Re: Radio DXing question

[dan.strassberg@att.net]

Are you talking AM or FM? Amplified antennas on either 
band can be problematic because, after amplification, 
the stronger signals (from stations you _don't_ want) 
can saturate the front end of your radio and make for 
worse, rather then better, weak-signal reception. Where 
I live (Arlington Heights) several Providence-area FMs 
(92.3, 93.3, 98.1--New Bedford, 101.1, 105.1) come in 
quite well on relatively ordinary FM radios with nothing 
but the standard-equipment whip antenna.

For AM, I'd say buy a GE SuperRadio III. They are hard 
to find in stores but I think available on the Web if 
you persevere. For about the same price, you can buy a 
Select-A-Tenna passive loop, which will make a garden-
variety AM radio about as sensitive as a SuperRadio. But 
I have had very little luck improving the SuperRadio 
with the Select-A-Tenna.

The reason the passive loop does not cause saturation of 
the AM radio's front end is that the passive loop is 
frequency selective; you have to tune both the loop and 
the radio. Passive loops do not use power supplies and 
they couple magnetically to the ferrite loop in the 
radio, so you don't have to attach any wires anywhere.

But the Select-A-Tenna is large (maybe 10-in. D by 3-in. 
thick) and rather unsightly. One somewhat neat feature 
is that instead of rotating the radio for best 
reception, you can often rotate just the passive loop. 
If the loop were smaller than the radio (which is isn't) 
the advantage would be more significant, however.

--
dan.strassberg@att.net
617-558-4205
eFax 707-215-6367

> I have a general question. Would it be fair to do DXing with an amplified
> antenna. I'm going to buy one so I can get stations from Providence and
> Boston (both are already fringely audible), because i'm sick of all the
> local stations.. they aren't as good as the ones in Providence and Boston. I
> just have that question to ask anyone who will answer for an opinion about
> DXing.