At 02:40 PM 11/1/97 -0500, you wrote:
>"AC outlet antenna"
>I am not telling you to do this. (Not responsibel for any screwups liberals
>can make.) I just describe what I did.
>When K7GCO wrote about using AC outlet for a receiving antenna, I though guy
>is nuts! But having great respect for his work, I figured I have to try it. I
>got old AC plug (one that you could flip is better), took the biggest HV
>capacitors I could find in my junk box, about 1000 pF, soldered to one pin of
>the plug. Connected wire to other end of capacitor, insulated with layers of
>heat shrink tubing and hooked to my antenna tuner. I was expecting avalanche
>of power frying F$%#@ line noise. No such thing!!! It was quiet and I could
>hear stations on the thing!!! Needed preamp, signals were down, but it sure
>worked better than wires in the sky on receive. Looks like house wiring up to
>about my nearest pole transformer was acting as antenna. (Fractal AC wiring?)
Do you hook the cap to the hot pin or the neutral on the plug? As the neutral
and ground are strapped to a ground rod at the service entrance panel, it
seems
one would have to couple via the cap to the "hot" wire in the a.c. outlet...
I must try this at the San Juan Marriott from the 14th floor! If I hear well,
I may take some large .1 mfd doorknobs I have and try transmitting on it too!
We had a "pirate" broadcast station (carrier current) in my high school days
in my home town (until the FCC caught us) that fed the power lines. It worked
too good...too many folks heard our signal on 1500 khz!!
(((73)))
Phil, K5PC
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