On Sun, 7 Nov 2010 07:29, wrote:
On Nov 6, 7:46*pm, Bajamatic wrote:

And finally, will the reception of the ANLP1 increase very much if
it's 30 feet up?

Not for most signals. Only if they were line of sight.

Well, it _might_ get the device up and away from local _noise_ sources.

On Nov 7, 1:03*pm, Allodoxaphobia
wrote:
On Sun, 7 Nov 2010 07:29, wrote:
On Nov 6, 7:46 pm, Bajamatic wrote:

And finally, will the reception of the ANLP1 increase very much if
it's 30 feet up?

Not for most signals. Only if they were line of sight.

Well, it _might_ get the device up and away from local _noise_ sources.

If he's out in the sticks, there should be no local noise sources.
That's one reason why he really doesn't need to even use a
feed line per say. Local noise should not be an issue.
And if there were any power line noise from the general area,
elevating the antenna will just increase it if it's line of sight.
For sky wave signals, elevating that small loop is not
worth the trouble out in the Baja which I assume is a semi-
desert type terrain. It should do almost as well low as it
does elevated.
As long as the signals are not local line of sight, even the wire
antenna doesn't need to be too high. Five feet off the ground
will work just fine for most HF reception that is sky wave.
With a decent length wire, you will still have more signal
than is required for any decent radio. And almost anything
made these days is fairly sensitive. Even the cheap portables.

Thanks for all this info. As i'm still just listening, I think I'm starting to understand that all the tuning and matching is somewhat irrelevant to my needs. There is literally nothing for miles where I'll be deploying this and all I really care about is catching the morning weather round up around 7250 kHz and then whatever else I can pick up while sitting fireside. So far the random wire seems like the cheapest and easiest way to go, and maybe even the best all around performer. I figure I'll get a spool of wire and run it at least 4 feet off the ground - is that really all I need to do?! Since thats so easy, I'll probably play with a SUPER long one (500 feet+), and then find the best balance between performance length and convenience. Two more questions before I put it to test:

will if effect the performance if the antenna comes into contact with the ground?

Will I get the same results if I make a 20 foot x 20 foot square and run a huge length of wire along the perimeter at different heights so as not to short but essentially 500 feet of wire run around a shape instead of in a relatively straight line?


Thanks for all your insight.

bmtc

On Mon, 8 Nov 2010 18:44:04 +0000, Bajamatic
wrote:

I'll
probably play with a SUPER long one (500 feet+), and then find the best
balance between performance length and convenience.

Take care to anticipate that this long an antenna may well have to
pointed at (lengthwise) the station you want to receive instead of
pointed broadside to it.

Two more questions
before I put it to test:

will if effect the performance if the antenna comes into contact with
the ground?

Yes - more loss. However, the troops in Desert Storm did it in the
sand dunes; but they were only talking to local operations - not DXing
Andorra.

Will I get the same results if I make a 20 foot x 20 foot square and run
a huge length of wire along the perimeter at different heights so as not
to short but essentially 500 feet of wire run around a shape instead of
in a relatively straight line?

500 feet of wire is not a virture.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

. Thanks for the advice.

While out and about beware of your DC-AC inverter if you have one. If
hear whistles and hum, it might come from your own DC-AC inverter.
All my AC stuff (PC, cell chargers) is strictly inside the car, so
not much noise escapes and even longwave is clear and quiet (I am in
Europe). If you have that problem, move antenna and other electric
stuff away from each other.

The AOR7030 has a high impedance wire antenna input. If you're
really fireside, not easy to beat a random wire, and not even a
terribly long one. I wouldn't bother with more than 30-50'.

Just don't trip in the power cord under the moonlight. That radio
needs external power, 12Vdc from a vehicle is fine.

You'll have great fun, I envy you a bit.

On Tue, 9 Nov 2010 08:44:21 -0800 (PST), spamhog
wrote:

The AOR7030 has a high impedance wire antenna input. If you're
really fireside, not easy to beat a random wire, and not even a
terribly long one. I wouldn't bother with more than 30-50'.

To give some context with my own experience "in the wild" of South
Africa Zulu/Natal (actually at a 5 star safari camp), I took the
cheapest digital SW radio I could find at Radio Shack, 20 feet of
wire-wrap wire, and connected an alligator clip to the wire so that I
could then connect the wire to the whip antenna.

Without the wire, reception was limited to the hum-drum of BBC, VOA,
DW - with the wire thrown up over a rafter the number of signals were
considerable. I've always considered it underwhelming to get a
distant station playing an American music program like Lady Gaga when
what I wanted to hear was Fela Kuti.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC