Dx-160

[capthook234]

Don't laugh I got this baby a while ago and hooked it up and it works very good it's clean everything works well manual dated 1976.so far so good .I would like to know being new to scanning what would be a good antenna for this ? it has 5 bands .
a-150 to 400 kHz
b-535 to1600
c-1.55 to 4.5
d-4.5 to 13 MHz
e-13 to 30
thank you ..Capt Hook

 

[ka3jjz]

This isn't a scanner, but a HF receiver and this really belongs in either the HF or antennas forum . "nuff said.

You'll have to provide a bit more information - like whether you can mount anything outdoors, if not, what kind of space you have for something maybe in the attic or crawlspace, ect. Our HF antennas wiki has lots of possibilities 73s Mike

 

[loumaag]

Moved to the Antenna forum.

 

[capthook234]

"Sorry"But it say's solid state communications receiver...could be a lot of things ???phone ,scanner,ham radio,AMFM music box,TV, these are communications receivers...Hook

 

[mbird97x]

To answer the original question: A long wire antenna of the inverted "L" seems to work good on these radios. About 50-75 feet will work ok. It isn't a phone nor scanner nor TV nor AM/FM radio. It is a communications receiver with long wave, Std. broadcast band, and general shortwave band coverage from 1.6-30 mHz. 5 bands total and again, it is NOT a scanner. And yes, I too own a DX-160 and love it.

 

[k9rzz]

It just needs a long piece of wire for an antenna. The longer the better. Get up as high as you can (like string it from a window to a tree).

Very popular in it's day.

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/1975

 

[capthook234]

Yes you are right it's a recevier not a scanner I stand corrected .Thank you ..Ron

 

[ka3jjz]

Ron you still haven't said what your situation is with being able to put antennas outdoors. As mentioned previously our HF antennas wiki article has lots of ideas, and certainly the basic inverted L is a good place to start. 73s Mike

 

[capthook234]

KA3JJZ. Ok above is a list of 5 bands I would like to hear .they are the ones on the recever. I have had a G5RV up for a short while 102' long but no tuner yet (still looking) I have made a "J"pole out of copper and the G5RV out of some #14 ga wire I found at the dump some plastic insulaters (homebrew) put on the ends of the g5RV worked pretty good I may add .I have seen a lot of different types and would like to see if you fellas can steer me in the right direction .Thank you ..KC2LNB..Ron(AKA Capt Hook)

 

[ka3jjz]

Ron that G5RV should work very well indeed with the old 160. Even without a tuner - and most folks will tell you that you won't need one - depending on how long it is, and how it's fed - it should perform quite well. There are so many G5RV like designs out there that it's hard to know which one is better than another.

A little more detail on the G5RV, if you please - the total length of the antenna, how its fed, and height above ground to start. That will give folks some idea how to advise you further. From our wiki, the DX Zone has a nice set of articles on the G5RV here

I don't think the DX160 has a coax connector on the back (it's been almost 30 years since I saw one of those...) but that's hardly a problem - if you use a balun and coax to feed it, simply pig tail the braid and center conductor. I did things like that for many years on such old radios, and it worked without a hitch every time.

I'm not much on MW DXing, but I am going to bet that you're going to hear TOO much on this band - overloading wouldn't be out of the question. A loop antenna is very much the item of choice here - most of the folks I knew that worked on this band built them. Our Loops wiki has lots of articles on the subject, as does the AC6V and likely the DX Zone sites as well

73s Mike

 

[capthook234]

Mike .thanks for the reply . The G5RV I have is 102'long no Balun just the leads from the 300 ohm TV wire sodered on them hooked to a plastic insalator.I would like to use a shorter one If I can get away with it .the wire was about 5o' up hooked to the tree top than ran into the eve of the house (eve vent ).then into the shop to the old Lafaette HA-225 .it worked but a lot of white noise.so I took it down .and I am looking for a better antenna .Iam told That I will be looking for the perfect antenna forever LOL.Ron KC2LNB

 

[ka3jjz]

Quite right, Ron. Take a gander at the G5RV articles in the link I posted. Some of the designs I've seen use no balun, others do. Take a look at the links I provided, and see what develops.

Noise is the perennial enemy on HF, no doubt about it. There are a number of steps you can take to cut it down, but the biggest one you can do - if you can, not everyone is able to - is to get the antenna away from the house/shop as much as possible. It sounds like you had the height....the antenna was probably picking up some junk from the part that went into the eve of the house.

Of course, everyone loves the PAR - but before you go that route (and I have no doubt it would work), you might consider an even simpler route. The Shortwave SWL antenna yahoo group has a few plans for winding your own balun, and using that in an inverted L design. We even have a few links for pre-built MLBs on our Wiki, as well as the URL for that Yahoo group.

Check out the HF antennas wiki - you might get a few ideas. As always with antennas YMMV - and probably will. Everyone's situation is different

73s Mike

 

[capthook234]

mike .......YMMV....????...Ron

 

[ka3jjz]

YMMV = your mileage may vary Another way of saying that the results are going to depend on many factors....73s Mike

 

[capthook234]

YMMV = your mileage may vary Another way of saying that the results are going to depend on many factors....73s Mike

Oh Ok weren't sure .Thanks