Tag Archives: ferrite antennas

Giuseppe’s Clever Homebrew Ferrite Antenna for MW and SW Listening

Leave a reply

Screenshot

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè, who writes:

Dear Thomas,
I’m Giuseppe Morlè, IZ0GZW, from Formia in central Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea.

This is one of my builds from a few years ago: the T Ferrite antenna. It’s a minimal antenna designed mainly for mediumwave, but it also performs well on shortwave.

Inside the tube at the top are two 12 cm ferrite rods with 32 turns of telephone wire wrapped around them—this section is for mediumwave. Then, on the outside of the tube, I added four more turns for shortwave. A variable capacitor of about 1000 pF completes the circuit.

Shortwave is activated with an alligator clip. When the clip is removed, only the mediumwave section is active.

I tested this antenna with my old Trio 9R-59DS from the 1970s—a tube receiver still in perfect condition. To my pleasant surprise, the receiver paired beautifully with the antenna.

These tests were done on mediumwave in the early afternoon yesterday while it was still light outside. With the antenna placed above the receiver inside my shack, I was able to receive stations from across the Mediterranean basin and Eastern Europe, even in areas where the sun had already set. I really enjoy testing this antenna before evening, and I’m very satisfied with its performance.

You can see the results in this video on my YouTube channel:

I hope this will be of interest to the friends in the SWLing Post community.

Best regards to you and to all,
Giuseppe Morlè, IZ0GZW

We always enjoy checking out your homebrew antenna designs, Giuseppe! Thank you!

Pavel’s Practical Electronics Homebrew Mediumwave Ferrite Antenna

2 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pavel Kraus, who shares the following guest post:

Mediumwave Ferrite Antenna

by Pavel Kraus

This antenna for MW was made according to the instructions from Everyday Practical Electronics magazine, September 2000. The author of the Active Ferrite Loop Aerial construction project is Raymond Haigh.

The antenna was only adjusted mechanically according to my capabilities. Reception on this antenna was tested with receivers Malahite DSP 2 – original, Belka, Qodosen DX 286, AOR 7030+, Eton E1 XM and other receivers. Of course, the antenna does not replace a long wire antenna, but in limited urban conditions its performance is sufficient. I compared the antenna to Garry Thomas’ factory Quantum Loop.

Both antennas work similarly, Quantum Loop has a shielded ferrite rod, it is less susceptible to elmg. interference. Raymond Haigh’s antenna shows a bit more gain, the ferrite antenna is made up of 7 pieces of ferrite rods 20 cm long and 1 cm in diameter. The antenna is not shielded.

The construction of the antenna according to the instructions is not difficult. A Raimond Haigh antenna will definitely improve MW reception, especially for radios without an internal ferrite antenna. Instructions can be found at https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Practical-Electronics/00s/Everyday-Practical-Electronics-2000-09.pdf

Belka Test

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk-ngCQ8TFc

Qodosen DX286 Test

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F77HOJSmu_4

Malahite DSP2 Test

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2dvaCT9z6Y

High Noon: Belka MW shootout part 2, with a review of the AFA200C active MW ferrite antenna

15 Replies

High Noon: Belka MW shootout part 2, with a review of the AFA200C active MW ferrite antenna

by 13dka

When I reviewed the updated Belka (gen3, 2022) for its MW/LW performance in October last year, I just wanted to know if it’s any good with just the whip antenna and used the XHDATA D-808 as a reference radio because it’s a Jay Allen 2.5-star average performer on MW and my expectations were not high for MW reception on a short whip.  To my surprise that average bar turned out way too low for the Belka!

That was sure asking for a comparison with the most sensitive MW radio I have and gave me hope to use the Belka for ultra-portable MW DXing on the move.  The omnidirectional whip doesn’t allow me to null out unwanted co-channel interference though, therefore I wanted to find a reasonably sized loopstick antenna to pair with the Belka.  Continue reading →

Giuseppe’s latest homemade ferrite antenna for MW and SW

2 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who writes:

Dear friends,

I’m Giuseppe Morlè from Formia, central Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea.

