Messages

1

Equipment / Re: Purchased my first shortwave radio...not sure what to expect

« on: December 03, 2016, 2351 UTC »

Play around with the antenna. A decent external antenna will make a lot of difference. The simplest thing is get wire, hang it up and clip it to your built-in telescopic. The more you can get, and the higher you can put it up, the better. I used to have about 65' of wire up (with 45' of it straight across and above my roof, the rest bending down toward and into my window) which got a lot more signals than the whip could pull in.

If you're feeling adventurous, you can build your own. I built two different loops following these instructions (one is to specifications, the other is larger so I could get lower frequencies) and they work very well. (I bought a variable capacitor rather than dig one out of an old am/fm receiver as suggested.)

http://www.kr1st.com/swlloop.htm

There is also the broomstick antenna of Arnie Coro, a famous host with Radio Habana Cuba which I hear works well. I'm not sure precisely what kind of antenna tuner he means (there are many different ones available for different antenna styles) but I imagine a basic one is what he had in mind.

http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx/antenna/special/bromstik.html

These are good places to start. You can also buy any number of antennas from online retailers, but they can be pricey and there are a large number of different styles. I think many are intended for use with tranceivers which of course are much more advanced than your portable. You're better off keeping it simple for now.

BTW I'm surprised that you're not at least hearing Radio Australia in the morning. Keep trying for that one.

Thanks for the advise...reading between the lines from your comments it sounds like antennae are a big factor in shortwave reception.

With this in mind I returned the Tecsun PL-380 in favour of a unit with proper antennae connections and purchased an ETON FIELD RADIO 550.

For an extra $100 it seemed like a logical choice.

It will take some time to build these antennae but I will keep you all posted on developments.

Best Regards, Hedghog

Ok so there have been a number of developments.

I spent a week at French Beach Provincial Park right after Remembrance Day which is right on the shores of the Juan De fuca Strait.

Even though the ETON FIELD RADIO 550 had arrived in the mail I didn't even open the box and decided to give the Tecsun PL-380 one more kick at the cat before returning it a second time.

Boy was I surprised...if you want to listen to shortwave radio move out of town...it makes a world of difference!  The same radio that provided zero stations in the City of Victoria BC Canada now was receiving the following at one time or another:
-At least 2 coordinated universal time stations
-New Zealand
-Australia
-At least 3 stations from Asia somewhere

So I did a little research and went and purchased a 100ft roll of #18 wire and some 1" pvc for insulators and next time I'm in the bush gonna start building some makeshift antennae.  Gonna start playing around with the following long wire lengths: 29  35.5  41  58  71  84

So the Tecsun PL-380 works just fine so I'm keeping it and I returned the ETON FIELD RADIO 550.  With it's ability to charge off a USB connection (USB adaptor in cig lighter) as well as its portability for remote operations, the Tecsun PL-380 is the better choice...and it works just fine for what I need it for.

2

Equipment / Re: Purchased my first shortwave radio...not sure what to expect

« on: November 04, 2016, 0624 UTC »

Play around with the antenna. A decent external antenna will make a lot of difference. The simplest thing is get wire, hang it up and clip it to your built-in telescopic. The more you can get, and the higher you can put it up, the better. I used to have about 65' of wire up (with 45' of it straight across and above my roof, the rest bending down toward and into my window) which got a lot more signals than the whip could pull in.

If you're feeling adventurous, you can build your own. I built two different loops following these instructions (one is to specifications, the other is larger so I could get lower frequencies) and they work very well. (I bought a variable capacitor rather than dig one out of an old am/fm receiver as suggested.)

http://www.kr1st.com/swlloop.htm

There is also the broomstick antenna of Arnie Coro, a famous host with Radio Habana Cuba which I hear works well. I'm not sure precisely what kind of antenna tuner he means (there are many different ones available for different antenna styles) but I imagine a basic one is what he had in mind.

http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx/antenna/special/bromstik.html

These are good places to start. You can also buy any number of antennas from online retailers, but they can be pricey and there are a large number of different styles. I think many are intended for use with tranceivers which of course are much more advanced than your portable. You're better off keeping it simple for now.

BTW I'm surprised that you're not at least hearing Radio Australia in the morning. Keep trying for that one.

Thanks for the advise...reading between the lines from your comments it sounds like antennae are a big factor in shortwave reception.

With this in mind I returned the Tecsun PL-380 in favour of a unit with proper antennae connections and purchased an ETON FIELD RADIO 550.

For an extra $100 it seemed like a logical choice.

It will take some time to build these antennae but I will keep you all posted on developments.

Best Regards, Hedghog

3

Equipment / Re: Purchased my first shortwave radio...not sure what to expect

« on: November 04, 2016, 0158 UTC »

Thanks for all your help guys...some great information.

As it turns out I exchanged the unit for a new one with the same result so its not the unit.

I like to tinker however I was hoping to be able to tune in to at least one SW station without alot of effort.

With this in mind, should I simply upgrade right now to something better or play around with the antenna?

Best Regards, Hedghog

4

Equipment / Re: Purchased my first shortwave radio...not sure what to expect

« on: November 02, 2016, 1416 UTC »

Thanks you for all the helpful information.

For a novice like me this is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for.

So it does seem like I am on the right track as I cannot seem to tune in to a single discernible station.

With this in mind, I will exchange the unit for a new one and see how it works out.

If I still can't seem to get anything then I might have to look at getting a completely different unit.

Thanks again for your help.

Best Regards, Hedghog

5

Equipment / Purchased my first shortwave radio...not sure what to expect

« on: November 02, 2016, 0531 UTC »

First time poster...good to be here.

So I purchased a PL-380 to listen to CKZU 6160 while I am off the grid on Vancouver Island.

After putting batteries in it and running the ETM scan the radio picks up 3 stations none of which sound like anything.

I was hoping that picking up a SW station 150km away should not be too hard but am I expecting too much?

Am I possibly not using the radio correctly?

Whats the probability that my unit is DOA?

Any advise would be great.

Best Regards, Hedghog