Good Morning,


I'm a beginning SWL who recently purchased a Kaito KA-2100 from
kaitousa.com.

I noticed that a lot of KA-2100 users love their radios (As do I),
but they have never mentioned a front-end selectivity problem
that I have encountered.

It seems that strong local AM stations "ghost" onto most of the
shortwave broadcasts.

Have any other KA-2100 users experienced this problem? Is there a fix?

Also, does anyone know if the upcoming 3000 suffers from this problem?

Thank you,

mod_merc

Modem Mercenary schrieb:

Good Morning,


I'm a beginning SWL who recently purchased a Kaito KA-2100 from
kaitousa.com.

I noticed that a lot of KA-2100 users love their radios (As do I),
but they have never mentioned a front-end selectivity problem
that I have encountered.

It seems that strong local AM stations "ghost" onto most of the
shortwave broadcasts.

You must have *very* strong AM stations there. Are you using an external
(as in longish outdoor) antenna by any chance? That's a good way to
overload such a portable. Here in ol' Europe it's mainly 2nd order
intermod on shortwave that are problematic even on the whip... the
maximum RF gain on the RP2000/2100 is quite high and the 1st mixer is a
normal dual balanced one as used in many other portables.

Have any other KA-2100 users experienced this problem? Is there a fix?

If you are using an external antenna, you could run it through an AMBCB
blocking filter (I forgot what exactly they're called). Otherwise I
would suggest using a selective antenna, like a tunable shortwave loop
(a DIY one like this: http://www.kr1st.com/swlloop.htm will be
cheaper; you're likely to need a F-to-PAL adapter given that PAL
connectors appear to be uncommon in the US).

Also, does anyone know if the upcoming 3000 suffers from this problem?

Since noone but the developers has had one to play with so far, that's
hard to tell.

Stephan
--
Home: http://stephan.win31.de/
Ist ein Sammler von Grundig-Uhrenradios eigentlich ein Sonoclocker?

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 15:08:21 +0100, Stephan Grossklass wrote:

Modem Mercenary schrieb:


You must have *very* strong AM stations there. Are you using an external
(as in longish outdoor) antenna by any chance? That's a good way to
overload such a portable. Here in ol' Europe it's mainly 2nd order
intermod on shortwave that are problematic even on the whip... the
maximum RF gain on the RP2000/2100 is quite high and the 1st mixer is a
normal dual balanced one as used in many other portables.


I'm only using the attached whip antenna, I was contemplating using an
external but was unsure if I would have the same problem. Since you
have mentioned a possible overload scenario, I will hold off on that
option.

As for the AM station, there are powerful local broadcasts.


If you are using an external antenna, you could run it through an AMBCB
blocking filter (I forgot what exactly they're called). Otherwise I
would suggest using a selective antenna, like a tunable shortwave loop
(a DIY one like this: http://www.kr1st.com/swlloop.htm will be
cheaper; you're likely to need a F-to-PAL adapter given that PAL
connectors appear to be uncommon in the US).

Thank you for the suggestion. I will certainly look into that. I
recently acquired some shortwave and antenna guide books in the
hope to find more information.


Also, does anyone know if the upcoming 3000 suffers from this problem?

Since noone but the developers has had one to play with so far, that's
hard to tell.

That is very true. I was hoping someone with inside information might
read this post and provide some insight.


Stephan

Thank you very much for your help, Stephan.


Take care,

mod_merc

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 15:08:21 +0100, Stephan Grossklass wrote:


Ok, I'm currently in my room and I'm using a KA33 active loop antenna.

Normally, I've gotten very little reception with this antenna in the past,
but right now, I'm getting slightly improved reception, but NO AM ghosting!!
This seems to support what you said earlier about overloading the internal
whip (especially when I go outside).

I'll go ahead and look into an external wire antenna and maybe that
tunable shortwave loop you were talking about.

Thanks again!!

mod_merc

Modem Mercenary schrieb:

Ok, I'm currently in my room and I'm using a KA33 active loop antenna.

Normally, I've gotten very little reception with this antenna in the past,
but right now, I'm getting slightly improved reception, but NO AM ghosting!!
This seems to support what you said earlier about overloading the internal
whip (especially when I go outside).

I'll go ahead and look into an external wire antenna and maybe that
tunable shortwave loop you were talking about.

Since you mention the KA33, make sure that you have the antenna cabling
set up correctly. Apparently it is easily possible to reverse the
control box when not paying attention, unsurprisingly resulting in much
worse reception. I also remember something about shortening the
connection cable improving things.

Stephan
--
Home: http://stephan.win31.de/
Fachidioten sind out - gefragt sind heute Mehrfach- und Vollidioten...