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another great evening propagation wise
Allen Willie
Now with a new friend-happy design! Try the new Yahoo! Canada Messenger
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Re: Inside a G6 + Review Comments
starship20012001 <starship_2001@...>
Thank You John. I was thinking about this one back in June at the
begining of summer but passed after seeing not too great reveiws about issues. Your review puts a final coffin nail on it. --- In ultralightdx@..., "Gary Kinsman" <gkinsman@...> wrote:
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Re: Stock Sangean DT-400W Receives 6 TP's at Grayland
starship20012001 <starship_2001@...>
There must be QC issues for the E-10s and E-100s. My e-10 (e-ten)
performs above average and had excellant sensativity on MW. In fact it does something other radios wont do. It allows MW DX without shutting of power at the main in this noisy QHT. It also allows access to jammed 1st ajacents o IBOC staitons with its excellant nulling abilty and low MW noise floor. It has performed better then the Kaito 1103 on MW. This one must be above average on QC. My eton e-100 perform aabout average very sensative on high end of MW band with high noise floor not bad on he lower end. As far as the DT-400 (yellow one) i was thinking about it but i really don't need to "collect" any more radios. I push them aside as new ones arrive like the srf-59 is obsolete to me. --- In ultralightdx@..., "Dennis Gibson" <wb6tnb@...> wrote: looking for TP's so I don't know if hearing any from here (Santa Barbara) isI'm hesitant because the MW on my E10 isn't that great. It wasrefurbished so maybe that's why it was returned but it isn't aligned properly.the three topreceiveperformers from the Summertime Shootout-- the DT-400W, a modifiedE100, andthe tiny SRF-S84. I was especially interested in seeing how theDT-400W wouldcompete against the previous "sensitivity king," the SRF-T615.very pricey JOAK-594,slightlyJOIB-747 and JOUB-774 without too much trouble. HLCA-972 was ofstronger on the DT-400W, but not by much. But on the receptions HLAZ-1566 andbutVOA Thailand-1575, the DT-400W was really superior, makingcrystal-clear mp3'sof both stations (that the SRF-T615 had at a pretty weak level).The stockDT-400W was able to produce an mp3 of an ID from VOA-1575 (7,200miles) thatsounded like a local, and I'll try to upload the recording to theDX "countries" in one it hasitvery fanatical sensitivity and selectivity improvements, so it'snot fair tocompare it to a stock Ultralight. During this trip to Grayland, receivedsomeNorth Korea-657, China-1593 and a presumed Taiwan-738, which wouldbe its 22ndTP catch. Developed here in Washington state together with JohnBryant andGuy Atkins, this extremely effective E100 will be the subject of managingupcoming technical DIY articles, so that everybody can have one ofthese "secret DXweapons." to logits first TP with a reception of JOUB-774. When properly aligned(for free, byme), this ridiculously small Ultralight has performance that canmake even apaltry propagation morning seem like an absolute blast.before,
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Re: Inside a G6 + Review Comments
Gary Kinsman
Hi John,
Thanks for your thoughts on the G6. Between what you said, and what Colin said in his review, I think I'll pass. Regards, Gary
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Re: Stock Sangean DT-400W Receives 6 TP's at Grayland
Dennis Gibson <wb6tnb@...>
My DT-400W arrived yesterday. Wow! The MW sensitivity is indeed
