What am I doing wrong?

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SCPD

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A Grundig Satellit will NOT hear the same things an Icom/Yaesu/Kenwood/etc... HF radio will. You will get the powerful nutball shortwave religious broadcasters just fine with the Grundig. To get the HF aircraft and military stuff you really need a decent HF rig.

Mancow, he has a Grundig 750 which is a massive portable. It has way more of a front-end than say a tiny Grundig G3 portable. The radio has a BNC input for an external antenna. This means that it can accept most external antennas safely. As always with these "desktop" portables, there are no guarantees.

Yes, a HF receiver is highly recommended for any serious monitoring but it sounds like he isn't ready to make that kind of commitment.

A *quality* active loop would be a safe investment; however, they are not cheap. That being said, they are very worth the cost and (presuming it's installed correctly) will drastically enhance any shortwave listening.

Ridgescan, E-Man, Solarix, myself, and plenty of others can attest to the difference of the active loop compared to a wire antenna.
 

SCPD

QRT
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Most of my shortwave listening is via digital modes. Not just amateur radio, but the likes of WEFAX, HFDL, NAVTEX, DRM... bunches of others.

But if someone thinks hooking up a radio to a computer somehow diminishes it, then you're going to get bored quickly. There's about 1000 modes out there besides voice.
 

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JustLou

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Mancow, he has a Grundig 750 which is a massive portable. It has way more of a front-end than say a tiny Grundig G3 portable. The radio has a BNC input for an external antenna. This means that it can accept most external antennas safely. As always with these "desktop" portables, there are no guarantees.

Yes, a HF receiver is highly recommended for any serious monitoring but it sounds like he isn't ready to make that kind of commitment.

A *quality* active loop would be a safe investment; however, they are not cheap. That being said, they are very worth the cost and (presuming it's installed correctly) will drastically enhance any shortwave listening.

Ridgescan, E-Man, Solarix, myself, and plenty of others can attest to the difference of the active loop compared to a wire antenna.

I have a 750 in my bedroom hooked up to a Par Electronics EF-SWL end-fed short wave antenna. For listening to AM Shortwave broadcasts, it works almost as well as my much more expensive HF gear. It can get a little overloaded on very strong signals, but adjusting the RF Gain or attenuator takes care of it. On SSB, it works well too, except the narrow filter is a little too wide for SSB if the band is crowded. For a radio that costs under $250, it's perfectly acceptable though.
 
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One last question and I'll stop bugging you guys.

Can you recommend some very reputable and reliable e-tailers where I might be able to shop for radio stuff?
 

WB4CS

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900
Location
Northern Alabama
One last question and I'll stop bugging you guys.

Can you recommend some very reputable and reliable e-tailers where I might be able to shop for radio stuff?

I don't know about the others, but you're not bugging me! Shortwave Listening is how I got into amateur radio. As a kid in the pre-internet days, the idea of listening to radio stations from all over the world with nothing but a wire strung between two trees fascinated me!

I'm not sure of any retailers that deal specifically with shortwave radios, but most of the amateur radio retailers do sell HF antennas that can be used for shortwave listening, and many will also sell HF receivers (and transceivers that need a license to transmit with) if you want to window-shop other radios.

I'd suggest Gigaparts and Ham Radio Outlet. as two good starting points. Amazon is also a good place to find shortwave receivers, books about shortwave radio, and other related items.
 

Jimru

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To the OP:
If you have a tablet or smartphone, Black Cat Systems makes a sweet app called: "SWBC Sked" that is continually updated. It shows the current schedules for hundreds of SWL broadcasters as well as "utility" stations from around the world. Is is available for iOS as well as Android. I am not affiliated with them except as a satisfied customer!

http://www.blackcatsystems.com/iphone/SWBC.html

Happy hunting!
 

JustLou

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To the OP:
If you have a tablet or smartphone, Black Cat Systems makes a sweet app called: "SWBC Sked" that is continually updated. It shows the current schedules for hundreds of SWL broadcasters as well as "utility" stations from around the world. Is is available for iOS as well as Android. I am not affiliated with them except as a satisfied customer!

http://www.blackcatsystems.com/iphone/SWBC.html

Happy hunting!
According to the reviews, it's not so sweet. It doesn't tell you what countries the stations broadcast too, and the app hasn't been updated since 2012.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 

majoco

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Dec 25, 2008
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New Zealand
JustLou said:
According to the reviews, it's not so sweet. It doesn't tell you what countries the stations broadcast to
That's half the fun of swl'ing - you can easily receive overseas stations that are not particularly targeted at your area. They may be laying down a signal at the target that is easily received on a pocket portable and a whip antenna, but with your more sophisticated gear.......:roll:

I'm having withdrawal symptoms - I've taken all my antennas down prior to moving....
 

Jimru

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According to the reviews, it's not so sweet. It doesn't tell you what countries the stations broadcast too, and the app hasn't been updated since 2012.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Justlou,

I don't know what review(s) you read, but they are wrong, just plain totally wrong. In fact, there have been nine version updates of the app since it's V1.0 launched on 11/01/11, the most recent being 4/4/2014.

The database itself updates frequently and you can select the list to be arranged to show, among other things, the target area. Plus, any time you click on an entry in the list, no matter how you have it configured, it will open a detailed page that includes country of origin, target area, language & etc.

