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Danger Kick posted:Does anybody have any suggestions for a good variable capacitor for an active loop antenna and where to buy one? I've been told that buying them is nearly impossible as they aren't manufactured for public consumption since most radios are digital now. My suggestion: Go hit the nearest thrift store and buy the oldest analog dial AM/FM clock radio they have on the shelf. Bonus points if it only goes to 1600 KHz instead of 1700. Desolder it from the board and there you have it. You can also desolder and save all the components if you plan to do anything else electronic hobby-wise. Old clock radios are small parts warehouses.
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Dec 18, 2010 03:24
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BigHustle posted:I've been told that buying them is nearly impossible as they aren't manufactured for public consumption since most radios are digital now. I did exactly this. The radio I butchered cost me like $3. Make sure you study your capacitor because the pin layout might differ than what is on the diagram.
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Dec 18, 2010 06:37
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Radio Nowhere posted:DX'em while you can folks, on the heels of Sweden dropping all shortwave broadcasts at the end of October, Argentina & Slovakia will terminate shortwave broadcasting at the end of 2010 and Radio Prague will stop their broadcasts at the end of January 2011. For the experts, does news like this worry you? Like its marking the end of shortwave or anything like that?
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Dec 22, 2010 14:41
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JammyLammy posted:For the experts, does news like this worry you? Like its marking the end of shortwave or anything like that? It does worry me to a point, mainly from an 'alternate communications' standpoint. As it is right now, most of the international shortwave broadcasters are going to continue making their shows for the US and other foreign audiences, but in the case of an internet blackout or some other issue that cuts off the net, no news is going to get in or out. SWL transmitters can be run on generators and get a signal out to battery powered radios, the net goes down and everyone is screwed. From a DXing standpoint it does open up the airwaves a little so you may be able to receive something that had been blocked previously by a more powerful signal. I don't think it'll be the end of shortwave... There's always going to be some stations that continue to transmit, even if it's just meant for local folks. In some of the African countries, SWL is the only way to get news and info to people out in the middle of nowhere.
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Dec 22, 2010 15:14
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People have been predicting the demise of shortwave broadcasting since the 1950's yet it's still around. Has it changed? Of course, like BigHustle pointed out some changes are good, others not so much. On the broadcasting front I'll say intelligent content (your BBC, Deutsche Welle, Radio RNW) has become increasing harder to hear since they don't target the U.S. anymore. Replacing those signals seem to be more religious kooks and progaganda (China, Cuba). There's still content out there especially if you look beyond just broadcasting, like utility stations, numbers stations and some amateur radio communications. Those require better radios though. Sometimes I wonder if a potential shortwaver grabs a cheap radio from Radio Shack, tunes around only to hear brother stair, chummy China propaganda and a bunch of foreign languages and just gives up. Shortwave radio as a medium will survive, but as a hobby I wonder. But I see this thread has hit 82 pages so I feel a little better!
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Dec 22, 2010 17:01
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I might have some money coming my way and decided I wanted to move up to a desk unit. What is a good starter unit for a good price?
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Jan 3, 2011 02:39
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JammyLammy posted:I might have some money coming my way and decided I wanted to move up to a desk unit. What is a good starter unit for a good price? What's your price range? Are you looking for a newer model or an older one?
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Jan 3, 2011 02:41
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BigHustle posted:What's your price range? Are you looking for a newer model or an older one? What are the price range usually. Not sure how much its going to be I have coming, but generally cheaper the better. Either new or old, as long as it does a good job.
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Jan 3, 2011 02:43
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Hot tip: If you're enjoying naked frisky time with your special lady, for the love of all things holy do NOT leave your music library on "Shuffle all" if it happens to include "The Conet Project." The more you know...
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Jan 12, 2011 16:57
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AstroZamboni posted:Hot tip: If you're enjoying naked frisky time with your special lady, for the love of all things holy do NOT leave your music library on "Shuffle all" if it happens to include "The Conet Project." Hahah. That's awesome. Must have been REAL romantic. Also, its a amazing how much better reception you can get when you are out of city limits  When I get my truck done, I wanna get a CB and shortwave radio set up in it so that I can take trips out of the city and do a little listening for a few hours.
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Jan 12, 2011 20:24
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AstroZamboni posted:Hot tip: If you're enjoying naked frisky time with your special lady, for the love of all things holy do NOT leave your music library on "Shuffle all" if it happens to include "The Conet Project." Oh man, that's just too good! I can't imagine going from some Barry White to the buzzer station! Welp, I've been moved into the house for a while now. One of these weekends, I'm going to have to set up an antenna and get back into shortwave. First step is to figure out how to route cable from inside the house to the outside. This is my first time ever living in a house, so I can't figure this out. What's weird is that there's already some wiring going into the house. Electrical wiring from the outside telephone pole. It also looks like the cable company runs their wiring through the same area too. But I can't seem to find where it all enters the house on the inside. Of course, when I go to where the cables should be on the inside, I just see a regular, finished wall. Ugggg!
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Jan 12, 2011 21:18
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AstroZamboni posted:Hot tip: If you're enjoying naked frisky time with your special lady, for the love of all things holy do NOT leave your music library on "Shuffle all" if it happens to include "The Conet Project." Yes, I've made this mistake before. After having sex to The Conet Project, sex without it just seems... boring.
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Jan 13, 2011 01:50
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Dolemite posted:Oh man, that's just too good! I can't imagine going from some Barry White to the buzzer station! Find your fuse box or breaker box, most likely it'll be in the basement. Most of the time the wires come in the house and run down through the walls through a conduit to that point.
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Jan 13, 2011 08:35
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BigHustle posted:Find your fuse box or breaker box, most likely it'll be in the basement. Most of the time the wires come in the house and run down through the walls through a conduit to that point. Florida is weird in that a lot of houses don't have basements. Ours doesn't either. I've found the fusebox. It's located outside of our house. But, I can't find where in the house the cabling runs in. Going inside the house and standing where the back of the fusebox would be just puts me in my kitchen with no sign of the cabling to be found. I'm going to have a hell of a hunt when I get enough free time to put up an antenna.
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Jan 13, 2011 20:22
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Dolemite posted:Florida is weird in that a lot of houses don't have basements. Ours doesn't either. I've found the fusebox. It's located outside of our house. But, I can't find where in the house the cabling runs in. Going inside the house and standing where the back of the fusebox would be just puts me in my kitchen with no sign of the cabling to be found. You can always cheat and go with a window feed-through if you have a window in the ham shack. If you're concerned about appearances, you can always run the line through conduit (PVC pipe or whatever) to the window access point and paint it to match the exterior walls.
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Jan 14, 2011 15:40
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I'm thinking about purchasing a shortwave radio as a way to kill time when I'm not working (since I'm on the night shift and there's nothing to do at 4AM in my area). Do you guys think it's worth it to purchase the Grundig Satellite 750?. And doing so, do you advise I purchase an external antenna for it (or just do the goon method of cable run around my house)?
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Jan 22, 2011 14:06
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Spazz posted:I'm thinking about purchasing a shortwave radio as a way to kill time when I'm not working (since I'm on the night shift and there's nothing to do at 4AM in my area). Do you guys think it's worth it to purchase the Grundig Satellite 750?. And doing so, do you advise I purchase an external antenna for it (or just do the goon method of cable run around my house)? That's a top-shelf radio. If you're going to go all out, that is definitely the way to do it. I think that's the best SW receiver on the market at this point. Running some wire around the house will work, but that's like putting a 4 cylinder engine in a Ferrari. If you're going to go for a quality radio you really do need to have an external antenna. If you're looking to buy something, an all band dipole like the Alpha-Delta DX Ultra would do a fantastic job covering the SW spectrum. You'll need to either get a cable with a PL-259 at one end and a BNC at the other or pick up an adapter, since the radio antenna connection is a BNC. FM signals carry into houses pretty well, so you may not need an external antenna for those.
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Jan 22, 2011 15:38
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BigHustle posted:If you're going to go for a quality radio you really do need to have an external antenna. If you're looking to buy something, an all band dipole like the Alpha-Delta DX Ultra would do a fantastic job covering the SW spectrum. You'll need to either get a cable with a PL-259 at one end and a BNC at the other or pick up an adapter, since the radio antenna connection is a BNC. FM signals carry into houses pretty well, so you may not need an external antenna for those. Forgive my ignorance, but the page you linked to says this: quote:The overall length is approximately 80 feet (25 meters)  Is the antenna really 80 feet long? Or did I miss something? I was thinking of something a little more reasonable that I can install on the side of my house outside of the window or something.
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Jan 23, 2011 05:06
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Spazz posted:I'm thinking about purchasing a shortwave radio as a way to kill time when I'm not working (since I'm on the night shift and there's nothing to do at 4AM in my area). Do you guys think it's worth it to purchase the Grundig Satellite 750?. And doing so, do you advise I purchase an external antenna for it (or just do the goon method of cable run around my house)? I have a 750, and here's my impression of it posted earlier in this thread: quote:Here's my opinion on the Satellit 750. If you don't have/want to move it, its a great radio with awesome sound. I'm using it in NOT ideal conditions, (in a concrete garage surrounded by shop lights) and I get decent signal. When I finally go and mount my external antenna outside, I think my reception will improve dramatically.