fantastic throughout the entire band. I'm a little disappointed with the selectivity but I don't have anything similar to compare it to (except a Sangean DT-110, which is on the turkey list and rightfully so) so maybe I'm expecting too much. I have five locals within seven miles (three are only a little over one mile away) but none are more than 1 KW at night. I can walk to the beach but I don't know anybody in California looking for TP's so I don't know if hearing any from here (Santa Barbara) is even feasible. I'd like suggestions on which frequencies I'd be the most likely to find TP's on. Are a stock DT-400W and a stock E100 even in the same league or fair to compare to each other? I'm still thinking about getting one but I'm hesitant because the MW on my E10 isn't that great. It was refurbished so maybe that's why it was returned but it isn't aligned properly. Gary has offered to have a look at it so maybe I'll let him. I guess if I want an E100 I'd better get it while the single conversion type is still available. What type of batteries are you guys using? A friend says his SRF-59 isn't great with NiMH's but is really great with alkalines. I use NiMH's in radios that charge them internally (Kaito KA1103 and E10) and alkalines in everything else. Maybe my E10 would work better with alkalines. Thanks again to Gary for all of his hard work and imagination. --- In ultralightdx@..., D1028Gary@... wrote: early morning of DXing on the ocean beach, I couldn't wait to try out thethree top performers from the Summertime Shootout-- the DT-400W, a modifiedE100, and the tiny SRF-S84. I was especially interested in seeing how theDT-400W would compete against the previous "sensitivity king," the SRF-T615.very pricey compared to the DT-400W (about $120 including shipping compared toabout $55). So how did these two perform in an actual DXpeditionenvironment? Well, the two were similar on the low frequencies, and both could receiveJOAK-594, JOIB-747 and JOUB-774 without too much trouble. HLCA-972 was slightlyHLAZ-1566 and VOA Thailand-1575, the DT-400W was really superior, makingcrystal-clear mp3's of both stations (that the SRF-T615 had at a pretty weak level).The stock DT-400W was able to produce an mp3 of an ID from VOA-1575 (7,200miles) that sounded like a local, and I'll try to upload the recording to theDX "countries" in one early morning (Canada, USA, Mexico, Hawaii (KPUA-670), Japan, S.Korea, and Thailand).it has very fanatical sensitivity and selectivity improvements, so it'snot fair to compare it to a stock Ultralight. During this trip to Grayland, itreceived North Korea-657, China-1593 and a presumed Taiwan-738, which wouldbe its 22nd TP catch. Developed here in Washington state together with JohnBryant and Guy Atkins, this extremely effective E100 will be the subject of somethese "secret DX weapons."to log its first TP with a reception of JOUB-774. When properly aligned(for free, by me), this ridiculously small Ultralight has performance that canmake even a paltry propagation morning seem like an absolute blast.before, just take a few top-rated Ultralights to an ocean beach... andyou'll be shocked and thrilled along with the rest of us.
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Re: Stock Sangean DT-400W Receives 6 TP's at Grayland
Hello Dennis,
Thanks for your comments on your new
DT-400W. It's true that its sensitivity is great, but for somebody used to
the selectivity of the analog SRF-59 and SRF-39FP units, it may seem
somewhat more susceptible to local slop, as reported in the Shootout (B for
selectivity, compared to A- for the SRF-59 and SRF-39FP).
In general, high-sensitivity Ultralights perform best away from urban
areas, and especially well on isolated ocean beaches around sunrise
:>)
Of course I have a stock E100, and have tested it
out extensively against the DT-400W. The stock E100 has superior
selectivity to all other Ultralights, and by a pretty wide margin when compared
to other digital units like the DT-400W. Unfortunately, the stock
loopstick is a classic case of corporate cost cutting, in my
opinion. With the flat loopstick skimping badly on ferrite, the low-band
sensitivity performance of a stock E100 is pretty humble, compared to that of
the DT-400W. Even when the E100's loopstick is aligned to peak a
600 kHz signal, it will still come in a poor second to the DT-400W on all
frequencies up to about 1000 kHz. On the higher frequencies, the stock
E100 becomes more competitive with the DT-400W until they are equally sensitive
on the X- Band. The E100's stock loopstick just begs to be replaced with a
more sensitive Amidon 7.5" model, which is what the hard-core experimenters have
done here in Washington state to create a super Ultralight.
