- #36
darth boozer
- 90
- 45
PVC pipe is fine, but cardboard tubes are often used because they are cheap or free. Sanding the wire insulation is OK, but make sure that adjacent turns cannot short to each other. Because you are not using a capacitor with the coil to form a tuned circuit, you are relying on unknown, stray, capacitance so the signals you pick up could possibly be in the lower part of the HF bands and be subject to fading, or the stray capacitance is changing as you move your arms etc. and thus tuning away from the station. The usual recommended circuit will tune to the AM band and your local stations should be strong and steady as well as being recognisable.