Is HF/MF/LW dead?

[2ManyToys]

I dug out my Drake SW8 recently, strung a random wire in the attic, and TRIED listening. Seems that all I get is RF noise. Can't DX MW stuff like I could 4-5 years ago with the same receiver/antenna combo. About all I can hear clearly is local AM & the time shortwave stations. Kinda' bummed that I'm not hearing what I use to.

Just wondering if the atmosphere is not conducive for DX'ing on HF & MW now? Or have I somehow added RF producing stuff in my home without knowing it? I don't think my SW8 should have went deaf from being in storage.

I ordered a Par EF-SWL antenna as a last resort. And yes, I have the receiver grounded. The ground makes only a slight difference in RF noise.

[ke5ldo]

We are at the bottom of the 11 year sunspot cycle. You will have better luck on the lower fequencies and the distances will be much less. This will be the norm until cycle 24 gets going. Go to the arrl.org website and it wil explain in more detail this phenomena about propagation. 4-5 years ago we were at the peak.

[ridgescan]

The bands are very much alive here in SF! Maybe cause I have the Pacific as a reflector? Given your position on the globe-do what I did-use a directinal yagi facing east and see what hapns

[ka3jjz]

Get the antenna outside if you can - and away from the house. The further away you can get the antenna from all the junk that can cause problems from inside the home, the better off you are.

You didn't say how long your random wire is, but the best advice is the better the antenna, the better your results. The PAR should be a help. Try saying a prayer to the gods of propagation that the recent predication that propagation won't improve until very late this year are wrong.... 73 Mike

[lanbergld]

Originally Posted by 2ManyToys

Seems that all I get is RF noise. Just wondering if the atmosphere is not conducive for DX'ing on HF & MW now? And yes, I have the receiver grounded. The ground makes only a slight difference in RF noise.

I'm hearing very well here on the East Coast. Especially on 160 meters, MW and LW. I vanquished all my RF noise just by making a simple antenna from RG-6U coax. Nothing but a poor man's loop of coax attached to my Hi-z's. It was astonishing to me how all the noise totally disappeared, yet strong & clean signals from all over remained.

Larry Lanberg
Richmond VA

FRG-100
Pro-2096

[sfreiman]

I live in a valley (Tucson, Arizona) and in a condo with a ton of RF noise-worse possible conditions, but still manage to pull in quite a few stations.

[bluefox2163]

sfrieman what kinda radio you using?

[2ManyToys]

Originally Posted by bluefox2163

sfrieman what kinda radio you using?

I think its in his sig.

Plus in this thread.

[TD]

Originally Posted by lanbergld

I'm hearing very well here on the East Coast. Especially on 160 meters, MW and LW. I vanquished all my RF noise just by making a simple antenna from RG-6U coax. Nothing but a poor man's loop of coax attached to my Hi-z's. It was astonishing to me how all the noise totally disappeared, yet strong & clean signals from all over remained.

Larry Lanberg
Richmond VA

FRG-100
Pro-2096

Hello
lanbergld

Can you give me a little more of a discription on how you made that antenna because I listen to shortwave. And a better antenna always intererst me

Thanks
TD


Thanks
Td

[sfreiman]

Originally Posted by bluefox2163

sfrieman what kinda radio you using?

Icom IC-R75 with an RF Systems EMF Antenna

[zz0468]

Conditions are pretty cruddy, but not dead by any means. There are occasional daytime openings on the ham bands all the way to 10 meters, and at night, conditions on 80, and 160 meters are pretty good. LW listening is EXCELLENT in winter during the solar minimum. If you're not hearing anything, you probably have antenna and/or noise issues.

[ledouxfan59]

Originally Posted by 2ManyToys

I dug out my Drake SW8 recently, strung a random wire in the attic, and TRIED listening. Seems that all I get is RF noise. Can't DX MW stuff like I could 4-5 years ago with the same receiver/antenna combo. About all I can hear clearly is local AM & the time shortwave stations. Kinda' bummed that I'm not hearing what I use to.

Just wondering if the atmosphere is not conducive for DX'ing on HF & MW now? Or have I somehow added RF producing stuff in my home without knowing it? I don't think my SW8 should have went deaf from being in storage.

