Magnet Wire Antenna Experimentation
Steve KA1VHF gave me this idea a couple weeks ago so I figured I would try it - use magnet wire to string up some nearly invisible antennas!
The stuff I found is #34 with red enamel (I know the color means something, like the temperature rating maybe but I would have to look that up again). Anyway, this stuff is TINY! As was expected - it also is not very strong.
I decided to string up a random wire today to see how it plays. I unrolled some of the wire and used a BNC-SO-239 adapter as a weight. I fiddled with my window trying to get the screen out. Once I got the screen out (and that was a trick! I didn't know the TOP of my window unlatched and swung out) I threw my weight over the corner of the roof with the wire trailing behind. I unrolled a bit more wire and attached the fishing line with the sinker on the end. Then I just tossed the sinker up over a tree out front and voila! Antenna!
The wire really is hard to see. I lost it a few times and it was only a couple feet in front of me. The bad part is when the sun hits it just right it reflects and you see a gleaming red spider web string. You have to be in just the right position to notice it. I bet, on a cloudy day, you could walk right under it, looking for it, and never know it was there.
I worked Dennis KB0SFP just a few minutes ago on 20 meters with it. So I know it gets out. However, there was a bit of RF getting in to my TV. I have a coax cable running out the back, down the corner of the house, and connected to the gutters as an antenna, which is grounded to the water spigot out back (basically the whole plumbing in the house is the counterpoise). So I figured I was grounded well enough for the magnet wire antenna. However, because of the RFI on the TV, I figured I would try and run a wire straight to the plumbing under the sink in the bathroom to see if that helped. In the end I think that made it worse - I ran that ground wire back behind my desk, the stereo table, and the TV. The RF on it was probably too strong and too close to the TV.
On to some more experimenting.
The stuff I found is #34 with red enamel (I know the color means something, like the temperature rating maybe but I would have to look that up again). Anyway, this stuff is TINY! As was expected - it also is not very strong.
I decided to string up a random wire today to see how it plays. I unrolled some of the wire and used a BNC-SO-239 adapter as a weight. I fiddled with my window trying to get the screen out. Once I got the screen out (and that was a trick! I didn't know the TOP of my window unlatched and swung out) I threw my weight over the corner of the roof with the wire trailing behind. I unrolled a bit more wire and attached the fishing line with the sinker on the end. Then I just tossed the sinker up over a tree out front and voila! Antenna!
The wire really is hard to see. I lost it a few times and it was only a couple feet in front of me. The bad part is when the sun hits it just right it reflects and you see a gleaming red spider web string. You have to be in just the right position to notice it. I bet, on a cloudy day, you could walk right under it, looking for it, and never know it was there.
I worked Dennis KB0SFP just a few minutes ago on 20 meters with it. So I know it gets out. However, there was a bit of RF getting in to my TV. I have a coax cable running out the back, down the corner of the house, and connected to the gutters as an antenna, which is grounded to the water spigot out back (basically the whole plumbing in the house is the counterpoise). So I figured I was grounded well enough for the magnet wire antenna. However, because of the RFI on the TV, I figured I would try and run a wire straight to the plumbing under the sink in the bathroom to see if that helped. In the end I think that made it worse - I ran that ground wire back behind my desk, the stereo table, and the TV. The RF on it was probably too strong and too close to the TV.
On to some more experimenting.
posted by Steve at
4:15 PM
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