Multiband Antenna for SWL

The Signal Hunter is a simple and easy to build Multiband Antenna for SWL . LW ,MW and SW This Antenna is receive only for shortwave listeners. Receives 0-30 MHz. 12.5 meters long. Can be deployed in 4 different configurations. Idea for small garden or backyard in an urban environment.
Questions and comments are welcomed. Thanks for watching and remember to like and subscribe. 73s

[@MadelineStkitts]

Hi, from Puerto Rico. I just a beginner but I appreciate your class .

[@curlytheunacceptable.4298]

I got a man cave too, pieces of paper, vintage radio's, SW radio's and radio's for every occasion, and a destroyed coffee table, very therapeutic. Great vid.

[@MrBrian8749]

LoL I understand you completely. Thanks for commenting.73s

[@MagicRoosterBluesBand]

I have a Tecsun PL-606, alligator clip the antenna to an indoor coax cable, outside to 50 feet of speaker wire around my fence. So far that's the best reception I can get in a city condo (Vancouver Canada). Just getting into SW and learning by the day. Thanks!

[@MrBrian8749]

Basically that's all you really need. Oh you can always build a better antenna...but at the end of the day....its just wire waiting for the right conditions. Have Fun

[@Ken.s_BCL-LogVideo]

Thanks Mr.Brian for sharing valuable technical information. I look forward to receiving DX with this antenna.73s Tengu

[@MrBrian8749]

Thank you Mr Tengu, I am no expert and Have limited technical knowledge. But antennas are my favorite part of shortwave radio. Since I was a kid, I first got a SW antenna instructional booklets from BBC and one from HCJB. I was 8 years old when I built my first random wire antenna. Thank you Mr. Tengu for all the encouraging words. Brian

[@Ken.s_BCL-LogVideo]

@@MrBrian8749 Great! You really had BCL since you were a child. I was 9 years old when I first assembled the Germa Radio. And when I was 11 years old, I put together a 5 bulb super radio. When 18 years old, assembled a transmitter with an output of 1 kW and made a pirate broadcast at 40 mb. I didn't do BCL very much. I really liked making radios with junk parts. We are very similar friends who like shortwave.73s Tengu

[@timcollingwood6158]

Hi thanks for the information I really appreciate it ,and I think I have a go at making one. Best Regards Tim

[@MrBrian8749]

Thanks for watching Tim. 73s

[@joeshmoe7899]

Off center dipole seems a great antenna. A good balance between an End fed and dipole. Wide receive of an End fed, but less lossy.

[@MrBrian8749]

I'm was pleased after I deployed it and you're right a good balance between a random wire and dipole. I will say with a proper UnUn it is so noisy, its impossible to listen to. Its amazing how much of a difference a UnUn makes. Thanks for watching and commenting, I appreciate your subscription and like. 73s Brian

[@Tobinindustrial]

Pretty basic but functional antenna. Did you say you needed a balun for this to work properly?

[@MrBrian8749]

Its better to have a balun , less noise. In the windom configuration a 4:1 balun is a must as the antenna is omnidirectional and will pick up interference. Over all this antenna is no more susceptible to noise than any wire antenna 73s

[@MrLittlmike22]

hi there please make a video as to how to built it - with instructions and dimension - looks really interesting - but as a newbie I think I need more detail

[@MrBrian8749]

I Certainly will...thanks for the interest and comment.

[@b.2221]

And a good weekend to the wire man 👍 73s Tam.

[@MrBrian8749]

Have a great weekend Tam, Dx the world. 73s Brian

[@MrLittlmike22]

hi there! - love the idea quick question for you how long would / can teh feeling be ? - would say 5m or 10 m be ok? many thanks

[@MrBrian8749]

The ideal length is 12.5 meters... but 10 meter(approx 32 feet) works well also.

[@MrLittlmike22]

Many that's for the reply Sorry meant to write Element length is 12.5 m But I was wondering how long the feedline is ? (Vertical to the elements of the Carolina windom)

[@MrBrian8749]

@@MrLittlmike22 The "feed line" is coax and use whatever length you need. If you want to use length of wire coming down from offset (windom configuration) this is dependent on the height of your antenna. Please remember that if...you do not use a balun you force the coax to become part of the antenna and you don't want this. also remember we are only interested in receiving shortwave signals... so you have room for experimentation with lengths of wire. With this design we are not worried about SWR like hams are because this is a receive only antenna. You have plenty of room to experiment with. I dont to make this too long but. My first attempt building this antenna I connected the Balun only a few inchs under the offset. It worked great. next I connected the coax direct to the offset the coax was 7 meters to my window which I connected the balun ...not only did it work good but I had the best MW reception of any antenna I ever built.

