HFU HF Underground
Technical Topics => Equipment => Topic started by: VK3BVW on February 14, 2016, 0328 UTC
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PREPARING FOR YOUR NEXT DXPEDITION - Part 1
One of the joys of listening to shortwave radio is going portable - setting up the gear in a completely different location to discover what reception is like in some other part of the country (or indeed, the world!). Last December, I wrote an article for The Spectrum Monitor on this very topic. It's my own particular "take" on this fun part of the radio hobby. PART 1 of the article has now been published at the Mount Evelyn DX Report. Part 2 will follow in a few days time!
Click the link if interested……
http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/preparing-for-your-next-dxpedition-part_13.html (http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/preparing-for-your-next-dxpedition-part_13.html)
Cheers, Rob VK3BVW
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Nice article. Look forward to part 2. I'm new to dxpeditioning. A few weeks ago, was traveling on business and was in Arizona for a week. I took the Elad SDR and Tecsun PL660 for radios. For antennas, I brought the quantum loop with mw and sw heads and the sony active wire loop. I was able to log a number of mexican mw stations. It was just interesting to listen to the content differences amongst the stations.
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Thanks pendulous. Great to see you doing some DX work away from home....even if it is on business trips! :) Even a simple long wire attached to either of your two receivers would do wonders to reception. The goal is trying to find a noise-free environment for listening, and that task seems to be getting harder every day. 73 and good luck with your DXpeditioning! Rob
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Most of my transmitting trips were mini-dxpeditions. I can't say enough about the Sangean 909's of the same vintage as Rob's. You could attach hundreds of feet of wire to the things and not overload them.
Triple check your batteries and antennas before you go. There's nothing like driving two hours to Big Nowhere National Forest and finding out you've forgotten one or the the other.
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Great article. I am also looking forward to part 2. I do some mobile and portable operation also, HF through UHF.
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I can't say enough about the Sangean 909's of the same vintage as Rob's. You could attach hundreds of feet of wire to the things and not overload them.
Yes, the Sangean ATS 909 is rather underrated. It cops a bad rap for reception on the whip antenna, which is appalling, I'll admit. But I never try to use it with just the whip. As you say, get some wire strung out and this thing really fires, without overloading (a rare trait for modern portables these day!!).
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Terry, thanks for your feedback. Part 2 will be up on the blog at the start of this weekend.
Rob