The London antenna is named after it's heroic use in WWII (so I've heard
it said). The best features are:

1 You don't need to string up two sides of the antenna
2 It's simple, cheap and easy to build
3 It works great on NVIS
4 Easily rolled up or deployed

So, go get 100 feet of RG-174 coaxial cable. It's not as easy to find as the
RG-58, but it's smaller and much more flexible. You can use RG-58 (that's
the stuff most CB operators use) but it won't fit in the ammo can. In addition,
a 25 foot roll of flexible hook-up wire is required. IF you can get it, and
RatShack can order it, get some test lead wire. It's really flexible, has
low resistance, and solders well. It's just a tad more expensive.

The antenna, to be resonant on 30 meters, has to be set up in two sections,
the two 1/4 wavelength sections on the drawing. Each is 24 feet 4 inches; long. Start
the antenna by soldering the hook-up wire to the center conductor of the
coil of coax, being careful NOT to have any shorting of the shield to any
part of the center conductor or wire. You might want to 'peel back' the
shield and jacket a bit and tape it back, not leaving a jagged edge.

Once you've done this, measure EXACTLY 24 feet 4 inches from the edge of the shield
outward along the center wire. Cut to this length. After you do this measure
EXACTLY 24 feet 4 inches from the end of the shield back along the coax jacket. Mark
this spot with a band of masking tape. Make sure the edge of the tape away
from the hook-up wire is at the 24 feet four inches mark.

Now, get a small piece of PVC pipe, anywhere from 1.5 inches to 2.0 inches in outside
diameter and about 2.0 inches long. Drill two 1/8th inch holes near the two ends
in the same axis. Thread the center conductor hook-up wire through one of
the holes. Stop it when the 24 feet 4 inches mark on the coax is just through the hole.
Wrap 10 turns of coax around the PVC, making sure the location of the wire
you fed through did not change. When you get this done, take the other end
of your coil of coax and feed it through the other drilled hole. Yep, it'll
take a while to do this, seeing you have a whole bunch of coax to feed through.

When you finish, you will have a nice coil on the form. Now you must secure
the coil. String up the coil and varnish it. Clear furniture varnish. SEVERAL
LAYERS! Make it thick. In the motor business we use a special electrical
varnish, but it's not necessary here because you aren't seeing high temperatures.
Anyway, when you get through, you will have a kind of amber-ish coil in
your antenna. You may want to paint it or something, your call.

You will need to reinforce the joint between the coax and hook-up wire.
Get a short piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe with two caps. Drill 1/8 inch holes in each
cap. Glue one cap to the pipe and thread it through, then thread the single
unattached cap through as well, getting them to the joint. Then, secure
the joint in the PC with a good dose of epoxy. Then glue the other cap on.
Let it set, and the joint will not be so delicate. You can use the antenna
without this feature, but the center conductor is delicate and would most
likely break in time.

Finally, measure off the lead length you want, and attach the PL-259 connector
to the end of the coax. Your antenna is ready.

This antenna makes a great general coverage antenna for short-wave listening
as well. It especially works well around the 10 MHZ band, but performs well
on all frequencies above 5 MHZ.

NOTE: The rig we will be using for a transceiver uses an RCA plug for the
signal in/out. BUT, attaching a PL-259 is much easier, and we can use an
adapter for connecting the rig. A round-about way to do it, but it works
better.

Kook