How would this do as a home antenna

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majoco

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Not me, but it's probably just a whip with a loading coil in the base. Overpriced and the shipping charges from the USofA are horrendous. A long bit of wire would do the job.
 

WA8ZTZ

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Got a PAR EF-SWL here and it works fine monitoring the various VOLMET stations.
 

ka3jjz

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There really isn't a HF antenna that's dedicated to a service. Anything that's wide banded enough, fit your budget and meets your space requirements (indoor or outdoor) will do the job. HF Propagation is a big factor in whether you hear a station or not (certainly not the only one, but very important nevertheless). Being able to get it away from the home is a big factor in keeping received noise down - it's the bane of any HF enthusiast, whether they're a ham or not.

The PAR is a fine choice for most - but don't be surprised if you want something else in addition. It's a well known fact that what you can't hear on one antenna, the other one might hear better, especially if it's a completely different kind of antenna.

Mike
 

WA8ZTZ

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There really isn't a HF antenna that's dedicated to a service. Anything that's wide banded enough, fit your budget and meets your space requirements (indoor or outdoor) will do the job. HF Propagation is a big factor in whether you hear a station or not (certainly not the only one, but very important nevertheless). Being able to get it away from the home is a big factor in keeping received noise down - it's the bane of any HF enthusiast, whether they're a ham or not.

The PAR is a fine choice for most - but don't be surprised if you want something else in addition. It's a well known fact that what you can't hear on one antenna, the other one might hear better, especially if it's a completely different kind of antenna.

Mike

Exactly.

Propagation does most of the work. If the propagation is really bad, antenna choice probably will not matter.
However, being able to switch to another antenna helps sometimes. For example, have a 3-way antenna switch here that can be connected to a wire antenna such as the PAR, a vertical, and a loop. If one isn't getting it, one of the others just might.
 

mmckenna

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Will it work? Yes.
Will it work well? Depends.
You cannot take what wants to be a quarter or half wavelength on 2MHz and cram it into an antenna 54 inches tall and expect it to work well. You are talking about wave lenghts in the tens or hundreds of meters long. A 54 inch tall antenna isn't not going to perform well.

In reality, a paper clip, length of fence wire, coat hanger, or TV antenna will pick up something, maybe even as well if not better than this antenna.

There is nothing magic about this antenna that is going to cheat the laws of physics. It's a small antenna with a coil in the base that will pick up strong local signals. You could make one yourself really easy.
You can -easily- do better with some wire on your own. If you live in an apartment and the rules very specifically say you must use an antenna that is no more than 54 inches tall, then you might be on to something. But, in reality unless you have some real space concerns, you can do much better quite easily.
 

ka3jjz

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lolbannana, what is your situation? Can you put something outdoors (far preferable to any indoor solution)? What radio are you using? If you can put something up outdoors, about how much space do you have and can you get your antenna away from the home (avoids a lot of the RF junk that you have in a typical home)? If you're restricted to indoors, do you have a loft (attic) you can use?

Lots of questions here...there are solutions; some take a bit of work to put together, but you can certainly do better than this Metz thingie.

Mike
 

lolbananalol2

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lolbannana, what is your situation? Can you put something outdoors (far preferable to any indoor solution)? What radio are you using? If you can put something up outdoors, about how much space do you have and can you get your antenna away from the home (avoids a lot of the RF junk that you have in a typical home)? If you're restricted to indoors, do you have a loft (attic) you can use?



Lots of questions here...there are solutions; some take a bit of work to put together, but you can certainly do better than this Metz thingie.



Mike



I have a Tecsun PL-880, an S2000 and a Sangean ATS-909X. The only antenna that I have up is the one that came with the PL-880. I have a bit of space but I don’t think I would be able to put up a huge wire. I would preferably like something that can receive signals from all directions. Would I be able to do something like this with the EF-SWL?


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ka3jjz

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Yes, and pretty well too. I have heard of it being used with the 880, but not with the other 2. I think you'll be fine. I would rig up some way to patch or connect the antenna so you can use it with any of your 3 portables. It's a little hard to say 'receive in all directions' because most any wire antenna will change which directions it favors due to a lot of factors, including how high you have it from the ground and the operating frequency; but it will work just fine.

There are LOTS of other designs out there, and our wiki has a small sampling of them. Don't be afraid to try a ham antenna - as long as there are no coils to deal with, it should work just fine on the SWBC bands, too. If it were me, where you are, a PAR along with a Wellbrook loop would be a dandy combination. (links are always in blue, by the way). Remember make the 2 antennas of different types to take advantage of how propagation might be working that day.

