Just getting into SW listening. Wondering which of the portable antennas
work best? How do the spooled 23-foot wire antennas like the Sangean
ANT-60& Kaito AN-03L compare to the antennas made from Slinkys I see listed
all over Ebay?

Thanks,
Tim

On Aug 2, 6:55 pm, "Tim the Pipe Doc" wrote:
Just getting into SW listening. Wondering which of the portable antennas
work best? How do the spooled 23-foot wire antennas like the Sangean
ANT-60& Kaito AN-03L compare to the antennas made from Slinkys I see listed
all over Ebay?

Thanks,
Tim

TIM,

1 - Spooled 23-foot wire antennas like the Sangean ANT-60& Kaito
AN-03L
- - - Think Indoors

2 - Simple Slinky Random Wire Antenna -or- Slinky Dipole Antenna
- - - Think Outdoors

more to come . . . ~ RHF

On Aug 2, 7:52 pm, RHF wrote:
On Aug 2, 6:55 pm, "Tim the Pipe Doc" wrote:

Just getting into SW listening. Wondering which of the portable antennas
work best? How do the spooled 23-foot wire antennas like the Sangean
ANT-60& Kaito AN-03L compare to the antennas made from Slinkys I see listed
all over Ebay?

Thanks,
Tim

TIM,

1 - Spooled 23-foot wire antennas like the Sangean ANT-60& Kaito
AN-03L
- - - Think Indoors

2 - Simple Slinky Random Wire Antenna -or- Slinky Dipole Antenna
- - - Think Outdoors

more to come . . . ~ RHF
.
.
. .

.. . . . . Follow-Up

On Aug 2, 9:55 pm, "Tim the Pipe Doc" wrote:
Just getting into SW listening. Wondering which of the portable antennas
work best? How do the spooled 23-foot wire antennas like the Sangean
ANT-60& Kaito AN-03L compare to the antennas made from Slinkys I see listed
all over Ebay?

Thanks,
Tim

Slinky antennas do work, but they are a bit of a hassle to travel with
and set up. I much prefer a wind-up antenna on a spool like the ones
Radio Shack sells. Or, just a length of wire performs and you just
roll it up around your fist and tie when done.

It's easy to go overboard on some custom design wire antenna. It's
really just the wire you are interested in.

On Aug 3, 12:42 pm, RHF wrote:
On Aug 3, 11:33 am, "Unrevealed Source"
wrote:





Yo don't say what kind of radio you're using, but the wind-up spools work
much better than the whip on most portables. A simple length of wire with
an alligator clip works just as well, but the convenient packaging of the
antennas you mentioned make it worth the money and very convenient to travel
with and also store away. There's also a Radio Shack version. These are
selling for about $10 right now on eBay.

Reviews are mixed on slinkys. Some poeple love them, but most serious tests
have shown they are no better than a simple long wire.

"Tim the Pipe Doc" wrote in messagenews:kWvsi.14679$Q85.5494@trndny02...

Just getting into SW listening. Wondering which of the portable antennas
work best? How do the spooled 23-foot wire antennas like the Sangean
ANT-60& Kaito AN-03L compare to the antennas made from Slinkys I see
listed all over Ebay?

Thanks,
Tim- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

UrS,

The 'difference in a Radios 3-Foot Whip Antenna
-vice- The 23-Feet Roll-Up Antenna yeilds about
a 3 db Gain in Signal Strength : 3 6 12 24
Beyond that more and more wire is needed : 48
96 192 to get the next big step in Signal.

Plus the simple physical fact that 23-Feet is about
7+ Times the Signal Capture Area as 3-Feet.

IIRC - The 23-Feet Roll-Up Antenna's use Litz Wire
with a Durable Outer Insulator like a Coax uses.

Using the 23-Feet Roll-Up Antenna "Clip-To" the
Radio's Whip Antenna.


However, for 'permanent' At-Home-Use a Slinky Dipole
Centered in a Corner and rig along Two Adjacent Walls
with a Speaker Wire feed-in-line can perform better.

Either use a 1/8" Mono-Plug with a 'portable' AM/FM
Shortwave Radio's Enternal Antenna Jack -or- Connect
directly to a Shortwave Receiver's HI-Z Terminals.

The Dipole will generally be more Quieter then the
simple Single Wire Extention of the Roll-Up Antenna
-and- Since the Dipole is a "Balance" Antenna it
does not require a Ground.

Plus - For the Most part 'mounting' the Dipole in a
"Corner" will change it from a basic Bi-Directional
Antenna to a Omni {Quad} Directional Antenna.


one for travel and one for home - iane ~ RHF
.
.
. .

Tim the Pipe Doc wrote:
Just getting into SW listening. Wondering which of the portable antennas
work best? How do the spooled 23-foot wire antennas like the Sangean
ANT-60& Kaito AN-03L compare to the antennas made from Slinkys I see listed
all over Ebay?

Thanks,
Tim



The main thing about a slinky is you can use it to get the most out
of a small space. I'm playing with a slinky dipole for the 80 metre
band, it certainly makes a reasonable receiving antenna and allows
me to get a signal out from from a 30 foot loft! You can see the
antenna he
http://www.radiowymsey.org/FanDipole/slinky.htm

By the way, I don't know what what price the slinky antennas are but
they are simple to make. See
http://mw5hoc.4t.com/custom2.html and
http://kbzeroxa.com/the_slinky_ham_radio_dipolei.htm


Charlie.

--
M0WYM
www.radiowymsey.org