Will simply clipping some speaker wire to my shortwaves antenna improve reception?

Question

I'm not a super-enthusiast shortwave person. I bought a very nice, tiny handheld model, with which I already enjoy a decent amount of world band stations. I listen for fun, nothing more. If I can do something simple to pick up a few more stations at night, or to get the ones I have come in clearer, I will. I hear people mentioning gator clips and wires and such, but some mentioned sauldering and all of that. WAY more complicated than I can handle, lol. Just want to know if I clip a wire to my antenna with a clip, and hang it out my window or something, does that have the potential to improve some shortwave reception? Or do people mean more than that when they mention "clipping a speaker wire on with a gator clip"?

Answer 1

Duh has it right.  When it comes to antennas, the usuall rules are Bigger Higher and Farther away.  The bigger i.e. longer your wire is, the more capture it will be capable of showing.  The higher is not as critical for short wave, but it should be a reasonable distance above ground, i.e. 6 feet or more.  Farther away is important.  This means to keep it away from other objects especially metal objects.  Running the wire from your window to a tree or some such would be a good idea.  Enjoy the hobby, it's lots of fun.

Answer 2

No, that's what they mean. A gator clip is one of those little spring-loaded clips with the jagged edges on both the inside jaws - thus gator clip. With your set the only way to find out is to try. You won't hurt anything. And if you don't have a clip, just wind it around the end a few times, bare metal to bare metal.

A shortwave antenna is a bit more than AM/FM (and it will work for those two bands), but, as I said, it can't hurt.

If it works you'll know. There are a couple of SW enthusiasts who frequent this category, perhaps one of them will pipe in with a better answer.

-a guy named duh