shortwave antenna...

[chrcey]

I got a nice shortwave for Christmas and would like to add a antenna to it and really be able to enjoy the radio....

I could use some info on where to tune in so some great radio show..

Thanks for all your help..
Chris.

 

[k9rzz]

What shortwave radio do you have? That will help us tell you what kind of antenna it can take.

The simplest antenna is just a piece of wire. See photo below.


To find broadcasts in English, you can try this one: Search Results for English SWL Broadcasters at 0154
or my favorite lately: Short-Wave Frequency Schedule for BBC in ENGLISH at 01:54GMT

Welcome aboard!!

 

[chrcey]

I can"t believe i did not say what radio I have.. Sorry about that..

I have the Grundig/eton S350DL

 

[k9rzz]

Okay, cool !

I was just looking at the manual: http://www.grove-ent.com/S350manual.pdf

and a simple wire should work just fine. The longer the better ... so start looking for some wire!

Let us know what you hear!

 

[chrcey]

I was looking those slinky antenna that are 85ft long on ebay.. But I know nothing about them....

 

[k9rzz]

Honestly, save your money because I don't think you'll hear any more with the slinky than you will with just a piece of wire. They are more important for ham operators who need to transmit on a tuned antenna. Additionally, the connectors on your radio won't be compatable.

You won't be missing out with just a piece of wire. Really.

Edit: if you're dying to buy something that will help, think about a simple antenna tuner

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/preamps/2964.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/NIB-MFJ-956-SHO...ItemQQptZShortwave_Radios?hash=item53dec03792

I use one of these and they work great.

 

[ka3jjz]

Watch how much wire you put on that radio. If memory serves, it's a single conversion set - so you're going to be hearing stuff in places they shouldn't be. Overloading it with too much wire is simply going to make things worse.

As for English schedules, I would highly recommend the NASWA spreadsheet, which I understand now has a separate worksheet for this. It's available from this website. (anything in blue is a link). You will need a program like WinZip to extract the compressed file.

73 Mike

 

[WisconsinRailfan]

Here is some information on choosing a wire for your antenna - Choosing wire for an antenna by dxzone.com

 

[chrcey]

the slink antenna i;m looking at said that it for shortwave..

85' Super Helical Slinky Antenna, AM, Shortwave, SWL - eBay (item 320455350671 end time Jan-27-10 17:36:44 PST)

 

[k9rzz]

That should work just fine with your radio!

 

[Ken_Allen]

If you use too much wire on the grundigs, they overload and image VERY easily.

810 and 1540 locally come in on every single channel on my little G5. I can still get in people from europe and all over the world.