I know I'm usually invisible here, but believe me, I read everything
this great group has to offer. I want to thank you dedicated guys in
guiding some of us non-tech types. I've noticed during the past week
or so that conditions seem to be gradualy improving. Richard Allen
recently commented to me that the pre-dawn time frame is working well
down here. I definitely agree with him.

This morning I was able to log R. Rebelde, 670 khz //5025 khz. The MW
outlet was kicking some butt on the channel around 1015 UT. A new one
for me. Then, I was quite surprised to hear and ID R. Enciclopedia,
530 khz from 1022-1100 UT. Crystal clear 100% copy on this one.
Within the last week I managed to FINALLY log R. Reloj on 570 khz.
They were all new ones for me.

Congrats to Allen for some SERIOUS ULR DX'ing...Allen, do you ever
sleep? Also to Tim, welcome to the nostalgic radio nuts hangout. I
think all of us can relate with what you said in your last post. Kind
of brings back fond memories!

Take care guys, and Allen, don't forget to eat now and then...good
luck on the challenge. I know you'll make it happen!

Guys...The idea of DXing on a tiny, pocket, battery-powered
AM portable has reignited my interest in a 40+ year hobby of
mine: AM DXing.

It's akin to my ham radio QRP operating. I simply love it.

SPR-59 barefoot from my home near Akron, Ohio.

Log so far.

73's,

Tim, KD8GZ



Ultralight AM Logbook (by date)
(SRF-59, unless noted otherwise)

Satr. 8/30/08 620 WTMJ/Milwaukee, WI, 8:57pm EDT, Brewers pbp
Satr. 8/30/08 620 WRJZ/Knoxville, TN, 9:00pm EDT, ID
Satr. 8/30/08 580 WHB/Harrisburg, PA, 9:05pm EDT
Satr. 8/30/08 940 CINW/Montreal, QUE., 9:20pm, "940 hits.com"
Satr. 8/30/08 940 KPSZ/Des Moines, IA, 9:35pm, legal ID,
Royals
Satr. 8/30/08 990 CBW/Winnipeg, MAN, 9:59pm, "ID"
Satr. 8/30/08 960 WFIR/Roanoke, VA, 10:05pm
Tue. 9/2/08 590 WMBS/Uniontown, PA, 8:59pm ID, Pirates pbp
Tue. 9/2/08 590 WVLK/Lexington, KY, 9:06pm, "news-talk 590"
Tue. 9/2/08 790 CIGM/Sudbury, ONT, 9:20pm, Blue Jays pbp
Tue. 9/2/08 1540 KXEL/Waterloo, IA, 9:29pm ID, Bruce Wms.
Tue. 9/2/08 1360 WSAI/Cincinnati, OH, 9:41pm, ESPN network
Tue. 9/2/08 1350 WOYK/York, PA, 9:44pm, Orioles pbp
Wed. 9/3/08 1410 KQV/Pittsburgh, PA, 8:00pm EDT
Wed. 9/3/08 1410 WHLN/Harlan, KY., 8:00pm EDT
Wed. 9/3/08 1200 WRKK/Hughesvile, PA., 8:13pm EDT, Phillies pbp
Wed. 9/3/08 920 CKNX/Wingham, ONT., 8:36pm EDT, Blue Jays
Thur. 9/4/08 900 CHML/Hamilton, ONT., 6:20am EDT
Thur. 9/4/08 920 WTCW/Whitesburg, KY., 6:24am EDT
Thur. 9/4/08 820 WBAP/Ft. Worth, TX., 6:52am EDT
Thur. 9/4/08 920 WMMN/Fairmont, WV., 7:02am EDT
#

Dennis,

Keep your fingers crossed.  I was pretty clear in my write up of this situation, posted here, that the Durham Store would ATTEMPT to provide the "old" version of the E100, IF THE DXER REQUESTED SUCH AT THE TIME OF ORDERING.  They were also pretty clear that they were under no obligation if no such request was made.  Gee, I hope that you requested the Old Version and that it was from the Canadian crew at Durham.

In either case, it appears that the newer version is rather rare, so.....


John B.

excellent picture Richard. i will have to do that to the one i have
open. i had thought of doing something like that but hadn't attempted
it yet. i was imagining that it might make a mess of the case but the
way you did it, it looks like it was made that way.

possibly some lubricant or silicone sprayed into the capacitor may
make it work easier

Ron

One of my complaints about the SRF-59 receiver has been the difficult
to use tuning knob. Looking at the SRF-39FP, it was evident more of
its tuning knob was exposed. So I decided to see if I could improve
the SRF-59. Using a small hobby file I carefully remove some of the
plastic from the case. Now it's a little easier for my arthritic thumb
to turn the tuning dial. There is a photo at

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightdx/photos/view/5165?b=7.

Now if I can figure what can be done about the stiff turning variable
capacitor.

Richard Allen

One of my complaints about the SRF-59 receiver has been the difficult
to use tuning knob. Looking at the SRF-39FP, it was evident more of
its tuning knob was exposed. So I decided to see if I could improve
the SRF-59. Using a small hobby file I carefully remove some of the
plastic from the case. Now it's a little easier for my arthritic thumb
to turn the tuning dial. There is a photo at http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightdx/photos/view/5165?b=7.

Now if I can figure what can be done about the stiff turning variable
capacitor.

Richard Allen

Hi Kevin,

Your "ultralight loop" sounds great. Maybe you should go into
business selling them. Can you post a picture of it next to an E100
or a DT-200VX (for scale)?

And thanks for the tip on using the Q-Stick with the E100. I'll give
it a try. I agree that properly positioning the Q-Stick with the
ultralights is difficult.

Regards,
Gary

--- In ultralightdx@..., "dhsatyadhana" <satya@...>
wrote:

Hey Gary:

I've got the Quantum Stick as well - very nice for travel, and LW
to boot, plus it acts as a coupler. As you say, for some reason
it doesn't seem to do much for certain receivers - I get something
on my Eton e100, but not as much as I would expect. In fact, with
most of my Ultralights, the positioning seems to be the key - very
finicky to find the right position. Try putting the Q-Stick on
the side of the receiver such that the ferrite of the Q-Stick is
in-line with the ferrite in the e100 - this adjacent orientation
seems to work better than when the Q-Stick and receiver are face-
to-face.

In comparing the Q-Stick and my home-brew just now with a variety
of ULRs and the Sony 7600GR, the gain and tuning sharpness on the
home-brew was substantially greater, often the difference between
mumbling audio and discernable reception, so it's become an
instant accessory in my ULR arsenal.

73 - Kevin S
Bainbridge Island, WA

At 09:35 AM 9/3/2008 -0700, you wrote:

Some of the logs as follows:

830 khz - WCCO St. Paul - Minneapolis, Minnesota 9/1/08 2:40 UTC w/
WCCO ID by woman, several PSA's and WCCO.com mentioned ; fair *** STATE #
23 on ULR

1140 khz - WQBA Miami, Florida 9/1/08 8:40 UTC w/ La Voz De Miami
ID, spanish music and talk *** STATE # 24 on ULR

1160 khz - KSL Salt Lake City, Utah 9/3/08 7:25 UTC w/ Piano
Liquidation AD , Leanne Rimes concert promo, Newstalk 1160 KSL ID ,
tempreatures for Logan, Sandy etc. ; good *** STATE # 25 on ULR

940 khz CJGX Yorkton, Saskatchewan 9/2/08 7:50 UTC w/ " GX 94 " iD
by woman , country music , weather ; fair *** PROVINCE # 7 on ULR

670 khz - CMBA R. Rebelde , Arroyo Arenas, Cuba 9/1/08 3:35 UTC w/
spanish talk and music; R. Rebelde mentioned; good *** COUNTRY # 55 on ULR

1017 khz - TRT 1 Mundanya, Turkey 9/2/08 23:30 UTC w/ Turkish music ,
commentary and songs ; Turkiye mentioned; fair *** COUNTRY # 56 on ULR

73

Allen Willie
St. John's, Newfoundland
SRF-M37V and SRF-39FP barefoot

WOW...amazing stuff Alan!!! We're gonna have to change the Award Name to
the "ALAN WILLIE 10 Day Challenge!!".

I haven't done too much AM BCB Dxing yet this Season....as the FM Band has
been going nuts....and I've been spending a lot of time DXing FM Tropo
Conditions!! I'm gonna have to get busy!!

Keep up the good work!!

73........ROB.


Robert S. Ross VA3SW
London, Ontario
CANADA

Antique/Vintage Radio Enthusiast
Amateur Radio Stations VA3SW/VE3JFC

Defy Physics.....Play Table Tennis!! (Ping Pong with an Attitude)
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«

