"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...


One of the classics -- which I haven't seen for at least a decade,
probably
because of the rise of cable TV -- was the little box that "Turn[ed] your
house wiring into a giant antenna!" It was an AC plug with a small
capacitor.


that little box with the capacitor actually worked. And there was an
article in popular electronics (I think) in the 60s saying how to make one -
it wasn't as good as a real long wire antenna, but it was far better than
nothing or a short wire antenna. Of course the magic box was over priced,
but at least there was some validity in the principle

On Nov 15, 8:46*am, "Bill Noble" wrote:
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message

One of the classics -- which I haven't seen for at least a decade,
probably
because of the rise of cable TV -- was the little box that "Turn[ed] your
house wiring into a giant antenna!" It was an AC plug with a small
capacitor.

...*Of course the magic box was over priced,
but at least there was some validity in the principle

Some, yes. Much, no. If you use 'your house wiring' as an antenna,
it is an antenna that is re-aimed/adjusted with every appliance
plugin.
Dipole "rabbit ears" that you can hand-position are far superior. A
second point of superiority, is that you can chose a place for the
antenna that is
not next to the local wildlife. Squirming kids can do amazing things
to the near field of an antenna, and the whole house antenna's
near field is ... the whole house.

Gee, I dunno. It seems the whole house connected to the electrical grid would form the world's
greatest long wire antenna.

Bob Swinney
"whit3rd" wrote in message
...
On Nov 15, 8:46 am, "Bill Noble" wrote:
"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message

One of the classics -- which I haven't seen for at least a decade,
probably
because of the rise of cable TV -- was the little box that "Turn[ed] your
house wiring into a giant antenna!" It was an AC plug with a small
capacitor.

... Of course the magic box was over priced,
but at least there was some validity in the principle

Some, yes. Much, no. If you use 'your house wiring' as an antenna,
it is an antenna that is re-aimed/adjusted with every appliance
plugin.
Dipole "rabbit ears" that you can hand-position are far superior. A
second point of superiority, is that you can chose a place for the
antenna that is
not next to the local wildlife. Squirming kids can do amazing things
to the near field of an antenna, and the whole house antenna's
near field is ... the whole house.

"Robert Swinney" writes:

Gee, I dunno. It seems the whole house connected to the electrical grid would form the world's
greatest long wire antenna.

It's not always the size that matters.

Antennas get better reception when they are proportional to the
wavelength. So in some cases, shortening the antenna improves
performance.

And if you think I am using an idiom, I suggest you do not try any
experiments.