Nowhere outdoors to put an antenna

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ka3jjz

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We've covered what you can do in a tiny yard - but what about in a high rise or similar where you can't get anything outside?

You're going to be at the mercy of the construction of your home, and all the noise sources found there. There's no way to completely get around that. But if you have an attic, (I did for awhile), you may have an out. Putting an active loop in the attic is likely the best you would be able to do, if there's enough room for it. I wish I had known about the W6LVPs and others when I lived where I had a large attic. Sure would have made HF easier! You may even find that common mode chokes will cut the noise down further, but this is very much a case by case thing. They don't always work for everyone.

Nut what if you have no attic? Well there are a few solutions

First, let's avoid these broad band active antennas - they're likely going to be more trouble than they're worth, especially if you can't find a quiet spot for them (hunting with an old AM band portable is a cheap way to find them, if there is one). So we want something that's tuned; this is especially true if you want to try to reject all the RF crud from FM, TV and other sources (and if you're living in or near a city, who wouldn't?)

I had something like this quite a while ago


It worked OK for what it was, but it amplified noise a lot more unless you really rode the gain control (and you shouldn't run something like this full out anyway...).

Some of you who've been around awhile will recognize the names Kolb and Sanserino. They put out a fine preselector that could be used as an active antenna, and was marketed through Radio West. I had one - gave it to the Handicapped Aid Program when they were still around. Really wish I could still find one, but they are ultra-rare to find anymore.

Loops are going to be helpful in rejecting at least some of the noise. Sadly indoor amplified HF loops have largely been abandoned. Palomar had one (and so did I for awhile, until the antenna plug in connection failed), as did Kiwa and even Quantum Loops - all gone. Plans for MW loops can be found a lot easier than this.

Passive loops - like the YouLoop and the Doxytronics (currently out of stock) are popular but better for these SDRs that have hot front ends - like the RTL SDR v3 and FunCube, as well as some portables (we have plans for building your own YouLoop in our Loops wiki if you're interested). Signal pickup with these tends to be rather low (I understand there's some folks working on an amp for the YouLoop). What if you need a bit more?

This comes from Australia, and it's likely to be more affordable for our Pacific and Asian DXers; take a look at this link, and select the 'Antennas' pulldown..


with some reviews;




Mike
 

ka3jjz

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Here's another example of a desktop loop amp - quite expensive, too...


And since I mentioned the YouLoop, here are 3 construction articles on this from SWLing.com




Mike
 

Ravenkeeper

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My house is like a faraday cage, NO ONE GETS CELL SERVICE INSIDE, even with doors/windows open. We have to set our cellphones up for WiFi-Calling. I'm reutilizing my DirecTV/DishNet mount, putting my (soon to arrive) discone antenna on it, and using the pre-existing coax to connect my scanner(s) to the antenna (for now).
 

mass-man

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I have lived in several, less than perfect homes, for HF receiving antennas! Yea I've used loops, indoor wire strung around the ceiling, even a window screen with a clip lead. I did however have a balcony every time. Any number of crazy wire configurations out there worked just OK! A variety of preselectors helped...I finally had to resort to listening via remote receivers and then going to a park with a portable when possible.
 

lu81fitter

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I'm reutilizing my DirecTV/DishNet mount, putting my (soon to arrive) discone antenna on it, and using the pre-existing coax to connect my scanner(s) to the antenna (for now).

Don't worry about upgrading coax. (If that's what you're thinking.) I did the same thing with my old dish mount. Coax was RG-6 quad shield. Upgraded to LMR-400 for about a 50 foot run. Couldn't hardly tell the difference. Maybe just a little on 7/800 for distant transmitters, but those were 40 miles out or so. Unless you have a really long run, save your $$$.
But I will say this. Make sure you use quality connectors on the outside, and weatherproof them well. N-type connectors are a good start. Your radio is only as good as your antenna.
Sorry about that short derailment. The end.
 

ka3jjz

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I think you're mixing apples and oranges here. In a purely listening only app on HF, upgrading your coax won't do all that much (unlike at scanner frequencies where loss becomes an issue as you go higher in frequency).

Mike
 

ka3jjz

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Here's yet another possibility - this may disappear at any time (it is fleaBay after all), I would send an email before ordering


Mike
 

ka3jjz

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There's no reason this wouldn't work as a receive antenna if you have the space in your attic....


Mike
 
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