I have two 500 ft spools of wire and a GrundigSW

[beamin]

I live in an apartment here in Maryland and was trying to see how I could make two or three simple antennas.


Like maybe a loop around the ceiling or on the wall?

And what wave length is best in a small space 1/4???

 

[k3cfc]

The best i can say is experiment to see what works. Google is your friend.

 

[ka3jjz]

Not very helpful, Charlie...

Beamin, first, let's see which of the Grundigs you have - model number, please.

Most portables, particularly here on the East Coast, won't take too much antenna to cause problems with overloading, especially if you're near a major metro area, where hearing FM and TV stations (sometimes referred to as 'breakthrough') can cause major hassles.

Your idea about a random loop is sound, but living in an apartment is going to present challenges in trying to get a LOT of wire out, quite apart from using a portable. In addition putting antennas inside will almost certainly increase the amount of noise from local sources (and there are so many...) from inside the building.

If you have access to an attic (I did for many years...) you have many more options. Don't worry about getting a quarter wave of wire up - at 3 Mhz, that's roughly 80 foot (the common formula is 234 / f(mhz) where f(mhz) is the frequency in megahertz), and that would be a tough call in a small apartment.

If you can get the parts (or have a good junkbox) to build it, I'd highly recommend the Carpet Loop. It uses 4 or 5 conductor cable, which is quite easy to find at Lowe's, etc. This design allows the loop to be as small or large as you want - usually the loop is created by stringing around the perimeter of the room. I was lucky when I built mine (I had a pretty decent junkbox) - I had a 25 foot square (roughly) attic I could play with. At 100 foot, my RX-320 heard all sorts of stuff I never would have with just a crappy piece of wire strung around the room. Here's the article and schematic...

The Carpet Loop -- antenna special on hard-core-dx.com

A little more detail about your situation is in order here...Mike

 

[k3cfc]

The info we got here is like saying i have a car that won't start what is wrong with it. when i was a kid i acquired an old tall wooden radio with more bands on it that you could shake a stick at. and not knowing much about radios i started experimenting oops guess i shouldn't say that with a wire for an antenna. then i got a book about antennas and it showed how to make a so called at the time spiderweb out of bare copper wire and hook it to the radio. then it showed how to tap in different places to get the best reception. this is what we did in the old days. try it and have fun learning.

Later Mikie

K3CFC

 

[k9rzz]

1,000 ft of wire? Giddy Up!

You've got enough wire ... try 'em all!

 

[SCPD]

I live in an apartment here in Maryland and was trying to see how I could make two or three simple antennas.


Like maybe a loop around the ceiling or on the wall?

And what wave length is best in a small space 1/4???

Heck, you could probably stuff your radio into the spool and that alone would help your reception.

 

[hfflunki]

im in a simaliar situation i live were i cant have an outdoor antenna and i have a grundig 750 and g3
what i did is made a helical it consists of a 3" wooden dowel with wire coiled tightly aroundd it and it is at the end o f a wire that starts at a rfsystems mlb converting the antenna to 50ohm then the antenna wire
goes from one window to the other then comes the coil here are some pics i also use dsp software
i use sweezey dsp but there are alot of free softwares out there you can find this and all things radio at
The DXZone: ham-radio, shortwave and cb-radio guide ithink thats the url anyway

thanks
dan
good luck with your homebrew

 

[fleef]

thousand feet of wire??? Wowee, you could do a Beverage and do some major MW dxing. In an apartment, I once stealth ran wire atop the apartment's own privacy wall. It was a concrete wall about 6' high running at least 100'. I just streamed the wire on top of that wall, as far as I had wire, and laid down small sand bag weights or rocks to hold it down. Thru rain, sleet and hail it never budged. NO one could see it on top that wall.

Another time I just tossed a weight on about 84' of wire and landed it on.. neighboring complex' roof instead of mine. Oh well ran end of it to my balcony. No complaints, no worries.

Stealth 3rd time: in another "unit" now and have wire on the roof on top of 5 storey building. Using built in Directv Coax that was already there for dish that WAS on roof, using coax as lead with no "Dish" to it. No one knows I have antenna.

I am the Queen of apartment stealth antennas - "legal" and not so "legal" Let's just say I did not advertise what I was doing. Of course your mileage and scruples may differ from mine. I am jealous of your "random wire" the price on wire has gone up considerably in the last few years.

OK, for you, in an apartment, I have no idea what access you have to your roof, or property. I didn't ask my land lords but I wasn't explicitly told NOT to put up anything so..

What about TREES. Are you on 1st floor? 3rd? what. Try lugging a wire or use fish pole or sling shot method to get end of wire, maybe a random out to a tall tree.

The carpet loop idea is great. I have a good book on antennas "shortwave radio antenna handbook" that has easy peasy instructions.

Personally I would go with the carpet loop idea and/or cut wires to 1/4 wave idea. Oh the possibilities are endless. I like apartments or multi unit dwellings as I can get a higher floor as the higher up you are so is your antenna.

 

[ridgescan]

I gues that'd make me "king" of Apt antennas since I run a 100-footer myself although mine aint stealth-just unobtrusive.