I ordered a Par EF-SWL antenna as a last resort. And yes, I have the receiver grounded. The ground makes only a slight difference in RF noise.

How long was this rig laid up ?
could be youve lost some rx sensitivity , dried up caps ?
I see thats a solid state rig, so it couldnt be a bad tube
you might have a lot of local noise too ,
plasma tv's , compact flourescent lights , a lot of new "noisemakers "
have arrived on the scene in in that time period .

Take that thing for a trip , get out in the country , and see what it does
I'll bet it's local "noisemakers "

[k9rzz]

Originally Posted by ledouxfan59

Take that thing for a trip , get out in the country , and see what it does

I second that!

Here's my latest 'expedition': YouTube - Shortwave DXpedition - Project: Clam Lake

Full writeup with logs shortly.

[2ManyToys]

Thx for all the replies! I just received a Par EF-SWL that I'm going to throw in the attic to start, as the weather isn't conducive to being on roofs & ladders right now.

From the replies I'm thinking my problems are RF noise generated very local to where the SW8 is sitting in my 'shack'. Within a few feet of it are a LCD TV, a cable box, couple computers, etc. I'm hoping that between the coax feed & some grounding experimenting I can cut down the RF noise.

Then when the weather turns I'll TRY to figure out how to mount the EF-SWL outside in a semi-hidden fashion (covenants, though neighbor has a vertical Ham w/o anyone complaining). I'm wondering if the EF-SWL laid directly on top of the asphalt singles would degrade its performance?

Again, thanks for all the helpful replies.

[ridgescan]

Timewave ANC-4 Product Reviews
this unit costs $189 at HRO. I'm considering one for my station, but it requires its own antenna too, as it recieves noise the reverse-phases it cancelling it out. They claim that the required antenna also acts as an active suppliment antenna, improving reception.

[ka3jjz]

2many - you are putting the SW8 in probably the worst environment possible. Depending on your setup of course, many have found that cable modems and some LCD TVs are very dirty RF wise. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the receiver were swamped. You might try turning everything off, then reactivating them one at a time to see who the offender(s) are. Yes, there could easily be more than one.

Even moving the SW8 to another room might bring some improvement. If it does, now you know for sure you have a bit of a RF pollution problem 73 Mike

[2ManyToys]

Originally Posted by ka3jjz

2many - you are putting the SW8 in probably the worst environment possible. Depending on your setup of course, many have found that cable modems and some LCD TVs are very dirty RF wise. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the receiver were swamped. You might try turning everything off, then reactivating them one at a time to see who the offender(s) are. Yes, there could easily be more than one.

Even moving the SW8 to another room might bring some improvement. If it does, now you know for sure you have a bit of a RF pollution problem 73 Mike

Yep, thinking of moving it & giving it a try. Current abode is on the small size w/o a lot of extra rooms to set up a dedicated shack

In a couple of years we'll be building on a 46 acre rural property that we own & I will have outside antenna's, a dedicated office/shack & no power lines close. At the point of building I guess I'll do some research on reducing RF noise in the construction.

In fact, I need to take the SW8 out there & see what I can pull with just the whip. This site is fairly high & unobstructed by trees. Expedition time when the weather breaks

[electricman]

I am using a PAR EF-SWL in my attic and it works pretty well.

I put it up as high as I could on the rafters to keep away from the romex and lights etc. I used pin tacks (the colored plastic tacks you would use on a cork board) and just pushed them into the 2x4's. Works for me.

[2ManyToys]

Originally Posted by E-Man

I am using a PAR EF-SWL in my attic and it works pretty well.

I put it up as high as I could on the rafters to keep away from the romex and lights etc. I used pin tacks (the colored plastic tacks you would use on a cork board) and just pushed them into the 2x4's. Works for me.

That's my plan. And I plan on running a ground to the home's cold water pipe. It will be approx. 20' from the balum to the ground, not sure how effective that will be?

[ka3jjz]

Not very. There have been MANY threads about grounding in the antennas forum - go use the search tools. I won't even try to summarize them here. Spring is coming soon. 73 Mike