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long wire AM antenna
Trying to improve my reception from Chicago with baseball season
approaching. I'm about 100 miles sse in Indiana. I ran about 75' RG-6 from my radio across the attic and outdoors to a tree. I had maybe 10 extra feet of coax so I wrapped it around the tree. I strung about 50' of #9 steel wire between 2 trees going east/west about 15' above ground and attached the copper conductor to it. I terminated the coax shield at the tree with a ground rod. At the radio I attached the shield to the ground terminal and the center cu conductor to the other am external antenna terminal. It greatly improved my reception I get all the major Chicago sports channels, but the one I was most interested in 670 is the worst. What all did I do wrong and what can I do to improve 670? |
long wire AM antenna
On Feb 21, 4:04*pm, "Jeff D" wrote:
Trying to improve my reception from Chicago with baseball season approaching. I'm about 100 miles sse in Indiana. I ran about 75' RG-6 from my radio across the attic and outdoors to a tree. I had maybe 10 extra feet of coax so I wrapped it around the tree. I strung about 50' of #9 steel wire between 2 trees going east/west about 15' above ground and attached the copper conductor to it. I terminated the coax shield at the tree with a ground rod. At the radio I attached the shield to the ground terminal *and the center cu conductor to the other am external antenna terminal. It greatly improved my reception I get all the major Chicago sports channels, but the one I was most interested in 670 is the worst. What all did I do wrong and what can I do to improve 670? When I was a kid I tried to pick up a 50Kwatt station that was about 100 miles away. I lliked the station because it always played the music I liked while none of the local stations did. If I was 30 miles south or east of my location I could pick it up fine on the car radio. No antenna I tried worked reliably from my home. It was just too far away. Jimmie Jimmie |
long wire AM antenna
Jeff,
How about finding a circuit for a pre amplifier for the MW band and building it, I am sure that will make a difference, but if there is a strong or a local station, it may swamp the receiver, but then you could construct a trap. Over here one can receive AM stations at that distance during the day, but I guess it depends on how my RF crud there is in your area.. Two questions, what is the power of the station you are trying to receive? What type of a receiver are you using? Another thought is to decrease your coax length and increase the amount of bare wire, more wire in the air the better. John "Jeff D" wrote in message ... Trying to improve my reception from Chicago with baseball season approaching. I'm about 100 miles sse in Indiana. I ran about 75' RG-6 from my radio across the attic and outdoors to a tree. I had maybe 10 extra feet of coax so I wrapped it around the tree. I strung about 50' of #9 steel wire between 2 trees going east/west about 15' above ground and attached the copper conductor to it. I terminated the coax shield at the tree with a ground rod. At the radio I attached the shield to the ground terminal and the center cu conductor to the other am external antenna terminal. It greatly improved my reception I get all the major Chicago sports channels, but the one I was most interested in 670 is the worst. What all did I do wrong and what can I do to improve 670? |
long wire AM antenna
On 2/22/2010 3:38 AM, wrote:
On Feb 21, 3:04 pm, "Jeff wrote: Trying to improve my reception from Chicago with baseball season approaching. I'm about 100 miles sse in Indiana. I ran about 75' RG-6 from my radio across the attic and outdoors to a tree. I had maybe 10 extra feet of coax so I wrapped it around the tree. I strung about 50' of #9 steel wire between 2 trees going east/west about 15' above ground and attached the copper conductor to it. I terminated the coax shield at the tree with a ground rod. At the radio I attached the shield to the ground terminal and the center cu conductor to the other am external antenna terminal. It greatly improved my reception I get all the major Chicago sports channels, but the one I was most interested in 670 is the worst. What all did I do wrong and what can I do to improve 670? I suspect you would be much better off using a small receiving loop. But there are many variables such as time of day, etc. For instance good reception of that station 100 miles away should be a piece of cake in the daytime if you used a loop, and using ground wave reception. Hello, and a loop should be worthwhile. I've seen folks selling MW receiving loops at Hamfests that consisted of a requisite number of turns installed inside a plastic (mini hula-hoop) loop with a variable capacitor for tuning. These loops were intended to work with a portable radio (the radio is placed inside the loop). It is remarkable how the sensitivity of a cheap portable radio is increased by the addition of a simple tuned loop. This configuration should allow usable reception of a 50kW AM station 100 mi. distant. BTW, the WSCR AM 670 website indicates they also stream on the web. Sincerely, and 73s from N4GGO, -- John Wood (Code 5520) e-mail: Naval Research Laboratory 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20375-5337 |
long wire AM antenna
On Feb 21, 3:04*pm, "Jeff D" wrote:
