Ultra Lite BCB DXing
 

Is there a certain measurement of a radio for it too be deemed fit for
an Ultra LIte?

Would the Radio Shack DX 399 be in that category, it's pretty small,
not as small as some of those little Sonys.

Anyone in here other than John P. that indulges in that specific type
of monitoring? I've been thinking about it.

Ultra Lite BCB DXing
 

On Tue, 13 Apr 2010, Gregg wrote:

Is there a certain measurement of a radio for it too be deemed fit for
an Ultra LIte?

Would the Radio Shack DX 399 be in that category, it's pretty small,
not as small as some of those little Sonys.

Anyone in here other than John P. that indulges in that specific type
of monitoring? I've been thinking about it.

I had the impression that the "size" is more about specs than physical
size.

Something with shortwave doesn't really qualify, since it's a better than
average receiver.

It's a sub-hobby, not unlike low power transmitters in amateur radio.
Use common broadcast band radios and see what you can do with it. No
q-multipliers, no fancy filters, no fancy detectors. What you can receive
will not match what you can do with a much fancier receiver, but it resets
things. With a simpler receiver, you will have to work hard to receive
stations that might be easy with fancier receivers, but it gives you a
challenge that might be more difficult with a fancier receiver. Any
improvement of the receiver/antenna beyond a certain point will be
incremental, so the fancier the equipment the harder it will be to see
any improvement.

Most people don't tune up and down the AM band, so they don't realize
what they can receive. Broadcast companies want "Coast to Coast" on
their stations because then they can sell ads for it, but a listener can
hear it up and down the band, without any effort at all.

So they get amazed if they do tune up and down the band one night, "wow,
I can hear XXX, that's amazing", just like the way most people enter the
hobby of radio listening (or at least did at one point, I don't know if
that's changed). The first few nights, it's really easy to accumulate
quite a number of stations, which is impressive at the beginning. But
then beyond that it takes more effort, if only because you need to wait
for conditions to allow a different selection of stations to come through.
Then you need to work harder and then eventually you'll need a better
receiver, not so much sensitivity wise but with other specs, so you can
better isolate two different stations on adjacent frequencies. But you
won't get a dramatic increase in stations with that better receiver, you
will simply make it easier to hear stations when they come in.

Ultralight seems to be about resetting all that. Start again, get a
simple receiver, and see what you can do with it, stretch that receiver
to the limits instead of going for something better.

Michael

Ultra Lite BCB DXing
 

On Apr 14, 12:24*am, Gregg wrote:
Is there a certain measurement of a radio for it too be deemed fit for
an Ultra LIte?

Would the Radio Shack DX 399 be in that category, it's pretty small,
not as small as some of those little Sonys.

Anyone in here other than John P. that indulges in that specific type
of monitoring? I've been thinking about it.

Yes there is - see the ulralight website:
http://www.dxer.ca/

Also, join the group who will answer all your questions:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightdx/

ultralighting is great fun - have a go

JP

Ultra Lite BCB DXing
 

On Apr 13, 9:30*pm, John Plimmer wrote:
On Apr 14, 12:24*am, Gregg wrote:

Is there a certain measurement of a radio for it too be deemed fit for
an Ultra LIte?

Would the Radio Shack DX 399 be in that category, it's pretty small,
not as small as some of those little Sonys.

Anyone in here other than John P. that indulges in that specific type
of monitoring? I've been thinking about it.

Yes there is - see the ulralight website:http://www.dxer.ca/

Also, join the group who will answer all your questions:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightdx/

ultralighting is great fun - have a go

JP

I think maybe many of us start that way, although I came in the side
door - I had a Realictic Astronaut-8 multiband radio, loads of fun and
certainly sensitive enough, but all-in-all just a basic single-
conversion inexpensive portable radio with an AM (MW) band. Back in
rural Massachusetts, and thinking that it was a great rig (I never let
reality get in the way of fun :-) I managed to get stations - using
just the internal ferrite, mind you - from all of New England, all the
Central Atlantic states, all of the Ohio Valley, every Canadian
province out to Manitoba except PEI, most of the Mississippi Valley,
Texas, Kansas, MO, N&S Dakota, Wyoming, Utah (KSL was easy, like a
local) and once managed to snag LA in California.

Herb Jepco's "Nightcap Club" on KSL was sappy, but a nice excuse to
call in to a distant radio station. WBZ's Larry Glick all-nighter had
a much more interesting twist to it - in terms of sheer interest and
tongue-in-cheek fun and silliness, he beat the pants off Art Bell and
George Noory :-D

Bruce Jensen

Ultra Lite BCB DXing
 

On Apr 15, 7:40*am, dave wrote:
bpnjensen wrote:
On Apr 13, 9:30 pm, John *wrote:
On Apr 14, 12:24 am, *wrote:

Is there a certain measurement of a radio for it too be deemed fit for
an Ultra LIte?

Would the Radio Shack DX 399 be in that category, it's pretty small,
not as small as some of those little Sonys.

Anyone in here other than John P. that indulges in that specific type
of monitoring? I've been thinking about it.

Yes there is - see the ulralight website:http://www.dxer.ca/

Also, join the group who will answer all your questions:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightdx/

ultralighting is great fun - *have a go

JP

I think maybe many of us start that way, although I came in the side
door - I had a Realictic Astronaut-8 multiband radio, loads of fun and
certainly sensitive enough, but all-in-all just a basic single-
conversion inexpensive portable radio with an AM (MW) band. *Back in
rural Massachusetts, and thinking that it was a great rig (I never let
reality get in the way of fun :-) I managed to get stations - using
just the internal ferrite, mind you - from all of New England, all the
Central Atlantic states, all of the Ohio Valley, every Canadian
province out to Manitoba except PEI, most of the Mississippi Valley,
Texas, Kansas, MO, N&S Dakota, Wyoming, Utah (KSL was easy, like a
local) and once managed to snag LA in California.

Herb Jepco's "Nightcap Club" on KSL was sappy, but a nice excuse to
call in to a distant radio station. *WBZ's Larry Glick all-nighter had
a much more interesting twist to it - in terms of sheer interest and
tongue-in-cheek fun and silliness, he beat the pants off Art Bell and
George Noory :-D

Bruce Jensen

As I recall, the old standard 6 transistor radio was quite adept at
BCBDXD. *Tons of RF/IF gain, ready access to the IF tuners, and a
ferrite bar antenna with killer nulls and lobes. *I could hear just
about every station in the West at night as I recall.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I actually acquired an old one of these recently - a Patrolman CB-9,
just fer fun - but I haven't used it for BCBDX yet. Around here, the
midst of 50kW flamethrowers, the images are legion up and down the
bands. One of these days I'll take 'er out to the sticks and see how
she works.

Bruce

Ultra Lite BCB DXing
 

bpnjensen wrote:
On Apr 13, 9:30 pm, John wrote:
On Apr 14, 12:24 am, wrote:

Is there a certain measurement of a radio for it too be deemed fit for
an Ultra LIte?

Would the Radio Shack DX 399 be in that category, it's pretty small,
not as small as some of those little Sonys.

Anyone in here other than John P. that indulges in that specific type
of monitoring? I've been thinking about it.

Yes there is - see the ulralight website:http://www.dxer.ca/

Also, join the group who will answer all your questions:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightdx/

ultralighting is great fun - have a go

JP

I think maybe many of us start that way, although I came in the side
door - I had a Realictic Astronaut-8 multiband radio, loads of fun and
certainly sensitive enough, but all-in-all just a basic single-
conversion inexpensive portable radio with an AM (MW) band. Back in
rural Massachusetts, and thinking that it was a great rig (I never let
reality get in the way of fun :-) I managed to get stations - using
just the internal ferrite, mind you - from all of New England, all the
Central Atlantic states, all of the Ohio Valley, every Canadian
province out to Manitoba except PEI, most of the Mississippi Valley,
Texas, Kansas, MO, N&S Dakota, Wyoming, Utah (KSL was easy, like a
local) and once managed to snag LA in California.

Herb Jepco's "Nightcap Club" on KSL was sappy, but a nice excuse to
call in to a distant radio station. WBZ's Larry Glick all-nighter had
a much more interesting twist to it - in terms of sheer interest and
tongue-in-cheek fun and silliness, he beat the pants off Art Bell and
George Noory :-D

Bruce Jensen

As I recall, the old standard 6 transistor radio was quite adept at
BCBDXD. Tons of RF/IF gain, ready access to the IF tuners, and a
ferrite bar antenna with killer nulls and lobes. I could hear just
about every station in the West at night as I recall.

Ultra Lite BCB DXing
 

In article ,
Gregg wrote:
Is there a certain measurement of a radio for it too be deemed fit for
an Ultra LIte?

Would the Radio Shack DX 399 be in that category, it's pretty small,
not as small as some of those little Sonys.

Anyone in here other than John P. that indulges in that specific type
of monitoring? I've been thinking about it.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group.ultralightdx

See also the ULDX section at www.dxer.ca

Ultra Lite BCB DXing
 

"bpnjensen" wrote in message
...
On Apr 13, 9:30 pm, John Plimmer wrote:
On Apr 14, 12:24 am, Gregg wrote:

Is there a certain measurement of a radio for it too be deemed fit for
an Ultra LIte?

Would the Radio Shack DX 399 be in that category, it's pretty small,
not as small as some of those little Sonys.

Anyone in here other than John P. that indulges in that specific type
of monitoring? I've been thinking about it.

Yes there is - see the ulralight website:http://www.dxer.ca/

Also, join the group who will answer all your
questions:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightdx/

ultralighting is great fun - have a go

JP



Herb Jepco's "Nightcap Club" on KSL was sappy, but a nice excuse to
call in to a distant radio station. WBZ's Larry Glick all-nighter had
a much more interesting twist to it - in terms of sheer interest and
tongue-in-cheek fun and silliness, he beat the pants off Art Bell and
George Noory :-DBruce Jensen

I listened to Larry Glick nightly from Lansing Michigan, I think
the time was late 80's early 90's. He was a hoot to listen to.
I enjoyed his calls to pay phones to. Any archives you know of?
Mike

Ultra Lite BCB DXing
 

On Apr 16, 3:53*am, "amdx" wrote:
"bpnjensen" wrote in message

...
On Apr 13, 9:30 pm, John Plimmer wrote: On Apr 14, 12:24 am, Gregg wrote:

Is there a certain measurement of a radio for it too be deemed fit for
an Ultra LIte?

Would the Radio Shack DX 399 be in that category, it's pretty small,
not as small as some of those little Sonys.

Anyone in here other than John P. that indulges in that specific type
of monitoring? I've been thinking about it.

Yes there is - see the ulralight website:http://www.dxer.ca/

Also, join the group who will answer all your

questions:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightdx/



ultralighting is great fun - have a go

JP

Herb Jepco's "Nightcap Club" on KSL was sappy, but a nice excuse to
call in to a distant radio station. *WBZ's Larry Glick all-nighter had
a much more interesting twist to it - in terms of sheer interest and
tongue-in-cheek fun and silliness, he beat the pants off Art Bell and
George Noory :-DBruce Jensen

* I listened to Larry Glick nightly from Lansing Michigan, I think
the time was late 80's early 90's. He was a hoot to listen to.
I enjoyed his calls to pay phones to. Any archives you know of?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Mike

Not sure about that, worth checking on - I do know he died a year ago
or so after having moved to FL awhile back. I think Donna is still
around. He was a fun guy. I loved it when he played 'Der
Krauwinklers' Landstrom' (His German march) during the 5 AM Farm &
Market report with battle sounds blazing away :-) I wish I could find
a recording of that piece! He'd also play cool 78's once in awhile,
like 'Southie (is my home town)' and 'There's Oceans of Love by the
Beautiful Sea (When you're down at Nantasket with Me)'. These can
both be heard on the Web. He had tons of kooky guests - one of his
favorite topics, being a hypnotist himself, was "astral projection",
and boy howdy, did he have some nutty folks on that topic! Fun!

Bruce

Ultra Lite BCB DXing
 

On Apr 16, 3:53*am, "amdx" wrote:
"bpnjensen" wrote in message

...
On Apr 13, 9:30 pm, John Plimmer wrote: On Apr 14, 12:24 am, Gregg wrote:

Is there a certain measurement of a radio for it too be deemed fit for
an Ultra LIte?

Would the Radio Shack DX 399 be in that category, it's pretty small,
not as small as some of those little Sonys.

Anyone in here other than John P. that indulges in that specific type
of monitoring? I've been thinking about it.

Yes there is - see the ulralight website:http://www.dxer.ca/

Also, join the group who will answer all your

questions:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightdx/



ultralighting is great fun - have a go

JP

Herb Jepco's "Nightcap Club" on KSL was sappy, but a nice excuse to
call in to a distant radio station. *WBZ's Larry Glick all-nighter had
a much more interesting twist to it - in terms of sheer interest and
tongue-in-cheek fun and silliness, he beat the pants off Art Bell and
George Noory :-DBruce Jensen

* I listened to Larry Glick nightly from Lansing Michigan, I think
the time was late 80's early 90's. He was a hoot to listen to.
I enjoyed his calls to pay phones to. Any archives you know of?
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Mike

Here's a link to NE airchecks:

http://northeastairchecks.com/

Larry Glick has three on this site.