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Thread: Copper wire.

  1. #1
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    Copper wire.

    Ok guys, because I'm new and have no "real" knowledge of the inner working of radios I'm going to ask what to you may seem a silly question. I was bored and thinking yesterday. Which is a dangerous combination for me. Anyway, I thought, "hey I have a lot of copper wire why not cut off 32' and run one end up a tree then put the other end in my mobile antenna where my tunable stinger goes. This should make my antenna send and receive better while I'm at home." In theory it sounded good. In reality, NO. My SWR was off the charts. Ok here comes the question. Why did this not work? I'm just curious. I figured that with copper wire, that high up and attached to my mobile antenna it would do the job at least somewhat.

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    http://www.radio-electronics.com/inf.../resonance.php

    the wire changed the tuning of the antenna .

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nctrojanhorse View Post
    Ok guys, because I'm new and have no "real" knowledge of the inner working of radios I'm going to ask what to you may seem a silly question. I was bored and thinking yesterday. Which is a dangerous combination for me. Anyway, I thought, "hey I have a lot of copper wire why not cut off 32' and run one end up a tree then put the other end in my mobile antenna where my tunable stinger goes. This should make my antenna send and receive better while I'm at home." In theory it sounded good. In reality, NO. My SWR was off the charts. Ok here comes the question. Why did this not work? I'm just curious. I figured that with copper wire, that high up and attached to my mobile antenna it would do the job at least somewhat.
    I would think for 11 meter you would need 36 ft. IDK for sure. If I were trying it I would start with 37 ft and trim as needed till I had the correct SWR. But then again I have no idea I'm just throwing ideas out there.

    One other thing I just thought of is if that antenna is base loaded you'll never likely get a match up. But like I said I have no idea.
    Luck
    Last edited by stang; 06-23-2014 at 05:54 PM.
    STANG
    .............​ 406
    ........................OUT

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    "IF" you cut off 36', and stuck it in your antenna mount, (take off your antenna first) you would have had better luck...Of course the end going to the tree would have to be hung somehow so it was insulated from the tree...

    Even then, it may or may-not work very well...


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    i'll suggest trying in the neighborhood of 27 ft (for the cb band) plus a little for tuning if you want to try something other than a 1/4 wavelength antenna without a matching network . and dont forget to subtract the length of the loading coil and shaft from that length when attaching to the stinger input ... it all adds to the overall length . FWIU odd 1/4 wavelength and multiples will tune (1/4 wl , 3/4 wl) but a haalf or full wavelength antenna will need a matching network to tune . also FWIU a 3/4 wavelength antenna will have a higher takeoff angle than a 1/4 wave or 1/2 wave or 5/8 wave or .82 wavelength antenna . depending on what you want to do that could be a good thing , but typically it's not .

    the longer taller antenna should receive better than a shorter one because of tip height , but it has to be a resonate length to tune so it won't damage the radio/amp when transmitting ... thus the need to tune it . try both 36ish and 27ish and let us know your results .
    Last edited by BOOTY MONSTER; 06-23-2014 at 08:18 PM.

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    In the Vietnam war the antenna was attached to balloon and flown above the canopy of the bush.

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    Ham Radio Operators do this all the time without any real problems. I run 180 meter to 6 meters on one antenna (1.8 MHz to 55 MHz) everyday. I have a long wire hung in the sky to a pole that is 80 feet tall to an insulator then to parachute cord and a pulley. The wire is 66 feet long and attaches to a Balun at the house. I also have radios that have "Auto tuners" built in.
    I don't run those because I have a manual tuner that can handle 3,000 watts and use that instead. I don't run any watts other than the 200 watts the radio puts out. The manual tuner works best for me not that Icom 746 or my Yaesu FT890 don't tune up, I just like the manual unit better. It keeps me on my toes and thinking about what I'm doing.
    Last edited by Tallman; 10-14-2015 at 01:31 PM.
    All answers are opinions and may, or may not be technically correct.

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    I remember my first cb radio, was a Midland, I had no antenna...So I stuck a clothes hanger in the back, it worked pretty good for what it was...I heard passers by...lol.

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    Made all kinds of antennas. Built a "halo" first. A curved pair of folded dipoles mounted horizontal and later paired with one vertically oriented. Then a "squalo", same thing only shaped in a square. Long lines are really good if really long. A good tuner to match across any band makes all the difference. I camp in the wilderness and use a balun and bow/arrow to send long lines over the forest canopy. Multiple wires can create an array with directional qualities.

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