On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 18:23:29 -0400, David Snowdon
wrote:

Hi Bill, I just finished building a Ten-Tec 1054 SWL radio, after 15
years away from the hobby. I'm very disappointed with what I'm not
hearing. It seems that most Western countries have abandoned shortwave
in favour of satellite and internet broadcasting. What's left is
religious stations, China/Taiwan, amateur radio, and the utilities.

David
Sunspots are not optimal. Wait a couple years.

Joe,

Thanks...that's great advice! I just may store the radios for a few
years or just tune the most powerful, reliable English b'casts to keep
up with the stories. In any case, I'm probably a listener for life!

--Bill



Joe Analssandrini wrote:
On Oct 14, 6:07 pm, Bill wrote:
Look I don't want to start a trolling or a flame war but in my early
days of SWL with my Star Roamer that I built from the kit, I found it
really exciting to listen. The ship-to-shore on 3 or 4 MHz (mcs back
then) was the NY Marine Operator and there were phone conversations to
listen in on, then there was the international BC with radio Moscow
giving their take on world news and of course hams all over the place.

Well now some 30 years later, I'm bored with the whole thing....yeah I
try to catch a slight Gander Radio every now and then or still the
international stuff that might be in English. But for the most part,
the thrill is gone; unfortunately.

I hate to say it but I'll probably get rid of the Eton E5, Panasonic
RF-2200 and the R-390, having lost interest in this one-time exciting
hobby. (well, maybe not the R-390...)

I don't ask for comments or critiques...just wonder if there's others
that share my disappointment. And certainly most everything that can be
listened to can be found on the Internet (with somebody else's Internet
controlled SW receiver).

Thanks...!

--Bill
(in northern NJ)

Dear Bill,

The situation your are experiencing happens every eleven years, on
average. It is caused by the "bottom" of the sunspot cycle in which we
find ourselves just now. There is still quite a bit to hear but the
best and most exotic signals are heard more in the early morning and
daytime rather than the evening or nighttime, at least currently at my
location. (This, of course, is not conducive to listening if one works
for a living!)

Do not get discouraged. You own some good radios. I suggest that, if
your boredom continues, you might pack the radios away for a year or
two. If you unpack them and try them again in, say 2009 or 2010, I
believe you will be amazed and pleased at what you will hear.

The bottom end of the sunspot cycle always separated the men from the
boys. Hang in there.

Best,

Joe

On Oct 15, 3:53 pm, Bill wrote:
- Joe,
-
- Thanks...that's great advice! I just may store the radios for a
few
- years or just tune the most powerful, reliable English b'casts to
keep
- up with the stories. In any case, I'm probably a listener for life!
-
- --Bill

SWL = Shortwave {Radio} Lifer !



Joe Analssandrini wrote:
On Oct 14, 6:07 pm, Bill wrote:
Look I don't want to start a trolling or a flame war but in my early
days of SWL with my Star Roamer that I built from the kit, I found it
really exciting to listen. The ship-to-shore on 3 or 4 MHz (mcs back
then) was the NY Marine Operator and there were phone conversations to
listen in on, then there was the international BC with radio Moscow
giving their take on world news and of course hams all over the place.

Well now some 30 years later, I'm bored with the whole thing....yeah I
try to catch a slight Gander Radio every now and then or still the
international stuff that might be in English. But for the most part,
the thrill is gone; unfortunately.

I hate to say it but I'll probably get rid of the Eton E5, Panasonic
RF-2200 and the R-390, having lost interest in this one-time exciting
hobby. (well, maybe not the R-390...)

I don't ask for comments or critiques...just wonder if there's others
that share my disappointment. And certainly most everything that can be
listened to can be found on the Internet (with somebody else's Internet
controlled SW receiver).

Thanks...!

--Bill
(in northern NJ)

Dear Bill,

The situation your are experiencing happens every eleven years, on
average. It is caused by the "bottom" of the sunspot cycle in which we
find ourselves just now. There is still quite a bit to hear but the
best and most exotic signals are heard more in the early morning and
daytime rather than the evening or nighttime, at least currently at my
location. (This, of course, is not conducive to listening if one works
for a living!)

Do not get discouraged. You own some good radios. I suggest that, if
your boredom continues, you might pack the radios away for a year or
two. If you unpack them and try them again in, say 2009 or 2010, I
believe you will be amazed and pleased at what you will hear.

The bottom end of the sunspot cycle always separated the men from the
boys. Hang in there.

Best,

Joe- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Bill wrote:

Joe,

Thanks...that's great advice! I just may store the radios for a few
years or just tune the most powerful, reliable English b'casts to keep
up with the stories. In any case, I'm probably a listener for life!

Oh come on, hang in there. In this particular re-incarnation in the hobby I've
been at it for 25 years, and though it may be slow at times there is always
something or somebody to listen to.

And, in the past few weeks a brand new country has come on the air. It doesn't
get much better than that!

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Drake R7, R8, R8A and R8B
70' and 200' wires, Eavesdropper dipole.

