What Projects and Shout 2 ThaDood

[NQC]

Hey All,

(I hope I am posting in the correct area )
 

Just a shout out to everyone
( and especially ThaDood )to see what types of projects ( radio or otherwise) folks are doing or , in general, what’s up for the Summer.

Unfortunately my shop and radio capabilities have been knocked down around 90 %, and on top of that, I now have BIG QRM/QRN issues re newly installed systems in my apartment building.

But I am trying to have fun and working with what I have.

Mostly I am just now accumulating parts for ( hopefully) a better chance at gearing up and “ reopening “ my shop and also do more serious Dxing in the Fall ( maybe).

I have been mostly looking at designs for now.

I want a lightning audio “back up  “ to the lightning/ weather web pages.( Yes, I am actually LOOKING for static crashes)  .

I am a SERIOUS weather enthusiast. The 7 Kc and 24 Kc designs probably aren’t going to work out here for me, so I may just “default “ up to 150 Kc.Right now portable barefoot I am good on storms for around 90 or 100 miles during the day. I’d be happy IF I could double that though.So maybe a compact 150 Kc loop inductively coupled to the ferrite inside the  portable is in order.

Also looking at doing some quick receivers  for B’cast Band ie maybe a regen and a “ high “ performance crystal set, etc, etc.

Nothing big or fancy, just for some quick simple giggles.

Right now (receive only)  HF at my QTH is  “ OK”- with a indoor 40 M “quarter wave “ well stood off on ceramics onto all four walls of the bedroom.Thankfully the building is made of wood.

It’s “ decent “ when prop is up.
Summary: Fair on 75, “ better “ from 60 to 25 , gradually drops off higher. But it will grab 11/10 IF they are really up.Poor  below 75.But obviously the ant is crazy short and compromised down that low.

Bcast Band  is on external loops coupled the factory built receivers, WHEN I can dance around the computer hash that now blocks a lot of my former Dx favorites.Especially down low in the band.

Recently I had LOTS of fun copying Radio 48 /MRI on 6870. I have copied maybe 4 or 5 stations up around there over the last 3 or 4 months.So the quarter wave CAN  come through IF the prop does it’s bit as well.

The gear here now is  just a bit of home brew stuff and an ATS 803a and a Dx 440 .

But doing my best to “ keep the sunny side up “.It could be worse.

What are YOU folks up to ?

de NQC

[ThaDood]

Hello NQC!!! Thanks, for the shout-out. My 1st apartment was GND-floor of a complex BLDG, and no outside antennas allowed. That, was 1989. So, I strung a long wire, from my then Sangean ATS-803A portable, to the inner perimeter pf the APT. And??? Better daytime reception, where I was able to verify Radio USA, but at night, failing mercury vapor lights pegged the meter with BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, spectrum-wide. I was even seeing some noise on analog UHF TV channels! So, my cure was to get the hell outta' there. However, for your situation, do you have and reachable soil, gardens, or grassy grounds, close to one of your APT windows? If so, then shallow-burying and insulated wire, (Whatever length you could get away with.), might not give you great reception, but should lower the noise levels to where you could hear something out there. A friend of mine turned me on to the W.O.G., = Wire On Ground. Being just for RX'ing, you could use smaller coax, like RG-174, or even RG-59 TV coax works great. I wouldn't use Twinlead, since it's not shielded. To enhance reception, having a Balun could help as well. I'm using the W2DU 4:1 Current Balun on my W.O.G. This time of year, I'll plug the W.O.G. into my bed-side ATS-803A portable and 'better listen' to C2C AM from either our 10-mile-away Graveyard 1kW AM station, on 1240AM, or other stations that carry C2C AM. I'll also listen and fall-asleep to 160M and 75M HAM's. A couple good features of your ATS-803A / DX-440 portable is great sensitivity, and a decent RF Gain POT, on it. Antenna-wise, another suggestion is to utilize any close-by trees, and run a long wire to that. Even, to use a brown colored 'zip-cord' and run VERT up a tree to hide it. (Hopefully, you are not in an HOA. They suck...) So, good luck to ya! And, THANKS!!!!! OH!!! Decent lightning proximity site? Try   https://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;y=41.0296;x=-87.0117;z=5; 

[NQC]

Hey ThaDood and All.

VERY interesting re all of your  info.

Back in the Stone Age, I have used:

100 to 200 ft end feds on ground / or very low - for very long xtal set Dx ( ie Caribbean from various MA QTH’s)

low 500 ft dipoles ( for AfroEuro long wave broadcasts) .

2000 ft beverages low or on ground and 500 ft bare copper counterpoise in the ocean for SAQ Sweden on 17 Kc or for LW bcast.

Etc, blah, blah.

And of course, had different types of high mounted/ conventional antennas.

One ( but only ONE !) of my big issues right now is that I have a construction crew still working and nosing around on the property and I can’t/ don’t want to much until they leave.

I HOPED to get them out of here by September, but now they are in a big flap / lawsuit / cash flow issue with the building owner.

Recently, they are showing up much less frequently and are doing less when they ARE here.Lord only knows now when they are out, hopefully before the ground freezes.

I have a very small garden, more or less out of sight between two buildings.It’s very far from the apartment, but pretty much right at my basement shop ( which I MAY lose access to later- we’ll see).Right now it looks like a weapons testing site , they completely trashed everything.

I want to put a bare buried radial along all sides of the garden ,for use as a ( hopefully) “clean “ standalone RF ground ( that is not bonded to the bldg commercial power supply) -OR- , experimentally as an underground antenna.We’ll see, as things go.

 I may sink a rod or two there as well to have a second RF point to “return “ the buried wire.

I also have the “potential”  for a “put up/ use/ take down” low slung long wire
( 60+ ft ?) running from the garden to the guy wire of a short / telephone only wooden pole.

This is also “ out” of sight in between the buildings.Everything is wood/ brick around here, so maybe not a total disaster , especially at higher angles.I might be able to get 6 or 8 ft up at the feed and 8’or  9’ up at the far end.

I probably wouldn’t put it up TOO often, but if I itch for some crystal set Dx, maybe every now and then.Again, well see.Most  of my work would still be from the apartment ( such as it is ).

I am now more conservative and careful about what I do outside, especially OFF of the property.

In years past I have been hassled a few times by the cops and I just don’t need or want that now ( especially in “ these” times) .

Even for radio.

On initial survey, QRM at the garden seems “lower “ . TBA how good or bad if I try a big capture long wire there though.

The interference in the apartment
is “ funny “.On low end of Bcast it can really slam some of my favorite Dx frqs.The upper end is mostly or even totally clean.

It is “ ambient “ in nature, with serious strong hot spots (of course, one of these is exactly at my bedside op position)

 In other areas it’s “sort of “ there  and if you move further, it’s nearly gone .

It doesn’t seem to have a particular direction of source, but just seems to be  nearly “ everywhere “. Nulling is of variable use, depending on just a few feet.

The far window in the bedroom sill  isn’t bad,but not exactly were I want the rigs. But you can’t have it all .

On HF instead of hash, it is strong , mostly very strong dead carriers with  very occasional data blips.This HF garbage is totally different from the Bcast hash QRM.

I can often weave around this ( sort of) since HF is pretty sparse now. There are some annoying appearances though , ie 7040 CW, 10 WWV etc. .Since these are mostly just dead carriers, I can mostly/ “sort of “ pull things out , but somewhat degraded.HF is generally in “ better “ shape than lower Bcast though.

Before the system installation, I used to get 13.8 kV noise. But that would come and go depending on the wetness of the lines, etc.Usually it wasn’t bad and I got PLENTY of weak/ long Bcast Dx -back then.

As I had mentioned, I had lots of antennas on the roof, along with lots of rigs ( IC 735, R-70, R-71a, etc, etc, etc).

I like the 803a and 440 , but obviously no comparison to the old gear.But again, much better than NADA.FWIW, I essentially get zero RF gain action out of either rig.

NOTHING can go out of any windows now for a few reasons.I am on 2nd floor and only concrete sidewalks below.

For my lightning web site I have been using blitzortung for years, but I bounce around to various sites at times.

de NQC

[RobRich]

Occasionally I post about my various radio activities in the MWDX thread, which became more or less a chat thread at some point.

https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,80208.0.html

About the RFI, you might look into an antenna phasing noise cancelling unit. There is basic generic model usually listed as an "x-phase" and/or "qrm eliminator" on eBay and similar for around $50. Note most of the basic models tend to roll off around 1MHz, so it would be unlikely to help on the lower portion of MW.

AFAIK, the MFJ-1025(/6) can be modified to cover more of the MW band, assuming one can be found for a reasonable price anymore.

The DX Engineering NCC-2 supposedly works down to below MW, but at $949.... well, I could listen to online SDRs instead.

