ORIGINAL: Dmon1996

I have to post a reply to this great thread to bring it to the top. It's too valuable to lose.

Last night I created a couple of hidden antennas- one for me and one for my Dad's Tiger. It works great in my Pershing- I can start the tank at the opposite corner of my house from the tank. And I would like to clarify something that seems to be causing some stress in this post. Pzrwest is correct about the length of the wire needed. But so is Brel....

These tanks are running AM radios, or amplitude modulation. In other words, they send the signal by changing slightly the height of the sine wave. We have 330mm antennas because the sine wave is 330mm (or less, I'll explain in a moment). So, 330mm antenna is good. Brel posted that he had great luck with a 660mm antenna wire, which makes sense. If the frequency is 330mm high, then a 330mm wire will catch one sine wave. The 660mm wire (being double the length) will catch two signals- the 330mm signal and the first harmonic of 660mm. It's the same signal but is double the height. So we get more signal being caught. It does not pay to go much more than one harmonic up, but generally the 660mm will work even better than the 330mm mod. Of course, it also comes into play that anything transmitted at or around the 660mm frequency will be picked up as well and possibly cause interference. This of course will cause loss of control or erratic behavior, etc. And it could be caused from anything from a dirty running microwave to arcing in your turret motor. There is one thing though- the antenna coil should be single strand insulated, but not multistrand. Another place you can find acceptable wire is home phone cable (the stuff that the phone company uses to put in another jack).

If I have misspoken on the details or vernacular, my apologies. It was over 20 years ago I got my RGMC (Radio General Marine Certificate), and it was almost 30 that I was in 735 Comm Reg't (CAF Reserves), so I am a "little" rusty when it comes to radio. And I have not touched any HAM equipment in 20 years as well (call sign VE4AOM). If anyone needs a clarification, I still have a few buddies who are still into radio and I can find out for you. But in a nutshell, this is a very accurate post.

My hat's off to both Pzrwest and Brel- this is a great mod!



Dmon1996