A Newbie requests advice on antenna installation

[Gankette]

Dear Members:

I hope you forgive my absolutely ignorant questions, but I am new at SWL and thus need help. My questions concern my antenna set up.

I purchased a

Shortwave, SWL, AM, OC, Basic Longwire Antenna Kit. 100 FEET
Brand: Dipoles USA

And installed about 75' of it from the corner of my house to a tree. The antenna slopes a bit, as it is about 12' from the ground at the house rising up to about 25' to a tree in my backyard. The installation was done by TV antenna technicians. They followed the instructions carefully. The antenna is grounded outside the house.

I have the antenna connected to a Kenwood R-2000. On the rear of the radio, there is a co-ax Labelled "ANT" but above that there are 4 slots for wires which read

(from left to right)

(500 OHms)--(Gnd)--(Gnd)--50 Ohms.

The instruction manual says to use the 500 OHMs slot for a long wire antenna. I have done that.

Does the above make sense to you? I can pick up stations fairly well (not much during the day).

Should I attempt to place the antenna up higher?

Thanks for your help. I may have more questions coming as I get into this fascinating hobby.

 

[prcguy]

Is it a continuous wire from outside to the back of the radio, or does it transition to coaxial cable somewhere? Can you describe how its grounded?

 

[mmckenna]

Looks like he has this:

swl, shortwave, antenna

American sourced products are combined to create high quality amateur radio antenna kits. All products are in stock and ship fast.

dipolesusa.com

And it's a single lead in wire.

 

[merlin]

As you get into SWLing you will always be making changes. What you have should perform well above 500 Khz.
The slope has little effect other than some bit of direction your gain is in. A sloper is a common configuration.
Such end fed antennas have a higher impedance, why you use the 500 ohm connection.
Real life, the impedance is more like 1500 ohm and as you advance, think of adding a coupler at the receiver.
A few sites to help you get started:
SWLing.com - a world of shortwave radio reviews, news, articles, how-to guides and innovations
The Shortwave Antenna - How It Works - Which Ones Work Best (hamradiosecrets.com)
This should be food for thought for now.
73s

 

[merlin]

Addendum: Longer is better--higher is better.
The undisputed king of radio (W6AM) had poles as high as 140 foot supporting 'rhombic' antennas.
These cannot be beat by any antenna (save for a rhombic) the downside is they take a LOT of real estate.
Don Wallace had 120 acres with 19 rhombic antennas and in a prime location.
that is 4 poles each plus poles to support open twin leadin wires. Each went to couplers and preselectors and into the shack. (his pole farm)
RIP Don.
73s

 

[prcguy]

I think the OP did the proper install for pre 1980s reception connecting a long piece of wire direct to the higher impedance input of the receiver. Today with lots of RFI generated within most houses I think its preferable to terminate the wire antenna way outside the house with a 9:1 transformer then bring the signal in via coax with a good common mode choke on the coax where it enters the house.

I would also get a general purpose SW wire antenna as high as possible which is better for low angle DX over what would be considered an NVIS antenna it heights below about 40ft.

Looks like he has this:

swl, shortwave, antenna

American sourced products are combined to create high quality amateur radio antenna kits. All products are in stock and ship fast.

dipolesusa.com

And it's a single lead in wire.

 

[mmckenna]

I agree. I rolled my own 9:1 transformer and used RG-6 to run into my garage. Usually just sitting there listening to a few dx AM stations while I'm working on other things. A less than perfect antenna, too low and too short, thrown up when all the pandemic stuff started, but I get what I want to listen to.

 

[Gankette]

Looks like he has this:

swl, shortwave, antenna

American sourced products are combined to create high quality amateur radio antenna kits. All products are in stock and ship fast.

dipolesusa.com

And it's a single lead in wire.

That's exactly what I have

 

[Gankette]

I think the OP did the proper install for pre 1980s reception connecting a long piece of wire direct to the higher impedance input of the receiver. Today with lots of RFI generated within most houses I think its preferable to terminate the wire antenna way outside the house with a 9:1 transformer then bring the signal in via coax with a good common mode choke on the coax where it enters the house.

I would also get a general purpose SW wire antenna as high as possible which is better for low angle DX over what would be considered an NVIS antenna it heights below about 40ft.

Thanks for the helpful reply.

Since I know nothing about this, some helpful info would be highly appreciated. Can you send me a link of a 9:1 transformer that you would recommend? How far outside the house should this transformer be? What is a common mode choke? What does NVIS stand for?

Thanks!

 

[Gankette]

I agree. I rolled my own 9:1 transformer and used RG-6 to run into my garage. Usually just sitting there listening to a few dx AM stations while I'm working on other things. A less than perfect antenna, too low and too short, thrown up when all the pandemic stuff started, but I get what I want to listen to.

What is a RG-6? A type of Co-ax? Thanks.

