I want to put a long wire antenna in my garage rafters. Should I start in the middle of the garage and spiral my way out to the edge? Or would it be better to start at one end and zigzag back and forth, running the length of the rafters. Would it really make any difference? Thanks in advance.

Glenn

I think you will want to keep the wire straight and not coil or fold it back onto it self. How about a simple dipole running the length?

A LONG time ago I was into SW. I used an 80 meter full wave in an L shape. Yes it was 250' plus. "Coiling" wire won't work too well. A straight wire with length equal to an evenly divisible wavelength will work fine. ie if you're after 80 meters, a 40, 20 or 10 meter wire will work OK. These would naturally be 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 wave, not the only options. Throw a balun into the mix for more complication. Directional options also abound. A simple wire "tuned" to your frequency of choice can work quite well. Very cheap to have a few different lengths to try. If you find a specific band you're interested in, you can invest in a more elaborate system for that band. I'm sure a "ham" will elaborate.

Hi Glenn, you may want to try a version of the "Carpet Loop" Antenna. I used one of these several years ago when I did not have much space. Worked well for me listening to ute's in the 5 & 8Mhz bands.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze20h45/radio/carpetloop/carpetloop.html

Hi Glenn, you may want to try a version of the "Carpet Loop" Antenna. I used one of these several years ago when I did not have much space. Worked well for me listening to ute's in the 5 & 8Mhz bands.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze20h45/radio/carpetloop/carpetloop.html

Oooooo... That'll come in very handy! :tresbon: *saves instructions for future use*

Glenn, there are many ideal ways to make antennas more efficient for one band or another, but practically speaking, a random length long wire, fit into the space you have for it, will work just fine for general shortwave listening. Make it an inverted L: that is, lead in wire up from your receiver location and then stretch the wire horizontally across the garage to the other end. If possible, don't parallel electrical wiring to avoid interference pickup. Almost any wire you have will do. Most practical and durable would be stranded insulated wire about 14 gauge, available by the foot at home centers.

As a test, you could run a long extension cord in the proposed antenna location and see how that works as an antenna.

You could also run your antenna outside under the eaves if the design of the garage permits.



Reece

Yep, what Reece said. The word "antenna" can describe anything from a 10 foot piece of speaker wire to an elaborate fan dipole or a preposterously long Beverage.

For your location, I'd run the wire in as close to SW-NE as possible, thereby presenting the antenna roughly broadside to signals coming over the Pacific as well as Europe's over-the-pole beams.
I don't know how much of a PITA it is to move around in your rafters but experiment. You'll find a sweet spot that feeds a good signal to the radio.

What kind of radio, by the way?

Hi Glenn, you may want to try a version of the "Carpet Loop" Antenna. I used one of these several years ago when I did not have much space. Worked well for me listening to ute's in the 5 & 8Mhz bands.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze20h45/radio/carpetloop/carpetloop.html

This looks like a really cool thing, but I don't quite understand how the loop works. It seems you run a multi conductor cable around the room's perimeter and use the switch to choose which conductor to use, but wouldn't they all be the same length? What am I missing here?

This looks like a really cool thing, but I don't quite understand how the loop works. It seems you run a multi conductor cable around the room's perimeter and use the switch to choose which conductor to use, but wouldn't they all be the same length? What am I missing here?

Note that the conductor terminals are offset resulting in differing legnths.

Thanks for the input. I figure most anything is better than the glob of wire that some old radios use for a SW antenna. I have a few old console radios with SW and a ham/SW receiver I'd like to use to see what corners of the world I can drag in.

Glenn