SCANKING HF Discone – not a re-hash . . .

So I actually covered this in a post – <<<CLICK HERE>>> – this is just some thoughts on the antenna – not the best performer until you get above 30Mhz – it does work below 30 – but it is a compromise – it performs quite well for VHF and UHF – haven’t found anything above 600Mhz yet to listen to – but I have no doubts it will work.

If you simply don’t have the “place” or the space for a random wire – the discone will get you listening – just doesn’t take up a lot of space.

I don’t think you want to use it indoors – LMAO!

Been wanting to add a “better” SDR than just another dongle – I suppose there are some out there that are ok – however – I’m six deep in them and I haven’t found any yet.

Always checking a variety of different sites – never know when you might stumble across a deal – found this on Ham Radio Outlet – sold as used at a very good price –

– this is the unit the RSPdx-R2 replaced.

The latest and greatest – the R2 . . .

The R2 has better filtering and some hardware changes – is it noticeably better? I listen daily to both side by side along with an Airspy HF+ Discovery – there are differences between the SDRplay stuff and the Airspy ( DUH! ) – but they really compliment each other. As for differences between the RSPdx and the RSPdx-R2?? After extended listening time – the differences are very subtle.

YAMMV – Your Actual Mileage May Vary depending on YOUR station – grounding – antennas – local interference – conditions – oh so many variables.

And I do literally listen to the three of them side by side . . .

So I went back to the separate keyboards and mice – the kvm switches really didn’t want to play well with the PI OS’s I’m running.

And I have a portable hooked up to the antenna setup most of the time – the little Sangean 909X2 is a real nice radio . . .

Gathering up stuff to build several frequency specific dipole antennas I’ll grab some pics and get them posted along with a link back to the loop antenna post.

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Blanketing – The Reason Summer Daytime HF Radio is So Bad

Bruce – there must be something wrong with my radio / antenna / “set-up” – I’m not hearing hardly anything !!

Well – Maybe it is not so much YOUR “set-up” or antenna or radio – Remember folks – just as real estate values are dependent on 3 things more than anything else – Location / Location / Location – – And as I have pointed out several times already SWL ( Short Wave Listening ) is dependent on 3 things more than anything else – Conditions / Conditions / Conditions – your success or lack of it is dependent on propagation conditions more than just about everything else put together – Salty Walt does a real quick and easy explanation . . .

If you are willing to take your time looking for signals – they are out there. Fewer and further between – but – there are some signals out there.

Come on folks – it’s nice weather – add another antenna to the farm – string that random wire you have always wanted – get some batteries and take that portable short wave radio with you fishing tonight – I always liked to drag my GE Super Radio III fishing at night – spend the night listening to the oldies show out of Toronto, Canuckland!

I’ve still got a couple of old GE’s – they sure have great sound . . .

I don’t understand why my Blushing Bride gives me the stink eye every time I give another neglected / unloved / unappreciated radio a new loving home – go figure . . .

Propagation is like the weather – everybody complains about it – but nobody does anything about it – LOL!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Most Bang For The Buck! – The Random Wire Antenna

The simplest antenna you can make/install? Run a speaker wire out the window and clip it on your radio – and you are in business. I have used random wire antennas almost exclusively since the early 1960’s – they are simple /cheap/easy – and they work!

If you want to do a wire right – there are some things to consider . . .

What to do with both ends – temp or long term – how far off the ground – has to be at least high enough to be out of the way!

This is my solution to a long term / permanent random wire . . .

It attaches to the 4×4 that the rotator / loop antenna combo lives on @ about 13 feet off the ground . . .

The wire runs roughly east / west – about 38ft 4inches – between the insulators – ends at about 11 feet or so above the ground . . .

Simple TV antenna mast stand offs – the siding on the shed is an OSB product – no real strength there to attach to – so I went inside and glued and screwed some 2×4 pieces to screw into – yes – it is over built – I could easily put a 10 foot mast on there and hang another antenna at the top if I wanted to deal with an 85 foot run of coax . . .

So – when the wire gets to the mast it goes to an LDG 9:1 UNUN – long story short ( and very simplified )- a random wire antenna has roughly 450 ohms of resistance . . . ( But Bruce – the antenna wire only has one end – how can it possibly have 450 ohms of resistance? – this is “neither the time nor the place” to dive head first into THAT explanation – there are numerous electrical and radio theory courses out there on the internet – Duck Duck Go is your friend . . .)

. . . and the UNUN converts that to approximately 50 ohms – which is what your radio is wanting to see. The antenna wire attaches to the positive side and your ground side goes to your ground rod.

Then run a ground wire from that ground rod to the ground rod below the entry box – then ground your lightning / surge suppressor to the ground in your entry box – the ground is common to the coax ground side.

The random wire suppressor is on the lower right in the entry box and everything is grounded to everything and goes straight down to an 8 foot ground rod under the box – both ends of the coax are grounded to an 8 foot ground rod and both of those rods are tied together with 6 gauge single strand copper. So – – – that the electrical potential at both ends of the coax run are plus or minus the same – as well as any stray RF energy picked up by the shielding on the coax is bled off by grounding at both ends – seal all your exposed connections ( use something along these lines ) making sure they are correct before you seal them since most products of this type really don’t like coming apart – LOL . . .

Or you can hang a piece of speaker wire off the balcony or run it out the window – LMAO!

And that is the neat part of this hobby of SWL ( Short Wave Listening ) – it can be pretty much as simple or involved as YOU want to make it to be – to YOU.

And other random radio stuff – if I can ever figure out how to configure and run SDRCONNECT correctly – I’ve actually had it running twice and have crashed it more times than I will admit to – then I “should” be able to use my AIRSPY – or – yet another SDRPLAY device and a separate internet connection – room for 8 users – at 10 bucks a month per head that will almost pay for the internet needed to send it out to the world – at some point I would have to figure out which antenna on which days – I haven’t gotten that far with it yet – I’m not sure a remote user can pick an antenna to use even with the nRSP-ST networked radio receiver – but that would be a elegantly simple solution – almost a plug n play thing. Does anybody out there remember “plug n pray” with windoze from years ago – what an ongoing train wreck . . .

I am leaning towards the nRSP-ST just for having less variables to screw with . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!