As promised, here is a brief review of the Justice AM Antenna.

I got it a couple of weeks ago (for $50.00 -- they had an "orphan"-- their
term for returned "like new" merchandise). It arrived in perfect condition.

It is very simple to put together. In fact, they made it so that it can't
be put together wrong -- the plugs are all different. The kit consists of a
pad with the adjustment knobs, a short coax (they offer a 20' as an
accessory), a "universal" ferrite attachment, an A/C adapter, and the actual
antenna assembly (which is about the length of a telephone handset, but only
about 1/2 inch thick). The antenna unit is weatherproof and has screws
included for external mounting.

The tuning pad has an outer bezel with a mark on it, which serves as the
coarse adjustment, and an inner knob that serves as fine-tuning. Numbers
corresponding to AM frequencies are on the dialpad.

Using it is simple. To listen to WOAI (1200AM - San Antonio -- I'm near New
Orleans) you first tune your receiver to 1200. Then, watch your signal
strength indicator (I have a CC Radio Plus) for a spike as you tune the
dialpad to 1200. When you see a spike, move to the fine adjustment to
maximize it.

That said, I believe it would be fairly difficult to use this antenna to its
full advantage without a signal strength indicator. On typical nighttime
stations, you will hear a slight volume increase as you tweak in your
station, but the biggest difference is that you'll find that it no longer
fades out.

My power bar for WOAI/1200 would normally read 1/4 to 1/3 -- with the
Justice antenna properly tuned, it pegs out full strength. This ratio seems
to be universal, as I tried stations from 600 to 1610, and the boost in
signal is always about + 2/3. If you already get a station at 1/3, it's
going to peg out. I do not have the antenna module in an optimum spot,
either (but I'll get into that later).

There are two ways to connect the antenna: The first is an adapter plug
that plugs into a standard RCA phone jack and gives you two wires to screw
onto your external antenna terminals. I found this was not as sensitive
as -- The second method: There is a little ferrite adapter (about the size
of the cap of a sharpie marker) that is flattened on one side and has an RCA
jack on the end. Plug the RCA lead from the dialpad into that, and put the
adapter on your existing radio (near the internal ferrite antenna -- you'll
be able to tell optimum position by watching the signal strength meter). My
first foray into custom mods was attaching a little Scotch tape under the
ferrite adapter so that it doesn't fall off my radio. Worked perfectly
until my daughter's cat....well, I digress.

The performance of this thing is simply amazing. I have definitely not
given this antenna any advantage, because the actual antenna unit is under
my bed, on the floor. (I know -- that's heresy in the rec.radio.shortwave
newsgroup. Please -- no flames -- I'll move it this weekend.) My radio is
on my bedside nightstand, and my bedroom is on the bottom floor of a 2-story
house and has other rooms on 3 sides (I do have windows facing west).

I was able to do away with the turntable I used to use with my radio. This
antenna lets you actually have the radio face you (instead of the distant
station). The antenna is omnidirectional. If you have a couple of stations
on the same frequency, all of them will come in stronger. It is an antenna,
not a sync mechanism -- your radio will have to sort it out. That said, I
have been able to tweak some signals very well using the dialpad.

For me, this thing is perfect. It's easy to use, and only has the footprint
of a credit-card on my nightstand next to my CC Radio+.

The only improvement I could think of for this antenna would be luminescent
numbers on the dialpad. It's not terribly difficult tuning in the dark once
you've done it for a while (due to the signal strength meter on my radio),
but it would be handy.

I hope this has been helpful.

-- Stinger
Picayune, MS

- Very helpful;
- May get one !
Thanks

Dan


In article , "Stinger"
writes:

Subject: Justice AM Antenna (from C. Crane Company)
From: "Stinger"
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 18:23:57 -0600

As promised, here is a brief review of the Justice AM Antenna.

I got it a couple of weeks ago (for $50.00 -- they had an "orphan"-- their
term for returned "like new" merchandise). It arrived in perfect condition.

It is very simple to put together. In fact, they made it so that it can't
be put together wrong -- the plugs are all different. The kit consists of a
pad with the adjustment knobs, a short coax (they offer a 20' as an
accessory), a "universal" ferrite attachment, an A/C adapter, and the actual
antenna assembly (which is about the length of a telephone handset, but only
about 1/2 inch thick). The antenna unit is weatherproof and has screws
included for external mounting.

The tuning pad has an outer bezel with a mark on it, which serves as the
coarse adjustment, and an inner knob that serves as fine-tuning. Numbers
corresponding to AM frequencies are on the dialpad.

