sigh-of-relief

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I was beginning to see that very
sentiment in readings from the web.

While I have you here, I am admittedly the newest swler on the face of
the planet so I ask: does using the external wire antenna imply it must
be strung out to it's full length *outside* or would stringing it out as
far as possible around the ceiling in a room make any sense? In a
nutshell, I am currently confined to do my listening in a medium size
bedroom at the house I stay in during the work week (I commute from
Austin to Dallas) so I am rather limited in how I implement an external
antenna. Is there a SW listening FAQ?

Thanks for your input. It is very valuable to me at this early stage.

Best,
-Al

ac-acadaptor wrote:
I have both the YB400PE and the 909/398. I can tell you that the Grundig is
better at pulling in a weak signal OFF THE WHIP then the 909. If you hook
a long wire up to the 909 it will out perform the 400 on a long wire. The
SSB capabilities of the 909 are FAR SUPERIOR to the 400's touchy BFO. You
chose wisely, grasshopper!




Yes it did. In my searches I found the asking price elsewhere to be in
the 219-249 range but I am not sure if that is truly representative of
the fair value. I just bought the Passport to World Band Radio 2004 Ed.
and was at first a little dismayed to find the 909 only rated 2 stars
compared to the YB400PE's 3 stars. But in reflecting on the entire book
(which I think is generally wonderful!) I get a sense that Grundig has a
little clout with the authors. There are an enormous number of ads for
Grundig and coincidentally many of the rundig radios faired
significantly better than others - including Sangean. But before anyone
claims a case of sour grapes, I admit I may be a little miffed that the
radio I ended up with got a lower grade than the one I exchanged it for.
Ah well. I still like my 909 and frankly I think the features are
worth the single-star penalty.

Thanks for the message!
Best,
-Al

We don't have a Fry's around here and I had never even heard of the store,
but I found their website. Here's a link to the Sangean 909 for $149 as
described:

http://shop1.outpost.com/product/2524991

Their shipping was extremely reasonable too. Ground delivery for my zip code
would be just $5.71, second-day air for just $8.26, and overnight delivery
for just $11.48!

I don't need a 909 now because my 398 is still working fine, but it's nice
to know that I can get a 909 for that price! Wow!!!

Al Arduengo schrieb:

While I have you here, I am admittedly the newest swler on the face of
the planet so I ask: does using the external wire antenna imply it must
be strung out to it's full length *outside* or would stringing it out as
far as possible around the ceiling in a room make any sense?

An outdoor antenna is usually better since it picks up less in-house
noise; in-house noise sources can be really nasty. (When our TV is on, I
can pretty much forget about weaker stations on 20 and 15 meters. My
high-tech indoor antenna is a few meters of Sony AN-71 windup antenna
wire, hope I'll be able to put up a decent semi-outdoor one soon.) Of
course, it's also necessary to care for lightning protection then.

Well, some meters of wire indoors is still better than nothing -
experiment.

Is there a SW listening FAQ?

There used to be a group FAQ centuries ago:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/radio/monit...shortwave-faq/

Other helpful sources of information:
http://www.dxing.com/
http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/
http://www.radiointel.com/

Stephan
--
Meine Andere Seite: http://stephan.win31.de/
PC#6: i440BX, 2xCel300A, 512 MiB, 18+80 GB, R9k AGP 64 MiB, 110W
This is a SCSI-inside, Legacy-plus, TCPA-free computer
Reply to newsgroup only. | See home page for working e-mail address.

does using the external wire antenna imply it must
be strung out to it's full length *outside* or would stringing it out as
far as possible around the ceiling in a room make any sense?

- Whatever works..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Stealth Outdoors antenna . . . .


MATERIALS

Some Stranded, Insulated copper wire from Radio shack
Colors so it matches the bricks / outside of your building

Some stick-on Cord holders
One tube clear Silicone sealer glue
One black magic marker
One Rusty red magic marker
A roll of Duct tape color of outside of apt.

One Mop / Broom / Long stick..
One piece of twine or string.
One Small soft edged weight.

PROCEDU

See how far it is in between two windows of your Apt..

Measure out a piece of string this distance + ~ 6 - 8 feet.
Attach a small soft edged weight to it.

( Look Outside to see no one is looking !! )

Secure curious household pets

Open Both Windows.
Insert mop part way out one
Close that window to secure mop handle

Run over to the other window QUICK!
Take the twine with the weight on it & (without risking life & limb)
Toss the string over the mop sticking out the other window.
Secure the end of that end of the string with a bit of slack
Close that window
Run over to the other window with the mop that has the twine handing down off
it

Pull the mop in
Close the window.

( Breath deeply )

NOW....

Attach the stranded wire to the end of the string.
Slightly open window
Run over to the oher window.
Open it & pull in string until wire / string connection is through..

Pull in enough so that wire will reach SWR
Attach wire to SWR.
Close window.

- That's basically it. Modify as needed.

You can take Square stick -on cord holders
Camouflage them with magic Marker color , &
Silicone glue them to the outside corners of the window,
Then loop more wire

( DONT FALL OUT WHEN DOING THIS !!)

around the cord holders. This makes the antenna longer.
repeat for other windows..This should help lots..

( Works for me !!)

This is great! I am trying to stop laughing while I am at work!!

Thanks.
-Al

Diverd4777 wrote:
does using the external wire antenna imply it must

be strung out to it's full length *outside* or would stringing it out as
far as possible around the ceiling in a room make any sense?


- Whatever works..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Stealth Outdoors antenna . . . .


