Tree Antennas

[freecell]

George SQUIER, Tree Antenna
http://www.rexresearch.com/squier/squier.htm

The “Tree Antenna," RCC Aug & Oct 2006 – Dave/WB7ESV
https://www.w7aia.org/techinfo_files/docs/RCC_Oct_2006_WB7ESV_The_Tree_Antenna.pdf

 

[TheBlaster]

It has an experimenters appeal.

However if you are putting effort into a very bad antenna why not cut the middle man out and load up the air or earth (dirt) itself with an ATU.. in fact go the whole hog do away with an SO-239 and put the transistor output directly in the ground via an ATU.

There is this stuff called copper wire since early 1800's.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

It has an experimenters appeal.

However if you are putting effort into a very bad antenna why not cut the middle man out and load up the air or earth (dirt) itself with an ATU.. in fact go the whole hog do away with an SO-239 and put the transistor output directly in the ground via an ATU.

There is this stuff called copper wire since early 1800's.

The whole idea of using trees was really as an emergency or covert antenna. It had nothing to do with normal everyday use.

 

[Justme]

I loaded up 2 metal bedsprings, cattle fence wire, railroad track, trees, 2 bycicles, just for fun.
Not everything needs to be 100% working, the hobby is about fun as well..
As the day i was cleaning out the innards of th FT847 with Collins filters running all of 5 watts into a test wire of 3 feet on the work table.... and got contact in the USA.....from the Netherlands...swr? dunno, but not very good.
Funfactor? 100%

 

[TheBlaster]

The whole idea of using trees was really as an emergency or covert antenna. It had nothing to do with normal everyday use.

Yes, have a big lump of a TX with tubes and massive high voltage PSU but don't have 15m of wire wrapped around it.

I like everything 100pct working.... for myself making contacts is fun, not making contacts is disappointing. We already have the uncontrollable and vital element of the atmosphere playing ball, reducing chances even more by having bad antennas is not for me though I can only speak for myself.

The chance contact must have been the true definition of fun I agree.

However it was a chance moment in time. You would probably have to wait many life times of keying up for that chance moment to be recreated. I am of the mind that you are better spending time maximizing every single thing you can control to make more contacts.

Whatever makes most enjoyment for you individually is ultimately best.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Yes, have a big lump of a TX with tubes and massive high voltage PSU but don't have 15m of wire wrapped around it.

I like everything 100pct working.... for myself making contacts is fun, not making contacts is disappointing. We already have the uncontrollable and vital element of the atmosphere playing ball, reducing chances even more by having bad antennas is not for me though I can only speak for myself.

The chance contact must have been the true definition of fun I agree.

However it was a chance moment in time. You would probably have to wait many life times of keying up for that chance moment to be recreated. I am of the mind that you are better spending time maximizing every single thing you can control to make more contacts.

Whatever makes most enjoyment for you individually is ultimately best.

Again it was about emergency or covert antennas. In wartime, trees were actually used by the Underground as antennas to avoid detection and as a quick and impromptu antenna. Experiments as far back as 1906 showed that trans-Atlantic comms were possible using trees as antennas, however the frequency was basically in the LF and VLF range back then. It had nothing to do with having massive amounts of power available and yet not even 15m of wire to use. Same as the buried wire antenna. Run a wire inside a garden hose and bury it just below the surface. It works. Not great but it is extremely hard to find and gets the COVERT job done. Sometimes the situation requires less than the ideal set up.

 

[TheBlaster]

Use wire.

 

[freecell]

The whole idea of using trees was really as an emergency or covert antenna. It had nothing to do with normal everyday use.

This is a rather broad statement, yet there beyond the Capital of the nation stands a little portable house, the oak tree, a small receiving set and a couple of enlisted men and an officer on duty; and the curious may, with permission, hear for themselves that the signals so received are neither faint not interrupted, but strong, full-toned dots and sashes even when they come from far-off Nauen. PAGE AFTER PAGE IS COPIED "DAILY" from the propaganda material which Nauen sends out by the ream. Lyons, Poldhu, ships at sea, even the NC-4 on her way, are heard plainly. As for New Brunswick or nearby Arlington --- they deafen the listener if he is unwise enough to try to "take" them otherwise than with the phones lying on the tables.

 

[nomadradio]

My grandfather had a ham station on the farm where he grew up in the early 1920s. A buddy of his lost his antenna to a lightning strike, but the radio was okay. He loaded up the open steel bedspring in his bedroom and could be heard locally. Didn't get much distance, but after chit-chatting a while noticed a burned smell. Turned around to see the mattress atop the bedspring smoldering and smoking. He and his siblings dragged the mattress out into the yard and extinguished it. The next morning, daylight revealed a perfect copy of the bedspring pattern branded into the mattress surface.

Turns out running all the power you could muster dates all the way back to spark transmitters.

73

 

[jacquelyn S cortes]

Well that's ok just do an inverted V,and call it a day 73,