A Worthy Antenna

[Lazarus Short]

Thanks for the trouble fitz!!

Yup, X2, but that write-up may be over my head.

 

[laatsch55]

That was far enough over my head the missing 777 could have traversed and never seen it..

 

[fitz43]

Yup, X2, but that write-up may be over my head.

It was over mine as well, but I'd always rather have too much than a description that still leaves you wanting.

 

[laatsch55]

You accomplidhed your goal!

 

[Lazarus Short]

A bit of news...some time back, I bought a BIC Beambox at an audio meet, and was not impressed. Tried to sell it, but still have it. The other day, I set up the Proton 300/301 in the upstairs living room, and tried the AN200. No good. So...I tried the BIC. Very nice! Kansas Public Radio from Lawrence is coming in just fine, and that is about 55 miles away!

 

[orange]

It's so no one will think I'm just a Grundig-paid troll. Oh, wait, this is a small, tight www forum, not AK. My bad...

On second thought, I'm a member at a www forum with a much smaller membership, and we regularly get posts offering bath/bed room hardware from the UK. Go figure...

Maybe their loos just suck compared to our plush toilet coozies, Laz.

 

[orange]

I have a very nice conventional VHF/UHF 'weather vane' I got for $20 from a Mennonite couple who don't watch TV and it gets all but one very weak UHF LP that's very hard to get as well as my FM. EVEN the station with the Spanish, classic reruns and game shows.

As for AM, I live 1/4 mile from the oldies station and they simulcast on FM as well.

Life is good.

 

[Lazarus Short]

Radio is very good if there is anything worth listening to, but too much chatter, ads and news/gnus. Would you believe I'm only using my a/d/s tuner for its four power outputs? Yeah, I pulled the antenna and interconnects, but have all my non-amp gear plugged into the back of it. It may be a way of saying I'm short of power strips.

 

[Lazarus Short]

Barb and I have been in this house in Independence over four years, and I have only glanced at this antenna lead-in cable hanging from the attic over the garage. This afternoon, I pulled it down, and attached some more lead-in wire I bought many years ago to use at a rented house in West Plains. Attached to the Proton 300, it gave some really clean FM. Wow. I put the Beambox back in its box. Radio is done, and I have no idea what is up there in the attic...and I still have Radio Garden and NRK Radio.

 

[Wayne]

In regard to antenna, Being a Ham radio operator, We've been using loop antennas for a long time. Try to resonant it on the frequencies of interest.Lots of gain and directional. Lots of info on youtubes.
Wayne

 

[orange]

And why should that preclude an opinion, let's say you were a Grundig paid troll, you still have an opinion and everyone's entitled....

At least Grundig would make you beer money. Get the good s--- and go for it.

 

[FredR]

In regard to antenna, Being a Ham radio operator, We've been using loop antennas for a long time. Try to resonant it on the frequencies of interest.Lots of gain and directional. Lots of info on youtubes.
Wayne

KD6AR here. Highly irradiated by radio frequency transmissions. 2 kilowatts!

 

[orange]

My late uncle was an amateur for years and until June I lived 1/2 mile from 1380 AM here (KBXN, originally KSRV (AM) and originally at 1450) but the ratba$tard station group that owned it stunted with the two-headed monster Yep Yep RADIO sketch from Sesame Street and turned the license in on a 73 year old signal I listened to for around 40 years, regardless of what was on it. I just happened to hear the final transmission.

Now it's true that they were operating under special authority due to losing the insulator for one of the towers (and it was demolished, looking very alien with one tower and a somewhat useless diplexer plus a Gates Five that had really done wonders for the signal now throttled back because they were meant to be DA-N), and they did move the oldies format to the 1260 AM/99.3 FM tower in Weiser and boosted the AM to 8 kw, called the COL Ontario, but the TRUTH is that the very first station here was the last one to die...it's sister and the two that grew out of selling the 1450 kHz Continental in the late 60s (now separated, the AM on a Nautel that doesn't break out at three frequencies like the old one and the FM is KQXR 100.3, now a Scripps station that was moved to Boise and I worked briefly at the combo when they where still here in town in 1991).

OKAY! Run-on is OVER! To summarize, we were screwed out of 3/4 of our radio stations in 25 years, with the exception of the 1450 IMO because I really respect what the owner has done with his station and it's upkeep.

PS My best friend worked at 1380 for a few years and I used to sit in the broadcast house with he and his late father just talking about whatever while American Country Countdown ran on the Revoxes. (RIP and God bless you, Bob Kingsley and the show's co-creator Casey Kasem).

I told you, I listened to whatever that station played from 1978 until this year.

 

[Wheel-right]

Picked up a couple of these a few weeks ago and truly impressed with the pickup. Brings in a full signal from KUSC in Los Angeles which is about 80 miles away and also again able to get KKJZ out of Long Beach which is farther [further?] away and over more hill and dale which went away when they realigned their equipment to cover the coast instead of inland.
https://www.newark.com/stellar-labs...tdoor/dp/97W3565?MER=bn_search_1TP_SearchNB_7

Also check out this guy's site, he is heavily into antenna knowledge.
https://www.k6jrf.com/FM+TVOTA.html

Cool site here too
https://radio-locator.com/

 

[orange]

My late uncle accidentally grounded himself on a Cantenna, he survived that but I think his life took a downward spiral after he had finally quit drinking and was starting to move upward again. He could make a KILLING installing C-band home satellite systems in the early days and fave that up to form a BAR BAND. He did it to test his sobriety (and succeeded). He would try to keep Grandma's old Zenith going until the set that was bought to watch the Kennedy funeral became a stand for a small K-Mart KMC color set. Well, that Macdonald? guy at Zenith had always wanted to make nice furniture that played music or pictures...

It was probably a little goofy looking to people when they saw this big whip antenna on the back of a 1979 Ford Pinto with a glass hatch, except maybe that CB radios were still big then so it was likely dismissed.

 

[mlucitt]

We should add a HAM radio page to this site someday.

Mark, K4MLL

 

[orange]

I didn't get it when he tried to tell me he was doing an EME. When he autopatched through the repeater to the hospital from that Yaesu mobile in the Pinto to check on his grandfather's condition, THAT hit home. He was originally a WB7 from Alabame and got his Extra before he turned his ticket in in the late 90s.

I always loved broadcasting since I was maybe four and amateur radio is something I have a lot of respect for, enough that I don't feel worthy of it. The closest I ever got to it was the limited radio license I had to have in 199o to operate an AM/FM combo on my shift (no longer required). My best friend worked at that 1380 KSRV AM/FM and KEOL: (FM) the college station in La Grande, Oregon.

 

[Lazarus Short]

I have one of those Radio Shack powered antennas - the one that looks like a flying saucer on a pedestal...with rabbit ears. I have not been too fond of powered antennas, having used Terks in the past, but yesterday I decided on a hecksperiment. I matched it up with a power supply and connected it to the high-pass filter with a short length of coax. Well, it lit up all five bars of the ADS T2 tuner! OTOH, there were like surges in the reception, sometimes weak, sometimes strong. I left it over night to maybe settle down, and today it is quite nice. Five bars! In the basement!! Close to the metal air flues and the I-beam that supports the upper floor!!!

 

[Lazarus Short]

Well, this hecksperiment has failed. The antenna is for VHF/UHF/HDTV and not so good for FM. The signal was strong, but not consistent. I've gone back to the attic antenna, three bars and all.

 

[J!m]

I’ve been thinking an attic antenna is a good idea.

What’s a good Omni I can stuff up there and ignore forever? Or maybe a DIY plan for something?