Reply To: Can a Long Wire be too long?

SDRPlay Independent Community Forum Forums SDR Antennas Can a Long Wire be too long? Reply To: Can a Long Wire be too long?

#1777
FlamingHedgehog
Participant

    Hiya Boss,
    I too am only getting back into radio after a 30 year absence. Mainly due to the advent of good SDRs, software and moving to the country.
    Sure I’ll post the results. Going to try a couple of grounding options. The usual rod earthing to the planet but also wondering about using the long steel roof gutter beneath the wire as a counterpoise as it is mounted to wood and the drain pipes are pvc making it somewhat isolated. Also going to test earth ground using a spike in a live tree as I can’t find any literature on this idea (maybe because it’s stupid?) Still waiting on the magnetic loop, 9:1 baluns (well ununs really) and telescopic fiberglass poles being shipped by Continental Drift Express on the back of a sea turtle for making a 7m long helical vertical end fed and a 7m long vertical G4NSJ Flowerpot coaxial dipole for comparison. Would love to get hold of an antenna analyser but living in rural Australia borrowing one from a local HAM is a day trip and a packed lunch affair… Have invested in high quality coax and professionally fitted connectors, always amazes me how many people spend big money on radios and antennas then join them with Chinese ebay garbage making the whole thing deaf.
    What I’m really interested in is the natural noise floor of these different setups. Living where I do there are no high power transmitters for over 200km and only one low power cell phone tower in the Ghz band and being next to the ocean should make for some good testing.