So, I would do better to get my wire over 80 or so feet and keep it straighter with less bends or turns?
Any other Amateur radio operators?
- Thread starter vaplanman
- Start date
Best thing to do is get it as high off the ground as you can. Zig zags won't hurt performance very much.
And again, connect to an Earth ground and get am antenna tuner.
I really appreciate the advice!
I found my YB-400 but I don't think it's up to the job. I know much of the problem is my location (a small, brick rowhouse built around 1880 and set on a side street, south of some really tall glass-and-steel skyscrapers) but I also get the sense that the radio could be better. I think I might be able to attach an antenna to my chimney, if anyone thinks this may help. It will at least get it above the neighboring houses...
I'll also consider a new receiver - preferably a table top model - if anyone has a brand/model to recommend.
Thanks!
I found my YB-400 but I don't think it's up to the job. I know much of the problem is my location (a small, brick rowhouse built around 1880 and set on a side street, south of some really tall glass-and-steel skyscrapers) but I also get the sense that the radio could be better. I think I might be able to attach an antenna to my chimney, if anyone thinks this may help. It will at least get it above the neighboring houses...
I'll also consider a new receiver - preferably a table top model - if anyone has a brand/model to recommend.
Thanks!
Hi,
We have a new one! My wife passed her Tech a couple weeks ago and so the newest call around here is KM4RMW!
Stan
We have a new one! My wife passed her Tech a couple weeks ago and so the newest call around here is KM4RMW!
Stan
As my handle suggests, kc1ble here. General ticket currently on 2m. Wanna get a new hf rig, but its not in the budget. Was running a Kenwood TS820S for a while with a a G5RV strung at 35 feet. I love communicating with the world.
Hi,
We have a new one! My wife passed her Tech a couple weeks ago and so the newest call around here is KM4RMW!
Stan
Congratulations to your wife.
Kc5kto
I've had several YB-400s down through the years ... probably the best all-around portable I've ever tried. I wish I still had it.
My next SWL receiver will probably be a Tecsun PL-880 or a Sangean 909X Clearmod.
As for table-tops, its hard to choose. There's not much in table-tops under $1,000 that will outperform a good portable in the $200 range ... maybe get a vintage Hallicrafters or other tube-rig and have fun restoring it. For the time being, its better to put your money into a good antenna system, since you'll need that when you get a table-top.
What about the Grundig Satellit 750? A little pricey, but seems to be a decent radio, so I was thinking about seeking one out. Has all the different bands, aircraft, ssb etc..
Been learning a bit watching 'Tom's Radio Show' on youtube. Neat little channel for what it is.
Been learning a bit watching 'Tom's Radio Show' on youtube. Neat little channel for what it is.
I had the predecessor, the Satellit 700 ... it was a terrific radio in terms of audio quality, sensitivity and selectivity.
But the software that ran it had a very strange Operating System ... not at all intuitive. Clumsy and awkward to do things like store a frequency into memory, and put custom labels on each station. It was was a long, slow, drawn out process. Even after I had the radio for a year, I still had to refer back to the manual to figure out how to do things. But the manual wasn't a lot of help.
I kept wishing that someone would invent a computer interface for it. It would have helped to move the controls off the radio and onto a PC ... but then, you'd have the problem of RF-interference leaking from the PC and into the radio.
One minor thing I was worried about with, with staying with Grundig, was the 'wobbly knob'. My S350DL has this 'wandering' to it, and after a few minutes the dial doesn't read and I have to poke a pin in the reset button. Just hoping that's more common to this radio and not common to the brand.
Hi,
One would be better off picking up any of the ham transceivers from the 1980s. All of them had synthesized general coverage receivers, all of which are better performers than the portable SWL receivers. Most of them sell in the $200-300 range at hamfests these days. Most suffer from issues with the transmitter power amplifiers, most of which are cracked connections from decades of heating and cooling cycles. But, then for SWL, you don't need to bother with fixing intermittent transmitters.
