|
Alright, that's it. A person can only read about these things so long before succumbing to giving it a try themselves. I'm off to Radio Shack to snag a Grundig E5, despite my better judgement. You bastards.
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2007 22:38
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 23:07 |
|
|
Holy poo poo, Amsterdam? I think that's what I'm hearing. 11968 KHz. First non-Spanish/English thing I've heard. My Grundig E5 was $150 at Radio Shack.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 26, 2007 00:15
|
|
|
Oh God, it sounds like a congregation of young, brainwashed girls saying the Rosary, over and over, FOR 20 MINUTES STRAIGHT so far. I'm deeply disturbed, and yet I can't... change... the frequency... 
|
|
#
¿
Jul 26, 2007 12:50
|
|
|
I spent the $20 required at Radio Shack for 50' of speaker wire and the 1/8" antenna plug, soldered them together, and whoa. Huge improvement in reception, even with the wire just sitting in a pile on the floor. I'm going to run the wire out the window and put it up in a tree in my yard to see how that goes. Also, some interesting beeping at 5898 KHz right now.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2007 06:13
|
|
|
I do have a regular antenna, but I have an antenna plug in the radio for an external antenna, and when something gets plugged in there it shuts off the whip antenna. I just tossed the length of wire up a tree, and the reception seems to have improved a bit more. I'm not sure about your scanner; I just got this radio like 3 days ago, so I'm just following suggestions here.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2007 06:36
|
|
|
We need an IRC channel to share our late night evangelist discoveries.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 28, 2007 23:24
|
|
|
Spanish numbers on 7887 KHz right now.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 1, 2007 21:18
|
|
|
bad mutant vibes: I usually do the opposite. I start on AM, and seem to be fairly good at picking out SSB stuff. I guess it just depends on what you're looking for. Astro Zamboni: Thanks for the slinky antenna links! I've been trying to read a little bit about building an antenna myself, but then I start reading stuff about baluns, and air-wound coax, and resonating at such and such a length and so many MHz, and hurrrrrr...  I'm not even sure where to start, so I've got my speaker wire out the window and up a tree for the moment.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 2, 2007 22:59
|
|
|
That's been my only gripe about the E5, as well. No continuous scanning. But in a way, it's a boon to my listening, as it generally makes me slow down and pay attention while I'm scanning instead of occasionally zoning out while I wait. I have to be honest: you guys sort of sucked me into this on the spur of the moment, and I had visions of regret after buying the radio. Quite the opposite has happened, though; I find myself looking forward to optimal scanning times and trying to figure out how to better route my antenna wire to higher spots, and taking a lot of pleasure even in just listening to some random hams talk. This has really turned into a lot of fun.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 5, 2007 02:40
|
|
|
Sat down, turned on the radio, scanned for about 10 seconds, and the Spanish numbers lady is in progress at 6768 KHz. I picked up Trenton Military in Vancouver last night (I'm in Houston). Just aeronautical info, but still a pretty cool first find for me. They're at 6755 KHz (I forget if it's LSB or USB).