The biggest annoyance IMO with using a phasing unit is having to near constantly retune it if significantly moving frequency.

Not sure how ya' feel about SDRs, but if tempted, I know the SDRSharp software has a decent wideband noise blanker algorithm. I sometimes use SDRSharp with my Airspy HF+ Discovery during daytime hours. I suspect a solar panel install about a block or so away is radiating just enough RFI to be annoying around 7-9MHz.

SDRSharp even supports the RTL-SDR Blog V4 for ~$30. Admittedly it not a serious weak-signal receiver especially under 30MHz, but it can be quite a bit of overall radio fun for the price. Note the dynamic range is limited compared to better receivers, so close high-power transmitters can overload the frontend.

Then again overload does not always have to be close. I live in the paths of Radio Rebelde and Radio Marti. Connect a basic shortwave portable or SDR with directly to a large outdoor antenna here at night, and you might hear 5025 and/or 6030 across multiple HF bands. o.0

Curious, have you experimented with any on-ground antennas at your current location? They tend to deal better with RFI due to ground cancellations among other aspects. Years ago I used a 148' wire-on-ground for a portable on the nighstand. I did not even bother with an unun, isolation transformer, etc. as RFI was rather low here at the time. Hardly a great antenna, but it worked okay enough IMO for casual HF listening.

You mentioned a garden. That might be a decent spot for a log-on-ground. Like 45-60 feet of small-gauge wire, a ~$2 eBay balun, and whatever cheap RG-6 coax back to the house.  If needing some way to get the coax inside with making any permanent changes, eBay and similar have affordable "flat" (actually tiny coax) under window jumpers for around $3 each.


Just spotted your concern about windows. Hmmm. That does complicate things. I have had decent luck with loops in windows for indoor antennas. My latest one was ~15' of wire in a double window. I used a little zero-gain "high impedance amplifier" instead of a balun. The preamp is designed for dealing with large impedance mismatches instead of gain, and it sells for around $15-$20 on AliExpress and probably eBay as well. The setup received lots of signals from MW to FM. Worked okay for broadcast stations and larger pirate signals. Even occasional mid-HF DX from Europe.

[NQC]

Hey RobRich and All,

Thank you for your reply to my post.

Back in the stone age, I had a 1026 which I had modified for BCB and also to reverse the control pots by an added switch.An "interesting " unit, but obviously it   requires  two antennas- one for "sense" and the other for "receive". If used it's as a noise cancelling device, the   "sense" antenna I (in theory) I could pull off in the bedroom , but the    receive antenna,which needs to be  far away from the noise , would not be able to be accomplished.  There is no way I can put coax out the window  and I don't have access to the roof anymore either.It's good suggestion, which  I appreciate, but  phase cures may not be the answer here.

Also I don't really have a full  idea of where the QRM hot spots are (and aren't ). Noise that is "ON" frequency can be a real bear to kill. From my old VLF days, I found that the "RF approach" may not always be best way ( and often is  MUCH more difficult to pull off ). I had much  better luck cleaning up the audio side of things . I had fantastic luck at VLF using series graphic Eq's to totally eliminate an otherwise vaporizing 60 Hz field ( 100 % scrubbed out) .Not sure if this is viable in this case or not. The 60 Hz was Godzilla class crushing , but was not necessarily actually   "ON"my desired 7 Kc  RF  lightning  frequency.

My current QRM is, "conceptualized" ( at least by me ) (maybe erroneously ), as  actually being  ON   frequency (ie 880 Kc) . It may prove a LOT harder to clean.This hash may just be easier to "go around" (ie by finding spots were is it "tolerable" or gone) , rather than actually trying to scrub it out.

A Zero gain High impedance amplifier sounds like an interesting concept. I am not sure what the Z of a very short antenna ( dipole ?) would be.

The  803a and 440 have an RCA antenna female on the back, but I'm not sure what Z it wants to see (Off hand anyways .If really matters that  much on a receiver roller coaster antenna  Z response as you tune around) . I imagine it's lower than , say 450 ohms. In the  broadcast band any antenna ( dipole or otherwise ) that I could slap up inside would be absurdly short, even at 1710 Kc , let alone 530 Kc. My existing  indoor 40 M "quarter wave" is  "OK to good" (AT 40 M) but a real DOG on broadcast. Again, the Heath crystal set only grabs  a few locals  . Even WBZ - only 12 Mi, 50 Kw, at + 3 BIG  db (!!!)( essentially  an "effective" 100 kW in my direction)  is "good "  but not super  loud either . Inductively coupled loops do "better" on here  BCB . If you can find a quiet spot.

