On Nov 22, 1:24*am, Krypsis wrote:
Steve R. wrote:
"Bill Baka" wrote in message
...
Has anyone seen any shortwave radios in cars lately? I remember a few from
across the pond back in the 60's but it seems to have died out as a fad. I
would like to put one in one of my cars rather than a boom box thing and
be able to tune the world from wherever I find myself.
The other advantage is that I can drive to a spot with no power lines for
miles at night to listen relatively static free. I could (in theory) take
a long wire on a fishing pole (28-32AWG?) and put on a disposable weight
and toss it as far as possible into some high trees. Once it is stuck
firmly just back the car up until the whole spool is used up and connect
the car antenna to it.
Anybody tried it or anything like it?

Bill Baka

Way back, my old Jaguar Mk 10 had a radio made by PYE that had standard
broadcast and short-wave. Or was that the Mk II????? Short-wave reception
was spotty, and I never did try a long wire antenna on it.

Steve R.

I seem to remember an old valve car radio that had some shortwave
indicators on the dial. It was one of those common brands (AWA,
Kreisler, Pye) but exactly which one escapes me now. It was a long time
ago. Not my car, a friends, and we used to go on trips in it. Slow to
warm up and heavy on the battery if you used it too long without the
engine running. Caught us out once or twice but a roll start got us
under way again.
I seem to recall that car radio sensitivity on MW broadcast bands was a
lot better in the fifties and sixties than it is on modern car radios.
During the evenings, I used to be able to pick up stations 1 or 2
thousand kilometres away with ease. Nowadays, I only need to be a couple
of hundred kilometres way from my home city and I lose the signal. Maybe
the transmission power has been reduced? I know there was a time when
the MW spectrum became a bit crowded So that might have been why the
front end sensitivity of car radios was decreased. Well, the MW spectrum
is getting less crowded now.

Krypsis- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah, I have gone "old school" for fifteen years when it comes to AM
car radio. I don't really listen to music so I make sure to go to the
junk yard and find me an old (just AM) radio that I install myself. I
am presently using an old Delco radio that is "extremely" selective, I
can barely turn the dial without hearing something.

I had all (in my *fun* car) the receivers/scanners and CB mounted to
1/2" steel plates that I welded to the front and rear of the car.
GROUND - GROUND - GROUND - many think it's only important for
transmitting but it's also smart on the receiving end.