Build a AM Antenna Lens

1. 

   AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

   October 20, 2014 at 12:20 PM

   For this antenna coil all you really need is the right length wire and
   tuning capacitor for the frequencies you want to cover. This one is easy,
   just make it look neat. THANKS!

   Reply
2. 

   joernone says:

   October 20, 2014 at 11:31 AM

   Rick, Great demo. Everytime I view one of your vids I feel like I’m again
   watching the old “Mr. Wizard” tv show. Guess I’m giving away my age here.
   As always, terrific job. John

   Reply
3. 

   Jeep Cherokee says:

   October 20, 2014 at 10:56 AM

   Nice design, but I wouldn’t call it a “lens”; that is kind of a misnomer.
   What you made (and I sure you already know this), is a resonate circuit,
   which is functioning as a phased parasitic element. I love these antennas,
   since you can take an almost worthless transistor radio, and pick up some
   stations that you would never dream was possible. I also use a version of
   this type of loop for the 160m HAM band — tunes with 4pf-8pf and has VERY
   sharp tuning. 73 de NV6R

   Reply
4. 

   tobymichelletyler says:

   October 20, 2014 at 10:56 AM

   I love the AM station in this video. Concervatism in exile!

   Reply
5. 

   billybonewhacker says:

   October 20, 2014 at 10:06 AM

   wow thats pretty neat. i love antenna add ons. i made an active antenna
   that uses a mpf102 transistor and 9 volts it works very well.ty for the vid
   God bless from Oklahoma city

   Reply
6. 

   jim874 says:

   October 20, 2014 at 9:09 AM

   not Mr. Wizard… Rick’s voice is a dead ringer for Mr. Roger’s voice!
   Great demo of a tuned circuit, rick Jim Wa8SDF

   Reply
7. 

   AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

   October 20, 2014 at 8:38 AM

   I know you’ll be able to make it tune to the shortwave with using taps.
   This design has little or no effect on a straight wire. The shortwave radio
   I was using has an antenna tuning coil and that is what it was coupling to.
   For shortwave, the bigger the loop you can tune in that band the better.
   I’ll do some experimenting and get back to you.

   Reply
8. 

   AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

   October 20, 2014 at 8:33 AM

   As the frequency increases from the AM bands to the TV bands the
   characteristics of how the wave travels through the air changes. So what
   may work well at low frequency will not work at a higher frequency.

   Reply
9. 

   AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

   October 20, 2014 at 8:30 AM

   Hey John, I’ve seen all of them, including Nickelodeon. Rick

   Reply
10. 

    jim874 says:

    October 20, 2014 at 7:56 AM

    Most likely a 160 or 80 meter antenna. My property is not all that big. I
    use a single G5RVjr up 70 ft in a tree, with an old Dentron tuner for my
    ham gear

    Reply
11. 

    opolo2112 says:

    October 20, 2014 at 7:03 AM

    Need some help here- I live about 100 miles East of WLS 890 AM, Chicago –
    and in my house I cannot get a clear signal from WLS at all during the day
    due to RFI. Moving my Grundig S450DLX field radio around the room helps
    ever so slightly (outside, of course, is pretty good signal), but I cannot
    listen to my favorite station in my new house. Whould your antenna help?
    How about something like a RadioShack® RF Interference Filter ? Or an
    outdoor antenna? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

    Reply
12. 

    AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

    October 20, 2014 at 6:27 AM

    ALL TV’s are going digital in 2009, so for an low res analog TV a converter
    box is a must.

    Reply
13. 

    AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

    October 20, 2014 at 6:12 AM

    Sounds like a great setup! One of the more interesting parts of Ham Radio
    is antenna design, it real is fascinating!

    Reply
14. 

    AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

    October 20, 2014 at 5:23 AM

    Yes, being able to turn the antenna was a good and important tuning option.
    I miss spoke about the length of wire in the video. I added a correction in
    the “About This Video.” However if you use the 75 feet mentioned, the Lens
    will work properly, interesting error.

    Reply
15. 

    AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

    October 20, 2014 at 5:03 AM

    Well welcome to the neighborhood, LOL, 73s

    Reply
16. 

    coolbluelights says:

    October 20, 2014 at 4:52 AM

    that’s such an interesting effect, I wonder if I built a coil for my
    Cathedral radio, and directly wired it into it, would that work? because
    when I want to use it, I have to hook it up to my scanner antenna.

    Reply
17. 

    jim874 says:

    October 20, 2014 at 4:11 AM

    I use a 40ft outdoor random length up 30 ft for 4 shortwave receivers.I use
    a MFJ-901B antenna tuner with the long wire before it is fed to multiple
    receivers. As I use a particular receiver, I use the MFJ-901 to peak the
    receiver. I see no interaction between receiver front ends. Getting the
    antenna up 30ft in the air has reduced line noise. You can make a good
    stealth antenna with some of that magnet wire. Just scrape the enamel off
    the end that connects to the antenna connection.

    Reply
18. 

    gbowne1 says:

    October 20, 2014 at 3:54 AM

    @AllAmericanFiveRadio There are people building their own DTV / HDTV
    antennas. Look them up on google too. The ancient UHF Bow Tie antennas work
    well. Another good choice is the UHF hoop antenna. which came out when may
    locales started adding the UHF channels… our first one was ch22 where I
    live.

    Reply
19. 

    byurBUDdy says:

    October 20, 2014 at 3:52 AM

    I wonder what the power out put of the antenna is without hooking it up to
    the radio. Since it concentrates the single, that means more energy is
    being sent to the radio to the transistors so that the speaker can produce
    a clearer sound through the speaker. I bet you could charge a cell phone
    with it. Your converting the radio waves to electricity to actuate the
    transistors.

    Reply
20. 

    AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

    October 20, 2014 at 3:14 AM

    It’s possible that this type of tuned antenna could help your daytime
    reception. Google “Select-A-Tenna”

    Reply
21. 

    AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

    October 20, 2014 at 3:10 AM

    This method does not work with a straight wire antennas, I’m working on and
    idea. Don’t know if it will work yet.

    Reply
22. 

    Michael D. says:

    October 20, 2014 at 2:38 AM

    I’ll have to try that. I should have a bit of magnet wire left after
    building that two tube set I’ve been working on. Have you tried this with a
    shortwave radio?

    Reply
23. 

    AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

    October 20, 2014 at 2:35 AM

    I help a friend through up wire all over his three acre antenna farm all
    the time. Its very interest stuff because he can make accurate
    measurements. Even tried out a wire Yagi, don’t remember ham band, but the
    reflector element covered about half the width of his property, even
    pointed it toward Tennessee. Antennas are a very interesting study.

    Reply
24. 

    AllAmericanFiveRadio says:

    October 20, 2014 at 2:28 AM

    What I did for TV was I bought an antenna amplifier from Radio Shack. For
    TV’s a loop is not practical because of the much higher frequencies.

    Reply
25. 

    area46241 says:

    October 20, 2014 at 2:07 AM

    Why does the tank circuit lens work? That’s a very interesting effect and
    what frequency range can a lens work up to?

    Reply

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