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Jan 23, 2011 07:03
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Spazz posted:Forgive my ignorance, but the page you linked to says this: No, it's 80 feet as in 80 feet long. If you hang it in a V, it shortens it a bit. Other than the loop antenna that Asstastic mentioned, you could make your own multi-band dipole and hang that on the side of the house. I made one as shown HERE with more detailed instructions HERE that measures just under 20 feet and does a drat good job at bringing in the signals.
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Jan 23, 2011 09:31
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I've been mad lurking in this thread for about 6 months and have been on-again, off-again trying to learn both the ARRL Handbook, to eventually get a ham license, as well as playing around with this awesome find: Click here for the full 1024x576 image. I got it from a very friendly old veteran (with less than half his teeth intact) at the amazing MIT Swapfest last summer. For those of you in the Massachusetts area, this swapfest is an amazing meet for hams, radio enthusiasts, and mostly just tech junkies in general looking for a great bargain, or, if not, at least some seriously weird old electronic junk, mostly being sold by MIT grads out of their sketchy trunks. It's great fun! Anyway, after getting the Yaesu and its VFO for a combo deal, taking it home, and firing it up...I'm getting kind of stuck. Granted, I didn't expect to find too much right off the bat, but it seems incredibly hard to get a signal that's even remotely clean. The closest I usually come to is some music stations (most likely local) in FM bands, and they're usually coming through under a heavy blanket of static, and not much knob-fiddling seems to clear it up. So, I thought, why not get a decent antenna? A quick survey to the links in the OP led me to the Slinky Antenna guy, so I bought one, although by now he appears to be out of his supply of brass slinkies these days. The thing is pretty sweet all hooked up around the window frame next to the Yaesu, but it makes zero impact on my signal. I've tried hooking up the included soldered-on alligator clip to a few homebrew feed lines, with little luck, including this weird thing I made which probably doesn't do jack poo poo:  Click here for the full 1024x576 image. Here's the antenna on the window:  Click here for the full 576x1024 image. In the background of the first picture, you can also see the Grundig AM Loop antenna which has been mentioned on the thread a few times as well. Try as I might, it doesn't give me any signals either, although tuning it around and moving it in the air is a lot easier than moving the slinky. So why am I getting nothing but static? Is it because I just got ripped off on a bum radio? Do I need a fancy antenna tuner to attach the slinky to in order to connect to the Yaesu? Or am I just really missing something obvious? I get better long-distance reception from a crappy JVC radio I found in a dumpster (literally) at this point. On a second note, I don't really get what the VFO does, but the guy who sold it to me said he used it to switch frequencies back and forth when he was transmitting and receiving on two difference freqs. Is it not useful unless I'm doing some straight-up ham conversations? Arrgh sorry for the long post. Basically I'm really wishing I could get in on the numbers stations and nutjob preacher fun, but the antenna confusion and lack of reception are confusing me.
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Jan 25, 2011 23:10
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SpecialAgentCooper posted:Ham Radio What you have there is a Yaesu FT-902 amateur transceiver, which doesn't cover the shortwave bands. The only things you'll be able to receive with that rig are ham transmissions, and only with a properly made antenna for the frequencies you want to listen in on or a random wire antenna with an antenna tuner. However, you have a decent rig there for when you get your ham license. The external VFO is for listening/transmitting on more than one frequency without having to retune, which is nice for monitoring a specific frequency while scanning around others. The ham thread will have more/better info on that.
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Jan 26, 2011 20:22
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BigHustle posted:What you have there is a Yaesu FT-902 amateur transceiver, which doesn't cover the shortwave bands. Wow that clears that up a lot. Haha I feel dumb. I think I'll get a separate box for SW then, and keep it around for ham DXing. What kind of antenna should I be using for it then? I noticed there's an antenna tuner specifically for the FT-902DM, but it seems like it'd be really hard to track down...what would qualify a "properly made antenna"? Either way, looks like I'll be on the hunt for either a scanner or newer radio for SW in addition to the Yaesu...