Using it is simple. To listen to WOAI (1200AM - San Antonio -- I'm near New
Orleans) you first tune your receiver to 1200. Then, watch your signal
strength indicator (I have a CC Radio Plus) for a spike as you tune the
dialpad to 1200. When you see a spike, move to the fine adjustment to
maximize it.

That said, I believe it would be fairly difficult to use this antenna to its
full advantage without a signal strength indicator. On typical nighttime
stations, you will hear a slight volume increase as you tweak in your
station, but the biggest difference is that you'll find that it no longer
fades out.

My power bar for WOAI/1200 would normally read 1/4 to 1/3 -- with the
Justice antenna properly tuned, it pegs out full strength. This ratio seems
to be universal, as I tried stations from 600 to 1610, and the boost in
signal is always about + 2/3. If you already get a station at 1/3, it's
going to peg out. I do not have the antenna module in an optimum spot,
either (but I'll get into that later).

There are two ways to connect the antenna: The first is an adapter plug
that plugs into a standard RCA phone jack and gives you two wires to screw
onto your external antenna terminals. I found this was not as sensitive
as -- The second method: There is a little ferrite adapter (about the size
of the cap of a sharpie marker) that is flattened on one side and has an RCA
jack on the end. Plug the RCA lead from the dialpad into that, and put the
adapter on your existing radio (near the internal ferrite antenna -- you'll
be able to tell optimum position by watching the signal strength meter). My
first foray into custom mods was attaching a little Scotch tape under the
ferrite adapter so that it doesn't fall off my radio. Worked perfectly
until my daughter's cat....well, I digress.

The performance of this thing is simply amazing. I have definitely not
given this antenna any advantage, because the actual antenna unit is under
my bed, on the floor. (I know -- that's heresy in the rec.radio.shortwave
newsgroup. Please -- no flames -- I'll move it this weekend.) My radio is
on my bedside nightstand, and my bedroom is on the bottom floor of a 2-story
house and has other rooms on 3 sides (I do have windows facing west).

I was able to do away with the turntable I used to use with my radio. This
antenna lets you actually have the radio face you (instead of the distant
station). The antenna is omnidirectional. If you have a couple of stations
on the same frequency, all of them will come in stronger. It is an antenna,
not a sync mechanism -- your radio will have to sort it out. That said, I
have been able to tweak some signals very well using the dialpad.

For me, this thing is perfect. It's easy to use, and only has the footprint
of a credit-card on my nightstand next to my CC Radio+.

The only improvement I could think of for this antenna would be luminescent
numbers on the dialpad. It's not terribly difficult tuning in the dark once
you've done it for a while (due to the signal strength meter on my radio),
but it would be handy.

I hope this has been helpful.

-- Stinger
Picayune, MS

You have my interested peaked, sounds like the antenna works really well.
Scanned thru the C.Crane Co. orphan's section, but no Justice AM Antenna.
Is it listed frequently as an orphan or do I need to just keep looking?

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 19:50:56 -0600, Macman wrote
(in message ):

You have my interested peaked, sounds like the antenna works really well.
Scanned thru the C.Crane Co. orphan's section, but no Justice AM Antenna.
Is it listed frequently as an orphan or do I need to just keep looking?


It is fairly often listed as an "orphan" but, iirc, it is usually ten or
twenty (don't remember which) dollars off the normal $100.

I was setting up to do an overall review of it (with a CCradioPlus) but,
fortunately, "Stinger" beat me to it (he did a better job than I would have
done).

However, a couple of days ago, I went through all the MW freqs and, using a
very subjective percentage rating, wrote down all the freqs on which a
station was legible. If I don't get too sleepy, I'll do a nighttime check
using the same subjective ratings.

Then I can get the thing out of its box and find out how well it works
sigh/grin.

I'm about 2-1/2 hours north of "Stinger" but what will make my test "tough"
is that I''m now in an apartment with gross amounts of metal in the walls and
the only place I can use an antenna is a 4'x8' window (no openings to the
outside at all - windows are permanently shut and no one can get to the roof,
so this is going to be a rough place to get RF (oh - the worst part of it is
that the window is on the southern side sigh).

So we shall see.




Gray Shockley
-----------------------
DX-392 DX-398
RX-320 DX-399
CCradio w/RS Loop
Torus Tuner (3-13 MHz)
Select-A-Tenna
-----------------------
Vicksburg, MS US

All:

- This device uses a 9 volt battery;
I assume it has an amp in it;
- else why the need for 9 volts
??
- How's it work without the battery ??

Dan


In article , "Stinger"
writes:


As promised, here is a brief review of the Justice AM Antenna.