When I turn the app on, it takes a few seconds to update the db and tells you it is doing so. I have it set to update upon each launch, but you can also do a "forced update" by clicking on a button in the setup screen (in "FAQ" screen).

The app is highly configurable and the data can be arranged in any number of ways to make your search easy & enjoyable. It also covers Long Wave (LW) and Medium Wave (MW) and includes utility stations.

There have been some instances where what I am listening to may not be what I want on a given frequency, but I use a portable with an indoor whip, so I will hear whatever propagation and my meager set-up allows.

To me it's money well spent. Again, I'm just a very satisfied customer.

Having said all that, sometimes it's just more fun to tune around a band and see whatcha get, then verify using the app!

All best,
Jim
 

JustLou

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Justlou,

I don't know what review(s) you read, but they are wrong, just plain totally wrong. In fact, there have been nine version updates of the app since it's V1.0 launched on 11/01/11, the most recent being 4/4/2014.

The database itself updates frequently and you can select the list to be arranged to show, among other things, the target area. Plus, any time you click on an entry in the list, no matter how you have it configured, it will open a detailed page that includes country of origin, target area, language & etc.

When I turn the app on, it takes a few seconds to update the db and tells you it is doing so. I have it set to update upon each launch, but you can also do a "forced update" by clicking on a button in the setup screen (in "FAQ" screen).

The app is highly configurable and the data can be arranged in any number of ways to make your search easy & enjoyable. It also covers Long Wave (LW) and Medium Wave (MW) and includes utility stations.

There have been some instances where what I am listening to may not be what I want on a given frequency, but I use a portable with an indoor whip, so I will hear whatever propagation and my meager set-up allows.

To me it's money well spent. Again, I'm just a very satisfied customer.

Having said all that, sometimes it's just more fun to tune around a band and see whatcha get, then verify using the app!

All best,
Jim
As per the Google Play Store, the last time the app was updated was November 6, 2012.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 

Jimru

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As per the Google Play Store, the last time the app was updated was November 6, 2012.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I have the iOS version, which, as I said has been updated nine times since 11/2011, and was last updated on April 4, 2014 (the app, not the database, which is more frequently updated than the app).

Is it possible that the Android version is inferior to the iOS version? It looks as if the iOS version is better maintained than the Android one! More features, more updates. I had no idea that a company like Black Cat Systems would have such discrepancies between versions. I don't get that at all.

Well, all I can say is that I am happy with it and have found it a useful tool on my iPhone and iPad when tuning the bands on my DX-398 portable.

To the OP; before you start spending money on any apps, try to get your information for free from the folks on these forums, as you have been and use whatever free databases for listening they recommend, including the Radio Reference HF Wiki (which may have been recommended to you already!).

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/HF

Best,
Jim
 

Boombox

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Sep 2, 2012
Messages
1,366
RE: portatops and digital portables versus "HF receivers" like an R8, R75 etc.

I agree with Nick Carr here, you can still hear utility and military stuff on a digital portable or portatop. I have a DX-390 and 398, and have heard plenty of military and utility stuff on them over the years. I used to hear the maritime CW markers (when they were still on the air) from as far away as Greece, Taiwan and China -- with just digital portables.

This isn't to say that a high grade tabletop receiver or SDR won't bring in more signals. But a portable or portatop like the Grundig the OP has should still bring in plenty. He probably won't hear the same amount of weak utility signals as he would on a Drake R8, but one can still hear a lot of stuff.

Also, a lot of what you'll hear depends on your antenna, and also your location. And one of the fun things about the shortwave hobby is that all it takes is some wire and some determination or patience and you can find ways to improve your reception.

Hams do much of the same thing -- they don't all have the same sort of equipment, and a lot of them have to make do with what they have, deal with HOA and other antenna restrictions, etc.

Re: SW schedules. I use the EiBi list, sometimes the Aoki list (if I remember to update it), and most of all I use the Short-wave.info site, which I find the most useful.

Last but not least, don't think that just because your radio seems dead it's the radio, or even the antenna. Propagation can make the bands change from day to day, night to night.
 

KB9IN

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Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
17
Location
Milwaukee, WI
I know I'm a month & a half late on this & I apologize. I wasn't on the computer much this summer & if it weren't for the portable shortwave receiver I probably wouldn't have listened much.

I cobbled up an antenna system that works fairly decently & it didn't cost me anything. I have aluminum rain gutters & downspouts. I just hooked up a piece of wire to the bottom of a downspout & into the antenna jack. It picks up a tad more noise than the indoor antenna in the attic but also picks up signals at greater strength so the signal to noise ratio is greater. I use my metal fence as a ground. By using alligator clips I can disconnect the ground which sometimes aides in reception. I've even tried the fence as an antenna & sometimes I've noticed an improvement in signal strength, most often not. It depends on which angle the signal is coming from. My antenna has both vertical & horizontal elements & that's a plus. My next step will be connecting the gutter on the south side of the house to the one on the north side. That will give me one big Squalo, lol. (You old 6 & 2 meter hams will recognize that, lol)

Be sure that all components of your rain gutter system are screwed together. Also make sure it's metal & not vinyl, lol. It took me all of 5 minutes to hook it up so give it a try. It'll either work well or it won't.

I need to find & dig out my old random wire antenna tuner that I used for portable ham operations. I think that would do wonders as a preselector & antenna tuner to maintain the proper impedance.
 
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