Having personally received multiple TP's on
California beaches (using modest portables) while I was in the Navy at San
Diego, I can assure you that propagation is certainly adequate on many days
of the fall DX season. Your challenge, Dennis, will be to find some
frequencies where your local Santa Barbara QRM doesn't obliterate the weak
signals. The six TP frequencies successfully used by the
DT-400W yesterday might be a good starting point (594, 747, 774, 972, 1566
and 1575). If any of these are relatively clear in Santa Barbara, take
your new DT-400W to the beach about 15 minutes before sunrise, face the NW
direction, invert the radio (remember the little quirk mentioned in the
Shootout), and listen for a weak-sounding signal in a language other than
English or Spanish. Each of these TP stations has its own programming
identity, so if you hear any clues at all, feel free to post any
questions. I'm sure the TP gang will be extremely happy to help you,
or anyone else with enough confidence and determination to chase TP's with stock
Ultralights. Good luck!
73, Gary It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.
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another new country and state heard on ultralights
Allen Willie
Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr!
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Inside a G6 + Review Comments
John H. Bryant <bjohnorcas@...>
I had hoped that a modified E6, with its reported SSB
capability, could serve as a spotting receiver for my hotrodded E100 on
my upcoming adventure to coastal Peru. I now don't think that I'll take
it, but I did learn quite a few things while modifying the radio. I've
uploaded five photos to our Photo section that will give you a peak at
the inside of a G6 and see my antenna mod, as well.
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightdx/photos/browse/f619 Opening the set is no problem at all... two screws on the back and one in the battery compartment. What you get is a clamshell, connected together by a ribbon cable. The upper board with the display and control circuitry (and speaker) stays with the top and the main board with the input/output jacks to one side, stays with the bottom. I think that the main board is held in by those input/output jacks on one side and a single screw on the other. I'm pretty sure that the plastic fitting where the ribbon cable meets the main board is NOT a pin plug, but just a hard-wire solder fitting to permanently attach the two boards together. I also would not be surprised if the main board is also glued in the back part of the case. What I'm hinting at is my opinion that doing a filter change on this radio would be a NIGHTMARE.... so would any other mods to the main board. Putting an antenna pickup coil on the ferrite bar was a bit of an adventure. The bar was held in with three blobs of hot glue which came out quite easily, but prying the bar up so that it could be worked on was really tough. It turns out that there is a blob of really tough glue under each end of the bar, too. I'd guess that anyone would have about a 50-50 chance of breaking the bar rather than getting it out. I finally raised one end far enough to put the pickup coil around the bar. Since I could not get to the back side of the main board to attach the coil leads to the existing antenna jack, I used a continuity tester and found metal tabs on the outside of the jack that would connect to the two parts of the antenna plug (tip and braid).... after tacking the two leads to the antenna jack, it was just a matter of buttoning things up. I tested the new antenna input arrangement immediately.... sitting in my shack between two computers, the radio, barefoot, was wall-to-wall buzzes, burps and just a few stations, badly QRMed. I plugged in the outside antenna and things cleared immediately.... the "swamping effect" was alive and well and I could feed MW signals directly to the G6 from outside. Success!!! REVIEW COMMENTS What I did not note in my brief look yesterday afternoon was signs of massive amounts of overloading. I should have been looking for this, given Colin Newell's comments in his current review on dxer.ca about the 6 being too sensitive for use in urban areas. I really looked forward to testing the G6 this morning at dawn, with plenty of Asian split frequency stations, some that would be running S-8 or so. Man was I shocked and disappointed!!!! First, there was quite massive overloading on MW. It was so bad that the SSB detection basically wouldn't work.... the 10 kHz splits were pretty well smeared together and I don't know what else was going on... The radio was not at all happy connected to the giant 70' x 100' Super Loop. I had hoped to at least hear 774 and 1566 with the G6, since both were in the middle between 10 kHz stations and each was running S-8 or so when I tried.... there was nary a trace, even though there did seem to be a slight "gap" between each pair of 10 kHz. stations. All that I can figure is the massive amounts of RF coming in