On 4/8/11 24:26 , bpnjensen wrote:
On Apr 7, 4:21 pm, D Peter wrote:
On 4/7/11 17:06 , bpnjensen wrote:
On Apr 7, 2:07 pm, "D. Peter wrote:
On 4/7/11 13:34 , bpnjensen wrote:
SEYCHELLES: BBC Indian Ocean Relay Station, Mahe Island, 7445, f/d
letter V/s by Herve Cherry in 58 days by airmail; for airmail report
in EE (8 February 2011) + IRC; on letterhead for BBC IORS with aerial
photo. Letter also includes station history and transmitter specs
(Jensen-CA)
Here is a photo:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...1&id=106517568
Now that you've had the new antenna up for awhile, can you give us
an evaluation?
p
OK - recall that it is an inverted L 30 feet high and 65 feet long,
fed by ~40 feet of coax in two sections with both a grounded matching
transformer at the base and a 1:1 grounded line isolator where the
coax enters the house (which explains the two sections, one either
side of the isolator). It runs above the rooftop in a nearly N-S
direction.
It's quite good - on its own it transmits less noise to the radio than
the one it replaces, with a stronger signal, and it often provides a
good match with the DX-Ultra as a phasing antenna for noise
reduction. Using these two combined, I have been able to capture logs
of audible stations that before were either in the mud or just faint
carriers.
I am very pleased with it; and I would not mind having another
identical to it to run through the MFJ-1026 for noise reduction. In
order to to do the hardest DX work, though, I will need to get away
from town.
Bruce
Very nice work. Thanks for the update. I may try this with my own DX
Ultra at the cabin.
p
Hmm - do you have QRM at your cabin? My guess is that, the more rural
(and QRM-free) the setting, the less useful a set of phased antennae
would be. They don't work on atmospheric/QRN noise very well. MFJ and
Timewave says they work on things like lightning crashes, but you'd be
very hard-pressed to twiddle those knobs fast enough to use it for
that purpose.
Having said that, two DX-Ultras phased together for noise abatement
might be just dandy, and they don't require grounding for exemplary
results.
Bruce
There's some QRM, depending on whether the server is running at the
Lodge. And there are some noise sources that intermittently radiate from
the power lines that run across the property. When it's not, it's dead
quiet. But that burst of noise comes at the worst times, you know?
I've got the real estate for two DX-Ultra's. That may be an option, too.
The power company is rerouting the overhead lines in the area,
because of access and extreme weather issues, so there may be relief on
the way. In the meantime, I need to work on antenna options.