Over my 20+ years of short wave listening I have mostly bought everything I require. But this is not always the best thing to do, and it certainly is not the most satisfying. About 12 years ago I bought a hugely expensive antenna: the RF Systems DX10. What great things I expected from this £200 100khz to 30mhz amplified vertical of about 3 foot long, and how very disappointed I was when it performed no better than a few meters of wire strung around my window frame.
Since passing my amateur radio basic licence I have joined a local amateur radio club and made some super friends who have helped and inspired me to make my own antennas. My LF loop antenna outperforms that RF Systems vertical beyond anything I would have believed 12 years ago. And my HF loop of less than 50cm diameter is indescribably better. What's more, both homemade loops cost less than a fiver (£5.00) and when I hear a station on them it is accompanied by a joy and contentment that commercial equipment never delivers.
I have just received a parcel from the USA containing a varactor diode. With the help of an M0 friend I hope to be able to keep an LF Beacon loop outside and tune it remotely from the comfort of my shack. So keep your eyes out for my updates on this project!
Over the last few nights I have received PIA (Piacenza), PLA (Pula) and ILM (Illesheim) on the LF beacon front. I am now using the Roberts C9950 to make several short recordings during the night of the same beacon.
Wow that really is small. Do still have the instructions & if so could you email them to me. You know where I am.
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