[@MrLittlmike22]

@@MrBrian8749 that's great will definitely try that one !! Thank for taking the time to reply

[@GF_Burke]

Nice man. Sweet pad! ha. And T540p laptop, I still fix those and sell them. I'm getting into the hobby, but does that antenna work with .. all of it, like AM, SSB, FM, etc? I just ordered a 'Eton Elite Executive'. Looks cool. Wasn't sure about 'antenna vs radio spectrum'. Thanks for the basic videos for n00bs.

[@MrBrian8749]

Thanks for the comment, and its a T500 laptop. I love this computer, ok its a bit slow loading the browser but it's a battleship. I have windows 7 but I think it missing some dll's and thats why its slow. Any Tips are welcome. The Antenna works MW or American Am as you call it from 10 kHz to 30 kHz This is the entire shortwave Band or some call HF. Your comments and questions are always welcome. 73

[@CL-ty6wp]

I have a 20$ sw radio (clooblut) with just a 12ish foot cable in an L to my bedroom ceiling and a 16" square or so piece of aluminum foil hanging from the off the end. I live in Maine and can hear turkey, aus, NZ etc. Pretty sure I can get some stations in better than a web sdr I use out of DC lol Addicted to swl now. It's just too bad radios are basically no longer being made and the cheaply made chinese ones are way overpriced/questionable lifespans.

[@SpectreOZ]

Nice work Brian 👍

[@johnstrunck3659]

What are your thoughts regarding the "trapped dipole" antenna for swl'ing? Thanks for all you do!

[@MrBrian8749]

John I really don't know much about a trapped dipole. I might build one in the future just to try it out. Its interesting looking. Thanks for commenting 73s

[@johnstrunck3659]

@@MrBrian8749 Or better yet, a fan dipole. Basically one just cuts a wire for a resonant frequency that one wants to listen to. An example would be cutting a wire for 49m band and then attaching it to a dipole center insulator. I like the Alpha Delta center insulators, but a short piece of pvc pipe center insulator can be used in a pinch. Then to add another shortwave band to the antenna, it is only a matter of attaching extra wires to the center insulator. Extremely quick and cheap way to construct a wire antenna. Most of the time all the parts can be bought at the local hardware store. Some swl'ers may not agree with me when I say Home Depot or Lowes is the ultimate swl'ing antenna superstore. Even for building a monitoring post from the ground up. Keep up the great work sir! John

[@MrBrian8749]

@@johnstrunck3659 We dont have a home depot but we do have Hornbach they have everything a SWLer needs. The fan dipole is straight forward and simple to build. I looking to buy another mast. I like the fiberglass military camouflage poles. They're cheap and easy to work with. I have just enough space to set a fan dipole up. I also have a 82ft dipole w/latter line already set up. Maybe I will just modify it.. Thanks John for idea and supporting my channel. Feel free to stop by anytime, I'm happy to talk shortwave with you anytime. 73s Brian... Adelsheim, Germany

[@johnstrunck3659]

@@MrBrian8749 Sounds like a good place also. All the best to the channel! Will be looking for your next vid. 73 John

[@TheMajkla]

Nice! Happy DXing weekend Brian. 73s!

[@EireHonour]

Great content really injoying ur videos

[@MrBrian8749]

Thanks for commenting and 73s Brian

[@medo123345]

👍 very good idea.. TKS

[@allthegearnoidea6752]

No antenna works well on every band. An ATU can make an incredible difference to signal peaking and getting rid of unwanted noise. I’m surprise many shorts wave listener neglect to use one etc.

[@darrelllynch7816]

What’s an ATU??

[@allthegearnoidea6752]

@@darrelllynch7816 Antenna tuner unit. Basically a capacitor and inductor that matches the impedance of the feeder to the radio. It may also form a resonance circuit with the front end of the radio to can peak incoming signals while also rejecting noise.

[@KB5WQW]

What impedance coax did you use?

[@MrBrian8749]

50 Ohm

[@MrBrian8749]

50 Ohm

[@KB5WQW]

Thanx. @@MrBrian8749

[@Arijit_VU3ICT]

How to make a balun?