I will be moving to an apartment in a major city soon. I will not be able to have fancy equipment, or huge antennas for the roof. What can I do to maxumize my DXing? I had this amazing magnabox that I bought in the late 90's, but could never find anything else like it. I want something portable and without a bunch of wired antennas etc. Something built in would be nice. Thoughts, or am I just dreaming?
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Simplest way to DX?
- Thread starter radiogeek07
- Start date
I am one of the simple dxers out there, mainly because I cannot afford any of the fancy equipment. My way of DXing FM stations is simply using my car stereo.
My best catch was Rock 105 out of Jacksonville, FL. I am located in Lubbock, TX, which means that station was heard over 1,000 miles away.
Just last night, I caught a station out of Missouri about 600 miles away from here.
My best catch was Rock 105 out of Jacksonville, FL. I am located in Lubbock, TX, which means that station was heard over 1,000 miles away.
Just last night, I caught a station out of Missouri about 600 miles away from here.
R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
Ohio radio man said:
A decent radio is a good start. You will get many recommendations here - for the money a GE superadio 3 is the best, but the tuning can be touchy. It would be better to find a GE SR 1 or 2 on ebay.
I found that dipoles do a good backup job. If you got a good location by the window it will work good. I can pull in Houston with my dipole antenna 84 miles out in clear FM stereo. HD signal though is no where to be found with the dipole. I hadnt had very much luck with my superradio. I have had some good am reception on it.
outside of Dallas near weatherford and with a dipole connected to my grundig radio I get stations from Abilene, Austin, Wichita Falls, Waco, On occasion I get Bryan College station, and San Angelo as well
http://www.etoncorp.com/product_card/?p_ProductDbId=6249
-just connect the dipole antenna to a twin lead to coax matching transformer
-then connect that to the radio via one of these
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...2032058&kw=antenna+adapters&parentPage=search
good luck and hope that this helps
http://www.etoncorp.com/product_card/?p_ProductDbId=6249
-just connect the dipole antenna to a twin lead to coax matching transformer
-then connect that to the radio via one of these
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...2032058&kw=antenna+adapters&parentPage=search
good luck and hope that this helps
I have one of those CC Radios made by Sangean, and I have to say for what it is it has pretty decent DX reception. I'm not going to say it's better or worse than the GE or others, but for the $150 (or so) bucks I paid for it, it does the job. AM selectivity is decent, and I've pulled in some good stations with it. I got WWL from central and southern CA, for example, among many others. I even got WHAS (before that KTRB nonsense went live on 860) from the SF bay area. You can also use an external AM antenna with it (recommended) for even better DXing.
Good luck! BTW, I'm still working on catching WCBS with it from NoCal...wish me luck (lots of it!).
Good luck! BTW, I'm still working on catching WCBS with it from NoCal...wish me luck (lots of it!).
I worked at one station where we used a car stereo FM's receiver to pull in a very weak sister station...talk about a rimshot. Anyway, car stereo FM front ends can be very sensitive. Ours was rack mounted. It was reliable as anything and always got the signal. Believe we used a Panasonic or JVC.
DXing from an apartment is a challenge.
I have many radios & know which I feel is better at doing what. Rather than reccomend a spesific rado, I'll give you some general things to think about. I do by no means, have ALL the answers, either. These are only my opinions.
Home tuners are generally more sensitive & selective. They'll pull in the weak ones with the help of a good antenna. Their disadvantage is that they're not easily moved. There may be "special' places iin your apartment that offer higher signal strengths & others that will allow you to null local stations to get out-of-towners on the same frequency.
These days, portables are getting a lot better. You can take these radio to those "sweet spots" around your place. You can also position their antennas for maximum results.
I've found places in my apartment where I can use one of my portables to null out a 6KW FM a couple blocks away to get a station 200 miles away on the same frequency.
When a DX opening comes, I'll use my 30-year-old Sansui digital tuner to check the few open frequencies still available here.
I have a GE Superadio III & a CCRadio. They both have good points & bad.
