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Author Topic: Equipent: A SW antenna  (Read 8232 times)

Offline Dxer92

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Re: Equipent: A SW antenna
« Reply #15 on: September 07, 2011, 2316 UTC »
Okay 30 ft of wire should do the trick? I just don't want it to overload and just get the stations in clearer without all of that noise. I am guessing i would connect the wire antenna to the telescopic antenna with a alligator clip? Or will that overload it even more?

Offline Dxer92

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Re: Equipent: A SW antenna
« Reply #16 on: September 07, 2011, 2324 UTC »
See that is one of the problems about the SW radio's of today. Most of them are portables and i want one for my house. I know the radio's for the house are better then the portables especially for outdoor?indoor antenna's. I would just want a radio for the house that has SSB and the SW bands nothing else.

Nella F.

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Re: Equipent: A SW antenna
« Reply #17 on: September 07, 2011, 2329 UTC »
Okay 30 ft of wire should do the trick?"..." I am guessing i would connect the wire antenna to the telescopic antenna with a alligator clip? Or will that overload it even more?

That's exactly what I do & no problems. Happy DX'ing.

Offline The Hokie

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Re: Equipent: A SW antenna
« Reply #18 on: September 08, 2011, 0016 UTC »
See that is one of the problems about the SW radio's of today. Most of them are portables and i want one for my house. I know the radio's for the house are better then the portables especially for outdoor?indoor antenna's. I would just want a radio for the house that has SSB and the SW bands nothing else.

Most HF transceivers will give you this coverage, although they'll probably lack synchronous detection. Not a concern if you're just trying to catch weak signal pirates :)

The machine does not isolate us from the great problems of nature but plunges us more deeply into them. - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Offline Dxer92

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Re: Equipent: A SW antenna
« Reply #19 on: September 08, 2011, 2035 UTC »
Ok I will use 30 ft of wire. Any specific kind of wire that i should use? Like coax cable or something so there will be less noise?

Offline Dxer92

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Re: Equipent: A SW antenna
« Reply #20 on: September 08, 2011, 2129 UTC »
Yeah i tried this and it still overloaded the radio. WTF I guess I am buying that indoor active loop antenna for MW/SW. I just hope I don't waste my money there is just a lot of noise and overload in the radio.  :'(

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Equipent: A SW antenna
« Reply #21 on: September 08, 2011, 2147 UTC »
Yeah i tried this and it still overloaded the radio. WTF I guess I am buying that indoor active loop antenna for MW/SW. I just hope I don't waste my money there is just a lot of noise and overload in the radio.  :'(


IMHO: An indoor antenna is just going to pick up QRM from stuff inside the house (computers, TVs, monitors, switching power supplies, etc)

Chris Smolinski
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Offline Dxer92

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Re: Equipent: A SW antenna
« Reply #22 on: September 08, 2011, 2314 UTC »
Great so there is pretty much nothing I can do then.  :'(

Offline Pigmeat

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Re: Equipent: A SW antenna
« Reply #23 on: September 09, 2011, 2205 UTC »
Feed it through the antenna jack. Attaching the wire directly to the whip will cause overload with many portable receivers. Most antenna jacks feed into an attenuating circuit in the radio that's there to prevent overload.

If you're in a very noisy area,here's a quick and dirty trick. Forget stringing wires from trees,lay the wire directly on the ground. It cuts the noise significantly. During the summer on some HF bands,it's the only way I can hear anything other than the powerhouses able overcome the noise. You can use more wire too,if the ground attenuates the signals too greatly.

If you're looking for a good used tabletop receiver, the Drake R-4 is hard to beat. Yeah,it's nearly 50 years old,but they're a helluva radio,and you can pick 'em up at hamfests for under 200 bucks. The things are built like tanks.