Example: the Kenwood TS-430s. Nice rig. Rx works very well. Has intermittent TX troubles. Had an outboard antenna tuner, so not as desirable and the model 440 which replaced the 430 and had an internal tuner. So, they sell cheap. The other two makers, Icom and Yaesu had similar offerings back then. Same issues and same low cost these days.
Just food for thought.
Stan
One would be better off picking up any of the ham transceivers from the 1980s. All of them had synthesized general coverage receivers, all of which are better performers than the portable SWL receivers. Most of them sell in the $200-300 range at hamfests these days. Most suffer from issues with the transmitter power amplifiers, most of which are cracked connections from decades of heating and cooling cycles. But, then for SWL, you don't need to bother with fixing intermittent transmitters.
Example: the Kenwood TS-430s. Nice rig. Rx works very well. Has intermittent TX troubles. Had an outboard antenna tuner, so not as desirable and the model 440 which replaced the 430 and had an internal tuner. So, they sell cheap. The other two makers, Icom and Yaesu had similar offerings back then. Same issues and same low cost these days.
Just food for thought.
Stan
I really need to renew my license. I miss it. And a little ham radio goes nicely in a shave den.
I recently got this radio and am very pleased. I ran a wire antenna across my roof and the performance is pretty good. Further experimentation with antennas may be called for but right now I'm having a lot of fun.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi,
Looks pretty good. I looked up their spec sheet. The big issue for me would be that it is missing the 50 MHz range. That is probably where they stuck their IF, and they don't use two switchable IFs to save cost. So, good for folks that don't particularly care to listen to the VHF Low Band.
Stan
Looks pretty good. I looked up their spec sheet. The big issue for me would be that it is missing the 50 MHz range. That is probably where they stuck their IF, and they don't use two switchable IFs to save cost. So, good for folks that don't particularly care to listen to the VHF Low Band.
Stan
Hi,
I see where there is now a Ham Club here on B+B:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/495134-The-Ham-Shack-B-amp-B-s-Amateur-Radio-Club
73s
Stan
I see where there is now a Ham Club here on B+B:
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/495134-The-Ham-Shack-B-amp-B-s-Amateur-Radio-Club
73s
Stan
call sign change for me. NK8M here now, and I'm not very active at the moment due to the fact that I've gone back to driving a truck over the road, but will be again once I can get a suitable antenna for the truck. Also, thanks to thevez for pointing me back in this direction. I had forgotten about this thread in the forum.
K1ING
Been on the other thread but not hear so...
Extra Class.
DX Chaser when i get the time.
Over 250 confirmed dxcc thru LOTW.
Love CW. It was the first mode of radio and will be the last when the day comes.
Member of the Straight Key Centry Club.
Recommend the SKCC to anyone who wants to learn code. Its slow and done the way it was in the beginning. No electronic keys allowed.
Look me up on QRZ for a pic of my station.
Rig: Yeasu FT1000mp
Amp: Drake L4B
Ant: 3 element SteppIR
73 or
Dit dit
Been on the other thread but not hear so...
Extra Class.
DX Chaser when i get the time.
Over 250 confirmed dxcc thru LOTW.
Love CW. It was the first mode of radio and will be the last when the day comes.
Member of the Straight Key Centry Club.
Recommend the SKCC to anyone who wants to learn code. Its slow and done the way it was in the beginning. No electronic keys allowed.
Look me up on QRZ for a pic of my station.
Rig: Yeasu FT1000mp
Amp: Drake L4B
Ant: 3 element SteppIR
73 or
Dit dit
I'm also big on CW ... usually that's my primary mode of Xmit, but I like to listen to everything.
Does the SKCC allow mechanical bugs? I have a generic code key that was made in Japan, probably Late '40s.
It belonged to my father (a radio op in the US Merchant Marine) and push it one way it does manual dashes and the other way gives mechanically generated dots.
Nice set up.
When I had a full station on the air,
It started off Kenwood 530,
but it wound up with Icom 735 that I used for many years.
Icom was my favorite brand of all the Big Jap OEMs that I actually owned,
but my real dream was to get either a Drake or a Ten-Tec station.
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