I have many radios & know which I feel is better at doing what. Rather than reccomend a spesific rado, I'll give you some general things to think about. I do by no means, have ALL the answers, either. These are only my opinions.
Home tuners are generally more sensitive & selective. They'll pull in the weak ones with the help of a good antenna. Their disadvantage is that they're not easily moved. There may be "special' places iin your apartment that offer higher signal strengths & others that will allow you to null local stations to get out-of-towners on the same frequency.
These days, portables are getting a lot better. You can take these radio to those "sweet spots" around your place. You can also position their antennas for maximum results.
I've found places in my apartment where I can use one of my portables to null out a 6KW FM a couple blocks away to get a station 200 miles away on the same frequency.
When a DX opening comes, I'll use my 30-year-old Sansui digital tuner to check the few open frequencies still available here.
I have a GE Superadio III & a CCRadio. They both have good points & bad.
Since you have both, out of sheer curiosity which do you think does a better DX job overall? I've been thinking about getting a GE, and since I already have a CC Radio I was curious as to how they stack up head-to-head (understanding they have their good and bad points).
Another point about apartments: those damn flourescent lights in the hallways or in neighbor's units can be a pain in the rear end too. Oh, don't forget about your neighbor's old CRT televisions or even flat panels (plasmas specifically), at least in regards to AM.
Maybe ask for a corner unit. At least then you'd have a little space from your neighbors electronics.
I'm a college student and got an eton e10 for 50 dollars at radio shack 2 years ago and love. but my favorite radios to dx with are car radios. I love every car radio i have ever dxed with. I remember one time here in altamonte i got q100 from atlanta on my grand parrents car stereo. it was cool. it was at night midn you. i love DXing! if you have a car, take full advantage of it. i wished i had a car but i don't because i am blind. may buy a car stereo and a good antenna and a car battery just for dx sake.
I had an old Rat Shack AM FM 8 track player that had amazing FM sensitivity. Unit had one of those "normal/wide" switches for sound quality.
I bent/broke the antenna and the 8 track player stopped eating tapes. I gave it to a real handy person as a gift. He put a new antenna o and fixed the 8 track problem. Asked me if I wanted it back. I asked him if he liked it. He did so I didn't.
But sometime you find stuff like that in the thrifts, particularly if you live in an area populated by seasonal snowbirds like Florida or South Texas, Oe the Guld Coast or Quartzsite AZ. Some of those tuners from the 70's and 80's are a lot better than the digital stuff. And with a manual tuner you can get some overseas stuff on occasion. When those people head back north, a lot of stuff is given to "Sally" or 'Goody". Best time to get that stuff is when they're all going home- April-May etc but you never know..
I buy high quality, excellent condition golf clubs at the thrifts for nephews, friends, family usually at $1 a club. They can get outfitted with a GOOD set of clubs for about $10. Makes a great birthday gift. So there's a lot of underalued stuff there such as radios there. But it all depends on the store because somethines the good stuff doesn't make it to the shelves.
I bent/broke the antenna and the 8 track player stopped eating tapes. I gave it to a real handy person as a gift. He put a new antenna o and fixed the 8 track problem. Asked me if I wanted it back. I asked him if he liked it. He did so I didn't.
But sometime you find stuff like that in the thrifts, particularly if you live in an area populated by seasonal snowbirds like Florida or South Texas, Oe the Guld Coast or Quartzsite AZ. Some of those tuners from the 70's and 80's are a lot better than the digital stuff. And with a manual tuner you can get some overseas stuff on occasion. When those people head back north, a lot of stuff is given to "Sally" or 'Goody". Best time to get that stuff is when they're all going home- April-May etc but you never know..
I buy high quality, excellent condition golf clubs at the thrifts for nephews, friends, family usually at $1 a club. They can get outfitted with a GOOD set of clubs for about $10. Makes a great birthday gift. So there's a lot of underalued stuff there such as radios there. But it all depends on the store because somethines the good stuff doesn't make it to the shelves.
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