Hi all !

First, excuse my approximate english...

I'm new to the list :-)
Following Gary's advice, I purchased a PL-310 a few days ago and I'm really pleased with its FM performance.

However, as an NDB DX'er (1900 NDB from 92 DXCC countries heard so far), I'm a bit disappointed with the result on LW. I barely hear the french powerful longwave broadcasters (France Inter, RMC) and of course it's even more difficult to catch these low-power beacons in the 280-450 kHz range.

Yet, I would try to play with my Tecsun and catch as many NDB as possible. It can be funny.

I read about a loopstick, but I'm unable to build one. Are there 'ready-to-use' models that fit the PL-310 ? Where can I order one from, what price ?

If not, how can I simply improve reception on LW (or on MW if it's easier, since I also enjoy MW DX'ing).

I wish you all a great and peaceful new year.

Thanks a lot for your advices, tips or comments.
Regards,
Patrick - South-east France.

Hi Patrick,

veuillez excuser mon anglais approximatif ;-)

I live close to the French border in Belgium and normally I can listen without any problem to France Inter, RTL, BBC Radio4, Europe1 and RMC on my different LW-capable Radios. However the Tecsuns (I have a PL-380 and a PL-390) are a bit disappointing on LW (by contrast, on MW and SW they are very gotools.com/QStick.hod). To improve Long Wave reception I use a Q-Stick (http://www.dxtm). The gain on LW is *spectacular* (even on my Sony SRF-M37L, which is the best LW-Ultralight I have), but less so on MW (I find the Terk Advantage better on MW).

Regards,

Henk
(Kortrijk - Belgium)

--- In ultralightdx@..., "balise2001" <aunumero13@> wrote:

Hi all !

First, excuse my approximate english...

I'm new to the list :-)
Following Gary's advice, I purchased a PL-310 a few days ago and I'm really pleased with its FM performance.

However, as an NDB DX'er (1900 NDB from 92 DXCC countries heard so far), I'm a bit disappointed with the result on LW. I barely hear the french powerful longwave broadcasters (France Inter, RMC) and of course it's even more difficult to catch these low-power beacons in the 280-450 kHz range.

Yet, I would try to play with my Tecsun and catch as many NDB as possible. It can be funny.

I read about a loopstick, but I'm unable to build one. Are there 'ready-to-use' models that fit the PL-310 ? Where can I order one from, what price ?

If not, how can I simply improve reception on LW (or on MW if it's easier, since I also enjoy MW DX'ing).

I wish you all a great and peaceful new year.

Thanks a lot for your advices, tips or comments.
Regards,
Patrick - South-east France.

 

Hi all !

First, excuse my approximate english...

I'm new to the list :-)
Following Gary's advice, I purchased a PL-310 a few days ago and I'm really pleased with its FM performance.

However, as an NDB DX'er (1900 NDB from 92 DXCC countries heard so far), I'm a bit disappointed with the result on LW. I barely hear the french powerful longwave broadcasters (France Inter, RMC) and of course it's even more difficult to catch these low-power beacons in the 280-450 kHz range.

Yet, I would try to play with my Tecsun and catch as many NDB as possible. It can be funny.

I read about a loopstick, but I'm unable to build one. Are there 'ready-to-use' models that fit the PL-310 ? Where can I order one from, what price ?

If not, how can I simply improve reception on LW (or on MW if it's easier, since I also enjoy MW DX'ing).

I wish you all a great and peaceful new year.

Thanks a lot for your advices, tips or comments.
Regards,
Patrick - South-east France.

From: balise2001
Subject: [ultralightdx] Improving LW
To: ultralightdx@...
Date: Monday, January 10, 2011, 1:42 PM

 

Hi all !

First, excuse my approximate english...

I'm new to the list :-)
Following Gary's advice, I purchased a PL-310 a few days ago and I'm really pleased with its FM performance.

However, as an NDB DX'er (1900 NDB from 92 DXCC countries heard so far), I'm a bit disappointed with the result on LW. I barely hear the french powerful longwave broadcasters (France Inter, RMC) and of course it's even more difficult to catch these low-power beacons in the 280-450 kHz range.