I got it a couple of weeks ago (for $50.00 -- they had an "orphan"-- their
term for returned "like new" merchandise). It arrived in perfect condition.

It is very simple to put together. In fact, they made it so that it can't
be put together wrong -- the plugs are all different. The kit consists of a
pad with the adjustment knobs, a short coax (they offer a 20' as an
accessory), a "universal" ferrite attachment, an A/C adapter, and the actual
antenna assembly (which is about the length of a telephone handset, but only
about 1/2 inch thick). The antenna unit is weatherproof and has screws
included for external mounting.

The tuning pad has an outer bezel with a mark on it, which serves as the
coarse adjustment, and an inner knob that serves as fine-tuning. Numbers
corresponding to AM frequencies are on the dialpad.

Using it is simple. To listen to WOAI (1200AM - San Antonio -- I'm near New
Orleans) you first tune your receiver to 1200. Then, watch your signal
strength indicator (I have a CC Radio Plus) for a spike as you tune the
dialpad to 1200. When you see a spike, move to the fine adjustment to
maximize it.

That said, I believe it would be fairly difficult to use this antenna to its
full advantage without a signal strength indicator. On typical nighttime
stations, you will hear a slight volume increase as you tweak in your
station, but the biggest difference is that you'll find that it no longer
fades out.

My power bar for WOAI/1200 would normally read 1/4 to 1/3 -- with the
Justice antenna properly tuned, it pegs out full strength. This ratio seems
to be universal, as I tried stations from 600 to 1610, and the boost in
signal is always about + 2/3. If you already get a station at 1/3, it's
going to peg out. I do not have the antenna module in an optimum spot,
either (but I'll get into that later).

There are two ways to connect the antenna: The first is an adapter plug
that plugs into a standard RCA phone jack and gives you two wires to screw
onto your external antenna terminals. I found this was not as sensitive
as -- The second method: There is a little ferrite adapter (about the size
of the cap of a sharpie marker) that is flattened on one side and has an RCA
jack on the end. Plug the RCA lead from the dialpad into that, and put the
adapter on your existing radio (near the internal ferrite antenna -- you'll
be able to tell optimum position by watching the signal strength meter). My
first foray into custom mods was attaching a little Scotch tape under the
ferrite adapter so that it doesn't fall off my radio. Worked perfectly
until my daughter's cat....well, I digress.

The performance of this thing is simply amazing. I have definitely not
given this antenna any advantage, because the actual antenna unit is under
my bed, on the floor. (I know -- that's heresy in the rec.radio.shortwave
newsgroup. Please -- no flames -- I'll move it this weekend.) My radio is
on my bedside nightstand, and my bedroom is on the bottom floor of a 2-story
house and has other rooms on 3 sides (I do have windows facing west).

I was able to do away with the turntable I used to use with my radio. This
antenna lets you actually have the radio face you (instead of the distant
station). The antenna is omnidirectional. If you have a couple of stations
on the same frequency, all of them will come in stronger. It is an antenna,
not a sync mechanism -- your radio will have to sort it out. That said, I
have been able to tweak some signals very well using the dialpad.

For me, this thing is perfect. It's easy to use, and only has the footprint
of a credit-card on my nightstand next to my CC Radio+.

The only improvement I could think of for this antenna would be luminescent
numbers on the dialpad. It's not terribly difficult tuning in the dark once
you've done it for a while (due to the signal strength meter on my radio),
but it would be handy.

I hope this has been helpful.

-- Stinger
Picayune, MS

= = = (Diverd4777)
= = = wrote in message ...
All:

- This device uses a 9 volt battery;
I assume it has an amp in it;
- else why the need for 9 volts
??
- How's it work without the battery ??


External A/C Adapter to 9VDC.

I also purchased the $50 Justice Antenna and have had great success
with it. Really pulling in AM stations and increasing listenability
(word??). Very happy on my purchase. And always fun to have a new
knob to turn. I'd recommend it highly although at $100 and shipping
it may be a touch expensive.





On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 20:55:54 -0600, (Moonman)
wrote:

Sounds like this antenna would be a fantastic adjunct to one of my old AM
radios, once I bestir myself to fix em. In particular, I believe it would
be ideal for those old radios of the '30 that predated the development of
the internal AM antenna and instead called for the use of an outdoor long
wire.

Let me know what happens if you mount it outside (From your description it
sounds like that's an option.), or out from under your bed.

Also, is there any kind of effect as your hand approaches the antenna to
rotate it? I'd guess that "hand capacitance" effect would be unremovable.



