Anything Radio for JustMe and Dagwood

[KuernoDeChivo]

Originally Posted by KuernoDeChivo View Post
Dagwood, just curious what type of radio are you setting up?

I am getting ready to do the same. I am just starting to get things together for a pole that will have MURS, 2 meter & 70cm and FM broadcast Micro.

The MURS will be permanently running with a mobile type mounted under the cupboards by kitchen counter so I can get a hold of my family in emergencies. Plus starting next school year I will include a small MURS radio in my kids back-pack that they will have at school.

2-meter and 70CM is obvious for Local Ham comms.

FM broadcast will not be connected to anything... but I will make sure in my radio stuff I have the equipment to put a fairly hefty Micro FM up for my small community in an emergency.

If everything really goes south I might need to relay info from the Ham bands and shortwave.

This project will take a while but hopefully withing a couple months I'll have everything to put that pole up.


It sound like you are ahead of me on this. I am getting the pole up now and I have an antenna that receives between 25mhz and 300mhz and transmits at 50, 144, 220, 440, 900 and 1296mhz.

I need to find a second antenna for am and shortwave. I not sure of what I can get to help bring in these signals cleaner.

Like you I would like to get a small ham setup but I need help from the more informed. I was thinking of 12v mobile stuff and a 12v solar panel on the tower and a battery.

Maybe if we have more interested someone could start a thread about it.

From Just Me
Why don't you start a thread or see if there is one already in the workshop? It would be easier for people to see if it isn't buried here in the weekly prep thread :) I know I would like to know more about ham radios. Don't have one yet, but I have added it to the list.
Reply With Quote


Dagwood, unless you really plan to rag-chew and yap it up I think the 12V Battery and Solar charger works very, very well. That is usually how I operate.

The antenna hat you are putting up sounds like some version of the "discone"
http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2002/05/17/1/discone_12-lrg.jpg

They are very effective especially for a scanner where you don't necessarily need or want a "tuned antenna". As you mention they can be used for transmitting as well although I think I prefer tuned antennas with "gain" if possible. Even if you use different antennas for transmitting it is nice to know "you can if you need to".

Dagwood are you familiar with an "Ohm-meter" or continuity-tester? I don't want to "talk down" to you if you do know or to confuse you if you don't know...

One thing I have learned over the years that I personally believe is very important is to use "DC Grounded" antennas. Basically antennas that have a direct short between the center connector and the ground-shield. If they have multiple paths to ground they do very well with nearby lighting strikes and my hunch is they may not be quite as dangerous when it comes to EMP damage. I have no idea how strong of an EMP we might expect here but I try to do anything I can to help absorb and shunt to ground. BTW I do not know if the Discone is a DC grounded antenna, put a meter on your and let me know.

As far as Shortwave goes it can be a double edged sword. It's nice to get a big antenna up but there are some stations so strong that they wipe out the rest of the band. I think I heard Art Bell once say he would put a potentiometer in line with his shortwave antennas. Right now I have a very cheap dipole made out of twin-lead to speaker wire about 30 feet across the top in the trees. Stations like the one that Steve Quayle is on come in full scale and I have no problem receiving stations from all over the world even on a mediocre SW receiver.

I don't claim to know everything when it comes to radio but I have been messing around with radio for nearly 3 decades and licensed ham for about 23 years. Plus my opinion doesn't even cost 2 cents! Let me know if you have any questions... If I don't know I will tell you and not make crap up.

[just me]

Thanks Kuerno! !

[dagwood]

Hey, cool thread. That is the antenna I'm putting up but mine has a tunable whip. I've been reading today about shortwave antennas and have decided to string a wire up the pole just off of it. When done it should be about 50 to 70 feet long. Keep it simple.

Don't worry about talking down to me, I've been in the 12v electronics biz for over twenty years. But I am a ignorant to ham and shortwave.

I look forward to following this thread. I think we have the same idea of what we want.

