Sony 2010 Outside Antenna & Freqs

[paris_tn]

What are your top 20 or 30 freqs to monitor on hf? I just got my Sony 2010 out of it's box and listening to it as i type this. I am using the stock antenna that came with it. What would be a good antenna for me to pick up. I have plenty of room outside on a tower. Could an outside antenna hurt my 2010 or overload the front end and damage the receiver?

I am going to put up a scanner beam soon, so i thought i would get something for hf also. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Tennessee

 

[ka3jjz]

Be very careful putting an outside antenna on the 2010. It's very sensitive to static electricity discharges - several folks have blown the front end FETs because of this very problem.
In fact, it's quite likely you won't need a big antenna at all. A standard inverted L of, say 40 foot or so should be all you would need. Our antennas wiki has lots of info on the subject.
Now as to the 'top 20 or 30' freqs - you need to be much more specific? SWBC or utilities?

73s Mike

[edit] Found an article on the hard core dx website that addresses this very issue...

http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx/antenna/special/2010ant.html

 

[paris_tn]

Thanks for the info and the article.

 

[ka3jjz]

To repeat: when you mention 20 or 30 freqs, was that for Broadcast stations or utilities? There's a significant difference. When I mention Broadcast, examples would be R Nederland, VoA, BBC, ect. Utilities - well, that's a much harder one to define. Some common examples would be the Coast Guard, the Global HF System (more correctly known as HF-Global Communications System...), and lots more 73s Mike

 

[paris_tn]

Broadcast stations.

 

[ka3jjz]

The top 20 or 30 are going to vary depending on your location and whether propagation favors you at the time you are listening - your best bet is to go to the Prime Time Shortwave website (the URL is on the SWL Monitoring wiki page) and download the station lists, which are updated every 4 weeks or so.

A good basic rule - listen above 10 mhz during the day, below that at night.

73s and good listening Mike