Pretty decent conditions right now. If a random wire is what you want to use – go to DXEngineering and pick up the MFJ-16010 – put it inline with your coax going to your radio – assuming proper grounding – it will make a difference in what you are able to find and listen to . . . And I really wouldn’t wait too long to get one – MFJ is out of business and when they are gone – they are gone . . .
Here is a clip of Radio Free Asia / Burmese language broadcast – RFA website HERE / RFA WIKI page HERE . . .
I really need to figure out how to improve my audio/video capture – there is audio in here – you can just make it out sitting here – pay attention to the noise floor between this and the next clip . . .
This is with the RF-PRO-1B loop – less noise floor and the audio is better – at least sitting here – LOL!
No settings were changed on the SDR console software . . .
This is still the loop – brought the gain up to try and match the random wire noise floor – the audio obviously came up – but – so did the noise – so you end up with a tight wire balancing act sorta thing going on – you want to have enough signal to work with – but – you are also bringing up the noise floor . . .
Bruce – where do you find all this “stuff” – weird / strange / otherwise to listen to? – One very good resource is ShortwaveSchedule.com – top of the page – right side – under live stations, click on the show me tab – most ( not everything ) of the myriad of “stuff” being broadcast live at the time is listed – and the really cool part of an SDR? You can go through the bands and see what is active at the moment – “Stuff” THAT YOU CAN POSSIBLY HEAR!
Another great resource is Short-Wave.info – you can just enter the frequency you are on and up pops the station or stations broadcasting on the frequency – with a world map complete with gray line shown – you can even put your location in so you can fidget your antenna around to maybe help with signal strength or reduce noise.
And the radio that you’re using doesn’t care what the antenna is ( to a point ) until you get down in the VLF end – then the wire antenna starts to show it’s stuff. Look at the clips again – you are looking at a little slice of the radio spectrum and there’s 15 to 20 signals there to listen to – random wire or loop or the whip antenna on the radio – so get to listening!
Folks – there is a bunch of stuff below the AM broadcast band to find and listen to – 15 KHz earth sound things / 11-59 KHz submarine digital communications. Digital but often really loud. / 60 KHz WWVB (digital time/frequency)( your fancy “Atomic” clock or watch has to have something to set itself by ) / 160-200 European Longwave AM broadcast… can be heard in most of the U.S. – sometimes / 285-325 KHZ Differential GPS / 200-529 KHz Nondirectional air beacons (NDBs) / 472-478 Experimentally licensed hams on various modes. CW, PSK others / 506-7 KHz More ham / 518 Navtex ship weather beacons / 530 Highway Info stations . . .
And for as good as it is – the RF-PRO-1B and its “loopy” cousins really drop off when you get below the AM broadcast band – as great as any given antenna is, LOOP / WIRE / BEAM – WHATEVER – they all have their bright spots and their shortcomings.
Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!
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