$30.00 and a piece of wire
 

I was showing my kids that with a cheapie radio (yb 205 ~$25.00 plus
shipping when i bought it) and a piece of wire, one could catch quite
a few stations.
The only mod I've done is take out the antenna (which was sort of
shorting out all the time anyway) and put a 1/8 mini plug in it's
place. I've got it connected to a random wire, grounded, fed with a
coax from outside.
We would scan a band, find stuff that was interesting, cross reference
it on the yb400pe, then look it up on ilg.
We had a ball finding stuff.
I've said it before (in this group, as a matter of fact), and I'll say
it again, you don't have to spend very much to enjoy this hobby.
All you really need is the desire to listen.
and a piece of wire.

"Dyuob Poltice" wrote in message
...
I was showing my kids that with a cheapie radio (yb 205 ~$25.00 plus
shipping when i bought it) and a piece of wire, one could catch
quite
a few stations.
The only mod I've done is take out the antenna (which was sort of
shorting out all the time anyway) and put a 1/8 mini plug in it's
place. I've got it connected to a random wire, grounded, fed with a
coax from outside.
We would scan a band, find stuff that was interesting, cross
reference
it on the yb400pe, then look it up on ilg.
We had a ball finding stuff.
I've said it before (in this group, as a matter of fact), and I'll
say
it again, you don't have to spend very much to enjoy this hobby.
All you really need is the desire to listen.
and a piece of wire.

Amen.

I've got my two oldest (6 and 3, respectively), interested
in the world courtesy of shortwave. (The Olympics didn't
hurt, either.) I pulled out a 6 year old world map that I had
around before we moved into our current house, put it
on the wall, and we now point out where the country we're
listening to is located, and what it's flag is. If there's music
on, which is a bonus, the kids dance around the basement
and follow along on their own "instruments", which often
consists of pans to bang on.

--Mike L.

Yes indeed! That is how it all starts! Pretty soon there are rooms dedicated
to radios, and all maner of hardware in the sky above the home. You will get
used to people pointing at your roofline! Enjoy, and thanks for sharing with
the youngsters.


--
Dave,
Icom 746pro, Drake R-8, Grundig YB-400pe
Icom V-8000, Yaesu VX5R, Uniden
780xlt, R.S. Pro 95, R.S. Pro 2066
G.E. SR3

"Dyuob Poltice" wrote in message
...
I was showing my kids that with a cheapie radio (yb 205 ~$25.00 plus
shipping when i bought it) and a piece of wire, one could catch quite
a few stations.
The only mod I've done is take out the antenna (which was sort of
shorting out all the time anyway) and put a 1/8 mini plug in it's
place. I've got it connected to a random wire, grounded, fed with a
coax from outside.
We would scan a band, find stuff that was interesting, cross reference
it on the yb400pe, then look it up on ilg.
We had a ball finding stuff.
I've said it before (in this group, as a matter of fact), and I'll say
it again, you don't have to spend very much to enjoy this hobby.
All you really need is the desire to listen.
and a piece of wire.






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Good job ML.. It's good to see somebody raising a couple critters up
with exposure to the rest of the world specifically if it's
not-biased.

If that were the case in some sandy countries, the world would be much
better off !!!

WHat are you using for your rcvr/ant ???

On Sat, 6 Nov 2004 23:21:10 -0500, "Michael Lawson"
wrote:


I've got my two oldest (6 and 3, respectively), interested
in the world courtesy of shortwave. (The Olympics didn't
hurt, either.) I pulled out a 6 year old world map that I had
around before we moved into our current house, put it
on the wall, and we now point out where the country we're
listening to is located, and what it's flag is. If there's music
on, which is a bonus, the kids dance around the basement
and follow along on their own "instruments", which often
consists of pans to bang on.

--Mike L.

Dyuob Poltice wrote:

All you really need is the desire to listen.
and a piece of wire.


I have the desire to listen AND a piece of wire. There seems to be a
problem, however. The wire just kinda lays there, doing nothing.

Do I have to point it towards a certain direction or something? I
don't think it's the solar activity, either, 'cause it does the same
nothing at night too.

Should I have spent money and bought copper wire instead of liberating
Mister Welch's clothesline?


Sincerely,



michael

"m II" wrote in message
news:_1Fjd.75967$E93.29357@clgrps12...
Dyuob Poltice wrote:

All you really need is the desire to listen.
and a piece of wire.


I have the desire to listen AND a piece of wire. There seems to be a
problem, however. The wire just kinda lays there, doing nothing.

Do I have to point it towards a certain direction or something? I
don't think it's the solar activity, either, 'cause it does the same
nothing at night too.

Should I have spent money and bought copper wire instead of
liberating
Mister Welch's clothesline?

Damn. There went my coffee all over my monitor.

--Mike L.

JuLiE Dxer wrote in message . ..
Good job ML.. It's good to see somebody raising a couple critters up
with exposure to the rest of the world specifically if it's
not-biased.

If that were the case in some sandy countries, the world would be much
better off !!!

WHat are you using for your rcvr/ant ???

I'll never forget how it started in my own case. When I was a kid, an
uncle came to visit and after he left I discovered that he'd forgotten
to take his small Sony shortwave radio home with him. I remember
turning it on and hearing WWV, Radio Moscow and a few other things. I
thought it was so *interesting* that this radio wasn't like any of the
other radios we had lying around! Back in those days there were many
more numbers stations too. Anyway, I listened to this thing just about
every day and night. Eventually my uncle came back for another visit,
but when he saw how much I loved the shortwave he conveniently
"forgot" it again---as he did on every future visit. He knew I'd been
"bitten"! What a great uncle!

Steve