Question about External antenna and the 1/8" audio plug

[culcuhain]

I am building an antenna for the Radio Shack Portable to plug into the antenna jack (1/8" audio plug) and I have a question about which lug on the connector do I solder the wire?

There is one that goes to the center pin and one that goes to the threaded part (or so it looks....)

So which lug does the wire get soldered? (Doing a longwire antenna)

 

[SCPD]

Presuming it's a "mono" plug (and yes there's a difference) then yes it's always to the center pin. I can't recall which radio it was but a recent portable uses a stereo jack and you have to solder it differently.

EDIT: The portable in question is the new Eton Satellit model...

 

[culcuhain]

Correct.. It is the mono plug (single ring on prob). Thank you for the quick response! I have my new project for the night!

 

[ka3jjz]

You might want to give yourself a little static protection - and if that RS portable doesn't have a RF Gain control to mitigate overloading, the little project below will handle that, too...(links are always blue)

http://forums.radioreference.com/receive-antennas-below-30mhz/295299-great-first-timer-project.html

Mike

 

[Boombox]

The Radio Shack 200629 World Receiver has protection diodes built in (they're internally connected, to the SW external antenna jack) -- but external protection would probably be advisable if it can be done, and especially if Cuchulain lives in an area with a lot of T-storm activity, and his external antenna is going to be placed outdoors.

My guess is most of Texas has a lot of T-storm activity....

If Cuchulain were using his external antenna indoors, his radio would probably be safe enough from static charges.

Like KA3JJZ says, overload protection would be a good thing. The 200629 can overload on strong signals. Not terribly, but it can happen. The overload I've experienced hasn't affected the SW BC bands much (maybe one or two per band, if that -- and that's only on certain nights). The 200629 has an attenuator switch, which can help, but it really attenuates big time (I wish it were set to a lower resistance, or were an RF gain instead).

That device KA3JJZ linked would be very handy to deal with overload.

 

[culcuhain]

The Radio Shack radio is my Sunday night kitchen table chill and let see what we can find radio. I am just looking at getting a bit better reception. The other radio in my signature I will build a proper outside antenna.... We have plenty of thunderstorms here (like this morning and again tonight). For a $10 radio, I am happy, I just want it bring in a few more stations. I appreciate everyone's ideas and thoughts and I will post back with what I do....

 

[Boombox]

I use a 25-30 ft indoor wire with my Radio Shack 200629. It adds a db or two on SW broadcast -- I notice the difference more on SSB, though. I just split some speaker cable and soldered it into a 25-30 ft length, and soldered the end to the tip of a mono 1/8 " plug.

An external loop (like the Eton AM band loop or a SelectATenna) for the AM band will make it DX the AM really well. It's a great radio for the AM band, but the AM band loopstick is only 7 mm thick -- a little thin for DXing in some areas of the country (like mine) where overall signal strengths can be low. In your area of the country where there are higher MW signal strengths it may not be a problem.

Good luck with your antenna projects.