Is it me, or are the SW airwaves dead lately?
Not sure whether it's my region, the change in season, or something else, but I've never experienced such deadness on the air until recently.
It totally put me off the idea of getting another SW receiver. I had bought a new Eton E1, but it arrived with scratches and a misaligned tuning wheel. I was going to exchange when I decided to really try it out. I did, with both the whip and attached to my simple longwire antenna attached to a PAR EF SWL.
The thing picked up just about nothing over 7Mhz. No WWV at 10 or 15. Even below it, there were fewer stations on there. Until recently, the 9500-12000Khz range was popping with SW stations. Admittedly, mostly Radio Moscow, Radio China and evangelics, but still popping nonetheless.
But before blaming the radio, I also tried my Sony ICF-2010 (whip only) and my JRC NRD 545 (attached to the same longwire). Both of these were dead over 9Mhzl. With the 545 I couldn't even pull in the SSB CW signals in the beginning of the 7Mhz band.
In any case, I ended up returning the Eton. Just not worth it.
Now, I realize the change of seasons means that higher frequencies will be harder to receive, but I was able to pull in nearly everything from 7-11 Mhz when I put up my longwire last March.
Anyone have a similar situation?
Suzie
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