Yet, I would try to play with my Tecsun and catch as many NDB as possible. It can be funny.

I read about a loopstick, but I'm unable to build one. Are there 'ready-to-use' models that fit the PL-310 ? Where can I order one from, what price ?

If not, how can I simply improve reception on LW (or on MW if it's easier, since I also enjoy MW DX'ing).

I wish you all a great and peaceful new year.

Thanks a lot for your advices, tips or comments.
Regards,
Patrick - South-east France.

From: balise2001
Subject: [ultralightdx] Re: Improving LW
To: ultralightdx@...
Date: Monday, January 10, 2011, 4:22 PM

 

Many thanks for tip Henk !
This 'Q-Stick' seems fine... is this ferrite rod only avaible from R+ in Florida or is it possible to order in Europe ?

It shows an 'ext ant' jack ; What is the point of using such an accessory with an external antenna ? (Sorry for the stupid question...)

Your english is very fine ;-)

Patrick

--- In ultralightdx@..., "Henk_Verdru" wrote:
>
>
>
> Hi Patrick,
>
> veuillez excuser mon anglais approximatif ;-)
>
> I live close to the French border in Belgium and normally I can listen without any problem to France Inter, RTL, BBC Radio4, Europe1 and RMC on my different LW-capable Radios. However the Tecsuns (I have a PL-380 and a PL-390) are a bit disappointing on LW (by contrast, on MW and SW they are very gotools.com/QStick.hod). To improve Long Wave reception I use a Q-Stick (http://www.dxtm). The gain on LW is *spectacular* (even on my Sony SRF-M37L, which is the best LW-Ultralight I have), but less so on MW (I find the Terk Advantage better on MW).
>
> Regards,
>
> Henk
> (Kortrijk - Belgium)
>
> --- In ultralightdx@..., "balise2001" wrote:
> >
> > Hi all !
> >
> > First, excuse my approximate english...
> >
> > I'm new to the list :-)
> > Following Gary's advice, I purchased a PL-310 a few days ago and I'm really pleased with its FM performance.
> >
> > However, as an NDB DX'er (1900 NDB from 92 DXCC countries heard so far), I'm a bit disappointed with the result on LW. I barely hear the french powerful longwave broadcasters (France Inter, RMC) and of course it's even more difficult to catch these low-power beacons in the 280-450 kHz range.
> >
> > Yet, I would try to play with my Tecsun and catch as many NDB as possible. It can be funny.
> >
> > I read about a loopstick, but I'm unable to build one. Are there 'ready-to-use' models that fit the PL-310 ? Where can I order one from, what price ?
> >
> > If not, how can I simply improve reception on LW (or on MW if it's easier, since I also enjoy MW DX'ing).
> >
> > I wish you all a great and peaceful new year.
> >
> > Thanks a lot for your advices, tips or comments.
> > Regards,
> > Patrick - South-east France.
> >
>

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your message, and also for your private emails concerning the
PL-310 (your questions will be answered privately, soon).

Concerning the LW-design 7.5" loopsticks for the Tecsun DSP models, I have
developed a sensitive LW loopstick with a plug-in style connector, designed
to fit the Tecsun PL-360 model (which has a loopstick plug-in jack).
Detailed experimentation was run with five different LW loopstick designs
(pictured at _http://www.mediafire.com/i/?iv32u55b1ieyd5p_
(http://www.mediafire.com/i/?iv32u55b1ieyd5p) ), and I am personally using the "E" model (a 1900
uh coil of 100/45 Litz wire on a Type 33 ferrite bar) for NDB reception. So
far, I have logged NDB stations in 5 states and 4 Canadian provinces with
this 7.5" loopstick, including a 250w station in the Canadian province of
Manitoba (248-WG). This particular design has sensitive coverage of the LW
broadcast band (153-279 kHz) and the NDB frequencies up to about 450 kHz. So
far, I've taken about 15 orders for these LW loopsticks, but could make
one more for you, Patrick, if you are willing to wait.

