Longwire antenna for AM?

[station32]

I am trying to get a good antenna to listen to vhf am and i was browsing the internet and came across the longwire antenna. Any one have any experience or have any advice on longwire antennas and homemade am antennas?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[zz0468]

VHF AM??? As in aircraft monitoring?

An antenna doesn't care what modulation is used. A long wire would be ill suited for VHF operation. Could you clarify exactly what you're trying to listen to so we can be more helpful?

 

[station32]

I am trying to listen to aircraft. I have been using a RS antenna but i heard that a longwire antenna will work better. What kind of wire? Speaker wire Etc.

 

[zz0468]

A long wire antenna WON'T work better. It would likely be highly directional, with all sorts of weird unpredictable lobes. What you want is a ground plane cut for the VHF aircraft band, or perhaps a decent quality discone.

Are you sure you didn't hear that a longwire is better for the AM broadcast band? That's more likely to be true. You want an omni-directional antenna to listen to aircraft, and a longwire would be anything but that.

 

[station32]

thanks for the info.