Re: antennas


Message posted by lone wolf on July 16, 2005 at 21:30:04 PST:

Go on usenet rec.radio.shortwave and you will get lots of advice.

I use a Wellbrook loop (ALA100). It never was cheap, and thanks to the weak dollar policy it's really a rip today since it is made in the UK. However, it is the best short wave antenna I ever owned. It also goes right down to NDB and even lower, so you can DX the braodcast band. [I've used the antenna to pick up 25Khz signals that come from somewhere in Washington state.] The ALA100 is a roll your own project of sorts, i.e. they supply the amplifier and you supply the loop. Wellbrook makes some anteannas that come with loops for even more bucks. To add insult to injury, they don't even have a secure website, so you need to fax the order or call London.

With the ALA100, I was able to pick up the travellers information system at LAX while parked on the gravel by the ET Highway. [Yes, I recorded it.] So we're talking monitoring a 20 watt signal from 400 miles away.

The nice thing about these loop antennas is you can direction find with them at lower frequencies. Joerg and I burned a few gallons of petrol going along the ET Highway trying to get a fix on the PYD beacon. I also used this set up to direction find the XSD beacon at the Tonopah Test Range.

If you go the long wire route, I suggest getting a magnetic balun. This is good for reducing local noise, which usually is your PC. At the ends of the wire, you need a ceramic insulator. Palomar makes a good wideband balun:
http://www.palomar-engineers.com/MLB-1/mlb-1.html
The balun helps with static electricity build up. I haven't read about the ATS909 having problems with static, but the Sony shortwave radios are known for having damage due to static.

If you are going to put up a really long wire, I suggest getting something like "flexweave."
http://www.davisrf.com/ham1/flexweve.htm

Attached link: ala100

In Reply to: antennas posted by roger on July 16, 2005 at 19:19:48 PST:

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