In article , Gray
Shockley wrote:

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 19:50:56 -0600, Macman wrote
(in message ):

You have my interested peaked, sounds like the antenna works really well.
Scanned thru the C.Crane Co. orphan's section, but no Justice AM Antenna.
Is it listed frequently as an orphan or do I need to just keep looking?


It is fairly often listed as an "orphan" but, iirc, it is usually ten or
twenty (don't remember which) dollars off the normal $100.

I was setting up to do an overall review of it (with a CCradioPlus) but,
fortunately, "Stinger" beat me to it (he did a better job than I would have
done).

However, a couple of days ago, I went through all the MW freqs and, using a
very subjective percentage rating, wrote down all the freqs on which a
station was legible. If I don't get too sleepy, I'll do a nighttime check
using the same subjective ratings.

Then I can get the thing out of its box and find out how well it works
sigh/grin.

I'm about 2-1/2 hours north of "Stinger" but what will make my test "tough"
is that I''m now in an apartment with gross amounts of metal in the walls and
the only place I can use an antenna is a 4'x8' window (no openings to the
outside at all - windows are permanently shut and no one can get to the roof,
so this is going to be a rough place to get RF (oh - the worst part of it is
that the window is on the southern side sigh).

So we shall see.




Gray Shockley
-----------------------
DX-392 DX-398
RX-320 DX-399
CCradio w/RS Loop
Torus Tuner (3-13 MHz)
Select-A-Tenna
-----------------------
Vicksburg, MS US

"Bill Beam" wrote in message
...


I also purchased the $50 Justice Antenna and have had great success
with it. Really pulling in AM stations and increasing listenability
(word??). Very happy on my purchase. And always fun to have a new
knob to turn. I'd recommend it highly although at $100 and shipping
it may be a touch expensive.


That's my concern--the ol' cost/benefit issue. I have no doubt it's a
nice antenna, but how much better is it than my 19.95 Rat Shack loop,
which I'm pretty pleased with? I've had the same c/b issue with the
CC Radio, which is promoted as the last word in AM radios, but is
apparently helped more than a little by adding the $50-100 Justice
antenna. Will this set up be noticeably better than the AM section of
my 7600G with Rat Shack loop (total $180, including SW & FM)?
Perhaps, but for some (like me) relative performance for the dollar is
an issue as well.

Thank you, Gray. I'm looking forward to hearing the results of your
"subjective test." Judging from the literature that came with the antenna,
they suggest best place for it is on or near the sill of that window.

I've got to fish a wire through the wall for the longwire I'm hooking to my
ATS-909, and I'm seriously considering fabricating an extension lead for the
Justice antenna module as long as I'm at it, and mounting it high in my
attic.

Vicksburg is a beautiful town -- I hope you're on one of those huge hills!

-- Stinger

"Gray Shockley" wrote in message
.com...
On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 19:50:56 -0600, Macman wrote
(in message ):

You have my interested peaked, sounds like the antenna works really
well.
Scanned thru the C.Crane Co. orphan's section, but no Justice AM
Antenna.
Is it listed frequently as an orphan or do I need to just keep looking?


It is fairly often listed as an "orphan" but, iirc, it is usually ten or
twenty (don't remember which) dollars off the normal $100.

I was setting up to do an overall review of it (with a CCradioPlus) but,
fortunately, "Stinger" beat me to it (he did a better job than I would
have
done).

However, a couple of days ago, I went through all the MW freqs and, using
a
very subjective percentage rating, wrote down all the freqs on which a
station was legible. If I don't get too sleepy, I'll do a nighttime check
using the same subjective ratings.

Then I can get the thing out of its box and find out how well it works
sigh/grin.

I'm about 2-1/2 hours north of "Stinger" but what will make my test
"tough"
is that I''m now in an apartment with gross amounts of metal in the walls
and
the only place I can use an antenna is a 4'x8' window (no openings to the
outside at all - windows are permanently shut and no one can get to the
roof,
so this is going to be a rough place to get RF (oh - the worst part of it
is
that the window is on the southern side sigh).

So we shall see.




Gray Shockley
-----------------------
DX-392 DX-398
RX-320 DX-399
CCradio w/RS Loop
Torus Tuner (3-13 MHz)
Select-A-Tenna
-----------------------
Vicksburg, MS US

"Moonman" wrote in message
t...
Snip
Also, is there any kind of effect as your hand approaches the antenna to
rotate it? I'd guess that "hand capacitance" effect would be unremovable.

--
Moonman

I've moved the antenna unit around, and don't notice much difference in
signal either from "hand capacitance" or from being pointed in different
directions. Moving it closer to a window, etc. helps, though.

-- Stinger