Almost all radio listening can be improved with the use of an outside antenna. A radio antenna grabs radio wave energy out of the air, then relays it to the radio receiver which amplifies the signal to an audible level.

AM radio reception usually relies upon an antenna built into the “innards” of the radio. Although some external antennas are available for AM radios, an external antenna will not usually help to pull in weaker signals. On the other hand, portable FM and shortwave receivers normally come equipped with a telescoping antenna. Many of these radios also have a “jack” (or socket) to attach an external antenna. Attaching an external antenna will greatly enhance the signal gathering capabilities of these radios. Ideally, an antenna is constructed so that it can be tuned to the particular frequency it is receiving (or transmitting on). However, for general listening, a simple “long-wire” antenna can be made easily, quickly, and cheaply for just about any FM or shortwave receiver. The antenna described here will pull in a lot of distant stations that were both too faint and scratchy to listen to, or even completely inaudible.

For general listening on FM and shortwave, the length of the antenna itself is not critical. It may be made as long or as short as space will permit. It may be suspended from an outside windowsill to a tree or building by attaching it between two insulators, or merely laid around the baseboard of the room. I have used a length of flat TV lead-in wire as a makeshift shortwave antenna. I just attached it to the terminals on my old Hall crafter receiver and laid it around the room along the walls. It worked pretty well. I have also seen an effective antenna made by suspending a light-gauge insulated wire with thumbtacks along the walls of a room near the ceiling.

These types of “quickie” antennas are especially handy if you live in an apartment, where neighbors might complain, or in other situations where an outside antenna is undesirable. In a pinch, an unusual makeshift antenna can even be made by making up a length of insulated wire with an antenna plug on one end and about three or four inches of bare wire on the other. Insert the plug into the antenna jack on your radio and wrap the bare wire around one of the strands of barbed wire fencing on your place. You will instantly have an antenna considerably longer than any you can construct—a real “long-wire” antenna.

As you can see, the antenna arrangement can be made very cheaply and easily. The illustration depicts the construction of a more permanent long-wire antenna suspended between two insulators. Commercial glass insulators are readily available and inexpensive, or you can make effective substitutes by using a couple of pieces of PVC pipe from the scrap pile. The important thing is to separate the antenna wire itself from the support line.

Tags: AM, Antena, FM, Pipe, Radio, Receiver, TV, Wire
Filed under: Communication, Education, Technology