The Long Aerial

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 10, 18 September 1931, Page 29

The Long Aerial

A CORRESPONDENT, signing himself "Joe," writes commenting on his results with a long aerial. His is about 250 feet in length, 80 feet high at the far end, sloping down to 45 feet at the set end. It can bring in 4YA at phone strength and full speaker strength in the evening. On a normal aerial, 4YA was very rarely heard on the phones even in the evening. He is using a five-valve commercial set and is operating this in Greymouth. The nearest station, 3ZR, comes in very much better, and he can get this station on the speaker, whereas before it was heard only on the phones. The carrier wave of 2FC can be picked up during the day. The set is quite as selective as the one 80 feet long and 45 feet high. Another thing he finds is that the long aerial does not make a great deal of difference to the squeals that one makes when tuning in to a station. We are pleased to hear from correspondents who have had unusual experiences with an aerial. While it is quite a common thing for an aerial such as this to give vastly superior results as far as sensitivity is concerned, it is rare that selectivity is not impaired. We coricur with "Joe" when he says that if he were living near a broadcast station he would probably notice the difference. We think he would, for a long aerial is undoubtedly very unselective.