Trying to improve my reception from Chicago with baseball season approaching. I'm about 100 miles sse in Indiana. snip What all did I do wrong and what can I do to improve 670? ________________ WSCR is a "Class A" 50 kW, omnidirectional station with no other stations close enough geographically to cause co-channel interference to their daytime groundwave signal even 150 miles from their transmit site (at 41 56 North, 88 04 West). They use a 182-degree vertical radiator. The FCC's groundwave propagation curves for WSCR show that about a 2 millivolt/meter field intensity should exist at your location maybe 110 miles away, over the 8 mS/m ground conductivity for that path. Normally that field intensity should provide fairly noise-free reception even on an inexpensive, indoor clock radio. Other things equal, your daytime reception quality should be nearly identical for WSCR and WGN (720 kHz). You might try using a vertically-polarized receive antenna, as that is the polarization being broadcast. It doesn't need to be high above the earth - in fact the lower end of it can be nearly touching the earth and connect to the center conductor of your coax, with the coax shield going to a good r-f ground. The required protection from nearby lightning strikes should be used with it if it installed outside. The loop antennas suggested by others may work well, as they are vertically polarized for the E-field (as is the loopstick of a typical consumer-type AM broadcast receiver). One other possibility is that a local noise source produces more interference for you on 670 kHz than on the other channels you're trying to receive. That will take some investigation. Good luck, RF |
long wire AM antenna
On Feb 22, 5:51*am, Richard Fry wrote:
The loop antennas suggested by others may work well, as they are vertically polarized for the E-field (as is the loopstick of a typical consumer-type AM broadcast receiver). To correct myself, loopsticks respond to the magnetic field of an EM wave -- which, for vertical polarization, lie in the horizontal plane. |
long wire AM antenna
In article 1ehgn.267718$o06.4061@en-nntp-
08.dc1.easynews.com, says... Trying to improve my reception from Chicago with baseball season approaching. I'm about 100 miles sse in Indiana. I ran about 75' RG-6 from my radio across the attic and outdoors to a tree. I had maybe 10 extra feet of coax so I wrapped it around the tree. I strung about 50' of #9 steel wire between 2 trees going east/west about 15' above ground and attached the copper conductor to it. I terminated the coax shield at the tree with a ground rod. At the radio I attached the shield to the ground terminal and the center cu conductor to the other am external antenna terminal. It greatly improved my reception I get all the major Chicago sports channels, but the one I was most interested in 670 is the worst. What all did I do wrong and what can I do to improve 670? Try disconnecting the ground rod at the tree and connect the braid of the coax to the antenna input. Ground the radio. --- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: --- |
long wire AM antenna
"Jitt" wrote in message m... In article 1ehgn.267718$o06.4061@en-nntp- 08.dc1.easynews.com, says... Trying to improve my reception from Chicago with baseball season approaching. I'm about 100 miles sse in Indiana. I ran about 75' RG-6 from my radio across the attic and outdoors to a tree. I had maybe 10 extra feet of coax so I wrapped it around the tree. I strung about 50' of #9 steel wire between 2 trees going east/west about 15' above ground and attached the copper conductor to it. I terminated the coax shield at the tree with a ground rod. At the radio I attached the shield to the ground terminal and the center cu conductor to the other am external antenna terminal. It greatly improved my reception I get all the major Chicago sports channels, but the one I was most interested in 670 is the worst. What all did I do wrong and what can I do to improve 670? Try disconnecting the ground rod at the tree and connect the braid of the coax to the antenna input. Ground the radio. --- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: --- Thanks for all the replies and help. I did try grounding at the radio but I disconnected the shield at the radio not out at the outdoor connection. I'll try Jitt's suggestion. I've goggled around on constructing a loop antenna and it looks do-able for me so I may try that. Most of the information I used to construct the long wire came from this link http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx...b/coupler.html the author also describes a coupler which I may attempt if I can scrounge the parts unless anyone knows if something like that is available commercially. Also could somebody recommend a lighting arrestor that would work with the RG-6 male and female connectors where the long wire connects to the coax. |
long wire AM antenna
Jeff D wrote:
Thanks for all the replies and help. I did try grounding at the radio but I disconnected the shield at the radio not out at the outdoor connection. I'll try Jitt's suggestion. I've goggled around on constructing a loop antenna and it looks do-able for me so I may try that. Most of the information I used to construct the long wire came from this link http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx...b/coupler.html the author also describes a coupler which I may attempt if I can scrounge the parts unless anyone knows if something like that is available commercially. Also could somebody recommend a lighting arrestor that would work with the RG-6 male and female connectors where the long wire connects to the coax. Fiddling with the long wire, couplers, and tuners will change both the signal and noise by the same amount, which won't help you at all. You might as well turn your volume control up and down. A loop, however, gives you the ability to improve the signal to noise ratio by decreasing the noise from some directions, so you can hear the station better. Roy Lewallen, W7EL |
long wire AM antenna
What make/model radio are you using?
