With the power they're running, yeah, in some cases these stations can be heard with nothing more than a diode, speaker, and long enough wire. But that could be a good thing: especially for those of us with a minimalist approach (either for the challenge of it or lack or money--or both) it's nice to let the other guy do all the work.
Portable radio AM dxing
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With the power they're running, yeah, in some cases these stations can be heard with nothing more than a diode, speaker, and long enough wire. But that could be a good thing: especially for those of us with a minimalist approach (either for the challenge of it or lack or money--or both) it's nice to let the other guy do all the work.
My point was just that posting, "I heard mega-flame-thrower-station on clear-channel-frequency at midnight from 900 miles away," says virtually nothing about your radio and antenna. As you point out, under the right conditions, a diode, speaker, and a spool of magnet wire could do the same thing.
I'm not saying it isn't worth logging or posting about, just that everyone should be aware it says far more about atmospheric conditions than it does the equipment. Now, there are some night time receptions that do say something about the equipment. I remember years ago when KFI was blasting 50kW through a 10kHz filter from 15 miles away and obliterating two stations on either side, I was able to pull in a small station from 300 miles away just one channel up by using all the tools in my kit -- two directional antennas, antenna phaser, very narrow RF filter, passband shift, audio DSP. Something like that is a testament to the equipment. Getting WOAI from 1200 miles away doesn't say nearly as much.
I've mostly switched from nighttime MW DXing to daytime DXing. I find being able to translate a ground wave signal from 400 miles away a lot more satisfying than isolating one signal from the cacophony you usually hear at night on most channels. Getting George Noory on every channel up and down the dial just doesn't excite me.
I'm not saying it isn't worth logging or posting about, just that everyone should be aware it says far more about atmospheric conditions than it does the equipment. Now, there are some night time receptions that do say something about the equipment. I remember years ago when KFI was blasting 50kW through a 10kHz filter from 15 miles away and obliterating two stations on either side, I was able to pull in a small station from 300 miles away just one channel up by using all the tools in my kit -- two directional antennas, antenna phaser, very narrow RF filter, passband shift, audio DSP. Something like that is a testament to the equipment. Getting WOAI from 1200 miles away doesn't say nearly as much.
I've mostly switched from nighttime MW DXing to daytime DXing. I find being able to translate a ground wave signal from 400 miles away a lot more satisfying than isolating one signal from the cacophony you usually hear at night on most channels. Getting George Noory on every channel up and down the dial just doesn't excite me.
BDavis27707
Member
Some of you guys may have your filters too tight. Lots of folks like using their moderately priced radio with its whip antenna alligator simply clipped to a wire or loop and finding stations across state and country borders. Even if only at night when reception is better.
The DX-398 (Sangean 909), which was mentioned earlier here, is indeed a pretty good MW DXer. I used to ignore mine for MW until one night I tuned around, and was hearing stations that my Superadios usually pull in well. the selectivity is really good, especially in the narrow position.
Very few radios use the whip antenna for MW. They almost universally have internal ferrite loop antennas for MW. The whip antenna is for FM and SW. The Eton E1 is the only modern exception I know of. It uses the whip antenna for everything, which greatly reduces its utility on MW since the whip antenna is not directional and tends to be very sensitive to household RFI.
Clipping a longer wire to the whip antenna can help a lot with SW but it's pointless for MW on almost all portable radios.
At least some radios have some type of arrangement for connecting to an external antenna...is that the case with the radio in question?
An external loop antenna will inductively couple to the ferrite antenna inside the radio. Basically, the larger external loop captures and amplifies a signal within a short distance of the loop. Usually if the radio is within a foot of the external loop in the right position you'll get a significant increase in the tuned frequency. Naturally, both the loop and the radio have to be tuned to the same frequency. It requires a bit of experimentation to find the optimal orientation of the loop and the radio.
BDavis27707
Member
LOL,,,yep, I was thinkg of SW when I wrote that.
It can be a huge help on SW. I remember the first time I tried the roll-up wire antenna with my DX-398. I was shocked at how many more signals I got on SW even though the wire wasn't massively longer than the whip antenna.
oldradioguy2010
Member
At 8:30 pacific time
With a Realistic DX 390 I am monitoring WHO am 1040 in Oxnard CA.
DX 390 is a portable on battery ..
DW
So. Cal.
With a Realistic DX 390 I am monitoring WHO am 1040 in Oxnard CA.
DX 390 is a portable on battery ..
DW
So. Cal.
