Thanks tom for the antenna overview. I would like to ask some questions of which a brief answer will suffice. I realize you may be busy but where I am new in SWL I have a load of questions. I will list them in point form for your convenience 1. In the "V" antenna configuration, is the created angle important? 2. Can 75 ohm cable be substituted for feed line to SW radio? 3. Can a typical old fashioned "CB antenna tuner" be used to tune for different bands? 4. When building your own antenna, can the receive wire be coated or should it be bare copper? 5. Just to verify, you said your current antenna works well at a lower height. Would 15 to 20 feet be considered and acceptable height for good performance? I am a few weeks away from looking into buying/making an antenna and installing it so I am in no mad rush for the answers. Thank you for your time, patience and anticipated answers to my questions. Andy Tobin in Newfoundland, Canada
Andy Tobin Right now comments on RUclips are really messed up. My replies could get deleted or lost. Please send your questions to me directly at trrs73@gmail.com
Sure you can use 75 Ohm coax, I use it here as well for my scanner antenna lines because quad core has less loss than it 50 Ohm equivalent, is easier to buy and is significantly cheaper, that said it is a solid core centre conductor so if you expect a lot of cable stress/movement maybe a braided 50 Ohm cable should be used instead...
No worries... I had to start looking for alternate sources of coaxial feeder cable once I moved out into the more rural areas, quad cable works well however your next problem is connectors but I believe there are oddball PL259 connectors out there, personally I just use modified ones (rg58 drilled out) or F connectors then use adapters although BNC crimp connectors would be superior.
Since I'm nearly 73 (good age for a ham!), I cannot go up on roofs or climb trees either. Was fortunate to find a very sharp handyman who picked up on the RF lingo quickly and helped me put up 3 antennas on the roof. This may be a way to go for those who can no longer climb a ladder!
Tom did you put up the antenna and check it with an antenna analyzer to see if it actually works? I put up one and I tried using the antenna analyzer on it but did not get good results! It's supposed to work on all ham bands from 80-10 Meters but some sellers say you need an antenna tuner while others say it should work by itself. It does show 4 resonant dips but none of them are right on the ham bands and the lowest SWR that I get is about 3:1 except for one large dip at 19.84Mhz. I tried using an antenna tuner and then it will tune perfectly for 20 Meters but not any of the other bands! I wonder how they can make claims that it works if they aren't true? To give them the benefit of the doubt the ends are too long to fit completely in my yard so I had to pull them forward a little so it's got kind of a V shape. It should still work on some bands though shouldn't it? A lot of reviews say this kind of antenna works well but maybe they just never tested it except to receive? It receives OK since it's so big but I don't see any way to tune up a transmitter on it except at 20 Meters. Since it's way too big for just 20 Meters I'm beginning to think the whole thing is just a scam!
hamrad88 Where are you located? We can probably get some volunteers to help put it up. Didn't you ever do a frequency response test of the old one and print out a graph showing the results to see if it even worked or not? My antenna analyzer shows that my MFJ model does not work!
Is there a place where someone demonstrates how well different antennas work in comparison to each other for general SWL. A video where a person switches back and forth between 4 different kinds of antennas to show how much you gain from different antennas?
Thanks tom for the antenna overview. I would like to ask some questions of which a brief answer will suffice. I realize you may be busy but where I am new in SWL I have a load of questions. I will list them in point form for your convenience
1. In the "V" antenna configuration, is the created angle important?
2. Can 75 ohm cable be substituted for feed line to SW radio?
3. Can a typical old fashioned "CB antenna tuner" be used to tune for different bands?
4. When building your own antenna, can the receive wire be coated or should it be bare copper?
5. Just to verify, you said your current antenna works well at a lower height. Would 15 to 20 feet be considered and acceptable height for good performance?
I am a few weeks away from looking into buying/making an antenna and installing it so I am in no mad rush for the answers.
Thank you for your time, patience and anticipated answers to my questions.
Andy Tobin in Newfoundland, Canada
Andy Tobin Right now comments on RUclips are really messed up. My replies could get deleted or lost. Please send your questions to me directly at trrs73@gmail.com
Andy Tobin Email sent Tom. You may answer questions there and I will have them in my email for future reference.
Sure you can use 75 Ohm coax, I use it here as well for my scanner antenna lines because quad core has less loss than it 50 Ohm equivalent, is easier to buy and is significantly cheaper, that said it is a solid core centre conductor so if you expect a lot of cable stress/movement maybe a braided 50 Ohm cable should be used instead...
***** Awesome input Sir. I have access to hundreds of feet of 75 ohm cable. It will be used in a secure non-moving situation. Thanks
No worries... I had to start looking for alternate sources of coaxial feeder cable once I moved out into the more rural areas, quad cable works well however your next problem is connectors but I believe there are oddball PL259 connectors out there, personally I just use modified ones (rg58 drilled out) or F connectors then use adapters although BNC crimp connectors would be superior.
Since I'm nearly 73 (good age for a ham!), I cannot go up on roofs or climb trees either. Was fortunate to find a very sharp handyman who picked up on the RF lingo quickly and helped me put up 3 antennas on the roof. This may be a way to go for those who can no longer climb a ladder!
vonzigle That is exactly what I have done in the past but I think my handyman is very busy which is a good thing in these times.
Csnt seem to find a handyman
Toms radio room your mfj G5 RV shortwave antenna is cool
I hate to say it because Tom was getting frustrated but that was pretty funny. Another great show. Very informative. Thanks again, Tom!
You are very welcome.
Toms radio room I like your utube videos
Toms radio room I am thinking about getting MFJ G5 RV shortwave antenna
Toms radio room how much does the mfj G5 shortwave antenna cost
try using a tuner on that g5rv for your shortwave reciver
Muestren como se hizo la instalacion de la antena. Eso es lo mas importante.
Danke für das tolle Video und Informacion.73,de Jozef.OE1CJG.😊😊😊
Toms radio room i like your R2 D2 from the movie star wars
I got this antenna to transmit on but wasn't as good as my other one. but! it makes a awesome shortwave antenna.
Thanks for your report.
Tom did you put up the antenna and check it with an antenna analyzer to see if it actually works? I put up one and I tried using the antenna analyzer on it but did not get good results! It's supposed to work on all ham bands from 80-10 Meters but some sellers say you need an antenna tuner while others say it should work by itself. It does show 4 resonant dips but none of them are right on the ham bands and the lowest SWR that I get is about 3:1 except for one large dip at 19.84Mhz. I tried using an antenna tuner and then it will tune perfectly for 20 Meters but not any of the other bands! I wonder how they can make claims that it works if they aren't true? To give them the benefit of the doubt the ends are too long to fit completely in my yard so I had to pull them forward a little so it's got kind of a V shape. It should still work on some bands though shouldn't it? A lot of reviews say this kind of antenna works well but maybe they just never tested it except to receive? It receives OK since it's so big but I don't see any way to tune up a transmitter on it except at 20 Meters. Since it's way too big for just 20 Meters I'm beginning to think the whole thing is just a scam!
Steve C I have not tried this one yet but my old one works great.
Tom
hamrad88 What bands does it work on? The one I have from MFJ can only be tuned for 20 M and I don't see any way to tune it for other bands.
Steve C Again, I have not installed the MFJ one. I should say my neighbor has not installed it for me. :)
Tom
hamrad88 Where are you located? We can probably get some volunteers to help put it up. Didn't you ever do a frequency response test of the old one and print out a graph showing the results to see if it even worked or not? My antenna analyzer shows that my MFJ model does not work!
Steve C Tampa Bay area in Florida.
Are you going to test the old and new antennas
Are you going to get new coax for your new antenna
TheTimeSpiders Yes, Yes.
Is there a place where someone demonstrates how well different antennas work in comparison to each other for general SWL. A video where a person switches back and forth between 4 different kinds of antennas to show how much you gain from different antennas?
+John Stanton There are a number of videos that compare two antennas.
I miss Mr Finger... how's he getting on Tom?
***** He is in time-out.
Tom
Has he been de-tuning your receivers again?
For shame... Mr Finger!
***** He keeps forgetting to turn the radios off when he is done listening.....maybe it's me???
Tom
I always thought that was Mr. Nobody :)
Hello where to buy g5rv from and approx cost.tks
Mohamed Hameedi Amazon, $60