Wonder

[LMSJR1]

I have about 3 miles of fence 50 ' from my house. I was wondering if I took some coated wire and ran it to the fence and connected it to my portable radio if the reception would be good? any ideas? Also does anyone know how to make one of those indoor slinky antenna's ?

 

[N_Jay]

I have about 3 miles of fence 50 ' from my house. I was wondering if I took some coated wire and ran it to the fence and connected it to my portable radio if the reception would be good? any ideas? Also does anyone know how to make one of those indoor slinky antenna's ?

Look up "Long Wire" antennas.

Fences are great for them.

 

[KC4ZEX]

I am not sure what your portable receiver is but if its one from the last 5 or 6 yrs you will probably overdrive the front end. You will get tremondous noise and stations on top of stations where they don't belong. That would work on an old tube type from the 50's or 60's. Your portable probably has a loop stick inside for AM reception, try taking a popsicle stick or wooden dowel about the length of the receiver wind about 14 to 16 turns of small wire on it tape it to the back of the receiver. Now connect one end of the wire to a large loop of wire or a long wire the length of your room or 20 ft or so outside if you can get it. This will give you an inductive coupled antenna that shouldn't overdrive the radio. If you use an indoor loop its directional.

 

[KC4ZEX]

I also forgot to say if you are using it for shortwave just use an aligator clip to clip your long wire to the telescoping ant on the portable. But just remember most new receivers overdrive with more than about 25 or 30 ft of antenna.

 

[SAR923]

Not to mention the fact that three mile long wire fence can turn ito a a heck of a lightning rod in a storm.

 

[ReceiverBeaver]

Hi guy,

Actually these super-long wire runs along fence lines are called BEVERAGE antennas. So Google that [ beverage antennas ] They must be terminated at the far end with a special resistor which bleeds off the static charges and becomes part of the tuning equation if you would want to transmit off of it for HF ham purposes. The Beverage design has been around a long time. They tend to be strictly directional out the far end....if the fence run is strait. So, if the fence runs north and south, and your shack is on the south end, then it will have "big ears" pointed towards the north with much weaker results in the other 3 main directions.

The other guys are correct with their info also. You'll need a high-end receiver, or at least an outboard attenuator to reduce signal strength if needed at any given time. This will be WAY too much antenna "power" for a smaller, cheaper receiver like a portable. And the thing will be a lightning and static collector. You will have to make provision for disconnecting it from your shack during any nearby thunderstorm.

Good luck 73

 

[LMSJR1]

Thanks for all of the input.
I took your advice and went to Walmart bought me a slinky added a 20' long piece of wire with an aligator clit to each end, hung it up next to the window and it made a really big diffrence in my reception.

 

[mancow]

I bet the aligators werent' happy!


Sorry...couldn't resist. 8)


mancow

 

[Cameron314]

I bet the aligators werent' happy!


Sorry...couldn't resist. 8)


mancow

you a badddddddd man--cow

 

[Waldo325mvfd]

ok, I have 3 hf antennas. 1 aluminum wire across my roof conected between a scantenna and tv antenna faceing west, 1-75ft copper wire radioshack sw antenna faceing sw to ne, and 1-3yeard copper wire running ne to sw and it picks up better than the others. 8)

 

[kb2vxa]

"...with an aligator clit..."

"I gotta git me one of THESE!"

Seriously, that Slinky (TM) isn't doing a thing hooked up that way, it's just another bit of wire. Now if you had a proper communications receiver I could tell you how to build a Slinky dipole but as it is just take it down and play with it in the usual manner. In "the biz" we call it a continuously loaded radiator and you're not using it as one.