GB,

Confused & Annoyed - My new Antenna does not work - What To Do Next ?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortw...a/message/6628

1. The Bare Wire Antenna Element.
- Are you using Insulators and Nylon-Poly Rope to Rig the Wire ?
- Does the Bare Wire resting on Tree Limbs : This can be
an RF Signal Short.
- It is good practice to have the Bare Wire Antenna Element
at least 3-5 Feet away from everything.

2. The Balun
- What Type of Balun Ready-Made or Home-Made ?
- Besides the Coax Cable Connector on the Balun
how many other connectors are on the Balun ?
- Are these other Connectors Labeled ? Antenna and Ground ?
- Did you connect the Balun the Right way or did you
Reverse it by Accident ?
- Make sure that you did not connect the Coax Cable's
Inner Conductor to the Ground Connector of the Balun.
- Test the Balun for simple Shorts and Continuity with
an Ohm Meter.

3. The Coax Cable
- What Type of Coax Cable and Connectors ?
- Check the Coax Cable Connectors for Defects and Shorting.
- Inspect the Coax Cable along it's full length for
Damage and Defects.
- Test the Coax Cable for simple Shorts and Continuity
with an Ohm Meter.

4. Temporary {External} Wire Whip Antenna - Test One
- Disconnect the Coax Cable from the Balun.
- The use a 5-15 Foot piece of Insulated Wire with a
small Clip or Pin on one end to connect to the Center
Pin of the Coax Cable Connector.
- Rig the piece of Wire Straight-Up or at a 45* Angle
like a Whip Antenna.
- Connect the Coax Cable to the Radio.
- Re-Test the Radio's reception with this Temporary
Wire Whip Antenna.

5. Temporary {External} Wire Whip Antenna - Test Two
- Re-Connect the Coax Cable to the Balun.
- Disconnect your Wire Antenna Element and Connect
the 5-15 Foot piece of Insulated Wire to the Balun.
- Rig the piece of Wire Straight-Up or at a 45* Angle
like a Whip Antenna.
- Connect the Coax Cable to the Radio.
- Re-Test the Radio's reception with this Temporary
Wire Whip Antenna and Balun.

"IF" All of the Above Work and Test OK - Then Take Down
and Re-Rig your Wire Antenna Element using :
- An Insulator at the Balun and Ground Stating Point.
- An Insulator at the Top-Corner-Point.
- An Insulator at the Top-Far-EndCorner-Point.
- Use Nylon-Poly Rope with the Insulators and have
a 3-5 Feet piece of Rope between the Insulators and
the Mounting-Point Structures.
- Rig the Bare Copper Wire so that it is at least
3-5 Feet away from all Buildings, Structures, Tree
Limbs and other Wires.

Finally - If all else Fails replace the Bare Copper Wire
with Insulated Copper Wire an and Re-Rig the Wire
Antenna Element Again.

APIWATW - A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words :

Picture of an Inverted "L" Antenna Set-Up and Rigging
http://www.geocities.com/qrp_baluns/app-swlz.html
http://www.kc7nod.20m.com/improved_rw.htm
http://www.radiohc.org/Distributions...s/lantenna.gif
http://www.part15.us/encyclopedia/images/ant1.gif
http://www.bloomington.in.us/~wh2t/i...dl_files/L.jpg

Picture of a Random Wire Antenna Set-Up and Rigging
http://www.geocities.com/qrp_baluns/app-lmz-75.html
http://www.geocities.com/n2uhc/files/wire.jpg
http://members.aol.com/djadamson7/ar.../antenna1.html


hope this helps ~ RHF
.
.
.. .
= = = In ,
= = = "solarwavecdn" grahameb@t... wrote:

Well I have to admit I am ticked off. I spent the weekend
stringing an inverted L longwire between the house and a
couple of trees. Antenna is 30' up, 75' long, bare stranded
copper, is grounded to the outside copper water pipe, has
a 4:1 balun then 75ohm coax to the receiver.

Receiver is ICOM PCR 1000 and is itself grounded to inside
copper water pipe.

I start to do some SWL'ing and the recpetion of the
"easiest" SW stations is crap!!. Signal strength=1.

I put up my telescoping antenna and attach 20' of
insulated stranded copper wire, run in diagonally
across the living room, no ground and the signal
strength=3-5!!

Go figure???

Ask away whatever questions you feel prudent because
I am at a complete loss.

An annoyed Grahame Booth
Calgary, Aberta, Canada
.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - -
.
Tous Sont Bienvenus ! - - - Groupe par Radio
d'auditeur d'onde courte pour des Antennes de SWL
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
.
Alle Sind Willkommen ! - - - Shortwave Radiozuhörer
Gruppe für SWL Antennen
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
.
Tutti Sono Benvenuti ! - - - Gruppo Radiofonico
dell'ascoltatore di onda corta per le Antenne di SWL
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
.
Todos São Bem-vindos ! - - - Grupo de Rádio
do ouvinte do Shortwave para Antenas de SWL
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
.
Ð’Ñ�е Ð*адушны ! - - - Группа оператора
на приеме коротковолнового диапазона
Radio дл� Aнтенн SWL
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
.
¡Todos Son Agradables! - - - Grupo de Radio del oyente
de la onda corta para las Antenas de SWL
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
.
= = = = = Translation = = = = =
All are Welcome - - - To Join the Shortwave Listeners
(SWL) Antenna Group on YAHOO !
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
.
.
.. .

RHF,

Do you still have your GE World Monitor Model 7-2990A? Thinking of purchasing one that will require some cleaning up and minor restoration. Wondering if it is worth $50?

Jyams73

Telamon,

I "Read" this NewsGroup OnLine via Google and have
No Problem. They are Foreign Languages and as
such use some Foreign Landguage Characters.

I can Alternate between My old Pimping My Yahoo!
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
Shortwave Listener (SWL) Group plain English SigLine and
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
the Foreign Landguage one 4:1 but the Multi-Landguage
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
SigLine is part of my World Wide OutReach to the
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
Non-English Speakers-Readers of the World.
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/

"World Wide Pimping - I Be !" ~ RHF
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/

In article .com,
"RHF" wrote:

Telamon,

I "Read" this NewsGroup OnLine via Google and have
No Problem. They are Foreign Languages and as
such use some Foreign Landguage Characters.

I can Alternate between My old Pimping My Yahoo!
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
Shortwave Listener (SWL) Group plain English SigLine and
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
the Foreign Landguage one 4:1 but the Multi-Landguage
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
SigLine is part of my World Wide OutReach to the
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/
Non-English Speakers-Readers of the World.
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/

"World Wide Pimping - I Be !" ~ RHF
GoTo= http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Shortwave-SWL-Antenna/

They are non-standard characters that my news reader does not handle
well. I'm sure other people have a similar problems with it.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

JYAMS73,

Yes I do still have my GE World Monitor Model # 7-2990A.

They are a nice looking Radio from their era and sound pretty good.
To me the only problem is the Tuning Knob Bump from the Broken
Gear in the Tuning Knob Drive. Find one without the Tuning Knob
Bump and their are a Nice Radio.

They fit in well with the old Panasonic RF-2800, RF-2900 and
RF-2600 Radios and a few others of that time period.

But remember that they are only a 'portable' AM/FM Shortwave
Radio and unlike the Panasonics GE took some short-cuts in
the size of the Ferrite Antenna and the Plastic Variable Tuning
Capacitor.

The GE World Monitor Model # 7-2990A is a Nice Looking Radio
from that time period.

IMHO - If, GE had simply made an AM/FM 'only' version of this
Radio with a 200mm Ferrite Rod Antenna and Three Gang Air
Variable Tuning Capacitor it would have been the a Great
SUPERADIO IV with Digital Frequency Display.

hope this helps you ~ RHF

I bet you can't figure out the Gaelic language.I know some of it and it
isn't easy.
cuhulin