If you have an option to tune in broadcast band AM stations using SSB (sideband) you may improve reception at the cost of limiting audio quality. Steve |
long wire AM antenna
"Steve Stone" wrote in message ... What make/model radio are you using? If you have an option to tune in broadcast band AM stations using SSB (sideband) you may improve reception at the cost of limiting audio quality. Steve Got it on the loop antenna thanks Roy Lewallen, W7EL, sounds like that's what I need to start researching. My radio is just an older RCA 5.1 surround sound, I've got a ton of music vinyl and digital and use it mainly for that, but it's in my shop where I'm the boss and can smoke cigars if I want and where I listen to most of the baseball. I don't really care much for the RCA radio because I don't like the digital tuning, if I wanted to get a descent radio for am reception what's a good choice? I've got a couple older portables a GE Super Radio and a Midland 8-band, but I'd like a table model so I can take advantage of the surround sound and speakers I've got throughout my shop. |
long wire AM antenna
"Jeff D" wrote in message ... Trying to improve my reception from Chicago with baseball season approaching. I'm about 100 miles sse in Indiana. I ran about 75' RG-6 from my radio across the attic and outdoors to a tree. I had maybe 10 extra feet of coax so I wrapped it around the tree. I strung about 50' of #9 steel wire between 2 trees going east/west about 15' above ground and attached the copper conductor to it. I terminated the coax shield at the tree with a ground rod. At the radio I attached the shield to the ground terminal and the center cu conductor to the other am external antenna terminal. It greatly improved my reception I get all the major Chicago sports channels, but the one I was most interested in 670 is the worst. What all did I do wrong and what can I do to improve 670? I wouldn't bother with the braid on the coax, use it as one long wire! 50feet is far too short, it's not resonant, you would need about 3 times that. You could also try loading the aerial with a large coil of wire or use an ATU. Be aware an ATU doesn't match the antenna as such, it doesn't make it resonant, it only acts to make the reciever see 50 ohms. The aerial will still remain unresonant! Other than that, go to www.reciva.com and get the station via the Internet. |
long wire AM antenna
On 2/22/2010 8:54 AM, Richard Fry wrote:
On Feb 22, 5:51 am, Richard Fry wrote: The loop antennas suggested by others may work well, as they are vertically polarized for the E-field (as is the loopstick of a typical consumer-type AM broadcast receiver). To correct myself, loopsticks respond to the magnetic field of an EM wave -- which, for vertical polarization, lie in the horizontal plane. Hello, and this is a common misunderstanding, which may owe to the fact of the response of a receiving antenna in a near (induction) field of a transmitting antenna. In the far field (several wavelengths or greater) from the transmitting antenna the receiving antenna responds to the propagated electromagnetic field. Now, how a particular antenna is oriented wrt this EM field will determine its ability to extract a given amount of available power from the incident EM wave. One can of course think of the action of loops or dipoles in the far field as per Richard's statement but that sidesteps the underlying physics. Sincerely, -- John Wood (Code 5520) e-mail: Naval Research Laboratory 4555 Overlook Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20375-5337 |
long wire AM antenna
"Jeff D" wrote in message ... "Steve Stone" wrote in message ... What make/model radio are you using? If you have an option to tune in broadcast band AM stations using SSB (sideband) you may improve reception at the cost of limiting audio quality. Steve Got it on the loop antenna thanks Roy Lewallen, W7EL, sounds like that's what I need to start researching. My radio is just an older RCA 5.1 surround sound, I've got a ton of music vinyl and digital and use it mainly for that, but it's in my shop where I'm the boss and can smoke cigars if I want and where I listen to most of the baseball. I don't really care much for the RCA radio because I don't like the digital tuning, if I wanted to get a descent radio for am reception what's a good choice? I've got a couple older portables a GE Super Radio and a Midland 8-band, but I'd like a table model so I can take advantage of the surround sound and speakers I've got throughout my shop. Setup that GE Super Radio, orient it properly and see how it compares to your RCA 5.1. Let us know. Mike |
long wire AM antenna
The GE Super Radio is what I normally use to catch baseball on am 670,
especially at night, but after about 10pm local time I get a Mexican station overpowering 670. I'm aware of the internet option but MLB doesn't allow broadcasting, they want you to buy their MLB network subscription. But anyway the ideal setup for me would be a good am table radio and antenna setup that I can input to my stereo system and not fight with Mexico over the channel. "amdx" wrote in message ... "Jeff D" wrote in message ... "Steve Stone" wrote in message ... What make/model radio are you using? If you have an option to tune in broadcast band AM stations using SSB (sideband) you may improve reception at the cost of limiting audio quality. Steve Got it on the loop antenna thanks Roy Lewallen, W7EL, sounds like that's what I need to start researching. My radio is just an older RCA 5.1 surround sound, I've got a ton of music vinyl and digital and use it mainly for that, but it's in my shop where I'm the boss and can smoke cigars if I want and where I listen to most of the baseball. I don't really care much for the RCA radio because I don't like the digital tuning, if I wanted to get a descent radio for am reception what's a good choice? I've got a couple older portables a GE Super Radio and a Midland 8-band, but I'd like a table model so I can take advantage of the surround sound and speakers I've got throughout my shop. Setup that GE Super Radio, orient it properly and see how it compares to your RCA 5.1. Let us know. Mike |
long wire AM antenna
Dear Jeff D.: Now we have the needed information. You do not have a
signal to noise issue but do have a signal to interference issue. Thus you need a means for reducing the strength of the XE station as compared to Chicago. .... and we are back to a loop antenna. The angle between the XE station and Chicago is large enough probably to allow you to reduce the signal to interference ratio to an acceptable level with some rotating of the loop. 73, Mac N8TT -- J. McLaughlin; Michigan, USA Home: "Jeff D" wrote in message ... The GE Super Radio is what I normally use to catch baseball on am 670, especially at night, but after about 10pm local time I get a Mexican station overpowering 670. I'm aware of the internet option but MLB doesn't allow broadcasting, they want you to buy their MLB network subscription. But anyway the ideal setup for me would be a good am table radio and antenna setup that I can input to my stereo system and not fight with Mexico over the channel. Got it on the loop antenna thanks Roy Lewallen, W7EL, sounds like that's what I need to start researching. My radio is just an older RCA 5.1 surround sound, I've got a ton of music vinyl and digital and use it mainly for that, but it's in my shop where I'm the boss and can smoke cigars if I want and where I listen to most of the baseball. I don't really care much for the RCA radio because I don't like the digital tuning, if I wanted to get a descent radio for am reception what's a good choice? I've got a couple older portables a GE Super Radio and a Midland 8-band, but I'd like a table model so I can take advantage of the surround sound and speakers I've got throughout my shop. Setup that GE Super Radio, orient it properly and see how it compares to your RCA 5.1. Let us know. Mike |
long wire AM antenna
"Jeff D" wrote in message ... The GE Super Radio is what I normally use to catch baseball on am 670, especially at night, but after about 10pm local time I get a Mexican station overpowering 670. I'm aware of the internet option but MLB doesn't allow broadcasting, they want you to buy their MLB network subscription. But anyway the ideal setup for me would be a good am table radio and antenna setup that I can input to my stereo system and not fight with Mexico over the channel. That's why I ask about the GE, if you can get it to work, you can cobble audio into your stereo. Regarding the interfering Mexican station, this a great application for a loop, you can turn it to null out that offending station. Even without a loop you should be able to turn the GE to null out the Mexican Station. Method; Rotate the radio so the long dimension points at the Mexican station (caution it might be in Cuba) :-) When you find the correct aim the audio from the offender will attenuate. Also sometimes it helps to tip the end that point towards the offender up a little. Mike PS. I hate it when baseball preempts talk radio programs:-) |
long wire AM antenna
blitz wrote:
If you can't get Chicago at night on the GE SR, it's going to be a challenge on any radio. I think TJ is right- if you're going to bother with a long wire, it needs to be about 150' to get resonant (as in, tune the frequencies you want) down to 670 AM. My antenna, like yours (wire, then coax into the house) at 150', overloads most radios. So it needs some throttling. Otherwise, it's a monster for signals. Making the antenna resonant won't help your signal/noise ratio at all. And it makes no sense to make the antenna larger to increase the signal (and noise), then adding an attenuator to decrease it so it doesn't overload your receiver. OTOH, a loop might really help you sort out the competing signal. . . . Yep. A lot of amateurs get confused about the requirements for sending a strong signal and those for receiving signals clearly. At HF, they're quite different. And a lot of amateurs have the mistaken idea that there's something magic about an antenna being resonant. That confusion is why you keep getting advice to make your antenna longer, higher, and resonant, while those aren't the solution to your problem at all, and in fact are likely to create additional problems due to receiver overload. Roy Lewallen, W7EL |
long wire AM antenna
"amdx" wrote in message ... "Jeff D" wrote in message ... The GE Super Radio is what I normally use to catch baseball on am 670, especially at night, but after about 10pm local time I get a Mexican station overpowering 670. I'm aware of the internet option but MLB doesn't allow broadcasting, they want you to buy their MLB network subscription. But anyway the ideal setup for me would be a good am table radio and antenna setup that I can input to my stereo system and not fight with Mexico over the channel. That's why I ask about the GE, if you can get it to work, you can cobble audio into your stereo. Regarding the interfering Mexican station, this a great application for a loop, you can turn it to null out that offending station. Even without a loop you should be able to turn the GE to null out the Mexican Station. Method; Rotate the radio so the long dimension points at the Mexican station (caution it might be in Cuba) :-) When you find the correct aim the audio from the offender will attenuate. Also sometimes it helps to tip the end that point towards the offender up a little. Mike PS. I hate it when baseball preempts talk radio programs:-) yep that's exactly what I do with the GE which helps but it's still pretty scratchy and at the most 30-40% recognizable audio |
long wire AM antenna
"Jeff D" wrote in message ... "amdx" wrote in message ... "Jeff D" wrote in message ... The GE Super Radio is what I normally use to catch baseball on am 670, especially at night, but after about 10pm local time I get a Mexican station overpowering 670. I'm aware of the internet option but MLB doesn't allow broadcasting, they want you to buy their MLB network subscription. But anyway the ideal setup for me would be a good am table radio and antenna setup that I can input to my stereo system and not fight with Mexico over the channel. That's why I ask about the GE, if you can get it to work, you can cobble audio into your stereo. Regarding the interfering Mexican station, this a great application for a loop, you can turn it to null out that offending station. Even without a loop you should be able to turn the GE to null out the Mexican Station. Method; Rotate the radio so the long dimension points at the Mexican station (caution it might be in Cuba) :-) When you find the correct aim the audio from the offender will attenuate. Also sometimes it helps to tip the end that point towards the offender up a little. Mike PS. I hate it when baseball preempts talk radio programs:-) yep that's exactly what I do with the GE which helps but it's still pretty scratchy and at the most 30-40% recognizable audio Hmm, do you get a good null? Sometimes environmental materials can mix the signals and you don't get a good null. See if you can take the GE radio outside away from the building and get a null on the Mexican and a better signal on your prefered station. If not I don't see where a larger loop is going to help. Just had a thought, If the Mexican station is actually a Cuban then trying to null the Cuban would also null the Chicago station. They are about 180* apart on either side of you. I'm in Fl. the Cuban stations are my interference. Mike |
long wire AM antenna
"Jeff D." wrote in message ... "amdx" wrote in message ... "Jeff D" wrote in message ... "amdx" wrote in message ... "Jeff D" wrote in message ... The GE Super Radio is what I normally use to catch baseball on am 670, especially at night, but after about 10pm local time I get a Mexican station overpowering 670. I'm aware of the internet option but MLB doesn't allow broadcasting, they want you to buy their MLB network subscription. But anyway the ideal setup for me would be a good am table radio and antenna setup that I can input to my stereo system and not fight with Mexico over the channel. That's why I ask about the GE, if you can get it to work, you can cobble audio into your stereo. Regarding the interfering Mexican station, this a great application for a loop, you can turn it to null out that offending station. Even without a loop you should be able to turn the GE to null out the Mexican Station. Method; Rotate the radio so the long dimension points at the Mexican station (caution it might be in Cuba) :-) When you find the correct aim the audio from the offender will attenuate. Also sometimes it helps to tip the end that point towards the offender up a little. Mike PS. I hate it when baseball preempts talk radio programs:-) yep that's exactly what I do with the GE which helps but it's still pretty scratchy and at the most 30-40% recognizable audio Hmm, do you get a good null? Sometimes environmental materials can mix the signals and you don't get a good null. See if you can take the GE radio outside away from the building and get a null on the Mexican and a better signal on your prefered station. If not I don't see where a larger loop is going to help. Just had a thought, If the Mexican station is actually a Cuban then trying to null the Cuban would also null the Chicago station. They are about 180* apart on either side of you. I'm in Fl. the Cuban stations are my interference. Mike I don't even try indoors because it pointless, I go outside, but I've got some geographical problems being in a valley that's in a pretty dense woods. The Mexican or Cuban station has a period to it's interference, it's about a 60 second interval with a 20 second duration. I've been following the White Sox for 50 years and they've been on almost every Chicago am station, 720, 780, 890, 1000 but 670 is by far my biggest challenge to get good reception. I'll be happier when they move to another station. Wow 50 years, maybe it's time for something new. How about curling :-) Mike |
long wire AM antenna
"amdx" wrote in message ... "Jeff D" wrote in message ... "amdx" wrote in message ... "Jeff D" wrote in message ... The GE Super Radio is what I normally use to catch baseball on am 670, especially at night, but after about 10pm local time I get a Mexican station overpowering 670. I'm aware of the internet option but MLB doesn't allow broadcasting, they want you to buy their MLB network subscription. But anyway the ideal setup for me would be a good am table radio and antenna setup that I can input to my stereo system and not fight with Mexico over the channel. That's why I ask about the GE, if you can get it to work, you can cobble audio into your stereo. Regarding the interfering Mexican station, this a great application for a loop, you can turn it to null out that offending station. Even without a loop you should be able to turn the GE to null out the Mexican Station. Method; Rotate the radio so the long dimension points at the Mexican station (caution it might be in Cuba) :-) When you find the correct aim the audio from the offender will attenuate. Also sometimes it helps to tip the end that point towards the offender up a little. Mike PS. I hate it when baseball preempts talk radio programs:-) yep that's exactly what I do with the GE which helps but it's still pretty scratchy and at the most 30-40% recognizable audio Hmm, do you get a good null? Sometimes environmental materials can mix the signals and you don't get a good null. See if you can take the GE radio outside away from the building and get a null on the Mexican and a better signal on your prefered station. If not I don't see where a larger loop is going to help. Just had a thought, If the Mexican station is actually a Cuban then trying to null the Cuban would also null the Chicago station. They are about 180* apart on either side of you. I'm in Fl. the Cuban stations are my interference. Mike I don't even try indoors because it pointless, I go outside, but I've got some geographical problems being in a valley that's in a pretty dense woods. The Mexican or Cuban station has a period to it's interference, it's about a 60 second interval with a 20 second duration. I've been following the White Sox for 50 years and they've been on almost every Chicago am station, 720, 780, 890, 1000 but 670 is by far my biggest challenge to get good reception. I'll be happier when they move to another station. |
Quote:
But, BEFORE screwing around with antenna connections [etc] get out your trusty AC voltmeter, and with the radio connected to power, VERIFY, to a known good ground reference, that none of the antenna connections/other exposed metal parts are 'live'. Older radios, particularly Shortwave units, had what is known in the repair trade, as a 'HOT CHASSIS'; where-in they lacked a power isolation transformer, & usually had non-polarized power cord plugs [both blades the same dimensions. Depending upon plug insertion, into the receptacle, it can put the full voltage of the power source, onto any metal, attached to chassis. Flip the plug over, and the chassis is no longer 'HOT]. Best to replace the plug with at least a newer version, with one wider blade. Or the latest '2 wire w/GND' style. Look at your receptacles, and note there is a longer slot (this is the a/c 'neutral' line {WHITE wire connection}, the short slot is the 'HOT' line {BLACK wire connection}, and if the receptacle is newer, it has the '3rd' wire round GROUND {GREEN wire connection}. If you don't know how to verify, find someone who does, like a member of your local Amateur Radio Club, Electrician, etc. There is an inexpensive device to plug into the latest receptacles, and verify some connections; but may not always confirm that the GROUND/ Neutral are, in fact, seperated clear to the Utility Panel. Not verifying, can result in DEATH. A neumonic, to help remember proper connections: 'BLACK on brass to save your ass', referring to the brass colored terminal. The WHITE goes to the silver screw terminal, and Green goes to {duh} the Green terminal. NOTE: if your mounted receptacles are orientated with the Ground terminal UPWARDS, then 'WHITE on the RIGHT' applies. |
long wire AM antenna
blitz wrote in message ... Roy Lewallen writes... blitz wrote: If you can't get Chicago at night on the GE SR, it's going to be a challenge on any radio. I think TJ is right- if you're going to bother with a long wire, it needs to be about 150' to get resonant (as in, tune the frequencies you want) down to 670 AM. My antenna, like yours (wire, then coax into the house) at 150', overloads most radios. So it needs some throttling. Otherwise, it's a monster for signals. Making the antenna resonant won't help your signal/noise ratio at all. And it makes no sense to make the antenna larger to increase the signal (and noise), then adding an attenuator to decrease it so it doesn't overload your receiver. Depends on the receiver. I wish I had *more* signal for the R8. It might not matter, but I'd like to find out. The Sony I referenced (and most other digital 'hi-fi' tuners) do need attenuation. Some of the older analog tuners don't. Noise levels also vary. On some bands it's already down at S1, so I'd be willing to accommodate a stouter signal. OTOH, a loop might really help you sort out the competing signal. . . . Yep. A lot of amateurs get confused about the requirements for sending a strong signal and those for receiving signals clearly. At HF, they're quite different. And a lot of amateurs have the mistaken idea that there's something magic about an antenna being resonant. That confusion is why you keep getting advice to make your antenna longer, higher, and resonant, while those aren't the solution to your problem at all, and in fact are likely to create additional problems due to receiver overload. I equate it (length) with meat-ball impedance matching, which upped the number of stations considerably (BCB and international SW). It could also be the 100' of coax into the house. Roy Lewallen, W7EL I bought the Sony XDR-F1HD and I really like it, no problem getting am 670 even with my crappy long wire installation, daytime signal is very clear. Haven't tried the nighttime signal but I'll probably need a loop as noted by others to get rid of the Latin station interference. The fm is very good also, good value for $75 or so. I'm looking at different options with the coax. It's routed around the perimeter of 3 walls then into another room and down a parallel wall before getting outside. I have 4 cheapo 8' fluorescent lights inside the 3 walled loop of coax and they create an annoying level of interference. I've confirmed the polarity and grounding on all the ac stuff so I'll write the hum off as noisy Chinese ballasts and leave the lights off. But anyway the move to the Sony tuner was a quantum gain. I have a tower from a conversion to satellite tv I'll erect this spring and install a fm directional and am loop antennas with a rotor. At that time I should be able to cut the coax down to a 20' run to the outside in metal conduit and buried another 20' to the tower in plastic conduit. |
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