Great night for Euro LW broadcasters

[kilokat7]

It's one of those rare nights for good longwave broadcast reception. I'm getting fair audio tonight on 162 (France), 171 (Morocco), 183 (Germany), 189 (Iceland), 198 (BBC), 207 (Germany), 216 (France), 234 (presumed Luxembourg) & 252 (Algeria at S8 fighting with Ireland). Wow!!!

 

[BRNout]

It's one of those rare nights for good longwave broadcast reception. I'm getting fair audio tonight on 162 (France), 171 (Morocco), 183 (Germany), 189 (Iceland), 198 (BBC), 207 (Germany), 216 (France), 234 (presumed Luxembourg) & 252 (Algeria at S8 fighting with Ireland). Wow!!!

That's awesome! What sort of equipment/antenna are you using? Clearly something, because I have never had any luck with LW from here in the USA.

 

[kilokat7]

I'm using a software defined radio (Perseus) & 500' wire on the ground running E-W. The longwire does help, but I was able to receive a couple of these stations at the same time using my barefoot DX-440, but with only threshold audio.

 

[flytrap]

the only thing I've ever; heard on on longwave is occasional beacons and a weather broadcast of some sort under the static. Mostly I just pick up bleedover from AM stations. The noise is so bad in my area that anything on AM, shortwave, and longwave is almost impossible. I wish the FCC would inforce the rules and crack down on these power companies generating static.

 

[crainbebo]

nothing on longwave last night.

Stations logged last night (icy/snowy conditions, temps in the teens) include:

1540 KXEL Waterloo, Iowa ID under KXPA Bellevue, about 1490 miles
1530 KFBK Sacramento, CA all day yesterday, 640 some miles
1570 KCVR Lodi, CA SS music at sunset, 670 miles
UNID 990 w/ Regional Mexican music under CBW, Mexicali, BCN at 1100 some miles?
UNID 1060 w/ Regional Mexican under CKMX, don't know where it's from, can't be Mexico City
KBGN Caldwell plays Mexican religious programs on Saturdays, but this was a Tuesday night.
1270 KBAM Longview, WA ID at 9:00pm local time, 121 mi at 83w
tentative 1280 KZNS Salt Lake City, tuned in just in time to hear "Zone" in the mess. No complete mentions yet. Would be New #377.

-crainbebo

 

[MarioMania]

I'm using a software defined radio (Perseus) & 500' wire on the ground running E-W. The longwire does help, but I was able to receive a couple of these stations at the same time using my barefoot DX-440, but with only threshold audio.

How did you get 500' wire..did you hook it up to the external AM antanna??

 

[kilokat7]

How did you get 500' wire..did you hook it up to the external AM antanna??

Here's my antenna setup: I laid about 70 feet of plastic conduit that runs from the back of our house to a wood fence in our backyard. The conduit is partially buried in some places while the rest of the conduit is hidden underneath our deck. I have coax cables running inside the conduit from the house to the backyard to minimize man-made interference. The idea is to get the antenna wire as far away from the house as possible. The coax shield is grounded at the point where it enters the house, and in the backyard where the antenna wire is connected to the coax. The antenna wire is connected to the coax through an impedance matching transformer (ICE model 182A). This device has three connections - a coax connection for the radio, a screw terminal for the antenna wire, and a ground lug for grounding (I use 8' ground rods). I'm fortunate enough to have nothing behind our house except woods, so the wire is laid out as straight as possible on top of the ground during the winter months, in the E-W direction, and brought back in during the summer. I get pretty good results on shortwave with this too but performance falls off above 10 mhz. Oh, and the wire - nothing special - just a 500 ft spool of insulated wire I bought at the local home improvement center. Had space been issue for me here, I probably would have opted for something like a Wellbrook loop antenna mounted outside.

 

[radioman148]

How did you get 500' wire..did you hook it up to the external AM antanna??

Here's my antenna setup: I laid about 70 feet of plastic conduit that runs from the back of our house to a wood fence in our backyard. The conduit is partially buried in some places while the rest of the conduit is hidden underneath our deck. I have coax cables running inside the conduit from the house to the backyard to minimize man-made interference. The idea is to get the antenna wire as far away from the house as possible. The coax shield is grounded at the point where it enters the house, and in the backyard where the antenna wire is connected to the coax. The antenna wire is connected to the coax through an impedance matching transformer (ICE model 182A). This device has three connections - a coax connection for the radio, a screw terminal for the antenna wire, and a ground lug for grounding (I use 8' ground rods). I'm fortunate enough to have nothing behind our house except woods, so the wire is laid out as straight as possible on top of the ground during the winter months, in the E-W direction, and brought back in during the summer. I get pretty good results on shortwave with this too but performance falls off above 10 mhz. Oh, and the wire - nothing special - just a 500 ft spool of insulated wire I bought at the local home improvement center. Had space been issue for me here, I probably would have opted for something like a Wellbrook loop antenna mounted outside.