 Again , my HF  situation is "tolerable" but not great either.Again HF is now pretty sparse and there is usually  no data on the building's  QRM dead carriers. These dead carriers, as I can picture it, are probably ON frequency. Possibly also a difficult situation.But  certainly better than the constant "machine gun" I get on BCB . Again , my VLF cures may not work on this stuff.

FWIW, I did a quick  check  for  Zero/ High Z amp . Didn't come up with anything.

I may be using a "similar" Hi Z /Lo Z concept in the future, but again ,in the (easier ?) audio realm . I have a 250 K audio amp that I may use to  match a "high"  Z  crystal set detector to a low Z audio reproducer ( ie phone/ speaker at 8 ohms).I really don't care about the audio amplification aspect here, I would just use it as a Z match device .I don't consider it as "crystal set cheating " , since the amp is only going to produce  what the detector  passes anyways . Otherwise put , the rig would  not deliver any ADDITIONAL  stations, just the same ones louder. I do have some Hi z transformers as well, (those may take me to 200 or 300 K). So I would probably be able to go  FULLY  passive in the xtal set if I wanted to.But the amp is simply  an alternative and maybe easier way to go.

Re SDR 's : Not too much interest using  them as my own home receivers, even if they are probably FAR better than what I have. I "occasionally" use  online SDR's , but usually only as a quick listen for something I don't have a PRAYER of copying here- ie R. Tarma Peru on 4775. But I am really old school (maybe to my "detriment") and 99% of the time I just like to work with my own gear and antennas in an analog format (call me caveman . FWIW, I am 63 and have done radio for 53 or so  years - I'm kind of stuck in my ways  .).

Again , thanks for your ideas and input.

OT, I LOVED my vacation in/ around Tampa .

de NQC

[RobRich]

The basic preamp for impedance matching is often listed for those little tuneable donut antennas. Here ya' go:

https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-high-impedance-amplifier-donut.html

Be careful with listings as some of the prices are just for one of the donut antennas.

Actual impedance does not matter too much in my experience. That 15' window loop was likely very low at MW BCB and very high at FM BCB, yet the preamp worked okay enough at both extremes for my purposes. As tested I was feeding a cheap ATS-20+ radio, which also probably has impedance numbers all over the place depending upon frequency.

Also I used the same preamp successfully with a MSI2500 SDR and a decent size horizontal loop antenna wrapped around a pavilion at the local beach.

I have been using a binding post to BNC connector followed with the BNC-to-SMA adapter to connect wire antennas. Likewise one of the cheap SMA to alligator clip cables would suffice as well.

The builtin battery could be handy with a portable receiver. Note the antenna inputs on portables are often high impedance, but having a low- or zero-gain preamp still can help "smooth" the excursions in the curve with a fixed-length antenna as frequencies change.

I have not even bothered opening it, but the idea is pretty much the same as the old YCCC feedpoint preamp in providing a relatively stable impedance output instead of outright gain.

https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/dxe-yccc-preamp

Another affordable solution worth possibly trying could be the HFDY loop antenna kit.

https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-HFDY-loop.html

I have posted about in the previously mentioned MW chat thread. The preamp is similar to the popular LZ1AQ design, but it lacks the lowpass filter and onboard voltage regulator. I do not live next to a high-power FM transmitter, and a regulated wall-wart or even just a 9v battery suffices for power. Testing has shown around 8v is ideal for the preamp used.

I tested my HFDY configured as a shielded loop in the same window as the 15' loop. Performance was pretty good for a $30 antenna kit IMO. I keep intending to eventually deploy it outside to likely feed my KiwiSDR 2. I am not a fan of being outside with ~110F heat indexes. Recent weeks have been hot even for Florida.

Glad to hear ya' liked the area. I am in the Tampa media market, but actually I am in a coastal community well north of the city proper. Less crowded up here, but we are growing quickly.

[NQC]

Hey RobRich and All,

I looked up the links you sent.

The DX Engineering unit seems like it’s no longer available.

The Ali stuff looks cool,but another thing I should have mentioned - overload.

In certain configurations, my LF Engineering L- 600 gets hit with some light to moderate FM broadcast.Other projects have had at least SOME FM seep in.

Also my super cheap computer speakers are getting the same junk that I hear on the broadcast band.But only at fairly low volume levels.More of a curiosity or  an indicator of how pervasive this QRM can be.Since it’s at low level, probably not going to chase down any solutions. I just pump up the volume a bit until it gets completely wiped over by the desired audio.

