SWL Radio “Stuff” – This Random Wire / Loop Antenna Setup is Going to Be FUN!

First a little Ask Dave . . .

As he says – depends . . .

For receive a counterpoise is not really needed – so what do you so with the negative post or leg on the unun?

Well come along and see!

In this setup – for receive only – the negative post goes to earth ground – a spot of solder to assure the connection . . .

The negative post on the unun is common to the outer braid on the coax – it comes down to ground – the second grounding nut will have a #6 solid copper bundled with the coax cables and rotator control cable and when the coax bundle goes up into the entry box – the #6 solid copper will run down to a second ground rod . . .

The second ground nut will have a #6 solid copper running up into the entry box – to a grounding strip which grounds the surge protectors and the box itself as well as providing a ground common to the braided shielding of the coax cables – so any emi/rfi that either piece of coax picks up is bled to ground – and in the case of the unun coax – both ends of the coax run go to ground – which should really help with noise – better balance of electrical potential = less noise . . .

Also running off the ground strip in the entry box will be a piece of #6 solid copper going inside to provide grounding for radios with grounding points – and very few new radios have a grounding point available – but most of my old beasties do . . .

The outer case of the low noise amplifier on the DXE-RF-PRO-1B is not common ground with coax ground, as well being electrically isolated from the mast – but the surge protector the coax is running to will ground the braided portion of the coax to earth ground – you bleed emi/rfi where you can . . .

Bruce – did you get it up yet – or what???

Oh My . . . I love it when you folks talk dirty to me – LMAO!

The wire antenna will run from the mast to the tree you can see out by the street – going to have to cut some suckers off but it won’t take a lot . . .

I took several pictures trying to get the backlit sunset hazy light thing going on – this is the best of the bunch – I am not a photographer nor do I play one on television – so the pic is what it is – basically tried it to see if I could do it . . .

I’m thinking if I can get it done before we get weathered in – I might run a wire from the tree to a “yard arm” off of the peak of the shed – will add another roughly 92 feet to the 57 feet of the antenna that runs to the tree – who knows – ’cause in another 2 or 3 weeks it CAN start snowing up here and go until the end of April – somebody tell me again why in the Hell I moved to South Dakota?

Anybody?

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

Is It Supposed to Rain Tonight??

Those were all good – but these next two are my runaway favorites – These are BOTH Number 1 for ME! – if I’m listening to Brook Benton I’m all in – but – if I’m listening to Tony Joe White I’m all in – really can’t pick between these two – which of these are your favorites?

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

How About a Saturday Matinee? : Parachute Battalion

It’s actually a watchable movie starring one of my favorite actors – Robert Preston – He played Centauri in the movie “The Last Starfighter”one of those movies that most everyone liked – but – didn’t want to admit to liking it – LOL! – Enjoy!

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

“Red Rubber Ball” by Who??

Instantly recognizable vocals – of course- The Seekers . . .

And this from their Australian farewell tour . . .

And from Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel . . .

Written by Paul Simon and Bruce Woodley and given to The Cyrkle to play when they were opening for Simon & Garfunkel – and – well the rest is history . . .

And from The Cyrkle – the folks that made it a BIG hit . . .

Sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time . . .

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

my Blushing Bride watched me put this post together and she’s like “What – wait – What?” her statement to me was “your brain works weird!” – seems perfectly normal to me – how about you folks? – did any of you folks have any issues following this??

Friday Music – YouTube Algorithm Special

When you go to the tube – the algorithm dumps a bunch of videos in your lap – dependent upon what you have been looking at – among other factors . . .

This is top to bottom – left to right – one tube page of not the assorted videos on the page – but the music – the Ricky Nelson thing is all Ricky – there were several multiple artist “mixes” that I didn’t include – and I just realized I have screwed the thing up even more gathering this stuff up – LMAO! – Enjoy!

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

4XZ Haifa Israel Maritime station and why you should tune around the bands slowly – VERY SLOWLY . . .

If you are on the hunt for various navigation beacons – Asian or European broadcast stations – or just a station you know IS broadcasting at a given time and conditions may just be right – patience is the key. The slower you can creep around the frequency – well I really hate to say luck is involved – but you can find some incredibly obscure “stuff”.

My personal favorite for creeping through the ether is the Realistic DX-160 – simply because of the band spread function – it allows you to tune – think not fine tuning but VERY fine and slow tuning . . .

And put an MFJ Antenna Tuner in line – they can make quite a difference in the way your radio “sees” the antenna.

As a side note : MFJ is closed – and will be missed dearly – but DX Engineering still has these tuners in stock and dependent on your antenna/radio combination these can and do make a difference for receiving!

Here’s Gillis from the SWL Channel creeping through with the new TECSUN S-2200X – folks there is a bunch of stuff out there 24/7/365 . . .

And some more hopping through . . .

If I didn’t already have an eton Elite 750 I would pick the new one up – but the new one just doesn’t bring enough “new” features to the table for me to justify getting one . . .

I actually got a few minutes here and there to tune around with the Sangean 909X2 – and it is a solid performer – pricey AF – but really good performance – really good air band performance – if aircraft/airport listening does anything for you it works good for that . . .

Even got a little time to play with the QODOSEN DX-286 – for $75 bucks – it is amazing – I can only ding for it 2 things – no side band and no air band – but real good performance off of the internal ferrite core antenna and the little telescoping whip – Can’t wait to hook it up to a decent antenna . . .

And speaking of antennas . . .

Slowly getting the mast built “out” so it can be ready for the fall season – quieter conditions – AND that most wonderful time of the year for North American continent listening conditions – Winter! Fewer thunderstorms equal less noise overall – noise from lightning travels a loooong ways.

As I piece this together I will document it for you folks – and if you are at all serious about SWL or broadcast band listening – I urge you – please try this at home – LOL!

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