I'd love to believe it, but it makes no sense to me....

[Steve]

http://www.cvni.net/radio/e2k/e2k029/e2k29miniwhip.html

[dxAce]

Steve wrote:

> http://www.cvni.net/radio/e2k/e2k029/e2k29miniwhip.html

A European version of the Tiny-Tenna?

dxAce
Michigan
USA

[cuh...@webtv.net]

Haw Haw Haw!
cuhulin

[John Plimmer]

I own one of these little Roelof mini-whips
A nice little performer and highly portable.
As the article states, it must be mounted HIGH outside and well away from
any noise source.
It's a bit prone to noise pickup compared to my DX 1 Pro though.

I think it's a bit more sophisticated than the Tiny-Tenna

--
John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D GE SRIII
BW XCR 30, Braun T1000, Sangean 818 & 803A.
GE circa 50's radiogram
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

"dxAce" <dx...@milestones.com> wrote in message
news:449DB5EC...@milestones.com...

[RHF]

JP,

I too own one of the PA0RDT-Mini-Whip {Active} Antennas
and have used one of the Tiny-Tenna {Active} Antennas
in the past with a Drake SW1 Radio.

The PA0RDT is simply a better Antenna inch-per-inch
then the Tiny-Tenna and as good as a few other Larger
and Higher Priced "Active" Whip Antennas on the Market.
http://www.beaconworld.org.uk/beaconrx.htm

For an Apartment Deweller or Condo Owner the
PA0RDT-Mini-Whip {Active} Antenna may be the
Answer to the Question - OK ? What can I use for
a Shortwave Antenna ? - That no one will see and
will allow me to hear something . . .

As you point out the trick with the PA0RDT-Mini-Whip
{Active} Antenna is to get it out-an-away form the House
and up-and-in-the-air away from sources of Noise.

Grounding is via the Coax Cable and good Grounding is
important in Antenna performance and Noise Reduction.
A Gound Block in the Coax Cable feed-in-line may be
required at the base of the Antenna {Vertical-Up-Leg}
to get the most out of this Mini-Whip Antenna.

I first read about the PA0RDT-Mini-Whip {Active} Antenna
in Guy Atkins -Grayland DXpedition Loggings - April 9-10,
& Antenna Report
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/ac009fec44d499c8
Guy wrote - "I used two newly-acquired antennas which
complement each other well--the Wellbrook ALA 100
and the tiny PA0RDT "Mini-Whip" (about the height of
a pencil). The antenna is powered through the coax
(like the ALA 100) using a small interface box mounted
near the receiver. The antenna and the well-built interface
box are sold by Dutch NDB enthusiast Roelof Bakker,
PA0RDT, for just 43 Euros (shipping to USA included).
I think Roelof may have tweaked the antenna element
to produce better results above longwave, based on
some other information I've heard. By the way, this
antenna uses an overload-resistant amplifier designed
with some advice from well-known Oregon NDB'er
Steve Ratzlaff."

READ - Roelof Bakker [PA0RDT] "Mini-Whip" Active Antenna
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.radio.shortwave/msg/cf2f31c35c17d36f

N8KOM Loaded a PDF File "pa0rdt-Mini-Whip.pdf"
Description of the PA0RDT "Mini-Whip" Active Antenna
to the Shortwave Listeners (SWL) Antennas Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/files/

just my two cents worth - iane ~ RHF
.
.
. .

[John Plimmer]

RHF
You have a very good point about it's use for condo dweller's as a "stealth"
antenna.
I have a friend who lives in a condo and they absolutely refused to allow
him any type of antenna, but he has sneaked up a PA0RDT-Mini-Whip mounted on
a very thin fishing rod - nobody seems to have noticed and nobody has
complained...!!
He is a LF NDB DXer and gets the most amazing results from his Roelof
mini-whip.
At $43 it's a snip - compared with my DX 1 Pro which costs 15 times more,
it's quite impressive.