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Jan 26, 2011 23:09
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SpecialAgentCooper posted:Wow that clears that up a lot. Haha I feel dumb. I think I'll get a separate box for SW then, and keep it around for ham DXing. What kind of antenna should I be using for it then? I noticed there's an antenna tuner specifically for the FT-902DM, but it seems like it'd be really hard to track down...what would qualify a "properly made antenna"? Eh, it happens. Your ham radio questions would be better suited for the Amateur Radio Megathread, especially the ones in regard to antennas. Basically you'll need to make a dipole or vertical antenna cut specifically to resonate on the frequencies you want to receive. Check your local RadioShack for some shortwave rigs. They were clearing out some Grundig portables a month or so ago, and may still have some in stock.
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Jan 27, 2011 00:17
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SpecialAgentCooper posted:I noticed there's an antenna tuner specifically for the FT-902DM, but it seems like it'd be really hard to track down... I'm 99% sure it wouldn't matter anyways for listening purposes. Antenna tuners, as far as I am aware, are entirely for making antennas usable to transmit on a wider range of frequencies than physics would typically allow.
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Jan 27, 2011 03:31
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I would have watched the hell out of this TV show had it http://www.flickr.com/photos/bollops/5368708032/ Radio Nowhere fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Jan 29, 2011 |
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Jan 29, 2011 18:26
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Does anyone know if Radio Cairo is still broadcasting? Primetime Shortwave says they're supposed to broadcast at 0200, but I won't be home to listen (also I haven't built a good antenna yet). If they're down, Radio Iran and Radio Damascus should be interesting as well.
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Feb 1, 2011 02:19
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Doc Faustus posted:Does anyone know if Radio Cairo is still broadcasting? Primetime Shortwave says they're supposed to broadcast at 0200, but I won't be home to listen (also I haven't built a good antenna yet). According to the Egypt thread in GBS, the last remaining ISP in Egypt went down a short time ago. That hosted all of the governmental websites, including the one for Radio Cairo. I assume it would still be up and broadcasting... How else is Mubarak going to get his propaganda out to the rest of the world? I took my antenna down a month or two ago for modifications and never got it back in the air. With the ice storm currently loving our poo poo up, I don't think I'll get it airborne any time soon.
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Feb 1, 2011 02:56
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Following Glenn Hauser's list-serv Radio Cairo transmissions have been hit/miss.
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Feb 1, 2011 16:53
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So I've got the Radio Reference account and the ARC software, what are some of the more hilarious county channels in America? I imagine somewhere in the south right?
indoflaven fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Feb 2, 2011 |
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Feb 2, 2011 01:21
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BBC World Service reducing shortwave broadcasts as part of the UK government cost cutting. The English broadcasts could be reduced to two hours per day in Asia and Africa, while non-English shortwave might be limited to only Burmese and Somali http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/01_january/26/worldservice.shtml quote:Reductions in short wave and medium wave radio distribution Vir fucked around with this message at 11:35 on Feb 2, 2011 |
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Feb 2, 2011 11:27
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indoflaven posted:So I've got the Radio Reference account and the ARC software, what are some of the more hilarious county channels in America? I imagine somewhere in the south right? Los Angeles Amateur Repeaters 147.435 (KE6RRI, former W6NUT) and 146.235 (Inland Empire, also former W6NUT users) are usually good for bitch fights. The Chicago Police feed is always hopping too, and they have one dispatcher who sounds like she's the cutest thing on the planet.
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Feb 2, 2011 13:43
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BigHustle posted:Los Angeles Amateur Repeaters 147.435 (KE6RRI, former W6NUT) and 146.235 (Inland Empire, also former W6NUT users) are usually good for bitch fights. I've been listening to "Amateur Radio Repeater 147.705 Hz and W6NUT" using the Scanner911 app on the iPhone and I can confirm that there are generally bitch fights nightly, mostly centered around one guy who consistently gets loaded and then hops on the air.
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Feb 2, 2011 17:45
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I'm planning to spend a few years cycling round the world (US -> Central -> Latin America -> Africa -> Europe -> Asia -> Oceania) and figured that picking up a shortwave radio would provide some entertainment for times when I didn't want to read on my Kindle. I'm looking for something that uses AA batteries. How is the battery life on something like the Grundig G6? Would it be realistic to expect to be able to pick up local news/weather forecasts for the country I'm in? If you were in my situation, what would you buy?
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Feb 3, 2011 05:21
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If you're cycling, I'd consider getting your ham radio license and buying a Yaesu VX-8R. It's small, light, and most importantly water resistant/submersible. I really only suggest that because of the water resistance, if you've got another way of keeping it dry, then the G6 might work out better. You wouldn't be able to transmit in other countries without paperwork, but the wideband receive would work just fine, and has coverage from something stupid like 500khz- 1ghz or something.