[KuernoDeChivo]

When done it should be about 50 to 70 feet long. Keep it simple.

Ok That will really pull in signals but be careful for ESD/Corona discharge. That is why I have gone to grounded antennas as much as possible. With an isolated wire antenna like that every time there is a storm you can expect half inch to one inch sparks from the center conductor which probably goes to 1/8th audio style jack to plug into the SW radio. With sparks like that you can imagine the voltage that could be jumping to ground inside your shortwave set. At the very least I would experiment with a high resistant resistor between the center and ground and then make sure the shield side is grounded someplace, a true earth ground or to a pipe or at very least your electrical ground in the house.

I just mention these so you don't learn the hard way how I did to appreciate DC Grounded antenna. It took me a while when I was younger to realize that a DC short in not necessarily an RF short. Look at the antenna schematics for a J-Pole or Double Bazooka or try looking up the winding schematics for a 4:1 Balun for a windom antenna or a loop antenna for SW.. You will quickly see that they appear to be a direct short to ground.

Basically any antenna that is shorted to ground has a hard time building up static. ESD will wreck sensitive electronics before you even know what happened. Plus like I mentioned earlier if you even want half a chance of your EQ surviving an EMP you will want it grounded in 2 or 3 places with Zener-diodes and surge protecting MOVs on you power leads you purposely kept as short as possible.

When and if you do include MOVs into your 12VDC system put them in series with a 1 amp fuse or so. They can and do go bad and you don't want it draining your battery when the MOV starts to fail.
MOV
http://www.t2retail.co.uk/newstore/Products/Product_Images/2760568.jpg

[DreadPirate]

Ill jump in. I know nothing about ham or SW. We have a cheap SW but doesn't pick up that good. I played around with varying lengths of long wire but had no luck at all. Now I am thinking of getting a ham transceiver so as to get the whole spectrum but want to keep it as cheap as possible. any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks:mrgreen:

[KuernoDeChivo]

DP,

I know there are some real dismal SW receivers out there. Any real Ham transceiver will be heads and shoulders over your average SW receiver.

We kind of hammered this subject a couple months back but I couldn't find the thread so I'll hit some of the highlights.

When you are talking about a ham transceiver to replace a SW set you are probably mainly looking for HF. I don't mind older HF rigs but there are a couple pit falls to watch for. Many of of the older rigs had limitations. Some covered the ham bands only while others did not include AM. The AM problem is not too bad since a good ham receiver is usually pretty stable allowing you to tune in on either the lower or upper sideband to listen to AM shortwave broadcasts.

In the 80s we began to see true general coverage transceivers. One recommendation is that you verify that the radio you are leaning toward will not just receive but transmit in and around the frequencies around the current CB band. I may try to find that old post where I go into this but the main reason is that many "prepper-Militia" groups use those freqs for their coms since they can easily convert many CBs to cover them. Plus there is allot of cheap equipment available. To verify this don't go to ham operators unless you know them very well - they will freak out on you!... :lol: You can always go to www.cbradioforum.com .

I would go with something as new as possible. Many older rigs especially Icom (which I have) had software and RAM backed up with a battery. As those rigs get older they become susceptible to problems that may convert them into a door-stop.

My favorite rigs are Kenwood and Yaesu. Kenwoods seem to have always had better, punchier audio while the Yaesus were true workhorses, kind of the "Toyota" of the radio world.

In the end I would get anything you can even if it is an ICOM (I Can Only Monitor) like mine or even an El Stinko (Alinco). Stick to 12V (all of them are now-a-days) and build a battery bank of one or more deep-cycles.

ok this wasn't supposed to be long... lol

Nutshell
True General Coverage (from AM broadcast band up to 30 MHz no holes)
AM,LSB and USB (FM Optional)
12 VDC

Did I forget anything.. Oh yeah if you are going to even think about transmitting make sure you read about Antennas and SWR. Don't wreck a good radio.

[DreadPirate]

I have been looking at Yaesu over on E-bay. Several of them range 0.3-30 MHz IIRC. A batt bank is no problem. I could throw one together simple enough. Thanks for the info. I'll let ya know when I Finlay find something good. need more coffee:mrgreen:

[dagwood]

Thanx for the info. I hope to have my tower, antenna and 6v solar up today. My shortwave is 6v. After that I will tackle the 12v solar and find some type of ham.

My goal when I started this was to be able to recieve radio at all levels. To transmit in an emergancy would be a bonus.

[dagwood]

Basically any antenna that is shorted to ground has a hard time building up static. ESD will wreck sensitive electronics before you even know what happened. Plus like I mentioned earlier if you even want half a chance of your EQ surviving an EMP you will want it grounded in 2 or 3 places with Zener-diodes and surge protecting MOVs on you power leads you purposely kept as short as possible.

When and if you do include MOVs into your 12VDC system put them in series with a 1 amp fuse or so. They can and do go bad and you don't want it draining your battery when the MOV starts to fail.
MOV
http://www.t2retail.co.uk/newstore/Products/Product_Images/2760568.jpg




Question here. If I put the MOVs with a 1 amp fuse in series on the power lead, Wouldn't the fuse blow if the solar collector charged at more than 1 amp of current?

[dagwood]

I think I get it, you want the fuse in series with the varistor not the varistor in series with the power wire. The varistor shunts to ground.

Am I right here or further lost?

[KuernoDeChivo]

Yeah. On the Power, obviously not the antenna. I never knew about this but I learned it about a year ago. I guess the varistors have the tendency to "break down" after a while. If that happened you would want to know and definitely not want it to drain your limited resources from Solar or wind. At some point you would rather have it taken off line then to continue draining off voltage.

An addition I would want to make to mine would be a zener diode to do about that same thing. Like I say I really worry about EMP and lightning. If I can spend an extra 10 bucks and prevent damage I think it is worth it. I figure if I run a 12VDC system I can use a zener setup at around 24-36 Volts. That should be high enough as to not interfere with charging yet low enough to remove most unwanted spikes.

Those are only my thoughts but I am sure if you run some google searches for
Ham Radio, EMP protection, MOV varistor, zener Diode and so on you eventually will come up with many useful ideas. Please share them with me since I am still learning the aspect of EMP "hardening" as well.

Like I mentioned I only came across the fuse information about a year ago. I think that is a good idea. If you knew how much resistance the varistor would still have when it goes south you could use an LED to indicate that it is failing. Maybe a very small 12VDC incandescent would work better since it would light up brighter and brighter as the resistance drops providing the full 12VDC or close to it. If you had an indicator light where you could see it I think it might even be more useful than a fuse. There were some versions of HF amateur rigs that used a light for a simple fuse.

Anyway just some thoughts.

[libertymama]

Alright you guys have me totally baffled. I have been a on air personality for 17 years, and while I am a whiz behind the mic, I don't know anything about setting something like this up. Currently we have an in home studio with a great microphone, macki board, and all the bells and whistles for sound....but....I don't know how or what to get this started as a broadcast studio in case of emergency. I do have a phone interface, don't know how well that would work or if it would be helpful.

Can anyone direct me to a site that would be good for someone like me? A dunce in the actual broadcast part, but knowledgeable about the other stuff?

Thanks
LM

[Ren]

can you guys tell me anything about a yesua 101-b?

got one in a deal on some stuff and it's "supposed" to work but I havent' fired it up. The only base type antenna I have to put to it is an old Antron w/gp.

Is it worth messing with or is it too old to bother with?

TIA

[KuernoDeChivo]

Alright you guys have me totally baffled. I have been a on air personality for 17 years, and while I am a whiz behind the mic, I don't know anything about setting something like this up. Currently we have an in home studio with a great microphone, macki board, and all the bells and whistles for sound....but....I don't know how or what to get this started as a broadcast studio in case of emergency. I do have a phone interface, don't know how well that would work or if it would be helpful.

