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#1
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I have nothing to do with Grove and my unit did not come from them. It
was given to me by a WinRadio owner who does not do any HF listening. Grove and WinRadio direct are the only places I found them listed for sale in the USA. The WiNRADiO WR-LWA-0130 Long Wire Antenna Adapter has two 9:1 transformers made from, I am guessing here, different ferrites to give good coverage from 100KHz to 30MHz. It passes RF all the way up to FM BCB but a 100' antenna is not the best choice up there. It is a sturdy little 35mm film canister sized unit made from aluminium and it has ears with 2 mounting holes. A stainless steel wingnut bolt are the input and a BNC female the output. I had a chance to compare it to a home made 9:1 and a RF Systems "Magnetic Long Wire Balun". The WR-LWA-0130 gave much better LF performance then the RF systems unit. I could receive about 3 times as many NDB and DGPS beacons. From 540 through 20MHz the RF systems was about the same. Above 20MHz and especially in the US CB band the WinRadio trounced the RF systems unit. The WR-LWA-0130 also beat the home made transformer below 500KHz and above about 25MHz. The bigest advantage, other then performance, is the robust and sturdy case. The home made unit is about 4 years old and is really showing it's age and it needs a new case. For those braver then me, the rf systems magnetic long wire is a two part case with a good gasket and it can be opened and serviced or a diagram drawn if one is skilled enough to do some minor disassembly. At $39.00, from Grove's web page, it looks to be a pretty good deal for those like me with more thumbs then skill. The RF Systems is listed at $59.95 from Universal Radio. Having tried both, I would not hestiate to buy the LWA-0130. I may buy one for a antenna running right angles to my present antenna. I used a DX398 and a stock R2000 for these tests. William Fieldstone |
#2
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Thanks for the information about this device. Never tried the MLB, but
I do like RF Systems' T2FD. I woulddn't hesitate to give any of their products a try (though I will admit it'd cost a lot to try). The Par Electronics EF-SWL also uses a 9:1 transformer with a 45 foot wire antenna. Very good performance up to the 16 meter band, but I rarely tune above that so I can't speak of higher frequency reception. I'm in the process of reconfiguring the set-up, as I've been limited with how I can hang it and my ground wasn't the best. Should work even better when I'm done. bill wrote: I have nothing to do with Grove and my unit did not come from them. It was given to me by a WinRadio owner who does not do any HF listening. Grove and WinRadio direct are the only places I found them listed for sale in the USA. The WiNRADiO WR-LWA-0130 Long Wire Antenna Adapter has two 9:1 transformers made from, I am guessing here, different ferrites to give good coverage from 100KHz to 30MHz. It passes RF all the way up to FM BCB but a 100' antenna is not the best choice up there. It is a sturdy little 35mm film canister sized unit made from aluminium and it has ears with 2 mounting holes. A stainless steel wingnut bolt are the input and a BNC female the output. I had a chance to compare it to a home made 9:1 and a RF Systems "Magnetic Long Wire Balun". The WR-LWA-0130 gave much better LF performance then the RF systems unit. I could receive about 3 times as many NDB and DGPS beacons. From 540 through 20MHz the RF systems was about the same. Above 20MHz and especially in the US CB band the WinRadio trounced the RF systems unit. The WR-LWA-0130 also beat the home made transformer below 500KHz and above about 25MHz. The bigest advantage, other then performance, is the robust and sturdy case. The home made unit is about 4 years old and is really showing it's age and it needs a new case. For those braver then me, the rf systems magnetic long wire is a two part case with a good gasket and it can be opened and serviced or a diagram drawn if one is skilled enough to do some minor disassembly. At $39.00, from Grove's web page, it looks to be a pretty good deal for those like me with more thumbs then skill. The RF Systems is listed at $59.95 from Universal Radio. Having tried both, I would not hestiate to buy the LWA-0130. I may buy one for a antenna running right angles to my present antenna. I used a DX398 and a stock R2000 for these tests. William Fieldstone |
#3
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Good info! I use a homemade 6:1 Z-xfmr on an off-center, coax fed
