Yes, the three major issues which people have with the usage of this
antenna a

A) Connecting the wire/amp/loop out of order (so you only get the wire
as part of the antenna and not the loop--- quite poor performance).

" 4. the wire connecting the antenna to the battery compartment of the
de31 is clearly FRAGILE and in the long run, will probably rip. tear,
or ruin in the entire de31 due to the weight of batteries it must
support, and the hanging style of the antenna from a window."

Are you sure that you're attaching things in the right order --- the
battery pack should have plenty of wire to be able to place on a table
and not be hanging from the antenna.

This is a link to a setup picture from Liypn's ebay ad for the antenna:
http://images.blogcn.com/2006/5/13/5...6051394536.jpg

But - in the URL I posted yesterday, they do mention that the tuning
knob isn't the most robust (doesn't last too long, in some reports).


B) Not being patient with the tuning. You really have to tune it
slowly. First move it until you can hear the area of the dial where it
'clicks' and then move it much, much slower around that area to tune it
perfectly.

C) On radios without antenna jacks, not connecting the ground clip to
the radio ground. The ground really removes alot of noise which you'd
have, if you only connect the antenna clip.

D) Not heard of yet -- but make sure that you don't have a dead
battery!

The antenna really does work -- but not nearly as well as the $100+
loops.
By does work, I mean, in comparison to the built in rod antenna -- and
an 'in the house' wire antenna. Comparing the in-house wire vs the
DE-31, the biggest positive is the reduction of local noise. (The DE31
is shortwave only, they have another SW/MW model.)

Always realize that when you test and compare antennas, sometimes the
radio gets 'louder' -- but both the signal and noise get raised at a
similar ratio as a result of the antenna...(especially an amplified
antenna) and you can have a similar effect by raising the volume.

According to at least some reviews, if you tune this antenna correctly,
but have the Sony AN-LP1 on a frequency which is far off from Sony
'course tuning' points, the results are not too far. On frequencies
which are closer to Sony's tuning points, there's no contest.

http://www.radiointel.com/review-degende31.htm

I tested it against my Torus Tuner Loop... it's also much better than
the DE-31 - no contest... it was also much more expensive. Like the
DE-31, the TT also has a full variable capacitor, so it can be tuned
precisely, unlike the Sony.

[I'm most probably going to sell my Torus Tuner soon, just because I
usually use my shortwave while travelling and walking and I can't
travel or walk with the Torus Tuner (I can't walk with the DE31 either
:-) ). At home, I end up using web streaming most of the time nowadays.
]


pure wrote:
OK, after some more work on the dde31, I can offer the following info:

1- with new AAA rechargeables, the batteries are still going strong
after 4 hours of use. So, I guess the previous opinion was based on
either partially discharged batteries beforehand, or they had a hard
time keeping their charge, from overuse.

2 - the reception on shortwave is greatly improved, no doubt, with the
de31 and degen 1102, it's just that to obtain that great leap in
quality, the plug has to be introduced ONLY HALF WAY into the
of the degen 1102 external antenna jack!!! If I do push it completely
inside, as it is supposed to be, the degen immediately loses all
benefits of the external de31 antenna, even worse than using the whip
withdrawn completely(.

3. I don't see any benefits so far, of the small dial on the battery
case

4. the wire connecting the antenna to the battery compartment of the
de31 is clearly FRAGILE and in the long run, will probably rip. tear,
or ruin in the entire de31 due to the weight of batteries it must
support, and the hanging style of the antenna from a window.

5, no benefits to am or fm

6. a leap in sensitivity for SSB no doubt is obtained with the
de31....


I had problems with my DE31 until I figured out that the wire between
the antenna and the radio was backwards. I had the tuner close to the
loop at first, and it basically eliminated the signal. Maybe most
people don't make this mistake though.

I use duracell alkaline AAA batteries in my DE31 and they have been
there since last winter. They're still working.


Rotate the antenna so that the hole faces the direction of the
transmitter. If plugging the antenna in seems to provide poor
reception, try clipping it to the whip with the white clip, and clip
the black clip to a ground wire