from the big loop was simply desensitizing the radio. In any case, attaching a major outside antenna to the G6 for MW should only be attempted in the far Out Back, like Grayland, where there are no nearby stations. I'm not at all sure how it would behave there, even. I should add the front end was overwhelmed and there were ghostly and not so ghostly MW signals at least as high as 10 MHz on shortwave.Its really clear why the designers restricted the MW band to the small ferrite bar and not an outside antenna. I suspect that the SW part of the radio would work OK on an outside antenna, without the ferrite bar loop that I added.... which is feeding massive MW signals to the front end. I'll try that after I take the added MW loop out of the antenna circuit. My biggest disappointment was the SSB capabilities of the radio. I suppose that it is true that the G6 circuit will demodulate signals transmitted in SSB, though I did not look around on the ham bands for a SSB signal to try it out and I'm not sure. It is true that you can zero-beat an MW AM signal using the slow tuning and true that you will understand the audio. HOWEVER, I'll bet my entire pension that you are still listening to both side bands.... it ain't SINGLE SIDE BAND at all! Those of you old enough to remember DXing before SSB will no doubt recall listening to an AM signal with the BFO on. If you tuned to the center of an AM signal and then zero-beat (centered) the BFO over it, you could tune up and down the band hearing a descending whistle until you hit the center of a signal, and then the whistle would go right back up as you tuned past. Well, imagine that BFO fixed on the center of the AM frequency and unable to be tuned independently from the main tuning of the radio..... What do you have, then??? You have a frequency or carrier marker, but you are not able to select one side band or the other to listen to, to dodge adjacent channel slop, or dodge IBOC or whatever. So the usefulness of the mislabeled G6 "SSB" is quite limited for an international MW DXer and non-existent for those who DX on domestic frequencies. There are other limitations to the "SSB" detection system offered on the G6. The "SSB" detection is clearly intended to be used with the slow tuning rate, which actually feels like slow analog tuning. It takes almost four full rotations of the knob to go one kHz. That's fine for clarifying a signal and none too slow, at that. However, its useless for slow band scanning in "SSB" to detect international carriers. You can use "SSB" in the fast tuning mode (a 1 kHz tuning step, when in "SSB.") That capability, if everything else worked as an international MWaver would wish, would be marginally useful. The optimum tuning step would be 0.1 kHz, but the full kHz would be somewhat useful. Of course, the design of those other things actually work against its use as an international DX machine. The "SSB" capability has one further nasty habit: When in Fast tuning mode (what you would use for Int. MW) the BFO seems offset about 300 Hertz to produce a garbled growl. I think that is so that you will know that you are in "SSB." You can then switch to Slow tuning and clarify..... HOWEVER, when you switch back to Fast tuning, it jumps back to the 300 Hertz growl!!! It does that every time. Unless my unit is defective, it is simply another example of the engineers dumbing down a circuit for the "convenience" of unsophisticated users. Grrrrr! CONCLUSION Since I've verbally stood on this radio and jumped up and down, I need to remind myself that these sets WERE NOT DESIGNED FOR DXing!!! We are absolutely misusing these receivers from the designers' point of view. As Colin implied in his dxer.ca review, the G6 could be a really good set for the suburban or, especially rural person (too sensitive for many urban uses) who wished to program listen on shortwave or, even MW. Its a nice little radio with a superb strength meter and LCD for its size and pretty reasonable audio quality. That is exactly what the Eton/Grundig designers were challenged to provide, I would guess. For the Domestic MW DXer, the plusses are 1 kHz resolution and the sensitivity (outside urban areas) and the minuses are a useless SSB capability (for DXing) and fairly wide selectivity. For the International MW DXer, the G6 is one of John Madden's four-drumstick TURKEYS. It is one of life's little ironies that the "SSB capability" that disqualifies this radio as an official Ultralight radio is so useless for DXing MW. There went $100 right down the drain!
John B.
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Stock Sangean DT-400W Grayland TP mp3's
Hello Guys,
For those still considering a purchase of the new
DT-400W, two very clear mp3's of VOA-1575 Thailand and HLAZ-1566 in South Korea
recently recorded on the new stock Sangean Ultralight have been uploaded to the
group file site. Received at Grayland, WA on 8-29-08, these demonstrate
the DT-400W's superior high-band sensitivity.
73, Gary
It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.
