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Antena Advice

B

Barkoff

Member
Oct 12, 2008
16
0
11
I just bought a C.Crane SW and I'm looking at getting a antenna for it. I had planned on making a longwire but have read in a few different places that longwires can overload portable radios.

Anyone have any advice. I bought the radio for the most part for AM FM application, would love to start dabbling in making an effort to hear some overseas broadcasts.

Would a short wire be good, or maybe a loop antenna, or what about the coil antennas?


Thanks for the newbie help.
 

Try whatever you can. It's a receiver; antenna type can be just about anything. Don't reinvent the wheel.

Don't freak out over something you read about antennas overloading the receiver. It may not happen with yours. If it does, shorten it.
 
Generally for SW listening the longer and higher you can get an antenna the better.Then again I once had an antenna that was about 30 feet long and strung across the ceiling of my BASEMENT. It doesn't get much worse than that but it still picked up a pile of stuff.
 
You've already gotten some good advice and there's not much 'new' I can add to it. I would reinforce a couple of things already said. The typical reciever now-a-days is much more sensitive than formerly. That doesn't mean that you have to worry about the thing blowing up in your face, it won't. To some ridiculous extent, bigger is better. There's a point where 'more' antenna just isn't worth doing, you have to find that 'point' your self. The best antenna you could possibly have is one that adjusts it's length and height above ground automatically for all possible frequencies, and that 'matches' the input impedance of the receiver. Good luck, that antenna is still a few years down the road, sort of (and NO, I'm not talking about a 'screw-driver' type antenna). Typically, it's easier to make something shorter than to make it longer. So, start out HUGE and see what happens. If you cut something off don't throw it away, you'll probably want to put it back maybe.
Whatever! Try it, you'll like it.
- 'Doc
 
OK, thanks, a few pages I read gave the impression that a longline if too long could actually damage the radio, I guess that is bunk?

The crane has a jack in the back, so I guess I'll try getting some wire from Radio Shack, start out with about a hundred feet and work down from there?


Will a direct jack in the radio usually be better than an aligator clip on the antenna?

Thanks again for your patience with a rookie, the more I read on the net and out of books, the more confused I'm getting.
 
A 100 feet isn't exactly a very long antenna for the broadcast bands in relation to wavelengths. It certainly can be 'long' in relation to where you have to put the thing up, which is sort of a different thing. It certainly isn't going to be 'bad' for your radio.
Depending on the particular radio you have (which I'm not familiar with) a jack for an external antenna can also be a switch to disconnect the antenna in the radio. That can be either good or bad depending on circumstances, usually isn't gonna make a huge difference one way or the other. If you have such an antenna jack, why not use it? Or, just unplug the thing and touch it to the whip and see what happens. Which is better in your case? Beats me, try it and see.
My parents used to have a wire antenna strung around the eaves of the house on stand-off insulators. They told me it worked good compared to not using it (only the one inside the radio).
There's not really much that can harm your radio. Don't plug the antenna into the wall outlet, naturally, but after that, try whatever you can manage. If it works well enough, keep it. If not, try something else. The best home runs are the ones that go out of the park, but that doesn't mean that a grounder can't turn into a home run too...
- 'Doc
 
Again: don't be afraid to experiment. By which I mean go ahead and try it. If you have to come here and post every time you have a question, you could be wasting listening time. Hook it up and try it, and then if it DOESN'T work, THAT's the time to ask.
 
When laying out a long line antenna should the wire be kept in a straight line or can it change directions?

Thank you.
 
Again: don't be afraid to experiment. By which I mean go ahead and try it. If you have to come here and post every time you have a question, you could be wasting listening time. Hook it up and try it, and then if it DOESN'T work, THAT's the time to ask.
 
Beetle said:
Again: don't be afraid to experiment. By which I mean go ahead and try it. If you have to come here and post every time you have a question, you could be wasting listening time. Hook it up and try it, and then if it DOESN'T work, THAT's the time to ask.
Click to expand...



Thanks for the comeback, but I guess it is just my way to do some planning before jumping in. It has been my experience that asking questions beforehand can actually save you time when applying and experimenting. I am working late all this week so won't jump in until the weekend, so I figure I'll build a plan during the week.

Maybe my problem is the impression I have that this stuff is rocket science, and maybe it is a little more simplistic than I imagined.

I'll hit the Radio Shack and buy a couple of 100' pieces of #18 insulated copper strand wire, and give her hell.

One last question before I jump in, should I run some coaxle to the radio then connected to the #18 copper wire, or just put a RCA clip right on the copper wire.

Thank you all for the help.
 
It's "coaxial", and the full term is "coaxial cable", usually shortened to "coax".

And as far as using it for your SWL antenna, no need unless the radio has a jack specifically for coax. Then you'd have to install the proper connector.

JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY: What is the model number of your radio? I just did a Google search and the only C. Crane radio I saw was one that has AMBC, FMBC, VHF TV and NOAA Weather. No mention of any other frequencies for SWL purposes.
 
Barkoff said:
When laying out a long line antenna should the wire be kept in a straight line or can it change directions?

Thank you.
Click to expand...

I once had a 600 foot wire antenna that was far from being in a straight line but it did run pretty much in the same direction. It also changed height a lot too as the various trees were greatly differant heights.I did not use any coax,the end of the wire connected directly to the radio.As for how well it performed all I can say is WOW! (y) The receiver BTW was a Kenwood R-1000.
 

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