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!!

What Ever Happened To Shakey’s Pizza Parlors?

There was a Shakey’s by Offutt AFB in Bellevue – damn those wing nuts sure loves their pizza and beer – and if I remember correctly ( A BIG IF! – lmao ) there was a second one clear up in N/W Omaha – 63rd and Ames Ave area – which is now almost central Omaha . . .

Good Times it was . . .

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

Friday Music – Brook Benton

What better way to spend 2 hours? – Thirty one Mercury label Brook Benton 45’s from 1959 – 1964 – Oh Hell Yes!

( how many of these do YOU remember?? )

Enjoy!

And a live performance from 1982 – his 1970 hit . . .

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

And a BONUS just for YOU! ( our resident Tony Joe White fan ) – the rest of all y’all can enjoy this as well – LOL!

Qodosen DX-286 AM FM LW Shortwave Radio – NXP TEF6686 Automotive Chip

Oh My – look what showed up on my porch from Amazonia . . .

In it’s very own hard case – way cool . . .

I have a feeling there is quite a learning curve with this one . . .

Literature – charging cable – soft case . . .

But no battery included – Wait – What? No battery?

Some strange twist in chinaland shipping/export laws QODOSEN went with no battery – and of course they are 18650 “button top” not flat tops – ordered 2 and a charger – and how about a real run with it when I get the batteries? Looking forward to putting it and several others through their paces.

A review from todderbert . . .

And one from the SWL Channel . . .

But wait – there’s more!

Have I got some news for you – if the creek don’t rise – I hope to get my antenna set-up together this weekend. Yes – I know – it has been forever gathering all the kibbles and bits – but I have pretty much everything in place and should start building out the mast tomorrow – Oh Boy! Fingers crossed for completion on Sunday . . .

The mounting plate for the entry box – top lightning/surge protector is for the rotator control cable – left side bottom is a power pass lightning/surge protector for the loop antenna – bottom right is a lightning/surge protector for the long wire . . .

This next pic shows the #14 solid copper in place – #6 solid copper will go from the top lug on the ground strip to the inside of the house – a #6 solid copper will go from the bottom lug of the strip to an 8′ copper ground rod – then #6 solid will go from there to the 8′ ground rod ( about a 35′ run ) at the base of the mast – then a #6 solid copper will go up the mast and ground the rotator and loop antenna and the ground side of the 9:1 Unun – the long wire will run app. 58 ft from the positive side to an insulator then out to an insulator tied off to a tree . . . and yes I spent the money for UV resistant paracord to tie off with – LOL!

If my neighbor and his schedule hold together – the first leg of the long wire antenna will go up at the same time. I will get some pics of the mast as I get everything mounted and try to get them posted tomorrow or Friday – the biggest/deepest breath was 100′ of #6 solid copper wire – thrilling is what IT was . . .

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