Build a simple Beverage antenna for MW DX
Daktologist
Global Moderator
The Beverage antenna is well suited for MW and LW DX and has some use with Shortwave DX as well. Basically it is an extremely long wire from 500 feet to a couple of miles long, supported above the ground and the end connected to ground through a 300 - 600 Ohm resistor with the receiver end connected to ground through a matching transformer. Most Beverage antennas for the AM broadcast bands only have to be around 500 - 1000 feet long to work although the longer the better. The Beverage antenna is setup so that the end points toward where you want to receive signals from making it highly directional. you will want to make a portable antenna since most people don't have a few thousand feet of open space for an antenna
Parts you will need
Firstly you will want to make your matching transformer. to do this wrap 11 turns of magnet wire around your ferrite core, glue the coil in place. Next make 4 turns of magnet wire opposite the first coil, glue the coil in place. it should look something like this:
Now solder your resistor on to the end of your wire, solder a short piece of wire onto the other end of the resistor so you can attach your ground wire to it.
Push your earth rod into the ground, place one of your fence posts next to the rod and attach the wire to it tightly. run the wire out in the desired direction remembering the signal comes in from the resistor end so ensure the wire runs away from the signal source, it doesn't have to be dead straight but it shouldn't weave sharply across the landscape either. Place fence posts along the wire to keep it from touching the ground. attach the other end of the wire tightly to the fence post and pull it tight so the wire is up off the ground. Using the rope wrap it around the post and attach it to the tent pegs to take the strain off the posts at each end so they don't bend. You now will need to check and move the middle posts so that the wire doesn't make contact with the ground, don't worry if it sags or dips in places so long as it doesn't make contact with the ground it will be fine.
at the opposite end to the resistor, push the other earth peg into the ground then attach one end of the large coil of your matching transformer to the earth peg and the other end to the antenna. Attach the smaller coil to the input terminals to your receiver, if connected correctly it should look like this:
That's all there really is to it, find some where large enough to assemble the antenna and when you are done dissemble it again and if you want to receive signals from a wider angle simply disconnect the resistor from the antenna leaving it grounded at only one end, this design is extremely simple and tolerant to imperfections and easy to play with and see what results you get
Daktologist
Parts you will need
- Around 1000 Feet of solid core wire
- A cable roll to keep your antenna on when you aren't using it
- Some portable electric fence posts
- Two metal earthing rods
- a toroidal ferrite core
- some magnet wire
- a resistor that's close to 600 ohms (although anything between 300 to 700 ohms works fine for receiving)
- soldering iron
- Rope
- Glue
- Tent pegs
Firstly you will want to make your matching transformer. to do this wrap 11 turns of magnet wire around your ferrite core, glue the coil in place. Next make 4 turns of magnet wire opposite the first coil, glue the coil in place. it should look something like this:
Now solder your resistor on to the end of your wire, solder a short piece of wire onto the other end of the resistor so you can attach your ground wire to it.
Push your earth rod into the ground, place one of your fence posts next to the rod and attach the wire to it tightly. run the wire out in the desired direction remembering the signal comes in from the resistor end so ensure the wire runs away from the signal source, it doesn't have to be dead straight but it shouldn't weave sharply across the landscape either. Place fence posts along the wire to keep it from touching the ground. attach the other end of the wire tightly to the fence post and pull it tight so the wire is up off the ground. Using the rope wrap it around the post and attach it to the tent pegs to take the strain off the posts at each end so they don't bend. You now will need to check and move the middle posts so that the wire doesn't make contact with the ground, don't worry if it sags or dips in places so long as it doesn't make contact with the ground it will be fine.
at the opposite end to the resistor, push the other earth peg into the ground then attach one end of the large coil of your matching transformer to the earth peg and the other end to the antenna. Attach the smaller coil to the input terminals to your receiver, if connected correctly it should look like this:
That's all there really is to it, find some where large enough to assemble the antenna and when you are done dissemble it again and if you want to receive signals from a wider angle simply disconnect the resistor from the antenna leaving it grounded at only one end, this design is extremely simple and tolerant to imperfections and easy to play with and see what results you get
Daktologist
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