Although the 7.5" LW loopsticks were designed for the PL-360 model, they
will work with any Tecsun DSP Ultralight radio once the circuitry is
modified to accept the loopstick in place of the stock ferrite bar. The PL-310
external antenna connector can be rewired to accomplish this (the Laurie Mann
modification), and my own Longwave NDB chaser is a modified PL-380, with a
cabinet attachment to accept the LW and MW 7.5" plug-in loopsticks
(pictured below).

73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)

Hi Gary,

Many thanks for your kind reply (as usual !)

Your LW-design loopstick also looks fine and effective but it seems one has to modify the receiver in order to use it, right ?
The problem is I'm not a technie, and I don't want to open and tinker with the radio... actually, I do not feel competent to do this meticulous work.

Thus, I would probably be wiser to order a ready-to-use antenna such as the Q-stick Henk has recommanded.

Patrick


--- In ultralightdx@..., D1028Gary@ wrote:

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your message, and also for your private emails concerning the
PL-310 (your questions will be answered privately, soon).

Concerning the LW-design 7.5" loopsticks for the Tecsun DSP models, I have
developed a sensitive LW loopstick with a plug-in style connector, designed
to fit the Tecsun PL-360 model (which has a loopstick plug-in jack).
Detailed experimentation was run with five different LW loopstick designs
(pictured at _http://www.mediafire.com/i/?iv32u55b1ieyd5p_
(http://www.mediafire.com/i/?iv32u55b1ieyd5p) ), and I am personally using the "E" model (a 1900
uh coil of 100/45 Litz wire on a Type 33 ferrite bar) for NDB reception. So
far, I have logged NDB stations in 5 states and 4 Canadian provinces with
this 7.5" loopstick, including a 250w station in the Canadian province of
Manitoba (248-WG). This particular design has sensitive coverage of the LW
broadcast band (153-279 kHz) and the NDB frequencies up to about 450 kHz. So
far, I've taken about 15 orders for these LW loopsticks, but could make
one more for you, Patrick, if you are willing to wait.

Although the 7.5" LW loopsticks were designed for the PL-360 model, they
will work with any Tecsun DSP Ultralight radio once the circuitry is
modified to accept the loopstick in place of the stock ferrite bar. The PL-310
external antenna connector can be rewired to accomplish this (the Laurie Mann
modification), and my own Longwave NDB chaser is a modified PL-380, with a
cabinet attachment to accept the LW and MW 7.5" plug-in loopsticks
(pictured below).

73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)

I checked reception on LW, yesterday at 22z with my TECSUN PL-310 :

153 : traces
162 : weak to fair
171 : traces to nil
177 : traces
183 : good
189 : nil
198 : traces
207 : weak
216 : fair
225 : traces
234 : good
252 : fair
I did not check 261-270 and 279.

This is very poor assuming I live in a (quiet) rural area.
Using a Degen de1103, from the same place of course, I was able to dig out 171-Morocco at local noon.

Regarding NDB : a single one is audible, located 15 km from home.





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Hi everyone, et bonjour aux francophones,

I've tested LW this morning from the Paris area with my PL-390 (with a
longer loopstick than the PL-310 ?) :
- 162 : very good
- 234 : very good

Nothing else so far, only a few mumble sometime but not possible to
identified.

Very disappointing, but I did not buy it for LW so I don't mind. It was
the first time I switched my radio to LW ;-). In MW I can catch most of
western Europe (didn't try DX so far).

By the way, on the PL-390, the antenna input jack is labeled "SW ant".
Does this mean that the internal loopstick remains active when the radio
is used for MW & LW ?