MATERIALS

Some Stranded, Insulated copper wire from Radio shack
Colors so it matches the bricks / outside of your building

Some stick-on Cord holders
One tube clear Silicone sealer glue
One black magic marker
One Rusty red magic marker
A roll of Duct tape color of outside of apt.

One Mop / Broom / Long stick..
One piece of twine or string.
One Small soft edged weight.

PROCEDU

See how far it is in between two windows of your Apt..

Measure out a piece of string this distance + ~ 6 - 8 feet.
Attach a small soft edged weight to it.

( Look Outside to see no one is looking !! )

Secure curious household pets

Open Both Windows.
Insert mop part way out one
Close that window to secure mop handle

Run over to the other window QUICK!
Take the twine with the weight on it & (without risking life & limb)
Toss the string over the mop sticking out the other window.
Secure the end of that end of the string with a bit of slack
Close that window
Run over to the other window with the mop that has the twine handing down off
it

Pull the mop in
Close the window.

( Breath deeply )

NOW....

Attach the stranded wire to the end of the string.
Slightly open window
Run over to the oher window.
Open it & pull in string until wire / string connection is through..

Pull in enough so that wire will reach SWR
Attach wire to SWR.
Close window.

- That's basically it. Modify as needed.

You can take Square stick -on cord holders
Camouflage them with magic Marker color , &
Silicone glue them to the outside corners of the window,
Then loop more wire

( DONT FALL OUT WHEN DOING THIS !!)

around the cord holders. This makes the antenna longer.
repeat for other windows..This should help lots..

( Works for me !!)

It doesn't have to be out all the way. The longer AND higher you can get
the wire, the better. Making sure it is perpendicular to any powerlines is
another thing to pay attention to.



"Al Arduengo" wrote in message
...
sigh-of-relief

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I was beginning to see that very
sentiment in readings from the web.

While I have you here, I am admittedly the newest swler on the face of
the planet so I ask: does using the external wire antenna imply it must
be strung out to it's full length *outside* or would stringing it out as
far as possible around the ceiling in a room make any sense? In a
nutshell, I am currently confined to do my listening in a medium size
bedroom at the house I stay in during the work week (I commute from
Austin to Dallas) so I am rather limited in how I implement an external
antenna. Is there a SW listening FAQ?

Thanks for your input. It is very valuable to me at this early stage.

Best,
-Al

ac-acadaptor wrote:
I have both the YB400PE and the 909/398. I can tell you that the
Grundig is
better at pulling in a weak signal OFF THE WHIP then the 909. If you
hook
a long wire up to the 909 it will out perform the 400 on a long wire.
The
SSB capabilities of the 909 are FAR SUPERIOR to the 400's touchy BFO.
You
chose wisely, grasshopper!




Yes it did. In my searches I found the asking price elsewhere to be in
the 219-249 range but I am not sure if that is truly representative of
the fair value. I just bought the Passport to World Band Radio 2004 Ed.
and was at first a little dismayed to find the 909 only rated 2 stars
compared to the YB400PE's 3 stars. But in reflecting on the entire book
(which I think is generally wonderful!) I get a sense that Grundig has a
little clout with the authors. There are an enormous number of ads for
Grundig and coincidentally many of the rundig radios faired
significantly better than others - including Sangean. But before anyone
claims a case of sour grapes, I admit I may be a little miffed that the
radio I ended up with got a lower grade than the one I exchanged it for.
Ah well. I still like my 909 and frankly I think the features are
worth the single-star penalty.

Thanks for the message!
Best,
-Al

In article , says...
While I have you here, I am admittedly the newest swler on the face of
the planet so I ask: does using the external wire antenna imply it must
be strung out to it's full length *outside* or would stringing it out as
far as possible around the ceiling in a room make any sense? In a

It's far less than optimal, but it also makes perfect sense. I have
some magnet wire strung up all the way around the perimeter of my
bedroom. It picks up a lot of noise, but it also picks up a lot more
signal than the whips on any of my portable receivers.

nutshell, I am currently confined to do my listening in a medium size
bedroom at the house I stay in during the work week (I commute from
Austin to Dallas) so I am rather limited in how I implement an external
antenna. Is there a SW listening FAQ?

Not that I'm all that attracted to magnet wire (pun intended), but you
could probably run some out in the back yard or along the roof of the
house and no one would notice it was there unless they tripped over it.
It's small enough to feed through a window fairly easily. I'm not
suggesting you try to sneak up an antenna outside, but the stealthy
nature of the magnet wire might help convince whoever would give the
okay. The more wire you can get outside, the better.

-- Jay

Al Arduengo wrote:

sigh-of-relief

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I was beginning to see that very
sentiment in readings from the web.

While I have you here, I am admittedly the newest swler on the face of
the planet so I ask: does using the external wire antenna imply it must
be strung out to it's full length *outside* or would stringing it out as
far as possible around the ceiling in a room make any sense? In a
nutshell, I am currently confined to do my listening in a medium size
bedroom at the house I stay in during the work week (I commute from
Austin to Dallas) so I am rather limited in how I implement an external
antenna. Is there a SW listening FAQ?

Thanks for your input. It is very valuable to me at this early stage.

Best,
-Al



Experiment and see what works best in your environment.
I took my 909 on vacation last year with an external long wire, which I
hung off of the hotel balcony at night. When I was through, rather than
wind it all back up I wound it around the metal balcony rail - worked
MUCH better and I left it there for the rest of my vacation with very
satisfactory results.

Antennas can often be made of the most unlikely objects - I have used a
metal bedspring and window screens with reasonable results in the past;
although a 'proper' antennas is always more predictable.

Dave