|
|
#
¿
Aug 6, 2007 05:29
|
|
|
That looks like just the sort of antenna I need. I could probably do a short version of a long wire in my back yard, but I'd probably have tree issues, and we don't have a very big lot. How much did you end up spending on parts? It looks like a pretty darn inexpensive project.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 6, 2007 22:58
|
|
|
I've been pricing things, and it looks like this project is going to be damned cheap. Cheap-rear end radio: $5 PVC pipe: $1/foot or so ($5 worth at most) Copper tubing: per the original builder, $6 Assorted nuts and bolts: $10, maybe? Coax cable: probably free because we're all nerds and have entire spools of it lying around. $30 or so. drat. And I already have some stuff to make a base with, so I don't even need that much PVC, if any at all. It doesn't get much cheaper than that.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 7, 2007 02:14
|
|
|
I'm about 2/3 of the way through building the magnetic loop, and it's all been straightforward stuff so far. All I need to do is finish soldering  the wires to the main loop and the coax to the coupling loop, throw on a base, and go to town.Also, total cost for parts (I had some stuff lying around): $21.06.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 9, 2007 03:00
|
|
|
Man, I just can't quite pick out what he's saying. The signal is super weak here (Houston). Overflow: I had the same question about what he did with the braid; I wound up just stripping the insulation off, unraveling the actual copper braid and then twisting it into a single braid, and soldered that to the coax. I got 5' of that #14 house wire and soldered it to the capacitor and then to the main loop. That poo poo is stiff as hell, so it was a pain in the rear end. HOUSE WIIIIIIRE I wound up zip tying those bastards down while I soldered, and just left the ties on.The build went okay; aside from Houston being in the middle of a heat wave and getting bled dry by mosquitos in my garage, I didn't run into any problems. I've been using the antenna for a bit, and there's a HUGE reduction in noise from the random wire I was chucking up on the roof. I can easily hear signals now that aren't even registering on the E5's signal meter, although I did notice an apparent decrease in volume (I have to crank it up to 15 or so instead of my usual 7 or 8 to hear it sometimes). Probably just the fact that the new antenna is a.) on the ground, and b.) inside. I'll probably drag it outside to see how it does in the front yard.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 9, 2007 06:04
|
|
|
Okay, I'm going to have to revise my prior statement about the antenna. My 50' speaker wire tossed on my roof kicks it's rear end. This $20 contraption that I spent 2 days working on decreases my reception, even on strong signals. I've checked every wire, every solder, every instruction on the guy's website, and my lovely spool of wire works significantly better. For example: I tune into WWV at 10000 KHz. 1.) With the whip antenna, I get an extremely faint signal right now. I hear an occasional tick. 2.) With the loop antenna, I got a helluva lot less noise, but I can barely, and I mean BARELY, hear the signal, with the volume tripled over what it normally is. 3.) With my wire chucked up on the roof, I forget to turn the volume down and get partially deafened by the ticking and the announcer's voice, with very little noise. What a disappointment.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 10, 2007 07:34
|
|
|
Also, this guy on 3185 KHz is talking about how corrupt the hearts of babies are. 0645 UTC
|
|
#
¿
Aug 10, 2007 07:47
|
|
|
Yeah, I actually thought that feed line connections might be the problem, so I snipped those off and made brand new connections on both ends of the line, and nothing changed. Any suggestions on how to make a more solid connection would be helpful; I just carefully stripped back the outer insulation to expose the braid and soldered the plug to the wire as best I could, then soldered the center connection to the middle of the jack. I guess it could still be a connection issue with the braid, but I have no idea how I'd make it more solid. I suppose it could also be a dud capacitor, but that seems like it would be weird. I dunno what else to try. But I emailed the guy with the plan, so hopefully he'll have some ideas. Diamond Frogs Sucks
|
|
#
¿
Aug 10, 2007 14:46
|
|
|
overflow posted:Do you notice any change in volume in signal or audio at all when you turn the knob on the capacitor? Also, can you confirm that you have a break in the copper loop where the capacitor is? Honestly, I don't really notice any difference at all. However, I was using a station around 6600 KHz as my test station, and I was told by Alex (the guy who runs kr1st.com) that I should try something around 15000 KHz. I'm going to try that quickly here before I head off to bed. There's definitely a gap at the top of the loop, at least 1/2" worth. Alex said it could also be a capacitor issue, so Monday I'll probably swing by Walmart on my way home and grab another cheapo radio and do some disassembling and some more soldering I don't know why I can't solder well. It's a pretty simple task. It just takes me twice as long to get a good solder.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 11, 2007 14:59
|
|
|
Iridium posted:Are you having trouble with the solder on the copper pipe? You might want to give your soldering spots a light sanding on it. They have have coated it with something that's interfering. The solder points on the copper are pretty sturdy, actually. I just have trouble soldering in general. Which is odd, because at work, I can start IVs on confused and struggling patients pretty well (with a little restraint help from another nurse). But hit a stationary target? 
