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Radio Topics
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Добавлен 15 фев 2021
How to Read the Smith Chart on the Nano VNA
When tuning antennas for a specific band, we often resort to using a SWR bridge and transmitting on several frequencies to find our resonant point. The Nano VNA gets around this by sweeping across the band at very low power and displaying both VSWR and impedance (using the Smith Chart display).
This video explains how the Smith Chart provides this information, saving you time in determining how to trim your antenna.
This video explains how the Smith Chart provides this information, saving you time in determining how to trim your antenna.
Просмотров: 1 444
Видео
Icom IC-R8600 Advanced Scanning: Skip/Select/Program/Priority
Просмотров 8436 месяцев назад
In the last video, I described the process for programming frequencies into the R8600 Groups and Memory Channels, and starting a basic memory scan. Here, I discuss how to skip certain channels in a scan, how to scan only selected channels in a group, how to scan continuously from one frequency to another and how to set up a priority channel to interrupt whatever you're tuned to when a signal ap...
ICOM IC-R8600: Simplified Memory Programming and Scanning
Просмотров 1,5 тыс.6 месяцев назад
The Icom IC-R8600 is a powerhouse communications receiver, but lacking any band 'presets', storing frequencies in groups and channels becomes necessary. This radio covers 10 kHz to 3 GHz, so casually tuning around with the VFO knob would take forever to get from one end of the spectrum to the other! This first video covers the basics...more advanced memory storage and scanning coverage to follow.
Hallicrafters S-40 - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Просмотров 3609 месяцев назад
The Hallicrafters S-40 is a classic MW/SW tube radio from the late 1940's. Some time ago, I resurrected the exterior of the radio from its pathetic state, and recently had a go at the alignment procedure. In this video, I take you through the controls, the woes of alignment and its performance.
The QYT KT-5000: Review and Manual Programming Guide.
Просмотров 10 тыс.Год назад
Chinese dual band VHF/UHF amateur radio transceivers are getting smaller and smaller. They're handy for mobiling or putting into a go-box, but with diminished size comes compromises. These are outlined in this video, along with instructions on how to program repeaters in manually. DISCLAIMER: The following is an AliExpress affiliate link. If clicked, I receive a small commission if a purchase i...
RE-MATCH: RSPdx vs Ham It Up on SDR Console
Просмотров 1 тыс.Год назад
This time, I compare the two HF SDR solutions on the same platform: SDR Console. Previously, I compared them using SDR# for the Ham It Up and SDRUno for the RSPdx. That video can be found at ruclips.net/video/4hYdkCT6ciM/видео.html DISCLAIMER: The following are Amazon affiliate links. If clicked, I receive a small commission if a purchase is made from a link. This is not a solicitation, but is ...
Software Defined Radios (SDR): SDRplay RSPdx vs NOOELEC Ham It Up
Просмотров 19 тыс.Год назад
The RSPdx SDR from SDRplay comes at a premium price but offers some noticeable improvements over the NOOELEC Ham It Up. Depending on bands and modes that you wish to listen to, this video should help you decide which works best for your budget. DISCLAIMER: The following are Amazon affiliate links. If clicked, I receive a small commission if a purchase is made from a link. This is not a solicita...
RF Preamps for HF Receivers: Worth it?
Просмотров 4,8 тыс.Год назад
We usually expect RF preamps to improve our ability to receive weak signals on HF. But do they? As you'll see, they can, but it depends. By the way....the best solution for shortwave listening is a GOOD antenna.
Make a 6 Meter Mobile Antenna from a Cheap CB Antenna
Просмотров 3,7 тыс.Год назад
I wanted to try 6 Meter (Metre for us Canadians) mobile operation, but was reluctant to put a 4 foot whip on the trunk of my car. This video describes how you can modify a cheap and low profile magnetic mount CB antenna for 6 Meters. DISCLAIMER: The following are Amazon affiliate links. If clicked, I receive a small commission if a purchase is made from a link. This is not a solicitation, but i...
XEIGU G90 - Wacky SWR Issue.....Resolved
Просмотров 742Год назад
This video outlines how I encountered a high SWR problem when the XEIGU G90 was left in SPLIT mode. Bottom line...and, spoiler alert - you can skip watching the video by doing this... To avoid high SWR, make sure the SPLIT function is always turned OFF if you only intend to operate simplex, specifically if VFO B is set to an out of band frequency. (I can hear the collective 'DUH!' now.) If you ...
Amplified Loop vs Ham Radio Tuned Antennas - Which is Best for HF Reception?
Просмотров 1,6 тыс.2 года назад
Indoor or portable preamplified loop antennas are convenient for indoor or portable longwave/medium wave/shortwave listening, but how do they compare on the HF ham bands? I took my loop outdoors to compare it to my trap vertical (Hustler 4BTV with added 30m trap) and a homebrew 11m/17m fan dipole. But what about general coverage shortwave listening? Stay tuned for my comments at the end to find...
