Amateur radio antennas, circuits, techniques and related topics. By Peter Parker VK3YE/AK3YE.
Newer material appears at https://vk3ye.com and https://youtube.com/vk3ye .
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A recent video I did with Hayden VK7HH on our starts in radio.
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Variable capacitors are super-useful in radio. Whether it's the tuning control in a homebrew receiver, an adjustment in an antenna coupler or a receiver's preselector there may be a variable capacitor involved. They come in all shapes and sizes - from tiny trimmers for VHF to wide-spaced monsters for low frequency transmitting.
Here's a few videos about them.
All about variable capacitors
What to do if they stop making variable capacitors
Lower capacitance from a 2 gang variable capacitor
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Don't have much space but want to get on HF? A magnetic loop can be effective.
A problem in some cases is they need lots of thick heavy metal to be efficient.
Another approach is to use a longer but thinner conductor wrapped around or supported by a timber frame.
Efficiency is not necessarily very good but you may still be able to get a signal out, especially if using efficient digital modes like WSPR. And frame antennas can work very well on receive.
Here are a couple of 3.5 MHz frame antenna ideas to think about:
You would no doubt be able to redimension them for other bands.
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It's common, it's cheap and there's probably a long roll of it in your kitchen. Aluminium foil. Thin and conductive, it's been used for various electronic applications.
50 or 60 years ago, when metal chassis were both desirable and expensive, those building valve (tube) projects, especially if using battery valves, sometimes formed chassis from wooden packing crates with foil glued on.
Foils much wider than wire can be useful. A large piece could be taped to a window to form wideband dipoles for VHF or UHF amateur bands. These can either be horizontally or vertically polarised.
Homebrew transmitters sometimes require a shielded case or shielding between stages to remove feedback. Foil stuck onto plastic or cardboard could form lightweight boxes or partitions.
Foil can form a ground plane for UHF and microwave vertical antenna projects.
Finally, my video below shows foil being used as a variable capacitor. That could be handy for a crystal set project.
What radio-related things have you done with aluminium foil? Please leave your comments below.
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What low band antennas have worked for you? Please share your experiences in the comment below.
PS: Want a return to reality to read about more achievable antennas? Consider this selection of antenna books. They are affiliate links meaning that I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you decide to purchase.
A video I did a few years back of outdoor TV antennas. Some were in metropolitan areas while others are in country areas where the TV stations desired were 150 or more kilometres away.
PS: Interested in antennas? Consider this selection of antenna books. They are affiliate links meaning that I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you decide to purchase.
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A lot of my readers are Americans. Many will be flying the Stars and Stripes today. Even if you're not particularly patriotic, a flag pole is great to have as an antenna mast, especially if you're otherwise restricted with what you can put up.
Flagpoles can be useful for several reasons. They could support a very thin end-fed wire or inverted vee. They could be loaded up to operate as a vertical (if metal). If plastic, you could conceal a vertical antenna inside one. If you only need VHF or UHF you could conceal a Slim Jim or J-pole made from ladder line inside the top section of a non-metallic flagpole.
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