Hello All,
For those interested, two more MP3's were recorded last night to compare
the sensitivity of the "Stealth PL-380" (a model with superior 40/44 Litz
wire, on the stock ferrite bar) with the stock PL-380.
Searching around on the LW band at the bizarre hour of 1000 UTC (bizarre
locally, that is), I was finally able to find an LW beacon showing up on
the stock PL-380, which isn't exactly the hottest LW receiver around. The
following MP3 records the reception of 368-ZP on the stock PL-380 for the
first 17 seconds, then on the "Stealth PL-380" for the last 25 seconds. The
"Stealth PL-380" not only smokes the stock model in sensitivity, but
receives a co-channel beacon on the same frequency!
Following this, before finally hitting the sack at 0225 local time, a check
was made for any TP-DX that might be sneaking in after the Asian sunset period.
To my surprise, 594-JOAK was putting in a potent signal on the modified
ICF-2010, so I grabbed the two PL-380's (which look exactly the same, so it's
hard to tell them apart). Both models were kept far away from the monster PVC
loops, so that reception in both cases would be truly "barefoot," with
no inductive coupling. The first 20 seconds of this 594-JOAK
recording are on the stock PL-380, and the last 23 seconds are on the Stealth
PL-380:
As in the previous AM comparison tests, the Stealth model has a significant
advantage, but it is not as dramatic as the booming sensitivity increase
observed on LW. Still, for a $5 modification using only upgraded Litz wire,
the performance improvement on AM certainly exceeds expectations, and
should prove effective in actual AM-DXing situations.
Thanks again to all who have shown interest in this "Stealth PL-380"
project, for which the related article is being completed.
73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
