More on Shortwave Receivers... DX'ing, etc.
Daniel J. Morlan
now, I can receive a LOT more stations on just the whip antenna of my
BayGen. I sold my Sangean ATS-909 and a few other radios that I didn't use
so much so that I could buy the Satellit 800. I will miss the compact
nature of the 909, but I'm bound to buy the Eton E1 when it comes out to
fulfill THOSE wants, but I eventually want to get to some "serious DX'ing".
I wanted the Satellit 800 because I thought if I put a good enough antenna
on it, I'd have one heckuva "tabletop" shortwave radio that could catch some
good AM signal as well. Now that I'll be getting this Satellit 800 within a
day or two, my next mission is getting the "best" antenna I can for it.
I am a ham, but not as knowledgeable as I need to be as far as antennas go,
and technical expertise. I'm mostly versed on the etiquette, and code of
ham radio. I don't transmit at all if I can't transmit clearly enough to be
read well, etc... (I digress).
For now, I'd like to "soup up" my Satellit 800, and get a really good
antenna for it. (The best for the money, in other words.) And while I could
probably find this information online (which I will do) I always appreciate,
and have appreciated the feedback I got from you folks in times past. I
look back at my archive questions, and I laugh my head off.
(Hysterically.)
Thanks very much, guys, for your suggestions, and experience in this regard.
I'm made more radio savvy with every question answered, and I'll find myself
not having to make the mistakes often made by those who have to do
everything themselves. (I'm a bit nervous that I sold my 909. I loved that
radio, but wanted something better performance-wise.) I'll buy one back on
eBay if I end up disappointed. That 909 was a beautiful radio.
73's, WW6DJM
Daniel
(P.S. For those of you who might be a little miffed about my having a
vanity call being so inexperienced. Understand that it's my reflection of
being proud ,and excited about ham radio. Not an ego trip. When I ask
questions, it's because I want to try and be the best I can be. My callsign
has actually rubbed a few people the wrong way, and I can never fully
understand why.)
Best regards,
Dan
sdan...@nyc.rr.com
Daniel J. Morlan wrote:
> I enjoy shortwave very much when I have the time, and living in
Indianapolis
> now, I can receive a LOT more stations on just the whip antenna of my
> BayGen. I sold my Sangean ATS-909 and a few other radios that I
didn't use
> so much so that I could buy the Satellit 800. I will miss the
compact
> nature of the 909, but I'm bound to buy the Eton E1 when it comes out
to
> fulfill THOSE wants, but I eventually want to get to some "serious
DX'ing".
>
> >
> Dan
Where the near future is concerned, I hope you enjoy the Satellit 800.
Where the more distant future is concerned, if you really want to do
some "serious DXing", then I encourage you to consider something other
than the E1. In particular, you need to consider a tabletop receiver,
as the performance of the E1 is unlikely to be significantly better
than that of the Satellit 800.
I'm *assuming* that your primary interest is broadcast listening and
broadcast DXing. In that case, if you can afford it, spring for a new
AOR 7030+.
If you can't afford anything in the price range of a new 7030+, but
have an aversion to buying used equipment, then consider the Palstar
R30C or R30CC. It's very small and doesn't have a lot of bells and
whistles, but it's a significant step up from the Satellit 800.
If you don't mind buying used equipment, then you have many more
options. I suggest you consider a used Drake R8, R8A or R8B. One of
these would be a good choice if you have a secondary interest in
utilities, CW, and so on.
On the other hand, if the Eton "spin machine" really has its hooks in
you and you're determined to buy an E1, at least wait a few years until
they have the bugs ironed out of it. You shouldn't spend $500 of your
hard-earned money so that you can be one of the E1's beta testers.
As for an antenna for use with the S800, I suggest that you buy a
length of coax, an I.C.E. model 180 beverage/longwire matching
transfomer, a ground rod, and enough copper wire so that you can not
only erect a sizeable antenna but experiment with a number of different
antenna designs to see what works best in your circumstances. This will
be great fun, and it will give you more than enough antenna for the
800, which will begin to overload anyway if the antenna gets too large
(I found this out myself, the hard way). My guess is you'll get
excellent results with a random wire antenna, but half the fun is
experimenting.
