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How to Hook Up an Antenna to a Single Wire Radio

Single-wire radios with long-wire antennas date to the very beginnings of radio. Early radios were primitive, consisting of a tuner and a detector with little or no amplification. Early radios, which included crystal set radios, typically used long-wire antennas to collect as much radio frequency energy as possible to compensate for the lack of amplification. Most modern and early radio performance will improve with a long-wire antenna. Long-wire antennas must be physically secured, located away from sources of interference and protected from lightning.

Things You'll Need

Rope
Two insulators
100 to 200 feet of insulated wire
Pocketknife
Screwdriver

Instructions

- 1
  Locate two trees or poles at least 20-feet tall. Select your anchor point, typically a crotch in the tree or a sturdy limb. Throw the rope to the anchor point and back to the ground. Repeat for the other end in another tree 50 to 100 feet away.
- 2
  Tie an insulator to one end of the rope. Tie insulated wire to the other end of the insulator. Unspool 50 to 100 feet of wire to serve as an antenna.
- 3
  Tie the end of the antenna section of wire to the other insulator and leave enough wire on the spool to reach to the radio. Tie rope to the other end of the second insulator and leave enough length to reach the second pole or tree.
- 4
  Pull the rope and tie it off once the insulator reaches the desired height at one end. Tie the rope to the trunk of the tree with a double knot. Repeat at the other end.
- 5
  Pull the loose end of the long-wire antenna gently to reach your radio. Locate the antenna terminal of the radio. Use a pocketknife to strip a half-inch of insulation from the end of the antenna wire.
- 6
  Unscrew the terminal with the screwdriver. Attach the bare antenna wire to the terminal. Screw the wire to the terminal with the screwdriver.

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