|
|
#
¿
Aug 13, 2007 00:08
|
|
|
AstroZamboni posted:Just to let everyone know, you might want to tune into Radio Habana tonight. It IS Fidel Castro's birthday, so they're bound to have some extra special propaganda. poo poo. I'll have to see if I can find it here in a minute. Ah, there it is. Talking about Ernest Hemingway. I've been fiddling with this drat antenna, and I'm finally hearing some freaking tuning. I think I just need to make some adjustments to lower the limits a bit. The tuning is really obvious up around 25000 KHz, so just need to find the lower limit now. At least the freaking thing is working. I got another clock radio from Walmart this morning I can fiddle with if I want, so who knows.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 14, 2007 08:02
|
|
|
Hah, Spanish numbers out of nowhere on 5897 KHz, 0836 UTC.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 14, 2007 09:36
|
|
|
Stuntman Mike posted:Booyah! Congrats! After sundown is definitely best, but there's a lot of stuff on right now. I've been scanning down from 25000 KHz for the last 30 minutes or so. There was a hilarious conspiracy fruit on two nights ago, but I didn't write down the frequency or anything. God drat, it was funny, though.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 16, 2007 00:31
|
|
|
Overflow: One more question. I see you bought what was it, 25\' of the #14 house wire. How much of it did you use for the coupling loop? I bought 5\' and used just enough of it to make the 2\' circumference loop with a couple of inches at either end for connecting to coax (with a couple feet left over for soldering to the capacitor, etc.). I wonder if making a multiple turn coupling loop would help? I\'m still not really noticing a drat bit of difference tuning.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 17, 2007 10:34
|
|
|
Stuntman Mike posted:Oh jesus, some of the most mundane things can be creepy as gently caress over shortwave. That\'s one of the things I\'ve loved about getting into shortwave. Listening to shortwave is like listening to a memory.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 18, 2007 06:28
|
|
|
meatpotato posted:I have the Sony, I'll list the things I like or discovered. Someone with the E5 chime in and tell me how many of these are shared. Here's my take on the G5: -Headphone and line out jacks, FM in stereo. -No synchronous detection, but the whip on mine is superior to the magnetic loop I wasted two weeks on, so who cares? Excellent reception. -Nice clicky keypad for direct input, and an intuitive layout. -Speaker sounds pretty good. -I don't think it scans remembered stations, but it has 700 memory spots. -FOUR ALARMS so you don't miss any broadcasts of your favorite anti-government conspiracy freaks who transmit from their mom's basement. -Ummmm... set your radio's clock to UTC and you're golden. -Charges NiMH batteries internally (batteries are separate). -Comes with a real fake leather case AND a wrist strap! Plus, if you buy the Grundig G5, you can harass your wife while you're listening to it by doing your best Cookie Monster voice and going, "GRUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDIG!"
|
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2007 10:41
|
|
|
On another note, I'm going to destroy this worthless magnetic loop antenna in a very violent fashion tomorrow. I swear to god my whip antenna picks up stations just as strong and with not much more noise. I don't know if I'm just lucky to live in a relatively low noise area, but poo poo on it. I've spent way too much time trying to get this thing to work and it's just not happening. Now my wife is going to be pissed because the ghetto wire flung on the roof will have to stay (well, at night when I'm listening, anyway). Diamond Frogs Sucks
|
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2007 10:45
|
|
|
overflow posted:Nope, I did the same thing you did and made a 2' loop, with a few inches left to spare to solder to the coax. I just bought a 25' spool because that was the smallest spool they sold of the wire. If you're not getting ANY difference when tuning, it's got to be your capacitor. Just so you know, I experience the same drop in volume you do, until I actually tune in the channel with the capacitor and then it's booming. That's weird. I'm on my second capacitor and it hasn't changed a bit. I dunno. Maybe a bigger radio = bigger capacitor. Maybe I'll head to walmart.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 19, 2007 22:17
|
|
|
Stuntman Mike posted:So I found this playing on 5741 at about 1:15 UTC. I seriously couldn't even listen to the whole thing, I was laughing so hard. I heard one other guy get overzealous a couple weeks ago, but nothing like what you posted. That is just gold. Downloading Audacity now and scrounging for a line in/out cable. Diamond Frogs Sucks
|
|
#
¿
Aug 20, 2007 04:47
|
|
|
