Slinky Shortwave Antenna

[fern]

I found an article on a slinky shortwave antenna on a survival website under their communications section. The author purchased this little device at a local flea market and said it more versatile and works better than any other more costly antenna he had used to date. I did a search and found it on ebay. Just wanted some thoughts/opinions. I know how a slinky stretches out and bends so it never goes back into place too!

Here is the ebay link.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Slinky-Shortwave-An ... 56356902c9

[whitewolf]

Slinky Antenna

Electrically speaking your antenna is almost as important as your choice of radio, these slinky style antennas are pricy can be narrow minded, meaning they are only good for a specific range of frequencies....antennas that are narrow (banded) wont let you transmit freely wherever you want but limit you to a small area that the VSWR(standing wave ratio) is good for.
These groupings of frequencies are not only like personal preferences but are also respective to given geographics
(see watchmans short wave frequency list) 10 meter,6 meter, 2 meter bands. Another frequency limitation is, ceilings on wattage (power) all the way from 5 watts PEP (peak envelope power) to 100 watts PEP.

You need to be aware of what freqs you will want to transmit on and what freqs you will be happy to just be able to monitor.for information and survival purposes you will want to ideally be close to the 10 meter band. Choose a slinky with a low VSWR meaning, 1.5 or less, capable of high wattage meaning, at least 100 watts. And for goodness sake, get a lightning arrestor.

For survival purposes I operate in the high 27 MHZ on sideband and low 10 meter riding the fence and staying as legal as possible (low profile). I have a simple dipole with a clothesline style antenna for receive across all bands.

[fern]

Thanks Whitewolf. This is not an easy area for me. I am still looking for a magic short list! You know...this radio or this radio and these are the exact items you need for it. Finding my own way in this arena is beyond slow and frustrating especially with no knowledge or experience whatsoever.

[manlikewater]

keep hearing about slinkies as antennas & am curious are they limited on receiving frequencies? I'm not a ham operator, just have G5 ssb receiver & it's nice could really use a better antenna set up.

[fern]

I read an article from a fellow that used them. He raved about the ease and extension. The thing that makes me wonder is...once you stretch a slinky out, they never go back the same and start falling all over. But they are so affordable. I ended up getting one (about 4 times the cost of the slinky) from a radio/cb place I stumbled across when I was absolutely lost in WV. I love it and it is portable! I would tell you the name but it is in my vehicle that I loaned to a kiddo for the next month. I will try to remember to add it to this post when I can.

[fern]

I do not have a license so all I can do at this time is listen. Did not even consider transmitting but thank you for making me think!

[whitewolf]

Fern,
keep in Mind : There is an area of frequencies that a ham rad is able to access at the top of and just above the citizens band that is very little used and completely legal for you to transmit on without a lisc

Whitewolf

[fern]

I did not know that! How do I know when I am there?

[whitewolf]

Remnant :

Common channel CB 40 is 27,405 megahertz, however lower sideband would be 27,403, and upper sideband would be 27,406, and most 11 meter ham radios will slide below ham frequencies all the way down into cb channels ...and very few people still use these sidebands ...and they are long distance previously used for eath to moon kind of communications...

Whitewolf

[whitewolf]

Its not out of set band they are allocated frequencies for singlesidband transmission by the FCC...above and below each channel in cb for the last 30 years....still inside the given cb band and it takes special singlesideband radios to access these sidebands still in the 11 meter band and most 10 meter radios are able to slide down below the 11 meter band...

Whitewolf