If you have a longer antenna, you can also set the whip antenna of your portable near the longer antenna's feedline and get improved reception, via the 'proximity' method. I used to do this with one of my own portables, because I was concerned about overloading it. It also protects your radio from static charges coming off the external antenna.
TRGNM
Member
My go-to portable for DX rig is the CCRadio 2E. That said my EP-Pro can often dig out weaker signals I'm targeting. The 2E does a very good job at automatically peaking the twin coil to the strongest signal. But sometimes I want to be in control of the signal peaking. I like the fact that I can manually peak the signal on the EP-Pro. Sometimes it takes me a while to orient the radio optimally. I also use a lazy Susan for that purpose. Often times after reorienting the radio the twin coil peak needs to be redone. On the 2E I have to step off the frequency I'm listening to and then come back to re-activate the auto-tune circuit. With the EP-PRO I can make the adjustments simultaneously. In that regard I think the lower priced EP-Pro is better. Especially if you are trying to isolate competing stations on the same frequency. I've expressed my desire to have the option of automatic and manual AM fine tuning on a future release of the higher priced radio. We'll see if CCrane responds. They are pretty good at listening and responding to their customers input.
TRGNM
Member
I realize that the OP already bought another radio. There is another option for those readers in the same boat. If you already have a decent radio that needs a boost there is another option. I'll refer to another Radio Jay Allen review with the details. These work better than passive loops IMHO. These can operated portable on an internal 9V battery. The catch is that they cost twice as much. But man do they wake up inexpensive radio's. I bought a like new unit for $50 on ebay.
Search Results for “Twin Coil” – radiojayallen
Search Results for “Twin Coil” – radiojayallen
I think Crane is trying to walk a line between providing equipment that's attractive to DXers and servicing the much larger market segment that wants something that's not too complicated to operate. The auto peaking of the twin coil on the CCR 2E makes it a lot easier to use, at the expense of having to do the tune-up/tune-down dance you describe to get it to auto peak again. I think a reasonable middle ground might be a button that manually activates the auto peak. It seems to work well most of the time, it's just that sometimes it gives up too early when you land on a new frequency and haven't yet aligned the antenna for the best signal.
The manual peaking on the EP/EP-Pro can have some odd effects, I think overloading the radio with images if tuned too far off from where it should be for the tuned frequency. The auto peak never seems to do this.
I'm sure some of us would love it if Crane came out with a model designed specifically for DXers, but the potential market for such a product is very small. Recovering the engineering costs for such a device would be very difficult.
The manual peaking on the EP/EP-Pro can have some odd effects, I think overloading the radio with images if tuned too far off from where it should be for the tuned frequency. The auto peak never seems to do this.
I'm sure some of us would love it if Crane came out with a model designed specifically for DXers, but the potential market for such a product is very small. Recovering the engineering costs for such a device would be very difficult.
TRGNM
Member
I have experienced what you describe. But... there's always a but... When trying to separate a weaker station from a stronger one the first step is to use the AM fine tune knob on the EP-Pro. Second step is to physically re-vector the radio to the weaker signal. Then slowly return the fine adjust knob to the center position. Sometimes you have to go back and forth a few times to find the sweet spot. Even though the two stations are on the same frequency the likelihood of them also coming from the same direction is very unlikely. I discovered this technique while out in the country far away from any electrical interference. It does work in an urban/sub-urban environment albeit with less satisfying results.
Any one using a passive inductive tunable antenna for their DXing activity?
TRGNM
Member
I do. They work great and they don't require any power. The only downside is that to null (peak) the radio signal you have to physically turn the radio and the antenna. If you use a large enough lazy Susan it's a breeze.
BTW I still have my original loop. A Select a Tenna that I bought 30+ years ago. It still works great. Mine, like the one shown below allows the connection of an outside antenna.
Yup, use the AN-200 loop quite a bit. Also have a homemade tunable loop made out of a couple clementine crates and a 365pf.
The all-time best, if you can find one, is the CCrane TCF Twin Coil Ferrite amplified antenna.
Also use a homemade tunable spider web coil loop inductively coupled to my xtal set. Can receive at least several 50kw AM flamethrowers
on any given evening. WBZ AM 1030 Boston really blasts in here as they direct all their power westward, KMOX and WLW also good
sigs on the xtal set.
BDavis27707
Member
I use the AN-200 too. Works well to bring in distant stations for me and can usually aim it just right to eliminate noise when using the antenna jack on my receiver. I have noticed they are getting to be very cheap.
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