Later, when you have a 7030+, a Drake or whatever you end up with, you
can consider building a much larger antenna. At this point it might
also make sense to consider something like a Wellbrook loop, especially
if (1) you don't mind spending a few hundred bucks on an antenna and
(2) you don't have the space in which to erect a large wire antenna.
Whatever you decide to do, I hope it works out well for you. Keep us
posted!
Steve
Daniel J. Morlan
house, and a small yard. It's all mine, but it's pretty small. (No doubt I
can still arrange some kind of dipole.) GROUNDING is something I've been
lax with, and will be more dilligent with this time 'round. My shortwave
antennas have typically been speaker wire that gets thumb tacked around the
corners of the house, or along the edge of the house outside. A good ground
will probably improve my reception appreciably, but Mrs. Won't like me
having my radio in the living room all the time, and I'll have to go
upstairs once in awhile to listen.
As for the E1, I hadn't even planned on buying it this year. $500.00 for a
tiny radio that does what the 909 does, but has XM isn't my idea of a good
investment, but I *DO* like the panel a lot.
I saw a nice little portable shortwave receiver that seemed to have
"features" I found very good. I believe it was called a Degen 1103? (or
1130? GOsh, I can't remember now) but I liked seeing the panel lit up, as
well as the buttons. They can be bought comparatively cheap as well, but...
I'm going to enjoy playing with my Grundig for quite a long time, and I'll
know when it's time to get something new. It's good to know that the same
old antenna plans are always a good way to go. I WAS thinking mainly of
some sort of erectable pole or stationary single antenna. (Something for
the 80MPH severe thunderstorms to knock out.)
I think what I will do is just run a wire along the perimeter of my house
outside, hook it up to a 3-4 foot ground (the ground never gets dry here in
Indianapolis... NEVER EVER) and run a little bit of wire through the winder
where I'll hook it up with alligator clips to the whip.
(Lemme guess. THAT'S a bad plan...) <someone's gonna tell me that, and
I'll feel like a flaming arse...
73, ww6djm
Daniel
<sdan...@nyc.rr.com> wrote in message
news:1111932615.6...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
Dan
I'd suggest getting one of Joe Carrs books on building an external
antenna ( Probably get them at universal radio)
THEN:
Sketch ouot some camoflage designs, talk with your wife;;
- and , tehn when both agree.. go build an outdoor antenna
Dan
sdan...@nyc.rr.com
> I think what I will do is just run a wire along the perimeter of my
house
> outside, hook it up to a 3-4 foot ground (the ground never gets dry
here in
> Indianapolis... NEVER EVER) and run a little bit of wire through the
winder
> where I'll hook it up with alligator clips to the whip.
>
> (Lemme guess. THAT'S a bad plan...) <someone's gonna tell me that,
and
> I'll feel like a flaming arse...
>
> 73, ww6djm
>
> Daniel
That might be an improvement over your current setup. However, it sure
would be nice to get the wire *away* from the house and away from all
its accompanying sources of RFI. This is likely to result in much
quieter reception, especially if you use a matching transformer to mate
the antenna to a length of coax, which would then run into your house
and to your receiver.
Of course, this sort of arrangement will require you to find a
*stealthy* way to run a wire along (at least) one side of your
property, but that's not so difficult. You could conceivably use magnet
wire, which would practically be invisible even when elevated fairly
high into the air. Mind you, very thin magnet wire is definitely going
to *break* every now and then; but, once you have everything else in
place, it might only take a few minutes to run outside and put another
length of magnet wire in place.
It might also be possible to find some stronger, stranded wire with an
insulation that will make it difficult to see. Many possibilities here.
If none of these ideas thrill you, then maybe it really is time to
think about springing for an antenna specially designed for people who
have space limitations. I use a Wellbrook 330S and am very happy with
it. The downside to the Wellbrook is its cost: around £169.00 and £30
for shipping. Also, if you plan to use it on MW, you'll want to spring
for a rotor as well, as the Wellbrook is very directional on MW.
If the Wellbrook costs too much, there are alternatives. Although I
have no experience with them, several people have told me they've had
excellent results with the RF Systems MTA antenna, which is a passive,
vertical antenna. Like the Wellbrook, it's supposed to be a very quiet
antenna. Universal Radio carries it, and it's less expensive than the
Wellbrook ($199.95 at the moment).
Steve
Buzzygirl
"Daniel J. Morlan" <dmorlanders...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:Inz1e.11748$ZB6....@newssvr19.news.prodigy.com...
