the two if that would help.
When I was a kid my dad bought a Hallicrafters shortwave, I think it as
an SX-99, and he used the heavy dog run wire mounted about 10' above the
ground, running from the house to a tree in the back yard oriented
roughly North-South with no ground (neither of us knew anything about
electronics then), and I got stations from all over the world, it was
really interesting hearing the programming from other political slants
as a kid. So I'm wondering how much I can pull in with this cheap little
model.
TIA,
Mike
D. Peter Maus
It's actually quite sensitive, as portables go. An external
antenna will do quite nicely.
Being quite general, here...as a quick starter, a wire, 10-20
feet long is all that's necessary. More than that and you may be
subject to overload of the front end, which will create artifacts up
and down the dial.
A decent ground may or may not benefit you. Your receiver input
isn't like the input on your SX-99. Working against a ground isn't
necessary with some solid state designs. YB400PE is one of them.
That is, unless you transform the input. Then you'll work the
antenna against an earth ground on the antenna side of the
transformer, and the receiver on the other. This will reduce some
noise, mostly electrical.
More elaborate installations are possible, and some may work
quite nicely, like trapped dipoles, for instance. And of course,
always experiment. There are programs that can even model you an
antenna to suit your specifics. And Kevin, here, has done that in
the past for another member. But to get you started...a wire is all
that's necessary to bring your SW bands to life.
Mike S
Hi D. Peter Maus,
Will any guage work?
Also, if I run the wire East-West I'm guessing that it would have very
low sensitivity to half of the signals arriving at the antenna, does
that sound right? So to remedy that would an L shape help, with 10'
oriented North-South and another 10' is oriented East-West, one end
open, the other end attached to the radio antenna jack. How does that
sound?
Thanks,
Mike
D. Peter Maus
Pretty much. It just has to support its own weight.
>
> Also, if I run the wire East-West I'm guessing that it would have
> very low sensitivity to half of the signals arriving at the antenna,
> does that sound right?
Not really. Depending on frequency, location, and surrounding
obstructions, a random wire has wildly varying patterns of
reception. For the most part, the lobes are not sharp peaks and
valleys, and you may, consider a random wire to be more or less
omnidirectional. This is less true the longer the wire is in
relation to the frequency being received. Another reason to keep the
wire below 20 feet in length.
Remember, this is a random wire. It will be more sensitive at
some frequencies, and less at others. But your receiver has more
than enough sensitivity to compensate for deficiencies.
A really great resource is the ARRL Antenna Book, if you're
looking for theory.
> So to remedy that would an L shape help, with
> 10' oriented North-South and another 10' is oriented East-West, one
> end open, the other end attached to the radio antenna jack. How does
> that sound?
Couldn't hurt.
RHF
Read these Posts About an Antenna Designed
to use with 'portable' AM FM Shortwave Radios :
-such-as-the- Grundig YB400PE Radio
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/0400.html
.
"Portable Wire Antenna" [PWA]
-by- Tom Sevart [N2UHC]
-Info-at- New WebSite 'Reo Cities .Com'
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/c9a8047b73e81ae8
-and-
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/ab6b775bec8a4d4c
-and-
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/568cc0a15b6e7fbc
.
Indoor Two-Wire "Portable Wire Antenna" [PWA]
-by- Tom Sevart [N2UHC]
-Info-at- New WebSite 'Reo Cities .Com'
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/25d76b985ca6a879
.
hope this helps - iane ~ RHF
.
.
dave
I'd try to use the whole mobile home as an antenna. Use a capacitor to
connect the frame to you antenna input. Cheap experiment, sometimes
works. NOTE: a clip lead and a piece of PVC tape for DC blocking = a
capacitor.
Mike S
Thanks to everyone who posted. I added a wire that avoids metal and runs
up a wood pole about 15' , the signal strength with the wire is much
higher than without, so I look forward to doing some scans tonight.
RHF
runs
- up a wood pole about 15' , the signal strength with the wire is much
- higher than without, so I look forward to doing some scans tonight.
Mike S.,
The Whip Antenna is about 3 Feet Long {1-Metre] a
simple Insulated Stranded Wire starting about "4X"
the Length of Whip Antenna ~12 Feet up to about
7X~8X will usually give better results without over
loading the Radio.
Collapse the Whip Antenna into the 'portable' Radio.
Then Clip the Antenna Wire on to the Tip of the Whip.
These Roll-Up {Reel} SW Antennas are Ready-Made
for 'portable' Radios :
Sangean ANT-60 'portable' Roll-Up Shortwave Antenna
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/3184.html
* Chips onto the Tip of the Radio's Whip Antenna {Collapsed}
http://www.zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=22222
* -or- Plugs into the Radio's External Antenna Jack
http://cgi.ebay.com/170537256133