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Old May 22nd 04, 11:23 PM
Jay Heyl
 
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In article , md1966
@optonline.net says...
Hiya...

Can anyone offer any comments on this medium wave antenna ???

http://www.ccrane.com/am-antenna.asp

I'm thinking of picking one up for MW DX'ing. I'd be using it along with my
GE SR-III. I'd also take a crack at using it with the KA-1102 and PL-550.
The SR-III already has a substaitial ferrite bar in it, but, as anyone that
has used it knows, it is hightly directional and you have the spin the radio
about at times. I'm wondering if the C Crane antenna would solve that
problem and or enhance the DX'ing capabilities of the SR-III.


What you view as a problem with the SR3, many view as a blessing. The
directionality of the antenna allows you to null out unwanted signals
and pull in weaker signals that would otherwise not be listenable.
Among DXers, directionality is a highly desireable feature.

As for the CCrane antenna, it contains two 8-inch ferrite antennas which
are just as directional as the antenna in the SR3. In my experience, it
does very little for the SR3. You might be able to set it at a
different angle than the SR3 and allow signals that would otherwise be
nulled out to get through to the SR3, though you're likely to just end
up with a jumbled mess of signals. You also have to tune the CCrane
antenna, so you'd just be trading rotating the radio for rotating a dial
on the control box (plus possibly having to rotate both the radio and
the CCrane antenna).

The CCrane antenna WILL make a big difference when used with the other
radios you mentioned. They have much smaller ferrite antennas and will
benefit greatly from the larger ferrite in the CCrane antenna.

-- Jay