Bring Back Shortwave
spectator.co.uk
Bring Back Shortwave
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Re: Bring Back Shortwave
#2Re: Bring Back Shortwave
#3Having a shortwave (with a decent antenna) is fun. You twiddle the dial and find all kinds of goodies. Pretty soon you'll be scouring teh interwebz for programming schedules.
Re: Bring Back Shortwave
#4Having a shortwave (with a decent antenna) is fun. You twiddle the dial and find all kinds of goodies. Pretty soon you'll be scouring teh interwebz for programming schedules.
I have never been able to pick up anything on my SW radio with its integrated antenna.
What am I doing wrong?
Re: Bring Back Shortwave
#5Having a shortwave (with a decent antenna) is fun. You twiddle the dial and find all kinds of goodies. Pretty soon you'll be scouring teh interwebz for programming schedules.
I have never been able to pick up anything on my SW radio with its integrated antenna. What am I doing wrong?
It helps to be high up and to have an unobstructed view.
An antenna extension (https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/sgn-ant-60) would help.
Even better would be an active antenna. I have only heard great things about the MLA30+ though I don't own one myself.
WWCR (4840) has always been the easiest broadcast for me to pick up in the US.
Re: Bring Back Shortwave
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have never been able to pick up anything on my SW radio with its integrated antenna. What am I doing wrong?
It helps to be high up and to have an unobstructed view. An antenna extension ( https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/sgn-ant-60 ) would help. Even better would be an active antenna. I have only heard great things about the MLA30+ though I don't own one myself. WWCR (4840) has always been the easiest broadcast for me to pick up in the US.
Height isn't going to make any real difference for shortwave reception unless you're seriously high up and putting up a very efficient antenna like a dipole. At that point it's kind of moot, as you don't need an efficient antenna anyways to receive shortwave.
Re: Bring Back Shortwave
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
It helps to be high up and to have an unobstructed view. An antenna extension ( https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/sgn-ant-60 ) would help. Even better would be an active antenna. I have only heard great things about the MLA30+ though I don't own one myself. WWCR (4840) has always been the easiest broadcast for me to pick up in the US.
Height isn't going to make any real difference for shortwave reception unless you're seriously high up and putting up a very efficient antenna like a dipole. At that point it's kind of moot, as you don't need an efficient antenna anyways to receive shortwave.
I've read (but not tried) that what works is a verrry loooong wire strung up like between trees or in a barn.
Re: Bring Back Shortwave
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
It helps to be high up and to have an unobstructed view. An antenna extension ( https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/sgn-ant-60 ) would help. Even better would be an active antenna. I have only heard great things about the MLA30+ though I don't own one myself. WWCR (4840) has always been the easiest broadcast for me to pick up in the US.
Height isn't going to make any real difference for shortwave reception unless you're seriously high up and putting up a very efficient antenna like a dipole. At that point it's kind of moot, as you don't need an efficient antenna anyways to receive shortwave.
Correct about altitude... it is a common misconception that height always improves reception, because it doesn't take into account that radio waves propagate in vastly different ways according to their frequency and wavelength. Thankfully there are organizations like the IRAU and ARLL that have vast amounts of info on what does and doesn't work in a wide variety of locations, bands, and altitudes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amateur_radio_organiza...
Re: Bring Back Shortwave
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Height isn't going to make any real difference for shortwave reception unless you're seriously high up and putting up a very efficient antenna like a dipole. At that point it's kind of moot, as you don't need an efficient antenna anyways to receive shortwave.
I've read (but not tried) that what works is a verrry loooong wire strung up like between trees or in a barn.
It's not a bad choice, but the tiny tecsun radio I have has a telescopic antenna that is about 3 ft long when extended. It receives shortwave very well.
If there is some distant broadcast (maybe overseas) that you want to receive you can definitely build a very efficient antenna system for that broadcaster's frequency. Be prepared to shell out well over $10,000 for this.
Re: Bring Back Shortwave
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Height isn't going to make any real difference for shortwave reception unless you're seriously high up and putting up a very efficient antenna like a dipole. At that point it's kind of moot, as you don't need an efficient antenna anyways to receive shortwave.
I've read (but not tried) that what works is a verrry loooong wire strung up like between trees or in a barn.
Regarding simply stringing long wire, if you have a huge, flat land area and don't mind overhead wires, erect a rhombic antenna on dedicated poles for extremely high gain but with a few downsides worth reading about, such as the sheer size needed for shortwave. Don't string wires between trees as they are guaranteed to snap in the wind.