On Dec 31, 9:24*am, RHF wrote:
On Dec 30, 9:32*pm, Mike wrote:



VOA via Madagascar on 9680 @ 2105 UTC
On Dec 30, 9:29 pm, RHF wrote:

=Q#1= Are you using the PAL (o) Connector for the FM
and Shortwave External Antenna ? [FM SW EXT ANT]

-or- Have you attached the External External 50 Foot Wire
Antenna 'directly' to the Radio's Whip Antenna ?

-or- Are you using the Twin [Black & Red] Terminals [GND
MW EXT ANT] for the External 50 Foot Wire Antenna ?

PAL Connector borrowed from my Eton E1XM...

=Q#2= Are you using a "Ground" with the External 50
Foot Wire Antenna ?

Nope.

=Q#3= Are you using a AC 'Mains' Power or DC Battery
Power with/for the Radio ?

I operate everything, except my R75, SAT800, RX320, and Sony 6800W,
off of alkaline batteries.

I live in a community which enforces anti-antenna regulations by
having the maintenance team report violations. My external antenna are
different length reels of wire stealth-deployed for limited periods
consisting of weekends, after 4pm daily and holidays.

I would be grateful for any ideas you might have on what I can do to
improve my antenna capabilities.

Q1: What about the plans that are periodically posted on how to use
telephone wiring as an antenna?

Q2: Any suggestions on baluns? Sources of Info?

Thanks,

Mike

PONG MWB : Improving Your Radio Shack One-Step-At-A-Time
-was- VOA via Madagascar on 9680 @ 2105 UTC

MWB,

First -if-possible- Make yourself a Grounding Point
'connection' for your Radio Shack. In a multi-dwelling
building complex a good earthen ground may not be
possible so simply try for a fair RF Signal Ground.
* Cold Water Pipes
* Metal Window Frame
* Center Screw on and Electrical Outlet's Cover Plate
* Bottom-Center Round Hole on a Three Prong Electrical
Outlet
Take a 'portable' AM/FM Shortwave Radio with the Whip
Antenna Collapsed and a short piece of Wire attached
[12 Inch Wire Jumper with Alligator Clips on both ends]
Turn the Radio 'On' and Turn to a non-station Noisy SW
Radio Frequency : Test for RF Noise Grounding by
touching the Alligator Clip to several Cold Water Pipes
and/or Metal Window Frames. *When the Radio goes
quite/silent you have a fair RF Signal Ground. *Attach
the Alligator Chip and turn around the Bands to see if
it is a good RF Signal Ground across the Bands.
"IF" and only 'if' the none of the Cold Water Pipes and/or
Metal Window Frames do not test-out to be RF Noise
Grounds : Then try the Electrical Outlets for Grounds.
-note- don't be surprised if some of the metal pipes and
window actually increase the Noise Levels.

FWIW -imho- Most modern Telephone Wiring Systems
with the Internet and DSL etc streaming on them are
Sources of Noise and very poor sources of good radio
signals now a days.

Do You {Can You} have a Dish-TV Satellite Dish ?
-IF- "Yes" then buy a 'used' Dish at a Flea Market
Mount the Dish as far-away and as far-up as possible.
Run a Coax Cable or better two Coaxes to the Dish.

Oops but they are not just simply Coax Cables :
They are "Snake" Antennas made from Coax )
Start with 50, 75, 100 Feet* of Coax Cable :
RE========[C]|-|=========S
R = Radio
E = External Antenna Connector
'=' Coax as feed-in-line
[C] = Clamp-On Ferrite Choke
|-| = Gap One Inch Coax Shield Removed
'=' Coax as Wire Antenna Element
S = Short the Inner Conductor to Coax Shield
* Most of the time making the Coax feed-in-line
part of the Snake Antenna 'equal' to the Wire
Antenna Element of the Coax Cable yields
the best results in an End-Fed 'Linear' Dipole.
-or- Try the 3/8 feed-in-line by 5/8 Antenna
Element arrangement as an End-Fed 'Linear'
Windom.

- Second Coax Cable Wire to a H-800 SkyMatch
- LF/MF/HF Active Antenna mounted in the Center
- of the Dish (---:

---alternative---
North County Radio's Low Noise Active Antenna
for 10 kHz to 30 MHz AM/MW and Shortwave
http://www.northcountryradio.com/index.htm#anc506
http://www.northcountryradio.com/Kitpages/actant.htm
See if a Student at your Tech School needs a Class
or Special Project; an alternative is a High School
Electronics Class Student who may need a Work
Project.

IF - You can not put it outside : You can put it on a
Window with a small modification to the Single Wire
Antenna Element for better pick. Take a 36" to 72"
piece of 300 Ohm TV type Twin Lead depending on
the size of your window. Sizing the Twin Lead should
be about Six-Inches from the all sides of the Frame
of the Window. Trim-Off an Inch from one Wire from
one-end and then Trim-Off an Inch from the other Wire
from the other-end.
X1---------------------------------------------------------__
__----------------------------------------------------------X2

X1 and X2 are Antenna Connection Points
---- is the Wire Antenna Elements
__ Trimmed-Off 'Gap'

From a Loop in the shape of a Square/Rectangle,
Triangle/Delta, or Circle and secure it to the Window
Frame with Tape of Strings or PVC Frame - what
ever works for you.

Electrically at the single feed-point IT is still a single
Wire Antenna Element -but- Effectively in Space IT
is a Cross-Coupled Twin Opposing Open Loops.
Note - Others have tried attaching only one of the
Twin Lead Wires as the Antenna Element and the
other opposing Twin Lead Wire to the Ground of the
Active Antenna making it a Circular Dipole.
* Both Quasi-Loop Shaped Hook-Ups provide a
Greater Signal Capture Area then the single Wire
Antenna Element and pick-up both Vertical and
Horizontal Polarized Signals.

WHY - The 'effort' here is to increase the Size of the
Signal Capture Area by increasing the Size of the
Antenna Element of the Active Antenna and Off-Setting
the Noise Pick-Up by using the opposing Loops Shapes
Balancing {Canceling-Out} Properties.