Re: [HCDX] What rigs and antenna does everyone use?

["T. Bankson Roach" <sigint@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm using a Watkins-Johnson HF-1000. I sold it  a while back, only to
re-purchase it when I got re-interested in SWL. I couldn't belive just
how much I missed. In an attempt to make good things even better, I
bought the Sherwood SE-3 which uses the 455 kHz IF and makes listening
even better for a number of technical reasons. The biggest change I made
after I bought back the HF-1000 was to erect an Alpha Delta DX SWL
Sloper antenna. I did this because I thought it might be nice to have a
correct impedance match of an antenna to this receiver. The difference
it made was astronomical! I am routinely picking up signals at easy
listening levels which I can't even begin to hear using my 150 foot 100
foot elevation "inverted L" antenna. Still not sure why. The only time
the long wire is marginally better is on signals in the 2 to 3 MHz
range. I am not sure why there is such a dramatic difference and would
like to know if others noted this much of an improvement.

I also have the HF-1000 slaved to a high precision 5 MHz quartz
oscillator [the Rubidium atomic standard I had went kaput]. By using the
HF-1000's CW mode and associated audio output, and an oscilloscope, it
is easy to measure AM and CW stations RF to the one Hz level. This often
allows me to separate signals "on the same frequency" such as signals
from PNG and Indonesia. It is also interesting [to me] to see how their
stability holds over the years, and which stations are exactly on
frequency, and which ones aren't. The other major "listening" device
isn't for listening. It is a Singer MF-5 Spectrum Analyzer, which also
makes use of the 455 kHz IF output of the HF-1000. I can clearly see
signals that I can never hope to hear and also verify their presence by
using the "exact tuning" method I mentioned above.

Another favorite hobby device is the Sony TCD-D7 DAT recorder. With this
device I can record up to 4 hours audio output from the HF-1000 on a
tape not much bigger than a small match box. It is a digital tape
recorder so I can always be assured of no "wow", "flutter" or frequency
distortion. Nice to record those rare broadcasts. It also features an
internal date/time stamp clock. I set it for UTC and then you can play
back the tape years later and know exactly what day of the week, date,
month, year and time [to the one second resolution level]. Even when the
clock "drifts" I merely record a patch of WWV so I can correct for any
error. Great for recording digital modes for subsequent analysis or
breakout if you ever get an advanced decoder card.

I used this portable Sony tape unit [fits in your shirt pocket easily]
on trips to Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico, Africa [Tanzania and Kenya] and
India [several places] and recorded signals from a Sony 2010 or YB-400.
The Indian "natives" enjoyed hearing cricket games, football, etc. The
fidelity of the DAT was superb and I had a portable stereo microphone
and nice set of earphones to listen to it with. One morning in India
when I was way out in East Nowhere [Little Rann of Kutsch looking for
Wild Asses] I played back the morning prayer which greeted us every
morning in this Muslim area. My tour guide heard it and signalled for
one of his workers. About 30 minutes later [this was late in the
afternoon] the fellow who did the daily prayer broadcast over a
loudspeaker from the Mosque heard the tape. He was dumfounded! He then
sang the whole prayer for me so I could record it in stereo. Another one
of our guide's servants [slaves is closer to the truth!] heard himself
talking on the tape from the evening before and looked like he had heard
the voice of the devil. He was almost frightened by the whole thing. It
was proper grounding to realize just how miraculous such things can be
to people that are barely living above stone age conditions.

While in India I would take the longwire antenna and string it up in the
straw roof of the cow dung hut we slept in. It worked fine. I could lay
in my bed at night, which consisted of a frame with ropes and a hay
filled mattress. I would listen to the radio and go off to sleep. It was
especially interesting when I awoke the next morning and heard an AIR
broadcast in English telling me details about the giant LA earthquake
[Jan 1964?]. Since some of the people in our group were from LA, I was
able to give them details on what areas were affected the most.

I currently have my old, but reasonably good, NRD-525 which I use as a
back up. Alas, I must tell you, even at its best, it was not even close
to the receiver the HF-1000 is. I hope someday to make a comparison of
the TenTec RX340 to the Watkins Johnson. As good as the WJ is, I'll bet
the RX340 is better. Time marches on!


Tom Roach
In the Sierra Foothills about 50 miles East of Sacramento, California



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