Best regards,

Charly

Hi Farmerik,
Thanks for your comments.
I may be wrong due to my limited english, but what I understood is that
Gary's loopsticks don't need any mod' ONLY when used with a PL-360.
Gary wrote : "Although the 7.5" LW loopsticks were designed for the
PL-360 model, they will work with any Tecsun DSP Ultralight radio once
the circuitry is modified to accept the loopstick in place of the stock
ferrite bar. The PL-310 external antenna connector can be rewired to
accomplish this (...)"
Regards,Patrick, south-east France

--- In ultralightdx@..., "farmerik" <farmerik@> wrote:

I have both Gary's LW and MW antennas for the PL-360. They plug right

into the external antenna jack to replace the tiny little one from the
factory. I also have the Q-stick which couples to any ferrite antenna in
a radio. The jack on the Q-stick allows me to plug a long wire or
Beverage antenna into the jack, and use the Q-stick to couple the signal
from the wire antenna to the ferrite antenna inside a radio. None of
those set ups require any modification of the radio it self. - FARMERIK

--- In ultralightdx@..., "balise2001" aunumero13@ wrote:

Hi Gary,

Many thanks for your kind reply (as usual !)

Your LW-design loopstick also looks fine and effective but it seems

one has to modify the receiver in order to use it, right ?

The problem is I'm not a technie, and I don't want to open and

tinker with the radio... actually, I do not feel competent to do this
meticulous work.

Thus, I would probably be wiser to order a ready-to-use antenna such

as the Q-stick Henk has recommanded.

Patrick


--- In ultralightdx@..., D1028Gary@ wrote:

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your message, and also for your private emails

concerning the

PL-310 (your questions will be answered privately, soon).

Concerning the LW-design 7.5" loopsticks for the Tecsun DSP

models, I have

developed a sensitive LW loopstick with a plug-in style connector,

designed

to fit the Tecsun PL-360 model (which has a loopstick plug-in

jack).

Detailed experimentation was run with five different LW loopstick

designs

(pictured at _http://www.mediafire.com/i/?iv32u55b1ieyd5p_
(http://www.mediafire.com/i/?iv32u55b1ieyd5p) ), and I am

personally using the "E" model (a 1900

uh coil of 100/45 Litz wire on a Type 33 ferrite bar) for NDB

reception. So

far, I have logged NDB stations in 5 states and 4 Canadian

provinces with

this 7.5" loopstick, including a 250w station in the Canadian

province of

Manitoba (248-WG). This particular design has sensitive coverage

of the LW

broadcast band (153-279 kHz) and the NDB frequencies up to about

450 kHz. So

far, I've taken about 15 orders for these LW loopsticks, but

could make

one more for you, Patrick, if you are willing to wait.

Although the 7.5" LW loopsticks were designed for the PL-360

model, they

will work with any Tecsun DSP Ultralight radio once the circuitry

is

modified to accept the loopstick in place of the stock ferrite

bar. The PL-310

external antenna connector can be rewired to accomplish this (the

Laurie Mann

modification), and my own Longwave NDB chaser is a modified

PL-380, with a

cabinet attachment to accept the LW and MW 7.5" plug-in loopsticks
(pictured below).

73 and Good DX,
Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)

The Q-Stick is only available from Radio Plus in Florida.

Russ Edmunds
15 mi NNW of Philadelphia
Grid FN20id
<wb2bjh@...>
FM: Yamaha T-80 & Onkyo T-450RDS w/ APS9B @15'; Grundig G8
AM:  Modified Sony ICF 2010's barefoot

From: balise2001
Subject: [ultralightdx] Re: Improving LW
To: ultralightdx@...
Date: Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 9:39 AM

 

Hi Farmerik,

Thanks for your comments.

I may be wrong due to my limited english, but what I understood is that Gary's loopsticks don't need any mod' ONLY when used with a PL-360.

Gary wrote : "Although the 7.5" LW loopsticks were designed for the PL-360 model, they will work with any Tecsun DSP Ultralight radio once the circuitry is modified to accept the loopstick in place of the stock ferrite bar. The PL-310 external antenna connector can be rewired to accomplish this (...)"