Can anyone direct me to a site that would be good for someone like me? A dunce in the actual broadcast part, but knowledgeable about the other stuff?

Thanks
LM

LM, what is your goal? receive broadcasts after a possible break down in society? Or are you looking to broadcast on AM or FM during a SHTF scenario? Or are you looking for 2-way communications on the CB and or ham bands? Are you talking about using equipment with emergency power or city/grid power or both?

There are many aspects to Radio comms. Let us know your main goal and if there is a list of things then prioritize them for us and we can probably help point you in the right direction.

[KuernoDeChivo]

can you guys tell me anything about a yesua 101-b?

got one in a deal on some stuff and it's "supposed" to work but I havent' fired it up. The only base type antenna I have to put to it is an old Antron w/gp.

Is it worth messing with or is it too old to bother with?

TIA

I have heard beautiful sounding 101s on the air in the 11-meter and CB frequency ranges. I believe they are fairly hefty rigs with a tube driver and final. I have a an old Kenwood that had s similar final section.

I'm sure you know the Antron is an 11-meter CB antenna. Do you know if that radio has been modified for those frequencies?

Many have already been converted to run on the 11-meter CB frequencies. It currently is illegal to use that radio on those frequencies but is very common. - again, like speeding in the free-way with 1/100 amount of cops.

Draw backs,

I believe you must have 110 - 120V AC, house voltage to run this. ( I could be wrong)

Not full coverage receive. Still not a bad rig just make sure you also have a regular shortwave radio with full coverage receive.

Tubes are getting harder to find. If possible make sure you keep one or two sets of tubes on hand I believe there are 1 driver 12BY7A pre-driver and a pair of 6JS6C final amplifier tubes

Tubes can be tricky for people that have never used them. You must learn to "tune up" the rig. Hopefully you can find a ham or someone else that knows how to show you how to tune it up.

Good-points,

Price - they tend to be reasonably prices. Allot of radio for the buck.

Rugged final stages (tubes are more forgiving than solid-state)

Most CB shops know how to work on these as it was a very popular rig.

If I had a source for a good working rig I would not pass it up especially if it has been modified for the 11-meter band. Make sure you have a way power the radio solar/inverter or something.

Quick edit. I hopped over to youtube to see if there was any videos of the 101 in action. Here is one. Keep in mind they are kind of talkin' what I call "skip-jive" which would not be the case if it was a real emergency. Plus the guy he is talking to has a reverb in line that makes it a little harder to understand. There are allot of vidieos showing the long range "skip" communications on the CB band over on Youtube that will come up with this video. If you are not familiar with CB "skip" communications check it out. (this if ro everyone here).

This is why it is so important to have radios capable of these frequencies. I can't imagine anything that would be capable of taking all the thousands of "free-band CBers" off the air.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AgQXZlaA-k

[Ren]

Thanks KDC,
It was the tubes part that had me wondering as so many of them are getting hard to find now. I have an old Siltronix LA-550 that I was using as a base CB amp, and fortunately I had the chance to buy up an extra 8 tubes for it from a shop that was going out of business. Since then I got a solid state which made it so much easier since the DW didn't know how to tune the old one.

Which lead me to wondering about this one being worth messing with. I can check around for tubes, but I'd rather not have to depend on their availablity. I'm already set up with all the CB I'll need, but was wanting to setup a decent ham rig. Just for listening right now as I have already got way to many irons in the fire to start going for a ham liscence right now. I have no idea what/if any mods have been made to this one or not.

I may just put this on ebay or something and get a solid state one instead. Course, I haven't looked at them enough to know what I want yet. I just know I'm not keen on the tubes anymore. The old rigs do a great job, but if you can't get tubes then they become worthless.

any reccomendations on a solid state rig that will cover the widest freq range?