HF Antennas - The RadioReference Wiki

Loops - The RadioReference Wiki

Mike
 

lolbananalol2

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Yes, and pretty well too. I have heard of it being used with the 880, but not with the other 2. I think you'll be fine. I would rig up some way to patch or connect the antenna so you can use it with any of your 3 portables. It's a little hard to say 'receive in all directions' because most any wire antenna will change which directions it favors due to a lot of factors, including how high you have it from the ground and the operating frequency; but it will work just fine.



There are LOTS of other designs out there, and our wiki has a small sampling of them. Don't be afraid to try a ham antenna - as long as there are no coils to deal with, it should work just fine on the SWBC bands, too. If it were me, where you are, a PAR along with a Wellbrook loop would be a dandy combination. (links are always in blue, by the way). Remember make the 2 antennas of different types to take advantage of how propagation might be working that day.



HF Antennas - The RadioReference Wiki



Loops - The RadioReference Wiki



Mike



I can’t afford a Wellbrook since I walked my phone into the pool and had to buy a new phone. How the Alpha multiband antenna go on the SWBC bands?


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dlwtrunked

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WA8ZTZ

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Have used the PAR EF-SWL here with a Satellit 750 (similar to your S2000) with good results on LW,AM, and HF. Run the antenna in a slope configuration to give it some ability to receive in all directions.
 

ILSAPP

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Has anyone compared the PAR EF-SWL with the ALA1530 in terms of HF aero comms?
I'm really debating between the two since I have enough space outdoor for erecting at good height the EF-SWL antenna.
Although seems that the ALA1530 will be much less noisier at HF and have the advantage that can be used easily in a flat (where I also spend some time), the additional cost is significative and I'm not sure if it's really worth..
 

ridgescan

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Has anyone compared the PAR EF-SWL with the ALA1530 in terms of HF aero comms?
I'm really debating between the two since I have enough space outdoor for erecting at good height the EF-SWL antenna.
Although seems that the ALA1530 will be much less noisier at HF and have the advantage that can be used easily in a flat (where I also spend some time), the additional cost is significative and I'm not sure if it's really worth..
I'm probably the only person around that has both of those antennas together. I replaced the 44' wire on the PAR with 100' of wire that's in an "L" configuration. Both antennas perform close to the same in SSB. Where they differ is in AM mode and one does better than the other in different bands. The Wellbrook can be directed more towards the desired signals so this can actually improve an SSB signal over the PAR.
 

ka3jjz

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Has anyone compared the PAR EF-SWL with the ALA1530 in terms of HF aero comms?
I'm really debating between the two since I have enough space outdoor for erecting at good height the EF-SWL antenna.
Although seems that the ALA1530 will be much less noisier at HF and have the advantage that can be used easily in a flat (where I also spend some time), the additional cost is significative and I'm not sure if it's really worth..

This would be a difficult comparison to make, since propagation would vary from day to day, and maybe even from a hour to the next. Such a comparison would have to be done over several days and at different times. Not an easy task for most folks (particularly those that have a job). There might be a day when the loop outperforms the PAR- another day the opposite might be true.

Your use of the word 'flat' makes me think you're in the UK; are the Wellbrooks all that expensive, seeing as their HQ is there? I would think that shipping a Pixel or W6VLP would be somewhat prohibitive with customs and VAT fees... Mike
 

ILSAPP

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Hi there KA3JJZ,

Many thanks for your input.
I understand what you're saying. The best bet would be to have the two antennas and use the best one for that particular day, for that particular frequency... Guess that I'll buy the PAR and compare it with my actual homebrew antennas. Maybe sometime in future I'll have the funds to get the Wellbrook loop.
I'm in Portugal so buying the Pixel or the W6VLP will be really prohibitive as customs here charge a lot for a lot of packages, specially the bigger and heavier ones.


This would be a difficult comparison to make, since propagation would vary from day to day, and maybe even from a hour to the next. Such a comparison would have to be done over several days and at different times. Not an easy task for most folks (particularly those that have a job). There might be a day when the loop outperforms the PAR- another day the opposite might be true.

Your use of the word 'flat' makes me think you're in the UK; are the Wellbrooks all that expensive, seeing as their HQ is there? I would think that shipping a Pixel or W6VLP would be somewhat prohibitive with customs and VAT fees... Mike
 

ILSAPP

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Thank you for your input ridgescan.
Did you find that the original 44' for the PAR vs 100' wire made a significative difference in terms of HF aero listening? I've read many people use the standard 44' wire that come with the PAR with fantastic results, very good reviews...

I'm probably the only person around that has both of those antennas together. I replaced the 44' wire on the PAR with 100' of wire that's in an "L" configuration. Both antennas perform close to the same in SSB. Where they differ is in AM mode and one does better than the other in different bands. The Wellbrook can be directed more towards the desired signals so this can actually improve an SSB signal over the PAR.
 
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