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Feb 3, 2011 05:38
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Sad Panda posted:I'm planning to spend a few years cycling round the world (US -> Central -> Latin America -> Africa -> Europe -> Asia -> Oceania) and figured that picking up a shortwave radio would provide some entertainment for times when I didn't want to read on my Kindle. I'm looking for something that uses AA batteries. How is the battery life on something like the Grundig G6? Would it be realistic to expect to be able to pick up local news/weather forecasts for the country I'm in? If you were in my situation, what would you buy? If you buy a decent set of batteries you're going to get good life. I've gotten 2 or 3 months of life out of my G6 listening 2-3 hours a day. Do yourself a favor and pick up a good set of headphones. Battery live increases greatly if you're not using the internal speaker. If you plan to do some shortwave DXing, I recommend picking up an external antenna like the Sangean wind up antenna and a 'cheat sheet' of shows that you want to catch along with their times. There are a ton of broadcast schedules that can be found everywhere. blugu64 posted:If you're cycling, I'd consider getting your ham radio license and buying a Yaesu VX-8R. It's small, light, and most importantly water resistant/submersible. I really only suggest that because of the water resistance, if you've got another way of keeping it dry, then the G6 might work out better. I also recommend this, if only for the safety factor. You may be in an area with no cell coverage, but your radio will always work. It would be impractical for casual radio listening though, because HTs eat AA batteries like Goons eat Cheetos, even without transmitting.
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Feb 3, 2011 09:35
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Unless you get license paperwork for all the countries you're going through (some might be CEPT countries, but some aren't) then you risk getting your HT confiscated by customs or perhaps even arrested for possession of "advanced communication equipment" in some countries. So yeah, a recieve-only radio might be your best bet. If you want to go the amateur route, how about charging it with a dynamo in the downhills?
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Feb 3, 2011 17:32
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blugu64 posted:If you're cycling, I'd consider getting your ham radio license and buying a Yaesu VX-8R. It's small, light, and most importantly water resistant/submersible. I really only suggest that because of the water resistance, if you've got another way of keeping it dry, then the G6 might work out better. I have a VX-5R and find the shortwave performance to be uber lacking. Unless they improved it in later VX models you'd need a dipole hooked to that handheld to get even decent performance, and no SSB. It is one durable rear end handheld though and I can only imagine how awesome it would be with more features and waterproof. If this is just for listening, go for the Grundig G6. If a slightly larger radio doesn't bother you the Degen 1103 or Grundig G5 are also great models. WRTH gave the Tecsun 310 and Tecsun 380 stellar reviews and are the size of the G6, but they can only be ordered overseas via eBay which can be a gamble. Battery life in all these models should get you 50'ish hours (personal experience) on alkalines.
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Feb 3, 2011 17:42
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Sad Panda posted:I'm planning to spend a few years cycling round the world (US -> Central -> Latin America -> Africa -> Europe -> Asia -> Oceania) and figured that picking up a shortwave radio would provide some entertainment for times when I didn't want to read on my Kindle. I'm looking for something that uses AA batteries. How is the battery life on something like the Grundig G6? Would it be realistic to expect to be able to pick up local news/weather forecasts for the country I'm in? If you were in my situation, what would you buy? I've previously owned a G6, and for your intended purpose, I think it would be a perfect radio. It only uses two AA batteries vs four found in larger radios, which makes it very lightweight, and it can easily fit in your pocket. Don't recall how much it impacts the battery life, but the radio can recharge rechargeable batteries, so if you bring along the wall charger you can recharge anywhere you can plug it in. It should be a piece of cake to pick up local broadcasts with it, plus if you plan on bringing a laptop with you, you could even plug the radio into it and download weatherfaxes. My only complaint with the G6 is that it lacks a Local/DX switch, so there's no way to dial down the sensitivity a bit other than by lowering the antenna, but as long as you won't be spending most of your time listening relatively close to radio broadcast towers you should be OK.
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Feb 4, 2011 01:11
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Sierra posted:My only complaint with the G6 is that it lacks a Local/DX switch, so there's no way to dial down the sensitivity a bit other than by lowering the antenna, but as long as you won't be spending most of your time listening relatively close to radio broadcast towers you should be OK. It does have a music/talk switch on the side though, which I've found will slightly attenuate the signal. At the very least, it'll cut out a fair amount of the bass from the signal on the 'talk' setting, which can often help with clarity.
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Feb 4, 2011 13:20
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