[Taz]

I know diddley squat about ham radio even tho my dad was a ham. What I want is a receiver where I can listen around the country/world. I know this will take different meter bands. I have a 50 ft tower next to my house. Do I need an antenna on it for a good receiver? And can you recommend a good receiver? I am not smart enuff to juryrig anything. Just want to write a check and bring it home and plug it in. TIA
Taz

[KuernoDeChivo]

I know diddley squat about ham radio even tho my dad was a ham. What I want is a receiver where I can listen around the country/world. I know this will take different meter bands. I have a 50 ft tower next to my house. Do I need an antenna on it for a good receiver? And can you recommend a good receiver? I am not smart enuff to juryrig anything. Just want to write a check and bring it home and plug it in. TIA
Taz

Taz, to listen around the country you will want a shortwave receiver.

You could prolly use the tower itself as an antenna but I would recommend a real antenna. Even a cheap wire from about 30 to 40 feet from the tower sloping up would give you tremendous signals. As I mentioned earlier in this thread you should still probably ground the antenna if you can or at least provide a resistor to ground to bleed off static during lightning storms. If your tower is grounded you may be able to connect the wire at the top electrically to the tower and still receive. Do some tests down lower and then when you are satisfied move the wire to the top.

Most good shortwave radios accept a jack like a earphone jack for the antenna so you might need to solder a little but I'm sure you can buy pre-made antennas as well.

If you stick to the big main brands like Grundig or Sangean you will be happy.

I use a cheaper brand (kaito) most the time because it is small enough to listen to in bed at night. I just plug in my small dipole (about 15 ft per leg) and I can hear stations all around the world. I do have a big Icom transceiver for when I get real serious but it is a rare occurrence that the Kaito can't deliver what I need.

Anyway here is the cheapy that I use. It is not the best or friendliest I have used but for 60-100 bucks you just can't beat it.
http://www.eham.net/data/reviews/images/5071.jpeg

Here are the reviews from Hams.
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/5071
What ever you get make sure you can receive Sideband either with SSB/BFO or an actual LSB/USB switch.

Folks here in the forum can help you with their experience as well. Many people use Shortwave as a back-up to receive Steve Quayle, JG and Hawk when internet streams fail.

[Lilly]

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/shortwave-radios/sangean-ats909-shortwave-radio.aspx
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/portable/1909.html
http://www.sangean.com/product.php?model=ATS-909&prod_id=10 (Product info)

I have a Sangean ATS 909 and love it. I got it from universal-radio.com.
I have a long wire antenna that I have "pinned" to the ceil around the house. I get great reception. I must admit that I listen to ham meters 80-75 meters mostly.

I have a police/fire scanner and "local" ham bands. I got that at radio shack.

Hope this helps

[ELBUFO]

Barker & Williamson makes a super folded dipole I have the 90ft job and It is great. SWR's are as advertised <2:1 10M-160M <3:1 on 6M. HRO has them they go by the moniker Bhttp://www.hamradio.com/WD. The manufactures site is: http://www.bwantennas.com/. I am verry happy with mine. Oh yea it will work on 11M CB freq's. with <2:1 SWR...John

[KuernoDeChivo]

Barker & Williamson makes a super folded dipole I have the 90ft job and It is great. SWR's are as advertised <2:1 10M-160M <3:1 on 6M. HRO has them they go by the moniker Bhttp://www.hamradio.com/WD. The manufactures site is: http://www.bwantennas.com/. I am verry happy with mine. Oh yea it will work on 11M CB freq's. with <2:1 SWR...John

Wow! 160 Meters on a 90 foot dipole. I might look into that. I was preparing to put up a windom for 75 meters but if that will light-up 160 meters that would be a real benefit.

I'll have to see if i can find the plans or buy one. Plus I notice they have a tactical setup specifically designed for NVIS.