I have the parts to do a simple Wenzel RF amp. It supposedly only requires a short ( 3-4 ft ? ) antenna ( in the broadcast band?).It is a TRF design- if THAT’S worth anything here or not.

What I shooting for here, at least re RF amp, is something that might just give a little boost, without   going wrong into FM or building hash.I think full control over gain , quiet spot placement and antenna type / length is important.

Again, OT- I spent some time in Tampa, but the majority was actually in Crystal River.Swam with manatees ( in SUMMER, when they weren’t supposed to be around).

.The Dx from Crystal River was STUNNING. The crystal set ( and the 440) was PACKED with mostly Spanish (mostly Mexicans ) roaring their way across the Gulf .

Florida is incredible for dxing IF you can avoid the lightning. There was no rhyme or order to it, you could get hit at ANY time of day or night.We got slammed a few times at around 0200 or 0300.

I revisited the "best MW Ant thread ". I noticed you take some trips down into the basement (ie below 530 Kc). The  long wave list from the 31"  vertical is VERY impressive .I  see NLK but don't see NAA 24.0 Maine. Have you ever copied them ? The two have always had a degree of side to side blending here , but as you move  in frq separation was not a problem .I also see NML as being active. I was wondering about them lately .

I had no way to decode NAVTEX. But when I used to Dx them , I would go by schedule to try determine which station it was .Sometimes things didn't seem to line up, but generally a good guideline .FWIW a search  of "List of NAVTEX" on  WIKI has a list with Zulu times.

Any notable Dx lately ?

de NQC

[RobRich]

Local RFI can be a serious issue with short e-field probe active antennas. They tend to favor low noise placement.

For MW through tropical bands you might look into some type of multi-turn tuned loop. Others have had luck with tuned ferrite loopsticks above MW as well. Either way the idea is use a high Q design to not only peak a signal but also to act as a passive preselector.

About FM break through in general, if pervasive enough it could be even desensing a receiver's front. The RTL-SDR and Flamingo+ FM bandstop filters are popular with the SDR crowd.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LE9LRPM
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XKY8YKB

Another option would be a 30MHz lowpass filter. Even an old model for amatuer radio or CB transmiting. I keep an old Drake 30MHz lowpass just in case. There are homebrew calculators on the net, though if not already having the parts, a cheap QRP 10-meter‐band lowpass filter kit should work the same as well.

https://shop.qrp-labs.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=53

Alternatively a small QRP antenna tuner might help for adding some preselection at least on HF bands. If you do not mind building, kits are available for a few dollars, though you might have to drop a web search for actual build guide.

https://www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale-Antenna-tuner-diy.html

[NQC]

 Hey RobRich,

Inside the apartment the ability to  tightly null seems probably be the biggest part  of the game. Tonight I set things up in the window ( Select-A -Tenna, ATS 803a) and didn't do TOO bad. The  building QRM could be 95% or better nulled out (THERE).

Still some line noise from 13.8 KV  at 15  or 20 ft, but you can't have it all .

I got the usual 50 Kw East coast suspects (DC, NC, and closer ins ,etc ), some fairly well ,others up and down  .

Also  copied two pirates on the upper part of 6 Megs, one fair, one barely.

So the wire antenna is doing OK or better, when prop is up and proper  swinging of  the S-A-T and 803's ferrite seem to be "decent" for B'cast.

 From the window, I can do WCBS 880  NYC (200 mi)  "usually" "readable" (but not great)  during the day w/the S-A-T.

At  night the 50 Kw  New Yorkers are pretty much  big and dependable with occasional quick dips .

Probably the best radio session I've had in a while.

What type of Dx have experience lately ?

de NQC

[RobRich]

A few minutes ago I was listening to a little news on WMGE 1670 from Macon, GA. Now I have background music from WVLG 640 from The Villages, FL.

I do not do a bunch of MW DX hunting largely in part because my current outdoor antennas are mostly omnidirectional. I have tested phasing of my 31' vertical and 148' LoG antennas down to around 1MHz (limit of my phaser) to peak and null various MW stations, often even on the same frequency, but the as noted earlier retuning can get annoying.

I have considered a SULA loop on a small rotor for increased directivity on MW/HF. That is at least just turning an antenna instead of the balancing act of phased tuning.

https://swling.com/blog/tag/sula/

[NQC]

de NQC