Longwire Antenna Array

[lcmontana]

Normally I realize that it isn't practical to build and use a longwire antenna to pick up MW stations, but I have the space and (some) cash, and a crappy neighborhood Home Depot.

The best place to set up one or multiple antennas, is about 100 yards to one side of the house. Would it still work to do this that far away, and maintain the signal with an insulated lead-in wire to the house, or is this too great a distance?

Joshua Denny
Naomi & Tony
Clancy, Montana

 

[LarrySC]

One of the most popular wire antennas is the Windom. For MW and lower a loop is popular because of noise. The longer the wire the more noise is will collect. Also a loop can be directional. The Windom is usually 24'X42' with a 4:1 balun [like a tv ant transformer] feed with RG-58 or 59. Windom looks like diapole but rather than one leg being a ground when used for transmitting the other leg is [+]. Therefore both legs are [+]. The Windom is usable MW thur 30MHz. Good Luck

 

[Al42]

The best place to set up one or multiple antennas, is about 100 yards to one side of the house. Would it still work to do this that far away, and maintain the signal with an insulated lead-in wire to the house, or is this too great a distance?

The lead-in, if it isn't shielded, would form part of the antenna so, no, it won't be too long. For transmitting you'd need a tuner, but it might work ok for receiving.

 

[MacombMonitor]

Normally I realize that it isn't practical to build and use a longwire antenna to pick up MW stations, but I have the space and (some) cash, and a crappy neighborhood Home Depot.

The best place to set up one or multiple antennas, is about 100 yards to one side of the house. Would it still work to do this that far away, and maintain the signal with an insulated lead-in wire to the house, or is this too great a distance?

Joshua Denny
Naomi & Tony
Clancy, Montana

Are you saying you would have a 100 yard long lead in? If so, no that would not be good.

 

[lcmontana]

There is no transmitting involved here, just as a receiver.
I could possibly set it on the south corner of the house, but there might be some problems with trees. Would it have to be a level wire, or could it slope downward a bit down the hill?

Joshua Denny
Naomi & Tony
Clancy, Montana

 

[lcmontana]

There is no transmitting involved here, just as a receiver.
I could possibly set it on the south corner of the house, but there might be some problems with trees. Would it have to be a level wire, or could it slope downward a bit down the hill?

Joshua Denny
Naomi & Tony
Clancy, Montana

 

[kb2vxa]

Hi all,

Let's stick with the long wire antenna and not complicate things. Since there is no such thing as a "lead-in" being the whole thing is an antenna just run it wherever and however practical. More than about 100' is overkill, the one I had at my original SWL location ran the length of the yard through trees and it received from the AM broadcast band through the 10M ham band very well.

A tuner helps a bit but not all that much and commercial units are limited to the ham bands for the most part Do your homework and find or build a preselector if you feel the need but only IF. The older tube type receivers had internal antenna tuning but the newer solid state ones are so broad in the front end likely you won't need anything extra.

A word of caution, disconnect the antenna and securely ground it when not in use, I used a double throw knife switch. Long wires tend to pick up static charges that can damage equipment and zap the hell out of you. Hams in desert areas use precautions to drain wind charge and of course a thunderstorm anywhere in the area induces a charge. The EMP from a stroke nearby can induce a current that would amaze you if it doesn't kill you even if it doesn't actually hit the antenna.