On Oct 15, 12:38 pm, Joe Analssandrini
wrote:
On Oct 14, 6:07 pm, Bill wrote:



Look I don't want to start a trolling or a flame war but in my early
days of SWL with my Star Roamer that I built from the kit, I found it
really exciting to listen. The ship-to-shore on 3 or 4 MHz (mcs back
then) was the NY Marine Operator and there were phone conversations to
listen in on, then there was the international BC with radio Moscow
giving their take on world news and of course hams all over the place.

Well now some 30 years later, I'm bored with the whole thing....yeah I
try to catch a slight Gander Radio every now and then or still the
international stuff that might be in English. But for the most part,
the thrill is gone; unfortunately.

I hate to say it but I'll probably get rid of the Eton E5, Panasonic
RF-2200 and the R-390, having lost interest in this one-time exciting
hobby. (well, maybe not the R-390...)

I don't ask for comments or critiques...just wonder if there's others
that share my disappointment. And certainly most everything that can be
listened to can be found on the Internet (with somebody else's Internet
controlled SW receiver).

Thanks...!

--Bill
(in northern NJ)

Dear Bill,

The situation your are experiencing happens every eleven years, on
average. It is caused by the "bottom" of the sunspot cycle in which we
find ourselves just now. There is still quite a bit to hear but the
best and most exotic signals are heard more in the early morning and
daytime rather than the evening or nighttime, at least currently at my
location. (This, of course, is not conducive to listening if one works
for a living!)

Do not get discouraged. You own some good radios. I suggest that, if
your boredom continues, you might pack the radios away for a year or
two. If you unpack them and try them again in, say 2009 or 2010, I
believe you will be amazed and pleased at what you will hear.

The bottom end of the sunspot cycle always separated the men from the
boys. Hang in there.

Best,

Joe


Let's hope the sun gets off it's lazy ball of plasma and makes some
spots

Just installed a mobile SW setup; enjoying Radio Australia, Radio New
Zealand Int'l, Radio Moscow, and Radio Netherlands while driving to
and from work late/early.

Let's just hope we're not looking at another "Maunder Minimum" kind of
situation, where the sun just quiets down for several cycles. This
one has sure been painfully slow and no evidence of a turn-around yet.

Well, the first thing you do is sell me the RF2200 if you're crazy enough to
get rid of it!

Rich

I hate to say it but I'll probably get rid of the Eton E5, Panasonic
RF-2200 and the R-390, having lost interest in this one-time exciting
hobby. (well, maybe not the R-390...)

On Oct 15, 11:34 pm, Ross Archer wrote:

Just installed a mobile SW setup; enjoying Radio Australia, Radio New
Zealand Int'l, Radio Moscow, and Radio Netherlands while driving to
and from work late/early.

Could you give details of your mobile setup? That would be a nice
thing to have as I spend a lot of time in my car.

Thanks again guys for the advice...

I'll stick it out (guess the thrill of tuning an analog receiver is
still in my blood!) and hang on for when the Rx conditions improve again.

--Bill

Dorpmuller wrote:
Well, the first thing you do is sell me the RF2200 if you're crazy enough to
get rid of it!

Rich

I hate to say it but I'll probably get rid of the Eton E5, Panasonic
RF-2200 and the R-390, having lost interest in this one-time exciting
hobby. (well, maybe not the R-390...)

On Oct 16, 6:21 pm, wrote:
On Oct 15, 11:34 pm, Ross Archer wrote:

Just installed a mobile SW setup; enjoying Radio Australia, Radio New
Zealand Int'l, Radio Moscow, and Radio Netherlands while driving to
and from work late/early.

Could you give details of your mobile setup? That would be a nice
thing to have as I spend a lot of time in my car.


It needs some work, especially the antenna system. But here's what
I've got so far:

* Yaesu FT-857D mobile HF transceiver (with full general-coverage).
It runs off 12 volts and is connected via a cigarette lighter plug.
http://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd...5&isArchived=0

* Yaesu ATAS-120 antenna
http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...antm/4547.html

Car is 2007 Dodge Caliber SXT.

The transceiver is genuinely awesome IMHO.

The antenna system, on the other hand, is a giant disappointment. I
wish I had gone with an automatic antenna tuner and a whip, or a
manually-controlled screwdriver antenna instead.

Ignition noise is a problem at higher engine RPMs. It limits the
usefulness of hamming but doesn't affect SWL as much due to the
generally stronger signals.

If you're all interested, I'll keep you informed as I work out the
bugs. In the meantime, anyone want to buy a garbage expensive
automatic screwdriver antenna?

--- ross

Ross Archer wrote:

snip


* Yaesu FT-857D mobile HF transceiver (with full general-coverage).

snip

Ignition noise is a problem at higher engine RPMs. It limits the
usefulness of hamming but doesn't affect SWL as much due to the
generally stronger signals.

Looking at the brochure I see it has a variety of DSP options; does
yours have adaptive noise cancellation? Properly implemented,
adaptive noise cancellation algorithms reportedly handle periodic
noise like ignition whine quite well.

Regards,

Michael