I was always under the impression that a wire running east/west would be more receptive to north/south signals. Don't ham radio operators run dipoles north/south if they want to receive east/west & vice versa?

 

[kilokat7]

I was always under the impression that a wire running east/west would be more receptive to north/south signals. Don't ham radio operators run dipoles north/south if they want to receive east/west & vice versa?

This is true with a center-fed dipole antenna but the pattern is entirely different with an end-fed beverage antenna. I can't begin to explain the physics but as the length of the antenna wire increases, beyond 500 feet or so, the antenna becomes directional (in the direction collinear to the wire, not broadside to the wire). If you connect the far end of the wire to an earth ground using a terminating resistor (roughly 470 ohms) then the antenna becomes directional in one direction where the beam is tightly focused in the direction of the terminating resistor. I choose not to terminate my antenna since I'm not comfortable driving down a 8' ground rod on property that I don't own, so my antenna favors reception east-west while nulling stations to the north and south. As I look at my logbook, the theory seems to hold true as the majority of my catches all seem to favor stations to my east and west.

 

[radioman148]

I was always under the impression that a wire running east/west would be more receptive to north/south signals. Don't ham radio operators run dipoles north/south if they want to receive east/west & vice versa?

This is true with a center-fed dipole antenna but the pattern is entirely different with an end-fed beverage antenna. I can't begin to explain the physics but as the length of the antenna wire increases, beyond 500 feet or so, the antenna becomes directional (in the direction collinear to the wire, not broadside to the wire). If you connect the far end of the wire to an earth ground using a terminating resistor (roughly 470 ohms) then the antenna becomes directional in one direction where the beam is tightly focused in the direction of the terminating resistor. I choose not to terminate my antenna since I'm not comfortable driving down a 8' ground rod on property that I don't own, so my antenna favors reception east-west while nulling stations to the north and south. As I look at my logbook, the theory seems to hold true as the majority of my catches all seem to favor stations to my east and west.

Thanks for the explanation. I'm still learning about antennas.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

No luck hear on LW ever,, but I just have a stock whip antenna.

 

[radioman148]

How did you get 500' wire..did you hook it up to the external AM antanna??

Here's my antenna setup: I laid about 70 feet of plastic conduit that runs from the back of our house to a wood fence in our backyard. The conduit is partially buried in some places while the rest of the conduit is hidden underneath our deck. I have coax cables running inside the conduit from the house to the backyard to minimize man-made interference. The idea is to get the antenna wire as far away from the house as possible. The coax shield is grounded at the point where it enters the house, and in the backyard where the antenna wire is connected to the coax. The antenna wire is connected to the coax through an impedance matching transformer (ICE model 182A). This device has three connections - a coax connection for the radio, a screw terminal for the antenna wire, and a ground lug for grounding (I use 8' ground rods). I'm fortunate enough to have nothing behind our house except woods, so the wire is laid out as straight as possible on top of the ground during the winter months, in the E-W direction, and brought back in during the summer. I get pretty good results on shortwave with this too but performance falls off above 10 mhz. Oh, and the wire - nothing special - just a 500 ft spool of insulated wire I bought at the local home improvement center. Had space been issue for me here, I probably would have opted for something like a Wellbrook loop antenna mounted outside.

Kilokat,

I do not have the space for a good longwire. Would a Wellbrook help my MW reception enough to give me a better shot at TA reception in the Chicago area? The only station I've ever heard from Europe is 1134 Croatia and that was last year.
Which Wellbrook would you recommend and does height matter?

 

[kilokat7]

I do not have the space for a good longwire. Would a Wellbrook help my MW reception enough to give me a better shot at TA reception in the Chicago area? The only station I've ever heard from Europe is 1134 Croatia and that was last year.
Which Wellbrook would you recommend and does height matter?

I'll let someone else answer this question since I've never used one and I seem to remember someone else on this board uses one, but I don't remember who it was. I don't think height is a concern with the Wellbrook, you just want to get it away from any electrical interference. People usually install them outside on a rotator after a "quiet" location is found on the property.

Another possibility for you might be the "super loop" or flag antenna. It's basically a wire antenna in the shape of a rectangle and these also provide good results and are cheap to build and don't require an earth ground. More info here:

http://www.bamlog.com/superloop.htm

I don't think the dimensions are critical as long as the length-height ratio is maintained, but of course bigger = better capture area. I've been meaning to try one of these antennas here but haven't gotten around to it. Some people have built similar antennas and have placed them in their attics with decent results.