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Stock Sangean DT-400W Receives 6 TP's at Grayland
Hello Guys,
With a sudden rare chance to get away to Grayland,
WA for an early morning of DXing on the ocean beach, I couldn't wait to
try out the three top performers from the Summertime Shootout-- the
DT-400W, a modified E100, and the tiny SRF-S84. I was especially
interested in seeing how the DT-400W would compete against the previous
"sensitivity king," the SRF-T615.
The SRF-T615 is an excellent, compact Ultralight,
although very pricey compared to the DT-400W (about $120
including shipping compared to about $55). So how did these two perform in
an actual DXpedition environment? Well, the two were similar on the low
frequencies, and both could receive JOAK-594, JOIB-747 and JOUB-774 without too
much trouble. HLCA-972 was slightly stronger on the DT-400W, but not by
much. But on the receptions of HLAZ-1566 and VOA Thailand-1575, the
DT-400W was really superior, making crystal-clear mp3's of both stations
(that the SRF-T615 had at a pretty weak level). The stock DT-400W was
able to produce an mp3 of an ID from VOA-1575 (7,200 miles) that sounded
like a local, and I'll try to upload the recording to the ultralightdx file
section soon. The Sangean managed to receive 7 DX "countries" in one early
morning (Canada, USA, Mexico, Hawaii (KPUA-670), Japan, S. Korea, and
Thailand).
My modified E100 has been logging weak TP's since
June 29, but it has very fanatical sensitivity and selectivity improvements, so
it's not fair to compare it to a stock Ultralight. During this trip
to Grayland, it received North Korea-657, China-1593 and a presumed
Taiwan-738, which would be its 22nd TP catch. Developed here in Washington
state together with John Bryant and Guy Atkins, this extremely effective E100
will be the subject of some upcoming technical DIY articles, so that everybody
can have one of these "secret DX weapons."
The tiny analog Sony SRF-S84 was also a blast to
use, managing to log its first TP with a reception of JOUB-774. When properly
aligned (for free, by me), this ridiculously small Ultralight has performance
that can make even a paltry propagation morning seem like an absolute
blast.
If any of you feel like AM-DXing is not as much
fun as it was before, just take a few top-rated Ultralights to an ocean
beach... and you'll be shocked and thrilled along with the rest of us.
73, Gary It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here.
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Re: DT-400W in Yellow, or ...?
ronshire2000
its not that bold or bright of a yellow. i'm not fond of yellow but
this color yellow is pale and unobtrusive and i kind of like it now that i have it Ron
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update for Robert Ross 30 Day challenge
Allen Willie
Now with a new friend-happy design! Try the new Yahoo! Canada Messenger
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FS: Sony SRF-T615 and Sangean DT-200VX with Filter & Antenna Mod
I hope it's OK to
mention this on the Yahoogroup, but I'd rather sell the following radios to
Ultralight enthusiasts before listing them on Ebay.
Since I use my Eton
E100 and other larger radios almost exclusively now, and I'm not a collector of
receivers, I have the following which need a good home:
SONY SRF-T615
This is the
over-achieving, tiny AM/FM radio that is typically available only in Japan.
Until the recently introduced DT-400W came along, the SRF-T615 was the
undisputed leader in stock AM sensitivity. The new DT-400W reportedly has a
small edge over the SRF-T615. The Sony is certainly the *smallest* radio with
excellent performance, though! This unit is in excellent, stock condition and
works perfectly. It has also been recently aligned on AM. These radios are
typically $115 + shipping from Japan, but I am selling this SRF-T615 for $55
including free shipping in the USA.
SANGEAN DT-200VX
with upgraded 6 kHz I.F. filter & antenna mod
This receiver has
been fitted with an improved 6 kHz filter, the Murata CFWS450HT. This filter is
the same nominal -6 dB bandwidth as the stock one, but with a much better shape
factor due to the 6-element design (versus 2-elements in the simple,
Chinese-made stock filter). This DT-200VX is in excellent condition and works
great. With the upgraded filter and careful nulling I'm able to catch DX signals
within 10 kHz either side of my super-local KSUH (1450 kHz, 1.4 miles away from
my home). This radio also has the desirable "external loopstick mounting",
which gets the antenna further from the circuitry's noise field for noticeably
better weak signal performance. The antenna is positioned approximately 1 inch
below the bottom of the radio's case, using a Gary DeBock-approved mounting
solution (a piece of a wooden ruler :^) The DT-200VX has had a full AM
alignment. $45 shipped in the USA.
