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Thread ID: 145454 2017-11-06 22:58:00 Shortwave Antenna Driftwood (5551) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1441669 2017-11-06 22:58:00 I'm looking to make up a shortwave antenna as described in link below.

kv5r.com

Anyone know where I might find some cable, it's described as "5 conductor TV antenna rotator cable"
Need about 17 metres.
Nearest I could find was on ebay

www.ebay.com
Driftwood (5551)
1441670 2017-11-06 23:54:00 At my last address I had a long wire antenna which was just that - a long wire and I ran it up the backyard to a tree. I used ordinary fence wire and had it earthed at the house end and fed to the receiver by 600 ohm coax. It worked very well. As you will be aware, the best reception is at night, but this antenna worked quite well in the daytime as well, particularly from Australia.

An antenna as described in your link will not work in the attic if you have an iron roof.

I don't think that special cable is required. Fencing wire worked fine for me.

Once you have your antenna up and running I am certain that you will have a lot of enjoyment DXing.
Roscoe (6288)
1441671 2017-11-07 02:02:00 Thanks Roscoe, the antenna I had at my last location was similar to the one you describe.
However I don't think SWMBO or the neighbours would be happy with that here.
So I will experiment with alternative designs.
I thought that multiband design looked interesting enough to give it a try.
Driftwood (5551)
1441672 2017-11-08 18:25:00 This might be ok?

www.jaycar.co.nz
apsattv (7406)
1441673 2017-11-08 18:54:00 This might be ok?

www.jaycar.co.nz

That would be no good. It has to be a stout ribbon cable so that the wires can be cut to the lengths for each of the 5 dipoles, and strong enough ideally to be be strung between suitable supports and carry the weight of the centre feed coax.

I never tried this type of antenna, but I'd have thought it would be a bit lossy with the adjacent wires so close together. It would be better in principle for the dipole wires to be spaced apart.
Terry Porritt (14)
1441674 2017-11-08 20:38:00 That would be no good. It has to be a stout ribbon cable so that the wires can be cut to the lengths for each of the 5 dipoles, and strong enough ideally to be be strung between suitable supports and carry the weight of the centre feed coax.

I never tried this type of antenna, but I'd have thought it would be a bit lossy with the adjacent wires so close together. It would be better in principle for the dipole wires to be spaced apart.

I would have thought that too Terry, but thought it may have been worth a try.
However I'm not having much luck finding suitable cable, so may set one up using single wires with a space between.
Driftwood (5551)
1441675 2017-11-08 22:03:00 I know it as 300ohm ribbon, that's what you should be looking for I think. zqwerty (97)
1441676 2017-11-08 23:27:00 That sounds like flat antenna or ladder cable like we used on the old B&W tv's.
The cable I was looking for is the type in this link

www.wireandcableyourway.com
Driftwood (5551)
1441677 2017-11-09 10:14:00 Sorry, didn't read original post with enough attention. zqwerty (97)
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