--
John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa
South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s
RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods
Drake SW8 & ERGO software
Sony 7600D GE SRIII
BW XCR 30, Braun T1000, Sangean 818 & 803A.
GE circa 50's radiogram
Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270
Kiwa MW Loop
http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx

"RHF" <rhf-new...@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:1151224441....@c74g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

[Steve]

Hmmm. Does the designer have a website?

Steve

[Steve]

I'll have to go back and read Guy's post. I think I was traveling with
limited access to email when it appeared.

Here's another interesting account of a DXpedition featuring this tiny
whip:

http://wireless.org.uk/loopy.htm

He doesn't discuss the whip in much detail. I provide the link above
primarily because it's an interesting read. But get this. The author
sets up a 350 ft. circumference loop and and a 120 ft. long inverted L
at a height of 65 ft. Big antennas by most people's standards. Then,
toward the end, he remarks:

"I also took the PA0RDT mini-whip with me and on a 20ft pole it was
easily as sensitive as the big aerials, slightly less noisy than the
Marconi but not as quiet as the loop."

All I can say is, there must be some special amplifier in this thing
because there's very little there to gather signal.

Steve

[RHF]

Steve,

The latest design of the PA0RDT-Mini-Whip {Active} Antenna
uses a 2"x1" PC Board that has Half etched for the Active
Antenna Ciricuit and the other Half is un-etched Copper
Sheet (1"x1") which is the Antenna Element.

The PC Board is enclosed in short section of PVC Pipe
and Capped. One of the End-Caps has a BNC Connector
to connect the Coax Cable feed-in-line.

Inch-per-Inch it is an Awesome 'little' Antenna that
produces Big Results for it's relative size - IMHO

FYI - PA0RDT-Mini-Whip {Active} Antenna
Contact Info : "Roelof Bakker"
- - - roelof [AT] ndb [DOT} demon [DOT} nl - - -

hope this helps ~ RHF
.
.
. .

[Steve]

RHF wrote:
> JP,
>
> I too own one of the PA0RDT-Mini-Whip {Active} Antennas
> and have used one of the Tiny-Tenna {Active} Antennas
> in the past with a Drake SW1 Radio.
>
> The PA0RDT is simply a better Antenna inch-per-inch
> then the Tiny-Tenna and as good as a few other Larger
> and Higher Priced "Active" Whip Antennas on the Market.
> http://www.beaconworld.org.uk/beaconrx.htm
>

RHF, have you ever use one of the LF Engineering H800 active whips? If
so, how would you say the H800 compares to the PA0RDT-Mini-Whip?

Steve

[RHF]

Steve,

Yes - I have used {still have one} the LF Engineering H-800
Skymatch Active Antenna {more of a 26" PVC Tube then
a Whip} -but- that was long ago.
http://www.grove-ent.com/ANT15.html

I will try an bring the H800 from Oakland up to Twain Harte
and do a side-by-side of the two out of the deck to really
get an idea of just how they perform.

I also have a few other Active {Whip} Antennas
to try out now that the weather is better :
Dressler ARA60 (Used)
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/4061.html
LF Enginnerring H800 (Used)
http://www.grove-ent.com/ANT15.html
Sony AN-1 (Used)
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/2206.html
NASA ??? (Used)
http://www.yachtbits.com/nasa/ssb_active_antenna.php
RF Systems DX-10 Professional
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/sw_ant/2868.html

Just need to put up two pieces of 21-Foot Top-Rail
about 20 Feet apart out about 40 Feet off the deck
and sit down to enjoy some Radio Listening.
Probably need to run a simple 50 Foot Low Noise
Random Wire Antenna to use as a practical
benchmark for relative Radio Signal Readings.
Most likely use a Grundig Satellit 800 Radio
for the tests.

so little time and so many antennas :o) ~ RHF
.
.
. .

[Steve]

Very interesting. Please let do the comparison and let us know the
results!

Steve

[RHF]

Steve there is a LF Engineering LF/MF/HF Active Antenna
on eBay right now being sold by Oh No ! "RadioMart" ~ RHF

FYI - eBay Item Number 260001322193
.
.
. .