On Wed, 10 Mar 2004 02:00:02 GMT, "Matthew&Wendy"
wrote:

OK, Sorry if I was unspecific. The antenna is about thirty feet long, with
one leg at twenty feet. The entire antenna is twenty feet off the ground.
The Five hundered mile range is great, but it was an AM station out of North
Carolina. The BBC broadcast on 5975 came in great too. But about 100
kilohertz on either side, and I can only pick up locals, within 200 miles. I
saw a vertical antenna that with a switch, the operator could change
something and make the antenna resonant on different frequencies. Is this
possible with a wire antenna?


Hi Matthew,

That would have been either a preselector, or a tuner. Such a device
will restrict your scanning capacity by removing signals outside of a
band of frequencies (this is both an asset and downside if you want to
scan VHF/UHF through the tuner). The chief asset, especially when
wire antennas are added to portable radios for shortwave, is that it
will kill local AM stations that will desensitize your receiver
without you knowing it (complex explanation will be skipped here).
Get a tuner (cheapest ham one will do just fine, spend $20 - $30; skip
any that offer meters, you can't use them anyway). This does not mean
it will kill AM stations if you choose to listen to them, you just
need to adjust the tuner to accomplish it.

The antenna sounds fine, and is far better than using a whip. It is
unlikely that there were local signals in the 49 Meter band unless
they were the bible thumpers. If you are new to shortwave, keep in
mind that the same band that is dead now, may be kicking up a storm in
4 hours.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC