(BCcubed) wrote in message ...
Hey JBR

I do know this and have used this function. My question had to do with
damaging the radio by stringing a 75 foot square of wire 12 above the ground
and using the ext. antenna on my SAT 700 to DX without hurting the radio.

Until I can get a better radio I was hoping to find some way to modify this one
to perform better.

neil

You won't damage the radio by using a 75-feet wire antenna UNLESS
lightning strikes or is close enough to cause strong static. The
added signal strength, which might not be as much as you expect it to
be, will not damage the radio. If the signal overloads, you will
merely hear the signal where is doesn't belong, or it may be very
distorted. I used a sloper antenna (not cheap) with my Satellit 650
and found that on some bands the internal whip gave a stronger signal,
and on other bands the sloper either gave a slight advantage or
sometimes a major advantage. On my Panasonic RF-2200 I could hardly
tell the difference between the whip antenna and adding an external
long wire antenna. Sensitivity on the Satellit 700 (assuming it is
about the same as the 500) is excellent using the internal whip
antenna (about .28 - .31 uV) while only fair when using an external
antenna (1.1 - 1.4 uV). So the manufacturer has compensated for the
stronger signal received on an external antenna by reducing the
sensitivity, thus, reducing the signal the set will receive. That is
why you won't be able to do serious DXing on your radio. Of course
any external antenna might make an improvement. If using a 75-ft wire
antenna would damage your radio, Grundig would NOT have put an
external antenna jack on your radio.

Remember, also, that in addition to an external antenna jack, which means
the radio was specifically designed with the idea that it might be used with
an external antenna, the Satellit 700 also had that manually adjustable RF
gain control to deal with any possible front-end overloading of the antenna.

Based on my experiences with more than one each sample of Grundig Satellit
700, Satellit 500, Satellit 400, Sony ICF-2010 and ICF2001, Sangeans
ATS-803A, ATS-390 and their Radio Shack brand equivallents, and Philips
D-2999, and Panasonic RF-3100, RF-2900 RF-4900, and RFB-600, I would rate
the Satellit 700 to be the best of that entire lot for receiver performance,
ability to handle external noise interference, and audio quality. On some
bands, it might be only marginally better than some of the other models
mentioned. I don't think you'd have to worry about damaging a Satellit 700
by hooking up any length of antenna to its external antenna jack, or even by
clipping a long wire antenna lead directly to its telescopic whip antenna,
as long as you observe that already mentioned caveat about lightning, etc.

Reply to:
Brent Reynolds, Atlanta, GA USA

wrote in message ink.net...
One thing many Satellit 700 users don't know about is that the receiver
already has a tunable preselector. One of the worst things about the
Satellit 700 is the English language translation of the user's manual, which
does not mention or explain the preselector feature.

Tune to a specific frequency, preferrably one you know is not one of the
stronger signals you can catch at your location. Next, press the
stereo/mono button and hold it in. While holding that button in, rotate the
tuning knob. You notice the strength of the received signal getting
stronger or weaker as you trun that tuning knob. When you have peaked the
strength of the signal to its maximum, stop turning the knob and release the
stereo/mono button.
Also, make sure the DX/Local switch is in the DX position for best reception
of weaker signals.

Hey Brent, you're absolutely right. The preselector function of the
Sat 700 is one of its greatest unsung features. I would only add that
for best success one should switch to the narrow filter before
engaging the preselector. At least to my ears, going to the narrow
filter first casts the improvement in the signal in starker relief.
Once you have optimized the signal switch back to the wide filter.

Regards,

Grumpus

Seconding this msg:
Unless Lightning strikes the antenna or hits nearby,
No amount ( Up to thousands of feet; or miles, I suppose )
of antenna will have any adverse effect on your set.

I suppose if you live in the desert, with persistant winds, you might ground
the antenna to protect against static charges..

If there is a Very Strong Signal nearby, it will possibly
show up in multiple locations on the dail..

- Thats It ! ! !

- Conversly, having lots of antenna may help pick up Very very faint signals,



In article ,
(Gary) writes:


(BCcubed) wrote in message
...
Hey JBR

I do know this and have used this function. My question had to do with
damaging the radio by stringing a 75 foot square of wire 12 above the
ground
and using the ext. antenna on my SAT 700 to DX without hurting the radio.

Until I can get a better radio I was hoping to find some way to modify this
one
to perform better.

neil

You won't damage the radio by using a 75-feet wire antenna UNLESS
lightning strikes or is close enough to cause strong static. The
added signal strength, which might not be as much as you expect it to
be, will not damage the radio. If the signal overloads, you will
merely hear the signal where is doesn't belong, or it may be very
distorted