Eton Elite Executive Radio: How to Program Memory Pages
Просмотров 3,9 тыс.2 года назад
The Eton Elite Executive memory pages allow you to group favorite frequencies into groups. Each page will give you 7 memory positions, and you can create up to 100 pages for a total of 700 memories. This method applies to all bands that the radio covers (LW, AM, SW, FM & Air). DISCLAIMER: The following are Amazon affiliate links. If clicked, I receive a small commission if a purchase is made fr...
Comet DS-150S Discone Antenna Review
Просмотров 12 тыс.2 года назад
Trust me to turn a simple discone antenna review into an antenna and Smith Chart theory lesson, but skip past that and you'll get to the test results. They might surprise you! Music: Soundstripe WFHJVHTCBXIADHVN Soundstripe MEQV0MYUZU9UTLVU Soundstripe TZKOZL3NLQLIGTML
Vintage Shortwave: Nordmende Globetraveler II
Просмотров 2,4 тыс.2 года назад
Continuing in my series on vintage shortwave receivers, this time we look at a West German classic portable. DSH1PNOLQRNITY00I MEQV0MYUZU9UTLVU
Vintage Shortwave: Heathkit Mohican
Просмотров 1,8 тыс.2 года назад
This is the first in a series of vintage receivers I will be highlighting on this channel. The performance of the Heathkit Mohican isn't outstanding, but it comes from the era of early transistorized shortwave radios that started appearing in the 1960s. Nostalgia, indeed. Stay tuned! Music codes: MEQV0MYUZU9UTLVU TZKOZL3NLQLIGTML
Eton Elite Executive Radio Antenna Problem: Resolved
Просмотров 9 тыс.3 года назад
Eton Elite Executive Radio Antenna Problem: Resolved
Eton Elite Executive Portable Radio - How Well Does it Perform?
Просмотров 56 тыс.3 года назад
Eton Elite Executive Portable Radio - How Well Does it Perform?
Helpful
Thank you. I had much the same results on a no brand discone.
This is a very good amplifier it seems. Thanks for the demo.
When listing to LW or MW , select that range in the band panel to enable the high dynamic range feature to get the best signal quality.
Rlqit
Would like to see your analysis with the preamp at the base of your antenna.
Me to. Antenna amplifiers should always be installed at the antenna. Best practice.
I got my Executive Satellite in an estate sale grab box for a dollar (lucky me). The PDF manual was no way near as helpful as this video. Thank you! Now if I can just learn how to hunt my local stations in Southern Tennessee. Where is your buy me a coffee button?
Excellent. Thank you
So you had split on? 🙈
Correct, without knowing it. "Fat fingers" will do that.
I’m curious if you have tested it receiving cw signals. Can the bandwidth be set narrow enough? Thanks for your review - it was very helpful. John - WA4RXO
In SSB mode, it will go down to 500Hz bandwidth. I don't work CW any more, so I'm not sure whether or not that's sufficient. Hope this helps
Thank you Sir.
It was fascinating to connect the VNA to a manual antenna tuner in line to the antenna, you can twiddle the knobs and see the SWR waves go up and down as you manipulate the inductor and capacitors. I’m new at this and never used a manual antenna tuner before this. It would have been frustrating to operate the antenna tuner blind.
Solved my issue thank you.
Can you imagine being in West Germany in the 60's and 70's? They were smack dab in the middle of the shortwave broadcast universe, in those days! I was in West Virginia at that time and shortwave was absolutely fascinating, listening to the outside world.
Maybe open the radio and look for a pwr adjustment pot.
good presentation
I have a Mohican in great shape that was my husband's. What would the value of this be and is there a market for these?
While it's true that the RSPdx is almost twice the price of the Nooelec sdr+upconverter, the RSPdx has the ability to connect 3 antennas. I would also prefer having 1 piece of gear rather than 2, all else being equal.
Anything that amplifies noise at the same rate as signal is effectively just extra signal loss. Spend the money on a better antenna
I bought an S-40B with some good potential off eBay about 10 or 12 years ago and spent some time recapping, aligning and generally getting it into what I consider excellent condition. I wound up replacing the toggle switches, one of which was broken. Amazingly, these were still available in their original form. Alignment is an art form. I have spent countless hours aligning everything from S-38s to Hammarlund SP-600s (48 adjustments in the RF section alone). My feeling is that dials were designed using a prototype chassis. Given the vagaries of parts control, they just don’t fit all the production units very well. Oscillator points should be adjusted about 10- to 20-percent in from each end of the band to get the best fit throughout the band. The frequencies specified in the alignment instructions should serve only as starting points. Once the main tuning was aligned as well as possible, I developed frequency graphs on the bandspread logging scale. An outboard crystal calibrator is helpful for this. I restrung the tuning and bandspread dials using 50-lb test, microfilament, braided fishing line. This is much better than regular dial cord, as it provides exceptionally smooth tuning with minimal slack or backlash. The bandspread on the S-40B lacks the nice flywheel present on the original S-40. My unit is also setup to plugin an optional outboard Heathkit GD-125 Q-multiplier. This improves selectivity. Many years ago, a ham buddy taught me how to tune single sideband using combinations of the sensitivity and pitch controls, and CW and AVC on/off switches. For tuning SSB as well as narrow bandwidths produced by the Q-multiplier, the main drawback of these old radios is stability. They drift significantly during warmup, and somewhat less thereafter. All things considered, the S-40, S-40A and S-40B were excellent cost-performance tradeoff options for hams and SWLs 70 years ago. Yours, sir, is a beauty and must give you lasting satisfaction in its restoration.
Great comments. Thanks!
Great information, got my eye on the latest one of these this helps in the decision to buy one.
Thank you, much appreciated and very clearly explained.
Thanks for these videos! I am seeking an RF amplifier that can input 250mw and boost to 3 watts+. Frequency range is 470-480mhz. Do you have any recommendations? Do you take on custom work? Thanks!
Why do so many of these radios still have muting while tuning when we know it can be disabled? Surely the manufacturers know that most shortwave listeners hate it when radios do this.
I know this is 1 year old but I hope you see my comment. Thank you very much for this video. I had the same issue you had. I did what you said and it fixed this problem. My SWR hardly flickers now. I had to make sure the split band was within the ham bands and I also turned the split function off. Both had to be done in my case. I have a random wire 35.5 ft antenna with 9:1 unun and common mode choke on the feedline near the antenna and transceiver. My antenna runs along the wall in my room. I know it is very compromised but now I know my SWR is under control and I might have a chance to talk to someone with the SWR under control. I am handicapped with arthritis and have a heart issue, that's why I have it inside. Makes it a little easier than outside. Thank you very much again for this video. It helped me very much. I have had some strong signals come through on my indoor antenna, too.
Good detailed explanation. Looking to get one soon and this is a big help. Thank you.
No BFO for CW & SSB reception?
Sadly, not in this radio.
The handle on top is usefull for tieing a rope to for a boat anchor.
This video would be better without background music.
Air Band on this wasnot good...The 🐻 cat was still better .....I like Icom ...I have a VHF Marine by Icom....like it
I have been using the Sony ICF -38... for AM DX....I got California and Oregon 740 San Francisco and St Helen on 1500... very good from my area in the Pacific....The problem with the Eton it is chugging... they should go back to Analog....I have a Jensen that is bad on AM... very hard to DX with it
Why would you support or buy any radio that mutes between stations and has AGC problems because it uses a chip?
Nostalgia has a valid home in ham radio.
My old yaesu FT-7900 has Mic connector at control head, but they Yaesu re-designed to Yaesu FTM-6000, Yaesu made same mistake by placing Mic Connector in Main unit. AG6JU
Excellent Explanation good service to Humanity and consumers
Used programming cable from QYT-8900D, with downloaded software from the QYT software page, happy to discuss further
I wondered why I couldn't make a ontact on 40m. Turns out I was OPERATING SPLIT. Its almost as bad as calling cq for a 1/2 hrs only to find out I was connected to a dummy load.😂
I converted a Wilson 500 antenna to 6m just by bypassing the coil. works great!
I have one in the garage I have had since the late 70s /80s (I'm a pack rat of maybe someday useful stuff). Sounds like a fun project. Thanks for the idea.
Well done. Concise and articulate explanation!
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the video.
I clamped a ferrite core at the antenna coax end, reason, SWR kept changing when moving the feed line on the car. Once that was done, it stopped it's sensitivity of SWR change. Works great on 10M's.
Hi what value ferrite did you use please.
One trick is to ground the shield of the cable , so the metal of the car provides a good ground plane, and this is especially important of you are using an HT. The variation you are observing is because of a floating ground. If you don't want to ground, the ferrite method you used helps.
If you like old, heavy, and big radios... that supposedly look good...then you might like these old SX series Hallicrafters receivers... especially, if you think mass = class. Ok... I guess... for free... if you want something to hold the basement floor down. Otherwise... except for perhaps the sound (if that's your thing) any modern receiver will kill them.
Lots of S-40 turn up... at least around here. (noting rare for sure... and not a great radio either.) I think it's mostly because of the Hallicrafters name. (for sure, there's an S-40, in more than a few basements, as ballast, to hold the floor down.) As for decal kits (or even cap kits) ... I think they sell a fair amount of them. It's not a rare receiver at all.
*Здравствуйте! Разнос для репитера, этот какой пункт в меню?*
Почему у меня при настройке ретрансляторов нету звука возврата сигнала?
Just use an RJ-45 extension cable to extend the mic. Or an regular Ethernet cable and a f-f RJ-45 connector.
Thanks for your review. I gotta say when I seen that the microphone couldn't be attached to the faceplate when separated from the actual radio, so with me, I'm out as far as this radio. I think they should of thought about being able to attach the mic like other radios that you can just mount the faceplate and place the radio body under the sear or behind where you're sitting.
I've read conflicting opinions regarding the Eton Elite Executive's external antenna port. Does it require a stereo or mono 3.5mm miniplug?
I use a mono connector with good results.
Thanks! @@radiotopics1874
Great detailed review! What would you recommend for a great prep emergency radio that can pick up police, weather etc? Thanks
I don't know of a portable that would cover all bands offhand, but research well known brands like Tecsun, Sangwan and Eton to see what they offer. There are also some lesser known Chinese brands that you might find on places like AliExpress.