I may have actually gotten my dumb-rear end loop antenna working. I put in a third capacitor, and it does seem to be tuning when I get up toward 10000 KHz. I\'ve had a few stations get moderately stronger while tuning, so I guess I\'ve finally got it right. Now I just need to fiddle with the whatsits on the back of the capacitor (I forget what they\'re called) to tune it down a bit. I\'ll probably wind up seeing if disconnecting one of the tabs from the short makes any difference, too. I was expecting a little more, but I honestly haven\'t thoroughly tested it across the whole spectrum, so we\'ll see. At least there wasn\'t any violence involved.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 22, 2007 08:10
|
|
|
Comrade Koba, I posted this on June 26:Nostratic posted:Oh God, it sounds like a congregation of young, brainwashed girls saying the Rosary, over and over, FOR 20 MINUTES STRAIGHT so far. Creepiest thing I've heard so far, by a long shot.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 23, 2007 22:54
|
|
|
I never thought to ask that about the Rosary; I always just assumed it was a sort of chant or some such and never really attributed anything to it beyond the actual words. Very cool. Also, I'm going to re-revise my statement about this loop antenna. I've been twiddling it on and off all day, and god drat. I'm picking up some faint, FAINT stuff with it that the radio wouldn't even know existed without it. Seriously bad-rear end. Now to paint it evil black. Also, this guy on 15825 is making GBS threads his pants in the light of the lord. Wheeee! Diamond Frogs Sucks
|
|
#
¿
Aug 24, 2007 18:49
|
|
|
Are you using multiple capacitors? If so, how are they hooked up? (Diagrams are a plus for this wiring-retarded builder).
|
|
#
¿
Aug 24, 2007 22:07
|
|
|
overflow posted:This is exactly how I've got mine rigged up. The switch really is optional; if you don't use it you just also short the connection between C1 and C3 before connecting to the loop. Ahh, I see. I might have to make yet another trip to Radio Shack this week. I don't listen much during the day, but I'd like to have the option of tuning higher freqs without a bunch of hoodah-hah. Diamond Frogs Sucks
|
|
#
¿
Aug 26, 2007 15:06
|
|
|
I don't hear HAMs very often either, but I'm generally listening pretty late at night. When I listen around 5pm CST, I always pick up at least a couple if I'm not scanning in a hurry. I used to autoscan with my E5, but now I pretty much manually scan all the time. I catch a lot of faint stuff that the radio might skip. The autoscan is functional, but if you want to really use it you have to watch the frequency and stop it when it skips over, then go back to where it skipped, move up a few KHz, and restart again. I agree, it's definitely a bit of a hassle. But it sort of forced me to listen a little more closely, too, which (for me) was good.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 1, 2007 13:22
|
|
|
AstroZamboni posted:
I'm literally crying. A goon numbers station would be hilarious.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 4, 2007 22:17
|
|
|
I finally finished revamping my magnetic loop last night, and it rules. I'll try to take some pictures later.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 5, 2007 14:07
|
|
|
1/8", mein Freund. I was pissed that the spec wasn't in the manual, so I had to snag the demo radio and start trying to plug in the right sized plug in the store. Irritating.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 7, 2007 15:51
|
|
|
AstroZamboni posted:Fact: Hams have the most boring conversations on the planet, no exceptions! Not so much boring as just everyday-type subjects. I heard a couple of older-sounding guys talking about, "I ain't gonna git it. I read in Reader's Digest that them ann-gee-oh... You know, the thing where they go in yer leg and look at yer heart... angioplasty. I read in Reader's Digest that they ain't safe and don't work anyhow." Not so bad for the general public, but as a cardiac nurse, I was tearing my hair out.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 12, 2007 08:18
|
|
|
I've been away from this thread for too long. My son finally started day care, so I'll have some free time back to DX!bad mutant vibes posted:So far, I've gotten QSL cards and brochures from Radio Havana, Radio Taiwan, Radio Netherlands, and China Radio International just by dropping emails. I just got my very first QSL card today from Radio Taiwan. My son was wondering why I was flipping out that I got something in the mail from the other side of the planet. They sent a ton of stuff, too. Very cool. I wonder if Radio Havana sends their Che emissions in a test tube or something 
|
|
#
¿
Sep 19, 2007 22:59
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 23:07 |
|
|
Here are some lovely pictures of my QSL packet from Radio Taiwan International (click for big):  
a mysterious cloak fucked around with this message at 17:19 on Sep 20, 2007 |
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2007 05:22
|
|