Well, put up a new inverted-L antenna - 30 feet up a tree, 60 feet
across horz and over the house rooftop (nowhere else to go!), base ~20
feet from house. Using a winradio 9:1 unun matcher at the base, *not
yet grounded*. In fact, so far none of the RF chain on this antenna
is grounded. So far, so good - noise level *fairly* low (lower on
almots all freqs than my DX-Ultra), AND signal strength on most bands
roughly the same, varying depending on the band. One good thing I do
notice is that on strong MW stations, he antenna does *NOT* reveal a
60 Hz background hum like the DX-Ultra does - I consider this a good
sign. The far end is about 25 feet from the higher-tension power
lines out back, and the near end is about 15 feet from the low-tension
lines in front. Next steps -

1 - Ground the 9:1 unun
2 - Bury the coax from house to base of antenna (about 18 feet
underground)
3 - Install RF isolator (Either Radioworks or Wellbrook AFI5030) at
the house with or without a ground stake connection, depending on what
works the best.

Have not had great reception so far this week, so no chance to really
give it a workout.

Further reports to come. Thanks, guys, for all the input so far!

On 01/31/2011 11:55 AM, bpnjensen wrote:
Well, put up a new inverted-L antenna - 30 feet up a tree, 60 feet
across horz and over the house rooftop (nowhere else to go!), base ~20
feet from house. Using a winradio 9:1 unun matcher at the base, *not
yet grounded*. In fact, so far none of the RF chain on this antenna
is grounded. So far, so good - noise level *fairly* low (lower on
almots all freqs than my DX-Ultra), AND signal strength on most bands
roughly the same, varying depending on the band. One good thing I do

notice is that on strong MW stations, he antenna does *NOT* reveal a
60 Hz background hum like the DX-Ultra does - I consider this a good
sign. The far end is about 25 feet from the higher-tension power
lines out back, and the near end is about 15 feet from the low-tension
lines in front. Next steps -

1 - Ground the 9:1 unun
2 - Bury the coax from house to base of antenna (about 18 feet
underground)
3 - Install RF isolator (Either Radioworks or Wellbrook AFI5030) at
the house with or without a ground stake connection, depending on what
works the best.

Have not had great reception so far this week, so no chance to really
give it a workout.

Further reports to come. Thanks, guys, for all the input so far!

It's a rule that putting up a new antenna causes bad dx space weather.
Like washing your car makes it rain.

On Jan 31, 4:13*pm, dave wrote:
On 01/31/2011 11:55 AM, bpnjensen wrote:









Well, put up a new inverted-L antenna - 30 feet up a tree, 60 feet
across horz and over the house rooftop (nowhere else to go!), base ~20
feet from house. *Using a winradio 9:1 unun matcher at the base, *not
yet grounded*. *In fact, so far none of the RF chain on this antenna
is grounded. *So far, so good - noise level *fairly* low (lower on
almots all freqs than my DX-Ultra), AND signal strength on most bands
roughly the same, varying depending on the band. *One good thing I do
notice is that on strong MW stations, he antenna does *NOT* reveal a
60 Hz background hum like the DX-Ultra does - I consider this a good
sign. *The far end is about 25 feet from the higher-tension power
lines out back, and the near end is about 15 feet from the low-tension
lines in front. *Next steps -

1 - Ground the 9:1 unun
2 - Bury the coax from house to base of antenna (about 18 feet
underground)
3 - Install RF isolator (Either Radioworks or Wellbrook AFI5030) at
the house with or without a ground stake connection, depending on what
works the best.

Have not had great reception so far this week, so no chance to really
give it a workout.

Further reports to come. *Thanks, guys, for all the input so far!

It's a rule that putting up a new antenna causes bad dx space weather.
Like washing your car makes it rain.

....or like a new telescope eyepiece means cloudy weather :-D

On Feb 1, 1:48*am, bpnjensen wrote:
On Jan 31, 4:13*pm, dave wrote:





On 01/31/2011 11:55 AM, bpnjensen wrote:

Well, put up a new inverted-L antenna - 30 feet up a tree, 60 feet
across horz and over the house rooftop (nowhere else to go!), base ~20
feet from house. *Using a winradio 9:1 unun matcher at the base, *not
yet grounded*. *In fact, so far none of the RF chain on this antenna
is grounded. *So far, so good - noise level *fairly* low (lower on
almots all freqs than my DX-Ultra), AND signal strength on most bands
roughly the same, varying depending on the band. *One good thing I do
notice is that on strong MW stations, he antenna does *NOT* reveal a
60 Hz background hum like the DX-Ultra does - I consider this a good
sign. *The far end is about 25 feet from the higher-tension power
lines out back, and the near end is about 15 feet from the low-tension
lines in front. *Next steps -

1 - Ground the 9:1 unun
2 - Bury the coax from house to base of antenna (about 18 feet
underground)
3 - Install RF isolator (Either Radioworks or Wellbrook AFI5030) at
the house with or without a ground stake connection, depending on what
works the best.

Have not had great reception so far this week, so no chance to really
give it a workout.

Further reports to come. *Thanks, guys, for all the input so far!

It's a rule that putting up a new antenna causes bad dx space weather.
Like washing your car makes it rain.

...or like a new telescope eyepiece means cloudy weather :-D- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

aka as Murphy's Law !

Do you run with RF gain all the way up? I don't. I use a lot of AF gain
and turn the AGC off and ride the RF gain (use that for a volume
control). That gets the noise way down (until somebody flips an
incandescent light switch and the "pop" goes through my brain).

I did my deep urban DXing on a 2010 (on a 30' umbilical) and an R390-A
(120' random wire connected directly to back of radio). Biggest power
lines overhead at right angle to random wire. The R390-A's what got me
hooked on pro grade receivers.

On Feb 1, 9:04*am, dave wrote:
Do you run with RF gain all the way up? I don't. I use a lot of AF gain
and turn the AGC off and ride the RF gain (use that for a volume
control). That gets the noise way down (until somebody flips an
incandescent light switch and the "pop" goes through my brain).

I did my deep urban DXing on a 2010 (on a 30' umbilical) and an R390-A
(120' random wire connected directly to back of radio). Biggest power
lines overhead at right angle to random wire. The R390-A's what got me
hooked on pro grade receivers.

It depends on the situation. I only rarely turn off the AGC, but I do
ride the RF Gain quite a bit, partly because of this effect you
describe and partly because it really helps the S-AM work properly
(People complain about the Icom R-75 S-AM, even with Kiwa mods, but I
can eliminate virtually all selective fading with the RF Gain set
properly). However, I will give the method you describe a shot.

How did those powerlines affect your reception?