| Author |
Message |
    
Wally38
Junior Member
Username: Wally38
Post Number: 42
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 5:57 pm: | 
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I just purchased a Realistic DX-302 off of e-bay. I'm excited about listening to all sorts of stations around the world. Anyone else listen to shortwave? Any pointers? I'm new at it. Would a 100' pice of copper wire from the house to the garage do the job?
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Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3161
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 8:22 pm: |
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Wally HECK YES ..... 100 foot is MORE than fine.
MHF and others sell antenna tuners like the MFJ-902 for long wire antennas that will alow you to peak for best signal ..... but with just the wire you will lissin to the world ..... |
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 1068
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, October 15, 2005 - 10:43 am: |
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The DX-302 has a built-in preselector and is triple conversion, so you bought yourself a super shortwave hotrod! The DX-302 is one of the finest performing affordable SW machines ever made. Good job! |
Keithinatlanta
Advanced Member
Username: Keithinatlanta
Post Number: 702
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, October 16, 2005 - 7:14 am: |
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Wally38, I have a Allied Radio shortwave receiver that I bought in 1973. I still listen to it quite often, even more so in the day than at night. I pick up a lot of stuff from all over the world. (: sad part is they talk funny, cause I can't understand half of them. If I had just learned to speak spanish, french, russian, etc  !
Keith in Atlanta |
Timebomb
Member
Username: Timebomb
Post Number: 58
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 6:39 pm: |
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Wally38, hope your enjoying the 302! It served me very well, but recently received a Kenwood TS850, which also has continuous HF coverage, and I'm runnig out of room in the radio room!
I've heard if you ground the radio chassis, as well as your antenna of course, it will cut out ALOT of static noise. Something I never did, and always meant to do!
...so, are you hearing what you expected? It's fun searching for "number stations". Espionage! |
Wally38
Junior Member
Username: Wally38
Post Number: 45
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, November 03, 2005 - 9:36 pm: |
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Why yes, I'm enjoying it thoroughly. Can't believe all the stations I pick up with just a 14 gauge insulated copper wire going from my upstairs window out to my garage about 100' away.
Really nice radio. Maybe someday my radio room will fill up like yours.
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Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 1076
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 10:25 am: |
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I have been hearing a lot of spanish speaking numbers stations lately. Man, I wish I had a decoder ring! |
Timebomb
Member
Username: Timebomb
Post Number: 59
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Friday, November 04, 2005 - 3:50 pm: |
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Tech833, what frequencies have you been hearing the number stations? A few months back I caught a couple of the "spanish lady" number stations around the 9.330 mHz area.
Wally, I'm really happy the radio is working out for ya. I really wanted it to go to a good home! |
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 1079
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, November 06, 2005 - 12:49 pm: |
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Anywhere between 4 and 10 Mhz.!
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Timebomb
Member
Username: Timebomb
Post Number: 60
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Monday, November 07, 2005 - 2:17 am: |
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Gotcha! Yeah, ya never really know when or where they'll pop up. Thanks! |
Timebomb
Member
Username: Timebomb
Post Number: 61
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, November 10, 2005 - 1:43 am: |
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Another question...when you're scanning through channels, say between 4 and 10 mHz, which mode do you usually use? AM,USB,LSB?? |
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 1086
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, November 12, 2005 - 10:17 am: |
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I normally scan in AM mode. When I hear something, I find it by changing modes and moving the dial around until I can decode it. |
Boxcar
Intermediate Member
Username: Boxcar
Post Number: 354
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - 8:17 pm: |
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What's a good way of grounding your radio chasis anyway? I've heard of it too but didn't really know how to run the wiring and where the wiring runs. |
Tech808
Moderator
Username: Tech808
Post Number: 8511
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 29, 2005 - 9:29 pm: |
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Boxcar,
Very easy.
Connect a wire to the case of your radio and every piece of equipment you have and run it to a known Ground or ground rod so that you have a single point ground for Everything.
CLICK on the LINK below to learn more about grounding your station equipment.
RADIO EQUIPMENT & GROUNDING
Hope this helps,
Lon
Tech808
cef808
N9OSN |
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 1112
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - 12:39 am: |
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Lon did it the right way. And it saved him when his antenna took a direct strike! |
Keithinatlanta
Advanced Member
Username: Keithinatlanta
Post Number: 743
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, March 19, 2006 - 8:34 am: |
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Now I am curious. Wally said he hooked up 100 ft of wire. Does it matter how long the length is?
By having a longer versus shorter wire antenna hooked up, does this mean you will get more or better reception? Or is it still "height" that makes the most difference? Thanks.
keith |
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 1278
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, March 19, 2006 - 10:24 am: |
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When it comes to SW listening, the more wire, the better in almost all cases.
I use a 160 foot longwire in 'inverted L' configuration and I can hear just about everything there is. |
Bruce
Senior Member
Username: Bruce
Post Number: 3663
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 20, 2006 - 7:23 am: |
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I have found a 50-100 foot wire and a mfj antenna tuner works very well for shortwave |
Coyote
Advanced Member
Username: Coyote
Post Number: 710
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 9:11 am: |
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I hooked mine up to my 11m dipole just for giggles. Man what a difference. I started hear'n all kinds of stuff that wasn't there before. My 10 year old wanted to play with it to see what he could find. He sat there for at least an hour tuning back and forth and stopping whenever he heard a different language. We sat there laugh'n and try'n to guess the language and where they were at. The best one was a chinese station, man did he get a kick out of listening to that. |
Tech833
Moderator
Username: Tech833
Post Number: 1280
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 1:09 pm: |
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That is a great way to get a lifelong interest in radio started. Excellent!! |
Kid_vicious
Senior Member
Username: Kid_vicious
Post Number: 1347
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 11:27 pm: |
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it worked with me!
dad's multi band analog tuning garage radio was my first forray into the radio hobby.
VHF-HI, i heard the cops talk to eachother.
can you say hooked?!!!
matt |