 

[Gankette]

As you get into SWLing you will always be making changes. What you have should perform well above 500 Khz.
The slope has little effect other than some bit of direction your gain is in. A sloper is a common configuration.
Such end fed antennas have a higher impedance, why you use the 500 ohm connection.
Real life, the impedance is more like 1500 ohm and as you advance, think of adding a coupler at the receiver.
A few sites to help you get started:
SWLing.com - a world of shortwave radio reviews, news, articles, how-to guides and innovations
The Shortwave Antenna - How It Works - Which Ones Work Best (hamradiosecrets.com)
This should be food for thought for now.
73s

Thanks. How do I add a coupler. What is a coupler?

 

[mmckenna]

What is a RG-6? A type of Co-ax? Thanks.

RG-6 is an inexpensive relatively low loss 75Ω coaxial cable that is commonly used for cable TV/TV antennas/satellite dishes. You can purchase it at most hardware stores. There are also some really easy to install F connectors/tools that make it easy to put your own connectors on without soldering.

 

[Gankette]

Is it a continuous wire from outside to the back of the radio, or does it transition to coaxial cable somewhere? Can you describe how its grounded?

 

[Gankette]

The antenna kit has a white wire that runs from an antenna insulator (connected to the antenna wire) directly to the radio. This white wire is connected to radio directly (at a connection point labeled 500 Ohms). There is no coax anywhere. The radio itself is grounded via a blue wire that runs from the radio ground connection point on the rear panel through the wall outside and it disappears somewhere in the house foundation. Does that help? Should I send photos? There is a coax connection on the back of the radio labeled "ANT" but the radio manual says to use the 500 OHMS connection instead for use with a long wire.

 

[midwestsw]

I have an R-2000. Just experiment with where You plug the long wire in. Mine
is plugged into the 500 ohms slot. The coax plug is just another hook-up option. May I suggest
going to WWV at 5.000 or 10.000 mhz.,and hook Your antenna up to the port that offers
the best reception.
happy listening
midwestsw

 

[mmckenna]

^ yeah, good advice. What works is what gets you the best reception. Nothing wrong with a random length wire like you have, it's a good starter antenna. Eventually you'll probably want a better antenna, and an end fed antenna is a good upgrade that doesn't require a lot of work.

The 9:1 transformer would give you a better match and probably a better signal. You can purchase them separately and add it to your existing antenna, using the coax to replace the lead in wire. Just do a search on them and they'll pop up. I don't know which ones are "Good" and which ones are "Bad", I made my own and it works.
You can make your own if you have the skills, lots of directions on line.
Or, you can buy a whole new antenna if you want, usually called an "End Fed" antenna, but you'll be paying more for it.

Essentially the 9:1 transformer goes between the random length wire outside your home and the coax leading to the radio. The transformer helps match the high impedance of the long wire to the lower impedance of the radio.

But play around with what you have now and see what works best. Lots of us started off with a random length of wire stretched across the yard like yours.

 

[merlin]

Thanks. How do I add a coupler. What is a coupler?

A coupler is little more than an inductance and capacitance, both variable that fine tunes the antenna at a given frequency. It improves the match so you get the best from your antenna.
Homebrew Antenna Tuner - A Best of Breed Version (hamradiosecrets.com)
My home made job is like the T-match with a roller inductor a 2-gang variable capacitor. Made for 60 Mhz down to 150 Khz.

 

[majoco]

The antenna inputs of the R2000 already have a transformer between the 500ohm and the 50ohm connectors. The schematic doesn't show the turns ratio but I suspect it's probably 9:1 rather than 10:1. The "ANT" socket is an SO239 and the centre pin is directly joined to the 50ohm terminal. On some other forum they advise removing the jumper from the SO239 to the transformer if you are only using the SO239. and then putting the the SO239 jumper directly to the receiver input.

 

[krokus]

Here is one inexpensive option for the 9:1 transformer:

Amazon.com: Balun One Nine v1 - Tiny Low-Cost 1:9 HF Antenna Balun and Unun with Antenna Input Protection for Ham It Up, RTL-SDR, HackRF and Other HF-Capable Radios. Great for DIY Dipole and Longwire Antennas : Electronics

Amazon.com: Balun One Nine v1 - Tiny Low-Cost 1:9 HF Antenna Balun and Unun with Antenna Input Protection for Ham It Up, RTL-SDR, HackRF and Other HF-Capable Radios. Great for DIY Dipole and Longwire Antennas : Electronics

www.amazon.com

Another option that has better aesthetics, to most non-radio people:

Amazon.com

Your single wire will connect to one terminal of the green connector, and ground to the other. Then use coaxial cable to connect from the SMA to your radio's antenna input.

 

[majoco]

If you intend bringing the end of the long wire down to your radio and are not suffering from a lot of interference from your house wiring and electrical/electronic equipment and don't want to use coaxial cable - then by using the 500ohm input and a good ground to the ground terminal, then you already have a 9:1 transformer in circuit. None of the radio inputs are balanced so you don't need a balun.