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Old November 20th 08, 08:30 PM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
Mark Zenier Mark Zenier is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jun 2006
Posts: 237
Default Best Rx $1K for daytime SWL (BBC beam to Africa, etc.)

In article ,
wrote:
I live in Ontario, Canada. My goal is to listen to daytime SW
broadcasts beamed to Africa by the likes of BBC, DW, VOA, RNW, etc.


I can get the BBC on 15400 here in Seattle, (round 20-22:00) but
it's down there at the limit of listenability.

Right now I have a Sony 7600GR with a few indoor antennas (reel
antenna, ANLP1, etc.). With this equipment it's difficult to get good
reception of these daytime signals.

I plan to install a wire antenna (around 30 feet long), either
outdoors along my 5.5' high wooden fence (I live in the suburbs) or in
my attic.

Will a Sony portable and an outdoor/attic wire be enough to get
consistently good reception of these stations? Or should I get a
better receiver?


I'd say that you've got a pretty good receiver already.

The couple of units that nobody has mentioned, (if you've got a couple
of hundred extra dollars burning a hole in your pocket), is that you can
get boxes that combine two antennas that allow you cancel out local noise
and, depending on how the two antennas are arraigned, signals on the same
frequency coming in from another direction. MFJ makes a couple, and I
can't remember the name of the other company (Timewave?). Another option
are the broadband loop antennas that can be rotated to null out noise.
(Wellbrook).

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)