Hi Everyone,   Spent the last 3 days out of the city at Old Perlican, Newfoundland  and was  able to DX with the Ultralights in a location away from the powerhouse stations of St. John's.    The last 3 days  have been wonderful as I was able to add another 62 stations to  my Robert Ross 30 Day challenge list.   Conditions were ideal to say the least , as I was able to hear and add some new countries, states and provinces to my ultralight and overall  count as well as some firsts.    Some stations were  heard as my first time ever on any radio at all. After  9 days the count stands at 272 stations heard for the challenge.     Some of the logs as follows:   830 khz - WCCO  St. Paul - Minneapolis, Minnesota  9/1/08  2:40 UTC  w/ WCCO ID by woman, several PSA's and WCCO.com mentioned ; fair *** STATE # 23 on ULR   1140 khz  - WQBA  Miami, Florida   9/1/08  8:40 UTC  w/ La Voz De Miami ID, spanish music and talk  *** STATE  # 24 on ULR   1160 khz  - KSL Salt Lake City, Utah   9/3/08  7:25 UTC  w/ Piano Liquidation AD , Leanne Rimes concert promo, Newstalk 1160 KSL ID , tempreatures for Logan, Sandy etc. ; good  *** STATE # 25 on ULR    940 khz CJGX Yorkton, Saskatchewan   9/2/08  7:50 UTC  w/ " GX 94 " iD by woman , country music , weather ; fair   ***   PROVINCE # 7 on ULR   670 khz - CMBA R. Rebelde , Arroyo Arenas, Cuba   9/1/08 3:35 UTC  w/ spanish talk and music; R. Rebelde mentioned;  good *** COUNTRY #  55 on ULR   1017 khz - TRT 1 Mundanya, Turkey   9/2/08  23:30 UTC  w/ Turkish music , commentary and songs ; Turkiye mentioned; fair  *** COUNTRY # 56 on ULR     73   Allen Willie St. John's, Newfoundland SRF-M37V and SRF-39FP barefoot

Yahoo! Canada Toolbar : Search from anywhere on the web and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now!

Ron,

In certain climates (like our crazy climate here in
Houston), wouldn't static buildup/discharge be a
concern with the cotton and the plastic case rubbing/
sliding together? I'd be afraid I'd damage the radio
somehow ...

73,

Steve N5WBI
Houston TX

Hey Gary:

I've got the Quantum Stick as well - very nice for travel, and LW to
boot, plus it acts as a coupler. As you say, for some reason it
doesn't seem to do much for certain receivers - I get something on my
Eton e100, but not as much as I would expect. In fact, with most of
my Ultralights, the positioning seems to be the key - very finicky to
find the right position. Try putting the Q-Stick on the side of the
receiver such that the ferrite of the Q-Stick is in-line with the
ferrite in the e100 - this adjacent orientation seems to work better
than when the Q-Stick and receiver are face-to-face.

In comparing the Q-Stick and my home-brew just now with a variety of
ULRs and the Sony 7600GR, the gain and tuning sharpness on the home-
brew was substantially greater, often the difference between mumbling
audio and discernable reception, so it's become an instant accessory
in my ULR arsenal.

73 - Kevin S
Bainbridge Island, WA

my quite inexpensive solution to the case problem has been solved by
utilizing some old half socks that are too worn for wearing but make a
nice cotton cocoon for these little radios and pack nicely as i travel
on the weekends. if you like more protection just use 2 socks

Hello all,

As another alternative "portable" MW antenna for ultralights, the
Quantum Q-Stick works well with the DT-200VX (and presumably with
the DT-400W). Unfortunately, it doesn't do much at all with the
E100, which is a shame. It also works well with the larger E10 and
7600GR.

Regards,
Gary

--- In ultralightdx@..., "dhsatyadhana" <satya@...>
wrote:

Hi all:

I just posted a couple photos of a recent project on the
UltraLight DX Yahoo group. I recently got a high-Q basketweave
loop on eBay from the seller "noseknowsnose". It's a 3.5" Litz
coil with a Q around 800. I popped it into a small plastic box
designed for old PC diskettes, used double-stick foam tape to put
a 2x260 variable cap on, and Voila! I stuffed some tissue in the
box to keep the coil from bouncing around -
really high-tech at this point...

The high Q of the loop really adds tuning sharpness to
UltraLights, making it easier to shade one sideband over the other
or notch a pest out of the way. The gain is pretty good as well.

73 - Kevin S
Bainbridge Island, WA

Hi Dennis,

I bought my Fry's refurb E10 in August 2007. Other than a "jumpy"
tuning knob, similar to that on my E100, I'm pretty happy with it.

I generally use external chargers for all of my rechargeable
batteries. The Maha charger that I have charges each cell
individually, which can't be done if I charge them inside a radio
(in this case they are all charged in series).

Once one of the Eton 1100 mAh NiMH batteries went belly up, with
corrosion showing on the positive terminal of the battery, I
started using a set of PowerEx 2300 mAh NiMH batteries that I bought
for my PRO-96 scanner. It's possible that alkaline batteries, with
their higher voltage, may provide better performance. This is true
with the 7600GR -- the sync lock is better with a higher voltage.

