Dear William:
The coil type of antenna which you described was popular at one time and
you could buy those antennas for different frequencies, with the larger units
for the lower frequencies. Those are probably still available from an
electronics store or amateur radio supply house. Making a home made unit can be
fun as well, by using fine wire which is coated for insulation purposes and
placing it flat like a ribbon in a circle, however I have forgotten the formula
for the number of turns etc. These antennas are directional, and that can be
an advantage if you are trying to null out a signal, such as a rail yard or an
industrial site. That will also allow you to turn the antenna in a direction
which will bring in a station you are trying to hear and null out other
competing radio stations. If you recall, years ago, you could turn your AM
radio in a different direction and it would change the reception.
Yours Truly,
Clifford Wilson
----- Original Message -----
From: William Stephan
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2008 6:23 PM
Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Antenna construction question
I hope this is topical here. I'm thinking about buying myself one of those
continuous coverage radios that are made by Grundig, I'm looking at a
satellite actually. So, I think I need an antenna. If I can avoid it, I'd
rather not install one out of doors, though I guess I could if there was no
other way around the problem. Anyway, at one time, I build an antenna using
four way cable like you'd use for running a telephone circuit. Basically, I
had a hundred feet of the stuff, and spliced the ends of two of the cables
so thaqqt I in affect had four hundred feet. Then, I very carefully coiled
the spliced cable flat inside a clean pizza box, then placed the cardboard
top over the coil to hold things in place. I used to put this in a window
when I lived in a highrise, and it seemed to work, though reception was
very poor because we were very near electrified rail yards. So, my
question(s), is this a worthwile antenna to try and use? And, if so, do I
want to use fourway telephone cable, or the type of cable used to connect
the actual telephone instrument to the wall jack? If anybody has other
suggestions for easy-to-build antennas, I'd appreciate hearing them.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
database 3691 (20081214) __________
The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
http://www.eset.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