The flag antenna is similar, but with the termination resistor in the center:

http://www.bamlog.com/flag.htm

The nice thing about these antennas as that they are directional in one direction unlike a conventional loop that has a figure eight pattern.

If you don't mind driving ground rods, then have a look at the EWE design:

http://www.bamlog.com/ewe.htm

 

[ddsparxx]

Is the termination resistor just simply a resistor you cat get at Radio Shack?

 

[kilokat7]

Is the termination resistor just simply a resistor you cat get at Radio Shack?

For beverage antennas, carbon composition resistors are preferred over carbon film types. Carbon composition resistors are a bit harder to find, and I doubt Radio Shack stocks them, but someplace like Newark.com should carry them. The theory is that carbon film resistors can change value or be easily destroyed from static buildup in the beverage wire. For the other antenna types (flag, super loop, etc.), I don't know if static charge is as much of a concern, but it doesn't hurt to go with a more durable resistor anyway. But, if you're just experimenting then go ahead and use whatever you have. If the results are good, change the resistor type later when you're happy with the setup and happy with a resistor value you've chosen.

 

[Icangelp]

Kilokat,

I do not have the space for a good longwire. Would a Wellbrook help my MW reception enough to give me a better shot at TA reception in the Chicago area? The only station I've ever heard from Europe is 1134 Croatia and that was last year.
Which Wellbrook would you recommend and does height matter?

I have a Wellbrook 1530+ and it is about 6 feet above the ground. I would suggest that you contact Andy Kim @wellbrook and describe your listening interstes (LW/MW only, MW+SW), your location and closeness to local transmitters, etc. He will steer you to the best model for your needs.

If it is LW/MW you are interested in, and you will not be moving your antenna around from place to place, then you will want the 1530. I strongly suggest that you consider buying a rotor so that you can take better advantage of the directional characteristics.

I am very happy with the 1530+. Although it does pick up signals off both ends rather than one end only, the nulls are excellent. If installed properly, the antenna's strength is its ability to reduce noise, thus providng a much quieter incoming signal.

It also provides adequte reception of shortwave frequenies to 30 Mhz & beyond.

I live in SW Ohio, and regulary hear the longwave frequencies during the (non lightening) winter months using my Drake R8B & the 1530+. Do bear in mind that there aren't that many Longwave broadcasters, and that their signals are often not above the threshold.

 

[ddsparxx]

Is the termination resistor just simply a resistor you cat get at Radio Shack?

For beverage antennas, carbon composition resistors are preferred over carbon film types. Carbon composition resistors are a bit harder to find, and I doubt Radio Shack stocks them, but someplace like Newark.com should carry them. The theory is that carbon film resistors can change value or be easily destroyed from static buildup in the beverage wire. For the other antenna types (flag, super loop, etc.), I don't know if static charge is as much of a concern, but it doesn't hurt to go with a more durable resistor anyway. But, if you're just experimenting then go ahead and use whatever you have. If the results are good, change the resistor type later when you're happy with the setup and happy with a resistor value you've chosen.

Thanks for the information. I was meant to say resistors with higher wattage then 1/4W. I'll look at Radio Shack, Newark.com and Digikey any maybe I will experiment with a big homemade loop someday. I cannot have a beverage since I live in an apartment.

 

[kilokat7]

Excellent conditions again early tonight unlike the last few nights here. I'm getting Poland now on 225 khz - a new one for me. France on 162 khz is coming in the best right now (minimum beacon interference). Here's a sample of how it sounds tonight - France sounding almost like a local!

162 Khz France 01DE10 0125 UTC.mp3

 

[Icangelp]

Thanks for the heads up, kilokat7.

By no means am I a steady nor daily DXer. Time does not permit. However in my brief and all to infrequent sit downs over the last couple of years, I have managed to log a few Euro longwavers.

Tonight I spent a half hour on longwave starting at 9pm Eastern, so here goes:
153 Nothing
162 Alluois France - For a short period, a strong signal (for my location) & audible.
171 - Possible Morroco but signal was very weak and barely audible.
183 France Europe 1 - het
189 Nothing - Had hoped to hear Iceland, but I wonder if they are still broadcasting.'
198 UK - Audible enough to hear the British accent, but not to the point that I could understand all they were saying.
207 Nothing
216 Nothing - No Monte Carlo present.
225 Nothing - No Poland
234 Luxembourg - Assumed
243 Nothing
252 Ireland - Faint. Usually my most reliable Euro longwave
261 Nothing
270 Nothing - No Croatia
279 Nothing - Never was.

Location: SW Ohio
Equipment: Drake R8B & rotatable Wellbrook 1530+

 

[asugeorge1]

Does anyone know why we never started broadcasting on LW here in the US like they do in Europe? Seems like it would be a good way for certain stations to branch out and reach pretty much the entire country. ???