Windom 30M long and the response is good down to about 1.8 MHz because of the roll off for MW. I would like to make one to include LW but 30M is insufficient and I'm concerned about local MW overloading if it is in the bandpass. Frank K3YAZ Tucson bill wrote: I have nothing to do with Grove and my unit did not come from them. It was given to me by a WinRadio owner who does not do any HF listening. Grove and WinRadio direct are the only places I found them listed for sale in the USA. The WiNRADiO WR-LWA-0130 Long Wire Antenna Adapter has two 9:1 transformers made from, I am guessing here, different ferrites to give good coverage from 100KHz to 30MHz. It passes RF all the way up to FM BCB but a 100' antenna is not the best choice up there. It is a sturdy little 35mm film canister sized unit made from aluminium and it has ears with 2 mounting holes. A stainless steel wingnut bolt are the input and a BNC female the output. I had a chance to compare it to a home made 9:1 and a RF Systems "Magnetic Long Wire Balun". The WR-LWA-0130 gave much better LF performance then the RF systems unit. I could receive about 3 times as many NDB and DGPS beacons. From 540 through 20MHz the RF systems was about the same. Above 20MHz and especially in the US CB band the WinRadio trounced the RF systems unit. The WR-LWA-0130 also beat the home made transformer below 500KHz and above about 25MHz. The bigest advantage, other then performance, is the robust and sturdy case. The home made unit is about 4 years old and is really showing it's age and it needs a new case. For those braver then me, the rf systems magnetic long wire is a two part case with a good gasket and it can be opened and serviced or a diagram drawn if one is skilled enough to do some minor disassembly. At $39.00, from Grove's web page, it looks to be a pretty good deal for those like me with more thumbs then skill. The RF Systems is listed at $59.95 from Universal Radio. Having tried both, I would not hestiate to buy the LWA-0130. I may buy one for a antenna running right angles to my present antenna. I used a DX398 and a stock R2000 for these tests. William Fieldstone |
#4
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On 5 Nov 2006 18:02:17 -0800, "bill" wrote:
I have nothing to do with Grove and my unit did not come from them. http://www.palomar-engineers.com/MLB-1/mlb-1.html http://www.geocities.com/qrp_baluns/LMZ-50.html |
#5
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![]() bill wrote: I have nothing to do with Grove and my unit did not come from them. It was given to me by a WinRadio owner who does not do any HF listening. Grove and WinRadio direct are the only places I found them listed for sale in the USA. The WiNRADiO WR-LWA-0130 Long Wire Antenna Adapter has two 9:1 transformers made from, I am guessing here, different ferrites to give good coverage from 100KHz to 30MHz. It passes RF all the way up to FM BCB but a 100' antenna is not the best choice up there. ........ William Fieldstone Hi Will - Thanks for the info. If you ever need just a 1:1 isolation unit to isolate coax shield grounds, I stumbled across what appears to be a good unit for $24 at LF Engineering yesterday. http://www.lfengineering.com/products.htm Scroll down to the N-300 Ground Isolator; Strange (to me) choice of RCA phono plugs, but appears OK. I'm going to get one and check it out. Bob |
#6
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Go to E-Bay
search RF- Junkie whose 9:1 's and others are all less than $20 they do FINE yodar Bob wrote: bill wrote: I have nothing to do with Grove and my unit did not come from them. It was given to me by a WinRadio owner who does not do any HF listening. Grove and WinRadio direct are the only places I found them listed for sale in the USA. The WiNRADiO WR-LWA-0130 Long Wire Antenna Adapter has two 9:1 transformers made from, I am guessing here, different ferrites to give good coverage from 100KHz to 30MHz. It passes RF all the way up to FM BCB but a 100' antenna is not the best choice up there. ....... William Fieldstone Hi Will - Thanks for the info. If you ever need just a 1:1 isolation unit to isolate coax shield grounds, I stumbled across what appears to be a good unit for $24 at LF Engineering yesterday. http://www.lfengineering.com/products.htm Scroll down to the N-300 Ground Isolator; Strange (to me) choice of RCA phono plugs, but appears OK. I'm going to get one and check it out. Bob |
#7
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![]() yodar wrote: Go to E-Bay search RF- Junkie whose 9:1 's and others are all less than $20 they do FINE yodar We, r2000swler, and I borrowed one from a friend in Loiusville, where the poll workers try to strangle voters, and while it is acceptable, it has considerable roll off below 500KHz and above ~25MHz. The WinRadio is also more robust and looke like it will survive for years in KYs nasty winters. If you aren't into LF/NDB or want to listen above 25MHz the the RF Junkie will work fine. I have just discovered NDB and I am hooked! Will |
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