wide band antenna help needed

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vwg2

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I just got my Yupiteru 7100 that came with a telescoping swivel antenna that is NOT stock.

Can anyone recommend an ULTRA Wideband antenna for monitoring shortwave
(6 mhz) up to about 180 mhz?
thanks,
Bill
 

SkipSanders

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You should first understand that there is no such thing as a 'wideband, DC to Daylight' antenna, unless you mean one with no gain.

Any plain old piece of wire is a 'broadband antenna' from this view, it just has some frequencies where it's better than others (its resonant frequencies).

Some antennas are bad for broadband use, as they use matching circuits that create a short circuit when not at the resonant frequecies, so they have LESS than zero gain. Many ham type multiband antennas will show this.

The Austin Condor antenna, for instance, is probably about the best you'll find for the VHF ranges, as it covers low band better than others (and is longer, as a result, not at all handy to walk around with).

Covering shortwave means longwire antennas, preferally tuned, but not necessarily.

You can find 'broadband' antennas which are essentially a telescoping mast and a base amplifier (requiring power), which amount to a zero gain antenna with signal boosted by the amplifier. These can be found for shortwave, or VHF, not sure if one's around for the full range. Functional, but expensive, and like all wideband amplifiers, can cause front end overloads/intermods from local strong signals.
 

trap5858

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I used to have a 7100 and found there is no one antenna that does everything. Not just on this radio. I used a Diamond RH77 for most of my scanning and a long wire clipped to the telescoping mast for shortwave. Not the handiest piece of equipment but it worked well. Just be careful that you have the radio secured when using a telescoping whip or other long antenna- they have a tendency to tip over.
 

zz0468

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I've had some luck playing around with a broadband, low noise amplifier (Mini-Circuits) and an 18" whip. The amp must be VERY low noise, and expect to need some attenuation on the output, between the amp and the receiver. In my testing, it worked quite well on some frequencies, mediocre to horrible on others. Thing is, if you don't compare it to a real antenna, you have no clue just how bad it can be.

You're better off putting up several antennas for the various frequency ranges of interest.
 

vwg2

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wideband antenna for Yupi 7100

Thanks for all the information.
I'll experiment with long wire, etc.
Would it be worth the extra $ for a different antenna as a walkabout hand held for shortwave
reception.

I have nothing now to compare to the Yupi's telescoping antenna.

I know everything is relative, but jut wondering if for instance the Diamond RH77 would
receive better on the shortwave freqs?
73s
Bill
 

trap5858

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From my experience with the 7100 and the Diamond RH77- it did not appear to work at all on the HF's. One thing I purchased later for use on another wideband handheld was the Active Duck antenna tuner. It has BNC connectors on both ends and is designed to work with just about any antenna you can put on a handheld. It worked better than anything without but but almost defeted the handheld use as you constantly had to retune as you moved around.

It is worth a try but not cheap!

Best of luck with your endeavor
 
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