Regards,

Patrick, south-east France

--- In ultralightdx@..., "farmerik" wrote:
>
> I have both Gary's LW and MW antennas for the PL-360. They plug right into the external antenna jack to replace the tiny little one from the factory. I also have the Q-stick which couples to any ferrite antenna in a radio. The jack on the Q-stick allows me to plug a long wire or Beverage antenna into the jack, and use the Q-stick to couple the signal from the wire antenna to the ferrite antenna inside a radio. None of those set ups require any modification of the radio it self. - FARMERIK
>
> --- In ultralightdx@..., "balise2001" aunumero13@ wrote:
> >
> > Hi Gary,
> >
> > Many thanks for your kind reply (as usual !)
> >
> > Your LW-design loopstick also looks fine and effective but it seems one has to modify the receiver in order to use it, right ?
> > The problem is I'm not a technie, and I don't want to open and tinker with the radio... actually, I do not feel competent to do this meticulous work.
> >
> > Thus, I would probably be wiser to order a ready-to-use antenna such as the Q-stick Henk has recommanded.
> >
> > Patrick
> >
> >
> > --- In ultralightdx@..., D1028Gary@ wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Patrick,
> > >
> > > Thanks for your message, and also for your private emails concerning the
> > > PL-310 (your questions will be answered privately, soon).
> > >
> > > Concerning the LW-design 7.5" loopsticks for the Tecsun DSP models, I have
> > > developed a sensitive LW loopstick with a plug-in style connector, designed
> > > to fit the Tecsun PL-360 model (which has a loopstick plug-in jack).
> > > Detailed experimentation was run with five different LW loopstick designs
> > > (pictured at _http://www.mediafire.com/i/?iv32u55b1ieyd5p_
> > > (http://www.mediafire.com/i/?iv32u55b1ieyd5p) ), and I am personally using the "E" model (a 1900
> > > uh coil of 100/45 Litz wire on a Type 33 ferrite bar) for NDB reception. So
> > > far, I have logged NDB stations in 5 states and 4 Canadian provinces with
> > > this 7.5" loopstick, including a 250w station in the Canadian province of
> > > Manitoba (248-WG). This particular design has sensitive coverage of the LW
> > > broadcast band (153-279 kHz) and the NDB frequencies up to about 450 kHz. So
> > > far, I've taken about 15 orders for these LW loopsticks, but could make
> > > one more for you, Patrick, if you are willing to wait.
> > >
> > > Although the 7.5" LW loopsticks were designed for the PL-360 model, they
> > > will work with any Tecsun DSP Ultralight radio once the circuitry is
> > > modified to accept the loopstick in place of the stock ferrite bar. The PL-310
> > > external antenna connector can be rewired to accomplish this (the Laurie Mann
> > > modification), and my own Longwave NDB chaser is a modified PL-380, with a
> > > cabinet attachment to accept the LW and MW 7.5" plug-in loopsticks
> > > (pictured below).
> > >
> > > 73 and Good DX,
> > > Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA)
> >
>

--- In ultralightdx@..., Russ Edmunds <wb2bjh@...> wrote:

The longer the wavelength, the larger the antenna needed for good reception. That's why the typical ultralight doesn't do well on LW. I'll let others speak to what's available to help the signals.

Russ Edmunds

Correct, but this rule doesn't explain why the Tecsuns underperform on LW in comparison with e.g. Sony's SRF-M37L (even with all its shortcomings) which has a shorter antenna.

Henk



------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

Hi Henk,
Where do you obtain the SRF-M37L? I'm not familiar with that model, with the
LF?

Steve

----- Original Message -----
From: "Henk_Verdru" <henk.verdru@...>
To: <ultralightdx@...>
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 2:57 AM
Subject: [ultralightdx] Re: Improving LW

--- In ultralightdx@..., Russ Edmunds <wb2bjh@> wrote:

The longer the wavelength, the larger the antenna needed for good
reception. That's why the typical ultralight doesn't do well on LW. I'll
let others speak to what's available to help the signals.

Russ Edmunds

Correct, but this rule doesn't explain why the Tecsuns underperform on LW
in comparison with e.g. Sony's SRF-M37L (even with all its shortcomings)
which has a shorter antenna.

Henk



------------------------------------

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