Please contact me
off line if interested in either of these.
73,
Guy
Atkins
dx at
guyatkins.com
Puyallup,
WA
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Re: calculating distances
ronshire2000
thank you Allen and Richard for the link to calculate distance from
radio station to known location. i noticed as expected that there is a drastic difference from the road mileage that most maps calculate but can see its value for TA's or TP's. Ron In answer to your question I personally use Google Maps DistanceCalculator for my Transatlantic catches and for my domestics this site http://www.topazdesigns.com/ambc/ it has very useful information about power output and antenna patterns also just with the input of your geographical coordinates and the callsign you are searching for
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Robert Ross 30 Day Challenge
Allen Willie
All new Yahoo! Mail - Get a sneak peak at messages with a handy reading pane.
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Re: "New" E100 for Sale on Ebay
Brett Saylor <bds2@...>
On Aug 28, 2008, at 11:32 AM, John H. Bryant wrote:
I noticed that this morning too, John. The picture wasn't clear but it sure looked like a different logo. I have not seen any "new" E100's before this on eBay, Brett
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"New" E100 for Sale on Ebay
John H. Bryant <bjohnorcas@...>
Having fallen so deeply in love with E100s for both domestic and
international DXing, I keep watch on ebay to see how sales are
going. Just today, I've spotted the first "NEW" E100
offered for sale. Its by an individual owner... I'd strongly
recommend that you give this one a pass, since its both inferior and not
at all amenable to any of the easy modifications that Gary DeBock, Guy
Atkins and I will be publishing in the next few weeks. Here is the
URL is you want to watch this Turkey:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190247604672&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123
John B.
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Re: Off-topic: DT400W overseas / FM portable recommendation
huelbe_garcia@fastimap.com <huelbe_garcia@...>
Oh, well... Tyrell refunded me this morning and simply noted "unable to
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
ship". --hg
----- Original message -----
From: "huelbe_garcia@..." <huelbe_garcia@...> Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:56:20 -0300 Subject: [ultralightdx] Off-topic: DT400W overseas ... . I found a Sangean DT400W with overseas shipping. To Brazil it costed US$ 57.31 (product) + US$ 22.55 (S&H). This is the link: http://www.tyrellelectronics.com/pc-146082-2-amfmaux-weather-alert-radio-dt400w.aspx
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Redsun RP-50 or Tecsun M-10
texnote
I think these radios would probably qualify as ultraligths and are
available on ebay from tquchina. The M-10 is only AM! And the RP-50 has "two" FM bands! Paul
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Off-topic: DT400W overseas / FM portable recommendation
huelbe_garcia@fastimap.com <huelbe_garcia@...>
Hi,
these are off-topic, but could help people: . I found a Sangean DT400W with overseas shipping. To Brazil it costed US$ 57.31 (product) + US$ 22.55 (S&H). This is the link: http://www.tyrellelectronics.com/pc-146082-2-amfmaux-weather-alert-radio-dt400w.aspx They accept Paypal. I've just ordered the DT400W from theirs, so I cannot recommend this company yet (have to wait until little yellow arrives here :) . In the last two days we had incredible tropo conditions in South Brazil, Uruguay and East of Argentina. Hepburn's tropo maps were just perfect. Using a Grunding G5 (mine) and Degen DE1103 (friend's) we are able to listen to 7-9 stations. It's really cool to listen to a different language (spanish in this case) on FM!. Grunding G5, Degen 1103 and Kaito KA1103 (and maybe others) share the same very good FM section. It was definitely better than Sony 7600G, Sangean ATS909 and even Sony XDR-F1HD (with indoor antennas). So, if you need really good FM on portable, go with G5 or 1103. Huelbe Garcia Porto Alegre, RS Brazil 30S, 51W
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