I want to share with you my latest ferrite antenna for listening; it is composed of 3 ferrites of 20 cm each in a tube for electrical systems with 2 separate windings, one for medium waves and one for short waves, 40 turns for medium waves, 4 turns for short waves. I use a 750 pf variable to tune the 2 windings and a switch is used to eliminate a winding.  Since there is only one variable, if you listen to the medium waves I interrupt the winding of the shorts.

On shortwaves it is preferable to place the system on an iron railing which, due to inductive effect, behaves like a really long wire antenna.

For the mediumwaves it is enough to bring the receiver close to the ferrites and also in this case, the induction will have its effect with an excellent increase in signal and modulation.

The range of this portable antenna is:

      • 520 to 1800 kHz
      • 3.500 to 18.000 MHz

Here’s a video from my Youtube channel where I explain how it works:

I had previously built a similar antenna but with 12 cm ferrites–very portable.

Thank you for your attention and I wish you good listening.

73. Giuseppe Morlè iz0gzw.

This is brilliant, Giuseppe! I love how you never stop building and experimenting with various antenna designs! Thank you for sharing this with us!

Tecsun PL-990 Ferrite Rods

3 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Gareth Buxton, who writes:

Hi Thomas

I see that Anon-co have the Tecsun PL-990 Ferrite rod aerial for sale. It even says in the product description “You can use it for your DIY projects.” I thought it might be of interest to your MW/AM radio constructors, especially if they can build a radio that receives more stations than the Tecsun using the same part!

Click here for the product page at Anon-Co.

Cheers
Gareth

Thanks for the tip, Gareth. This would indeed make it easy to construct an external MW antenna. Thank you for the tip!

Guest Post: Pavel’s Homebrew “Monster” Drain Pipe FSL Antenna

16 Replies


Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pavel Kraus, for the following guest post:

Building a Drain Pipe FSL Antenna

by Pavel Kraus

Hi, I greet all DX fans and the entire SWLing Post community! I enjoy reading reading this blog and the diversity of contributions from our authors and contributors; many thanks from me for so much useful information.

The following are the construction notes of my FSL antenna, which I designed thanks to the suggestions of GaryDeBock, and other FSL designers.

The antenna is a classic design featuring 60 ferrite rods 200x 10 mm, which are placed on a plastic sewage pipe.

Pict 3: Pipe with ferrite rods and windings

Pict 4: Pipe with ferrite rods and windings

In addition, sewer pipe sections are used for the entire antenna cover. I assume that this material can be obtained in other countries as well. Continue reading →

Giuseppe’s Homebrew “TFerrite 2” Mediumwave & Shortwave Antenna

5 Replies

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Giuseppe Morlè (IZ0GZW), who shares the following:

Dear Thomas my friend,

I built another Tferrite, (TFERRITE 2), for medium waves–this time also with the shortwave option.

A single variable capacitor, 800 pf, and a primary winding on the 2 ferrites of about 46 turns, a secondary winding of 3 turns to pick up the signal and send it to the receiver.

On the PVC tube I wound 4 more coils, for the shortwaves, connecting the ends to the same variable together with the other ends.

I interposed a switch on one end to eliminate or insert shortwaves.

I am sending you these 3 links from my YT channel where you can see the tests I have done in these days with no propagation.

The yield in mediumwave is excellent, like the other one, yet also good for the shortwaves–to be so small it compares very well.

Let me know what you and the whole SWLing community think!

Thanks to you and a greeting from Italy, Formia on the Tyrrhenian Sea.
73. Giuseppe.

Videos

View on YouTube.

View on YouTube.

View on YouTube.

This is brilliant, Giuseppe! Thank you so much for sharing your homebrew antenna projects. It seems they work so well from your beautiful urban location in Italy!