S450dxl grundig

[Jsneyman]

Please humor me.. As of Father's Day I am a new proud owner of a Grundig S450dxl radio that I know absolutely nothing about. Just the few things I have been reading I can't find an "all around" antenna. I have a cabin out in the middle of nowhere (closest building is about 7 miles, closest town over 30 miles) by Lake Louise, Alaska. I'm assuming very little interference but not sure. Is there an antenna I can just plug in and play or should I build something??? Don't have a clue. Thanks

 

[ka3jjz]

To get you started, we have quite a list of links in our HF gateway article. Read the links in the very first box of...

HF - The RadioReference Wiki

and the first topic of...

SWL Broadcast - The RadioReference Wiki

which has several links geared toward the newcomer.

Now these links all pertain to broadcasting between 2-30 Mhz. There's quite a world of other stuff to be heard in this range, and the HF gateway (the link for which is above) has links to most of it. Sit back and read - decide what it is you would like to hear, and let's go from there.

As to antennas - if it were me, I'd build something - and being out in Alaska, so far out in the boonies, you shouldn't have any issues at all at putting something up and worrying that the antenna is too big (which would tend to overload the radio).

Your first priority would be to get an adapter that will take the F type jack and allow you to use a SO-239 coax jack for input as your feedline. Universal radio has such a jack, and it's quite inexpensive. See the very bottom of...

Grundig S450DLX Radio Receiver, Grundig S450

We have many different designs in our antennas wiki, and you might profit from a certain amount of experimentation. This is one area where you can go as complex, or as simple, as you wish

HF Antennas - The RadioReference Wiki

If you know how to solder and can get the necessary parts, time to start constructing something. I would start with 50-75 foot of wire with the coax fed on one end. This is the classic Inverted L, and it's described in a link in the HF antennas article I just gave. In fact, start reading that first section in 'Homebrew and Technical'. There are some basic concepts there that you should understand before proceeding.

Even a length of wire fitted to a small banana plug, and placed in the center connector of the coax connector would work, although it's not very mechanically sturdy.

Lastly being up as far north as you are, you will need to understand how basic propagation works. Whenever you see an aurora, chances are that your reception will be seriously disrupted, and you will wonder why. This link goes to a site that will explain the basics of how this works

Propagation Primer - Flash Movie by AE4RV

That should be more than enough to get you started. I would sit back and read - doing this kind of learning takes time; you will gain more understanding of how things work that way

HTH...Mike

 

[nanZor]

Congrats on getting the 450dxl - it makes for a nice radio.

Mike has very good info there. I don't know what your building skills are, but perhaps the simplest improvement for an outdoor antenna would be to just use a length of the typical RG-6 cable used for cable-tv which is already pre-connectorized with f-connectors. Just attach one end to the 450, and at the other end, perhaps 20 feet of wire to the center conductor. But definitely check out Mike's suggestions.

For the time being with just the internal whip, make sure you are set to "DX" on the side switch, along with making sure it is set for "INT"ernal. In addition, make sure that the AM-RF Gain control is fully clockwise for the most sensitivity and rotate it counter-clockwise if you are getting overload. That AM-RF Gain control is not just for am broadcasting, but shortwave as well.

Of course once you build an outdoor antenna, move that switch on the side to "EXT" ernal antenna. Since there is so little isolation in that switch, when you do hook up an external, keep the internal folded down.

Since this is a portable, it is pretty sensitive, so the combination of being able to switch the fixed attenuator in/out with the dx/local switch, along with the am-rf-gain pot, you have a lot of flexibility with strong signals.

The 450 runs beautifully from batteries since it draws so little current - and some have found the adapter to be noisy. I run mine from batteries all the time - BUT be careful with the battery-door hinges: those hinges are tiny plastic nubs, and are soft so it is easy to break them if you don't line them up just so.

PS - thank you for making me doublecheck things on my 450 - it appears that the silkscreen is wrong on the side! The TOP switch is the dx/local, "ant sense", but the middle is the antenna switch - backwards from the silkscreen! I'll make note of it in my 450 review here.