Active Ferrite Aerial Project

[Skywave]

I never came across reflection coefficient, is that something that Hams get into when dealing with aerial systems?

Not just so-called 'hams', a.k.a. Radio Amateurs. In actual point of fact, I suspect that most Radio Amateurs don't. But I spent many years in the Professional Broadcast Industry, so concepts like Return Loss, Reflection Co-efficient, etc. are second nature to me. And those concepts are not limited just to aerial systems. Whenever a source and a load are joined, it is often necessary to consider the effects of an impedance mis-match - and what to do about it. OTOH, there are lots of other things in radio & electronics that I am quite ignorant of. Radio & Electronics is such a vast subject these days that there is no-one who can claim to be an 'expert' in every field on that technology. For example, I've never really grasped all the subtle differences in fluorescent lamps.

Al.

[Radio Fixer]

That's a bit difficult Al and SWMBO doesn't want any more wire going down the garden or around the house. I have a long wire for the downstairs dinning room radio and one for the front lounge radio but the Den is upstairs. Best way here would be a loft aerial but then access to the room is tricky with a fully boarded loft.

All my long wires have been good at picking up interference as well as signal, probably mains borne etc. If the claims for the Mag aerial are true then it does sound attractive for this application.

The model ALA1530 seems the one to go for but it reads as active and with some of the radios I would use it with (all tuned RF stage) I don't need anymore gain. Odd as the comparison chart says it is passive.

Advantage over a tuned wire loop is getting rid of the EM wave and it being broadband so no need to tune it for each station received.

Cheers Gary

[pwdrive]

Yes, no need to tune that loop but it will more than likely need rotating for some stations and to achieve the best possible noise reduction, they recommend to install it as far away from buildings etc as possible and for convenience on a rotator, total cable length in most domestic situations shouldn't be a problem, eg: relatively short distance for most gardens, you could also feed the cable through some plastic water pipe and bury it to avoid seeing the feed cable on or above the ground etc.

Lawrence.

[Skywave]

That's a bit difficult Al and SWMBO doesn't want any more wire going down the garden or around the house.

Although that's no consolation to you, it's slightly reassuring for me to discover that I am not alone with that problem!

Al.

[Geaney]

The gadget works really well with the Tonfunk console - and since the set already has a ferrite rod aerial there's no need for connecting cables. The magic eye acts as a great signal strength meter but I think I'll have to replace the coarse tuning pot with the ten turn one.

I fitted some decent knobs - need to make the decal. Still having fun with it

Cheers, John

[AlanBeckett]

I trust you're going to polish it young John so it fits in with the rest.

Alan

[Geaney]

Hi Alan, I know I should but to do that I have to dismantle it - and I keep putting it off. I've noticed a tendency on my part to neglect the final touches on a project once the thing is working.
I've noticed that the cord for controlling the vertical positioning is fraying where it goes through the eyelet so I've told myself I'll take care of that and the finish - when the cord snaps!

Cheers, John

[AlanBeckett]

I've noticed a tendency on my part to neglect the final touches on a project once the thing is working.

It was a thing my Mother always complained about - 'I can see it works but why does it look like a pile of scrap?'


Alan

[pwdrive]

Ditto, story of my life.

Lawrence.