Subj : Antenna
To   : Ben Ritchey
From : Andrew Ball
Date : Mon Jul 04 2005 10:46 pm

Hello Ben,

  BR> I have a weather radio that get's poor reception so
    > I'd like to extend and/or complement the telescopic
    > indoor antenna with an external antenna.

Your copper wire may help.  If not, you could look for a weather radio that has 
an external antenna jack.  I use an inexpensive hand-held scanner and get good 
results with the supplied rubber duck.  It has a BNC connector though, so I 
could position an external antenna somewhere convenient and run coaxial cable 
into the house.  If you're just too far from any of the VHF FM NOAA stations, 
perhaps long-wave is an option.  I inherited a small transistor radio that has 
LW coverage (unusual in the U.S. I think) and find that I can also receive 
weather radio that way.

  BR> Full wavelength for a frequency of 162.5 MHz is
    > exactly 6 feet (remainder less than an inch)...

300 / 162.5 = 1.8461538m (roughly 6ft).  Without knowing how your radio's 
internal antenna is wired (what loading coil is used etc.) it's non-trivial to 
use these numbers in a meaningful way.  There's velocity factor to be taken 
into consideration too.  At least it's a receiver, so antenna measurements are 
perhaps less critical.

- Andy, KB9YLW

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