> I saw a nice little portable shortwave receiver that seemed to have
> "features" I found very good. I believe it was called a Degen 1103? (or
> 1130? GOsh, I can't remember now) but I liked seeing the panel lit up, as
> well as the buttons. They can be bought comparatively cheap as well,
but...
I have the Degen 1103. It's a great little portable for the money, but it's
no DX machine, and not in the same class as the Drake or Satellit 800 lines.
It's an ergonomic pain in the patoot to operate compared to most sub-$100
portables, too; I've pretty much gotten used to its idiosyncracies, and I
have been impressed by its nice performance. However, I would not consider
this is a "main" radio unless you had no more money to spend than $75.00 on
a radio. It would be a nice adjunct to a better tabletop radio.
Jackie
RHF
.
Shortwave Listener (SWL) Antenna for the
Grundig Satellit 800 Millennium Radio
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/message/2729
.
Lets Think : Out-of-the-Box {Ready-Made} Shortwave Listener
(SWL) Antennas for a Minute.
.
For Larger Size Backyards consider these ready-made Shortwave
Listener (SWL) Antennas that cover the Shortwave Bands and
the AM/MW/BCB Band approximately: 500 kHz to 30 MHz.
.
* Barker & Williamson BWD-90 Broadband Folded Dipole Antenna
[90 Feet Long]
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamwire/0872.html
.
* Alpha Delta DX-ULTRA Antenna
[80 Feet Long]
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/3377.html
.
* ICOM AH-710 Multi-Band Folded-Dipole Antenna
[80 Feet Long]
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamwire/2715.html
.
* Antenna Supermarket Eavesdropper Sloper Antenna
[68 Feet Long]
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/0013.html
.
* Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper Antenna
[60 Feet Long]
* * Alpha Delta DX-SWL-S {Shortened} Sloper Antenna
[40 Feet Long]
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/0799.html
.
* RF Systems T2FD Antenna
[45 Feet Long]
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/0562.html
.
* Par Electronics EF-SWL [End-Fed Short Wave Listener}
Antenna [45 Feet Long]
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/2205.html
.
For smaller size backyards consider these ready-made Shortwave
Listener (SWL) Antennas that cover the Shortwave Bands and
the AM/MW/BCB Band approximately: 500 kHz to 30 MHz.
.
* RF Systems WFL {Wideband Folded Loop} Antenna
[25 Feet Long by Four Feet Wide]
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamwire/2039.html
.
* RF Systems EMF {Electro-Magnetic Field} Antenna
[16 Feet Long]
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/0743.html
.
* RF Systems Mini-Windom Antenna
[16 Feet Long]
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/3575.html
.
* RadioMaster P-30 Antenna
[15 Feet Long]
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/1331.html
.
IMHO - Your simplest and lowest coat 'ready-made' Shortwave
Listener's Antenna (Best Bang for the Buck) providing very
good results is the Par Electronics EF-SWL [End-Fed Short
Wave Listener} Antenna Configured as an Inverted "L" Antenna
with a 15 Foot Vertical-Up-Leg and a 30 Foot Horizontal-Out-Arm
[45 Feet Total] Plus a Ground Rod and Coax Cable Feed-in-Line.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/2205.html
.
PAR EF-SWL ANTENNA READING LIST :
- Par Electronics EF-SWL Antenna configured as a
Low Noise Inverted "L" Antenna
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/message/2593
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/message/2603
- Why the Low Noise Inverted "L" Antenna is a Good Choice
for a Shortwave Listener
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/message/2002
- The 'simple' Answer (in most cases) is the
Low Noise Inverted "L" Antenna
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/message/1785
- Make your 'basic' Inverted "L" Antenna a
LOW NOISE Inverted "L" Antenna
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/message/1717
- What "Shape" is your End-Fed Shortwave Antenna ?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/message/1711
.
.
iane ~ RHF
.
All are WELCOME and "Invited to Join" the
Shortwave Listener (SWL) Antenna eGroup on YAHOO !
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/>
.
Some Say: On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/message/502
.
I BELIEVE: On A Clear Night . . .
You Can Hear Forever and Beyond, The BEYOND !
With a Shortwave Listener SWL Antenna of your own making.
"If You Build It {SWL Antenna} You Will Hear Them !"
.
.