How can you get better longwave reception on a sw portable

[Dxer1105]

I have a Kaito 1103. My reception is one NDB, a lot of MW images and quite a bit of noise.

What do you guys do to get better longwave reception?

I want to dx those european longwave stations. The reception is very good on all bands except that FM selectivity isn't as good as my e-10 or my sony hd tabletop radio but I am expecting too much as I bought this radio for LW and SSB.

P.S.
How come I can't get fully intelligible voices that sound squashed or compressed or sound like they are talking through their nose on the ham bands while in SSB mode. Is there a way to get clear or almost clear voice transmissions.

 

[Tom Wells]

LW is tough many places. You need to be in an area with low density and open spaces, not an apartment complex.
Not as a rule but generally.
You'll never get very much with a small built in loop.
You'll need a loop antenna which can be TUNED, and a way to couple it into your radio.
Do some more reading on loop antennas. A certain length of wire, wound into a coiled loop, when connected to
a variable capacitor, will be able to reasonate anywhere between tow frequencies, as determined by the setting of the capacitor.
Now that you have signals of interest flowing in the loop, you need to couple them into the radio.
The coupling could be as simple as another loop close but not touching the tuned loop, then the two ends of that wire
connect to the two ends of a wire literally wrapped around your radio, maybe 5-10 loops.

The bigger the size the more pickup you'll get. Making the loop tunable adds a huge advantage and should help
eliminate some of the MW images.

Now if you have some real room to put out long wires, you can do a lot more.

A long wire that runs from a faraway point to your radio, makes a few loops around the radio, and then continues to a ground
connection, will deliver a lot of signal.

There are ways to use loops and longwires in combinations to do more......

Tuning SSB is just very touchy, and depending on the size/response of the BFO shift control, it easy on small
radio to go right past the ideal offset point.
Even then there is never any guarantee you are ever hearing anything at the correct pitch on SSB.
It's totally dependent on the offset frequency.
It's actually easier to make out SSB than a similarly weak AM signal, because the locally injected BFO signal
takes the place of what would have a carrier for reference in AM mode. This is often quieter than
the background noise would otherwise be.

You can do the same with an AM signal by setting the BFO to zero-beat with the carrier of the AM you're trying to
receive, and the quieting can often help when ID-ing a weak signal.

 

[Dxer1105]

Thanks for the knowledge.

 

[audioguy]

A box loop could be a place to start. Secure the largest available box that is relatively sturdy (so it won't bend easily). You can start with several dozen turns of stranded hookup wire and the largest variable capacitor you have handy-- probably an old 365 pF BC variable. Wind the wire around the longest dimension of the box. The capacitor can be mounted to the box using a few washers to keep the screws from punching through the cardboard. Adjust the number of turns of wire until the loop tunes the part of the band that you want to listen to. Position the radio so that it couples to the loop. You will want to experiment to get the best coupling. This is a great antenna for use in the BC band as well. You'll be surprised how much it improves reception!