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Messages - BoomboxDX

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1
General Radio Discussion / Re: Vintage analogue/ tube receivers for BCL/SWL DXing?
« on: August 04, 2020, 0154 UTC »
If by "analogue" you mean non-digital tuner readout, sure -- a lot of radios are still good, just as long as they are operating correctly. My Yaesu FRG-7 is still very good on SW and excellent on MW. You get within 5-10 khz using the analog dial readout, which is close enough for SWBC and even most ham listening. On MW it's easier because the MW band is fairly standard -- stations are either 9 or 10 khz apart and if you know the band in your area it's easier to figure out where you are.

Other analog radios of the pre-digital era can have good performance, and the readout still will leave a certain amount of guesswork, depending on the way the radio's tuning scheme is set up -- some of the Panasonic and Sony radios had crystal markers, which would help in tuning.

But the radio circuits themselves were probably as good as most DSP chips in SW portables today. With SW, a lot of it is the antenna, anyway.

Just my 2 cents.

2
Propagation / Re: ARLP029 Propagation de K7RA
« on: July 25, 2020, 1315 UTC »
If the new solar cycle has officially started, it looks like it's more with a whimper than a bang.

3
Equipment / Re: Please recommend some good MW and LW DX radios
« on: July 01, 2020, 0401 UTC »
Quote from: alpard on June 30, 2020, 1927 UTC
Thanks for all your info & feedbacks. Great stuff !!
Yeah, I think I will be making something very very simple, something like this I have seen on Youtube.
I think you can buy one made from TECSUN, but that is about 20-30 USD. Why not make something like this which will cost less than a fiver? and works same as the bought ones. :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl5t0v9guho

Because a new 365 pf tuner cap might cost as much as a factory made loop? They're getting more and more rare now, especially when most radios are digitally, and DSP tuned. Even used, 'junk' radios are getting rare at local thrift stores here where I live in the US.

4
Equipment / Re: Please recommend some good MW and LW DX radios
« on: June 30, 2020, 0457 UTC »
One thing to remember is that there are still AM/MW loop antennas that you can buy here in the US for around $50 USD (the Eton AN100 is one of them). You just sit them next to a portable radio.

I have two of them and they work almost as well as the crate loop.

5
Equipment / Re: Please recommend some good MW and LW DX radios
« on: June 26, 2020, 0325 UTC »
^^^^^ Sounds like a good plan. And remember, my previous post was off in wire length... 33 meters or so of wire around the box, not .33.

6
General Radio Discussion / Re: CHAZ Free Radio Stations?
« on: June 18, 2020, 0229 UTC »
On a different radio forum it's reported that there are none in the area.

7
General Radio Discussion / Re: Electronic surveillance of protesters
« on: June 16, 2020, 0943 UTC »
RE: phones: according to some activist organizations' PDFs readily available online, phone security (and wariness) is definitely discussed. I suppose this apparent monitoring from the skies is one of the reasons.

8
Equipment / Re: What are you using for SWLing?
« on: June 11, 2020, 0155 UTC »
Alpard -- I also listen to MW at night, and DX the MW when the conditions are good. MW still has plenty of stations and signals here in my corner of the US. I usually listen on one of my Sangeans, and sometimes my GE Superadio. My boomboxes are in storage right now. :-)

9
Equipment / Re: Please recommend some good MW and LW DX radios
« on: June 11, 2020, 0152 UTC »
Even a passive loop will work on MW (and LW). I use a plastic crate that is about one foot square (33 meters, roughly), and it has 110 turns of wire around it, with a 365 pf tuner capacitor to tune it. For LW, one would add more wire. I forget how long a piece of wire it would take -- maybe 30-40 meters of wire, and you cut to fit maybe?

They're easy enough to make if you have the tuner capacitor and wire.

My crate loop boosts any of my MW radios by at least 2 db or more.


Edited to ADD: it's 33 meters, NOT .33 meters, as the original post stated. The ".33 meters" was a typo. Woops.

10
Equipment / Re: What are you using for SWLing?
« on: June 10, 2020, 0246 UTC »
Quote from: alpard on June 07, 2020, 1545 UTC
I was trying to listen to Radio Korea this afternoon on my XHDATA and other HF receivers on 15575 Khz.
But there was nothing, just noise. Antenna I was using were outside long wire in the garden, and indoor loop and builtin telescopic antenna on the radios. None of them were picking any signals on the freq. and yet it is supposed to be on AIR on the freq at the time.

Propagation on SW overall has been horrible the past several years. Just because a station is broadcasting does not mean you will be able to hear it.

I gave up on SW two years ago after hearing nothing but static (and Radio Havana) night after night after night. Some nights even WWV didn't come in, and in all my life I've never experienced that. And I have better radios than I had when I was a kid...

I haven't touched my SW radios in months. No reason to. When propagation picks up in a year or two, then I'll tune back in. But that's just me.

PS -- Don't expect miracles from a new radio -- even an SDR can only hear what is propagating.  Some guys are hearing more on SW if they're farther south of the auroral zone, and yes, a really good outside antenna can probably help, too.

11
Equipment / Re: Please recommend some good MW and LW DX radios
« on: June 10, 2020, 0239 UTC »
Your 803A is a good MW receiver... You just need an external loop antenna to boost signals to the radio. The DX-392 is similar.

Even a very good MW radio can receive signals better with an external loop antenna.

So I would get a MW loop antenna before getting a new radio, for MW.

LW is a different issue, because there aren't many Longwave loop antennas available to buy. You would have to build one. All you need is a frame (a plastic crate will do), 30 meters of wire, and a 365 pf tuner capacitor.

Using a long-wire antenna with either the 803A and DX-392 (for Longwave) is not a terrific idea, unless you have very good static electricity protection, because the RF transistors on those two radios can zap easily from thunderstorms, or even you touching the radio's whip antenna with your hand during the winter and zapping it with static discharge.


12
MW Loggings / Re: XEUT 1630 AM 0412 UTC 16 March 2020
« on: April 01, 2020, 0251 UTC »
It's always cool to hear XEUT, because of the great music they play. Unfortunately, they don't make it up the coast with good signals all that often.

13
General Radio Discussion / Re: Radio during and post pandemic
« on: March 20, 2020, 2040 UTC »
Not making light of the situation, I understand that radio stations and companies -- like other companies and jobsites -- are concerned for the health of their employees, as well as their industry.

But it also looks like IHeart's digital delivery center idea was right on time....

14
General Radio Discussion / Re: New Tecsun Portables to be last?
« on: March 07, 2020, 1138 UTC »
I think Eton is a re-badge of Grundig, at least with some of their products.

15
General Radio Discussion / Re: Oakland A's leave radio, what would Charlie Finley think?
« on: February 25, 2020, 0256 UTC »
I guess the Sacramento station that they will be on covers the Bay Area fairly well -- supposedly most of the East Bay is within the contours of their 'local' quality signal. At least theoretically. Not being a Bay Area person, I don't know how well the station reaches the Bay Area in the real world....

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