Progress – Slow – but Progress Regardless

It is actually ridiculous just how trashed out the bench/desk became – but in my defense – I am not a neat “freak” by any stretch and it took 5 months of gathering all of the bits and pieces up and and not losing them – so I stacked everything on the bench. If I do something like this again – I’m going to consider a different methodology – it turned into a TFM – Total. Fucking. Mess. . . .

Actually getting the portables where I wanted them at to begin with – going to excavate the rest of them – should have enough space for them now – and if I have more room than needed? I guess I’ll have to buy some more – right? – that’s how it always works for me – LMAO!

Actually have the DX-160 wired up correctly to the antenna and earth ground – I will do a post on that for you folks – the neat part? Is just how well the DX-160 works off of the loop – and even have room for the “eton elite 750” . . .

The rotator control box is actually on the bench – not on top of a pile of stuff – and I even found the cellphone holder that my Blushing Bride gave me . . .

The monitor for the SDR is clear to the right – the tiny little computer for it is on the shelf above and also clear to the right . . .

Listening to Radio New Zealand @ 9.700mhz – then went to China Radio International for their English language news.

And here’s a little bit for you – China Radio International @ 9.800mhz – English language news at 0105 UTC / 8:05am CDST . . .

And for those of you who claim there’s nothing on shortwave?? – All the peaks you see on the monitor – with waterfall trailing down from them? Those are folks out there in the world broadcasting. On shortwave. All. The. Time. Different times / different frequencies – but broadcasting. You need a decent radio doesn’t have to be expensive – AND a decent antenna. This weekend – if it don’t snow (LOL) I hope to get my wire antenna up. Should end up at about 57 feet – 55 to 65 feet has worked good over the years for me – one time get a little carried away with it and ended up with about 600 feet strung back and forth across a lot – Not doing that again – way too much work for not enough return – and “noise” was an issue – Gee, I wonder why? – LOL!

Actually getting a switch or two so I can switch back and forth between the loop and the wire to illustrate the differences for you. The biggest difference for most folks is two things – #1 Get the antenna outside ( even 15 or 20 feet of speaker wire – but get it outside ) – your house is a very noisy emi/rmi box and your antenna is in it! / and #2 Grounding is very overlooked for noise reduction – I get set up here a little better and will try to show the difference on the DX-160 with and without earth ground.

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

RF-PRO-1B / Finally Up and Working GREAT!

The ground rod under the entry box . . .

Showing the #6 copper coming from the antenna setup to the second ground rod – and the #6 copper going up to the entry box . . .

Into the entry box we go . . .

Ready to start terminating in the box . . .

Upper Left / the surge protector for the rotator control cable . . .

Lower Left / the surge protector for the PRO-1B loop antenna . . .

Lower Right / the surge protector for the random wire antenna . . .

The bottom lug of the grounding strip – #6 copper to the ground rod – top lug of the grounding strip is #6 copper into the house for an earth ground for radios and equipment . . .

And yes – the antenna does rotate – LOL! – north on the controller is true north – approximately 2.5 degrees east of magnetic North – the further South you are the greater the difference . . .

( the unun looks kinda lonely up there – not to worry – the random wire is getting strung this weekend )

So Bruce – is all this worth it? – Does it work good?? Weighing cost vs. benefit – for me it’s worth every penny – I am a hardcore short wave listener – been listening since 1963 – the noise floor has dropped dramatically – signal strength is up – modulation is clearer – grabbed these this morning . . .

So the bottom line – is the DXE-RF-PRO-1B from DX Engineering worth it? You are going to have decide that for yourself – not a cheap date for real – but – the performance level of it is so far beyond anything I have ever used as a short wave receiving antenna – it simply is not fair to compare this to anything else . . .

As I get some time I will figure out how to get some better videos of this antenna working – the best way I can describe it is “buy once – cry once” – except I am not crying – I have a big grin on my face – genuine happy camper!

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

and before you say anything – and we all know who you are . . .

The Old Home Saga . . .

If you didn’t see these “live” at the time you missed a real hoot of an ad campaign . . .

If that ain’t enough “Old Home” stuff for you – CLICK HERE and go one of the best “Old Home” / C.W. McCall sites on the web . . .

And here’s a little trip to Pisgah for YOU!

My Blushing Bride claims the Kern’s bread commercials are a kind of a rip off – I think it’s one smooth move on Bozell and Jacobs part – sold quite a bit of ads in a former lifetime so naturally my point of view on this is a little more bottom line focused . . .

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

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!!