I agree that the E10 is not worth $130, but at $30 I couldn't pass
it up. The 7600GR is more sensitive on MW, but the E10 seems a bit
more sensitive on SW. The E10 has far better sound quality than the
7600GR, but the latter is much more selective, with the selectable-
sideband sync detector and a true SSB mode. A combination of the E10
and the 7600GR would make a fine compact radio. Adding a good sync
detector to the E5/G5 would make a very nice unit as well.

Let me know if your E100 has any funny "hets" around 640 kHz (see my
other post). They seem to be internal to my unit (birdies), not due
to external signals.

Regards,
Gary

--- In ultralightdx@..., "Dennis Gibson" <wb6tnb@...>
wrote:

I've never needed to resort to an external charger after that first
time when the voltage was so low the radio couldn't charge them.

Gary - how long have you had your Fry's refurb E10? I got mine last
November. If I was going to have a corrosion problem it would have
happened already. I live about 1/4 mile from the beach and unless
it's raining the window facing the ocean is almost always open
into the room with the radios.

That gets back to a question I asked awhile back that I don't think
anyone answered. Are you using NiMH's or alkalines? Of course
there's a major difference in voltage. I only use NiMH's in the
two radios that charge them internally; the Kaito KA1103 and the
E10. It seems that they would be optimized for them but you can
tell the E10 which type you're using. I've never seen that in
another radio nor the very clever IF shift. I think a full price
E10 ($130.00) is not even close to being worth it; for another
$20.00 you can have an ICF-SW7600GR or E5/G5.

I ordered an E100 and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival so I can
put it up against a number of radios to see how it fares. I'm
paying $15.00 more for the E100 than I did for the E10! Of course
it was a refurb. Any other E10 owners out there?

I was going to go TP hunting this weekend with my new DT-400W but
the temptation to stay in a nice warm bed was too great. Maybe next
weekend. The ocean won't move between now and then.

The DT-400W that I ordered from NewEgg came today. I plan to use the
new one as a spare, in case my original one decides to go bonkers. I
will, however, set it up and use it, but just not all the time like I do
my original one.

I used my original DT-400W all the time during our Hurricane Gustav
alert to monitor WWL 870 New Orleans. Fantastic reception, even during
broad daylight here in Houston!

Question - my original DT-400W is serial # 84011036. The one that came
today is serial # 84011190. I know that several DXers in this group
have this radio - have any of you noticed any issues with yours that are
in the same general S/N range as mine are? Just wondering.

Thanks & 73,

Steve N5WBI
Houston TX

Hi all:

I just posted a couple photos of a recent project on the UltraLight DX
Yahoo group. I recently got a high-Q basketweave loop on eBay from the
seller "noseknowsnose". It's a 3.5" Litz coil with a Q around 800. I
popped it into a small plastic box designed for old PC diskettes, used
double-stick foam tape to put a 2x260 variable cap on, and Voila! I
stuffed some tissue in the box to keep the coil from bouncing around -
really high-tech at this point...

The high Q of the loop really adds tuning sharpness to UltraLights,
making it easier to shade one sideband over the other or notch a pest
out of the way. The gain is pretty good as well.

73 - Kevin S
Bainbridge Island, WA

Hello Richard,

 

     Thanks for your comments on your new DT-400W.  Actually, the DT-400W's usual strong point is good sensitivity all across the band, not that it is far more sensitive than most models on any given frequency.  Its predecessor, the DT-200VX, usually has a drop off in sensitivity either on high band or low band (mine and yours drops off on high band), and all other digital models commonly have a similar sensitivity drop-off (low band for the E100, high band for the SRF-T615, etc).  Accordingly, Sangean's effort to improve wide-band sensitivity by redesigning the DT-400W's RF board is commendable, and makes it possible for a DXer to enjoy competitive sensitivity from 530-1710 kHz in a single model.

 

     Also, Grayland is an exceptional ocean beach location which can make almost any portable perform like a champ.  Even though the DT-400W received 6 TP's and made two great mp3's (from Thailand and S. Korea) last Friday, if I tried the same thing at home in Puyallup (only 80 air miles to the east), it probably would have been a miserable failure.  TA and TP DXers know that an ocean beach is fantastic for DX, and that's why they return there over and over.  Even the very tiny SRF-S84 (about half the size of the SRF-59) managed to receive a TP at Grayland (JOUB-774), with multiple heterodynes (TP carriers) all over the band.  Here in Puyallup, I'll probably need fantastic propagation to have any hope of a single TP on the SRF-S84.

 

     73,  Gary  .