In the past week, I have had no less than 3 email inquiries from readers regarding which amplified antenna to purchase for their portable shortwave radio. My short answer? None.In my opinion, there’s one fatal flaw with amplified antennas: they amplify noise just as much as they do the signal you wish to hear.The only portable amplified antenna I’ve had any results with is the Sony AN-LP1 (now only available in Japan), and I attribute this success mainly to the fact that a suction cup, mounted at the top of the loop, allows it to be mounted on a window.
Even then, results are often only marginally better than with the telescopic whip.There may have been a time when portable amplified antennas made sense–a time prior to noisy AC adapters, flat screen TVs, and other consumer electronics which spew RFI (Radio Frequency Interference), polluting our shortwave bands. Today, however, you’ll be disappointed with the results of one of these, particularly if you travel–turning on the amplified antenna in a hotel room will increase the noise you hear two-fold, while weak broadcasters will remain lost in the static. The Sangean ANT-60 is inexpensive and vesatileSo what can you do to improve the performance of your portable while traveling or at home?
I’m still a fan of the roll-up antenna;. They’re inexpensive ($12 US), packable, and versatile–the clip on the end of the reel allows the antenna wire to be clipped to curtains and blinds. Place it near a window, or even hang it outside.
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Antennas love being outside–just take it down when not in use.In lieu of buying a roll-up antenna, you could simply attach an alligator clip to the end of a 20′ (6 meters) length of wire. The alligator clip can then attach to the end of your telescopic antenna, and you now have the same properties of a roll-up antenna for pennies. This is possibly the most cost-effective way to improve the performance of your portable shortwave radio. One note of caution: don’t get too generous with the length of your antenna wire.
Some portable radios lack a robust front-end and a wire that’s too long could actually overload the receiver. Some Grundig G5’s were even sensitive to static discharges over a wire antenna. If uncertain, I would not exceed 20 feet in length (6 meters).
An alligator clip offers serious bang-for buck–especially if you already have the parts lying around!I’ll never forget: one of the first email questions I received on SWLing.com was from a fellow listener in Washington state who wanted to hear stations better on his Sony portable. I suggested the alligator clip/antenna wire. Fpc presets download. He wrote back enthusiastically, “This is the most cost-effective improvement I have ever made to anything!” He was so encouraged with the performance improvement, he invested in a tabletop and a proper outdoor antenna with grounding.So, I urge you to try a roll-up antenna or the alligator clip antenna before you waste money on a portable amplified antenna. Just my two cents.
↓. Danny HollisI’ve had shortwave radios for a lot of years. I gave away my Kenwood R1000 when I got Married and moved to my current locationI thought I wouldn’t have the time or facilities to bother with it. My wife gave me a Grundig Satalite 750 for Christmas along with a Uniden BCD536HP scanner.
Guess you could say Santa was good to me this year. I’m having no problems with the scanner. However, I need some kind of indoor shortwave antenna. I’m 90 percent blind and I’m 73 years old so there’ll be no climbing on the roof. I’ve tried a couple of those roll up antennas with no success. Please give me your best suggestion. Reply via email would be good.
I’m old and I’ll forget where I found this page.Thanks in advance.Danny Hollis. ↓. JimI’ve combined bike touring with SW and MW DXing. My latest radio is the CCrane Skywave. Starting with a recommended length of 36′ of 22 gauge wire (based on the best fit for meter length), I’ve been able to receive about 35 SW stations (half listenable) at night in remote campsites. The front end does seem to be overdriven by that length, so I am going to try 20′. Really happy with this radio, as it is one of the lightest and runs hours and hours on just two AA batteries.
Last night at the campsite I picked up Russia, China and Australia among 30 others with the wire. I even get many distant stations during the day. ↓. KelvinYes I have used the pa0rdt mini whip it works well on the lower bands under 10mhz but its not an indoor antenna, you have to put it outside away from the house and RFI, I use it with a softrock for NAVTXT on 518khz.If you put it inside the house and it will pick up tons of RFI, so as a portable antenna its not so great, very simple to build and does not cost much. Another antenna which I use is a amplified loop the schematics are at, I ended up using a hula hoop as the loop frame, I use it inside the house and it really works pretty well.
Inti illimani tour. With my AFEDRI sdr it makes a good match.Kelvin. RiedelI read the blog and I am reading these posts with great interest. Antenna discussions are like politics – people are diametrically opposed and even the groups that have common ground seldom reach universal agreement.
The following is my experience with shortwave listening.I have a G6 Aviator, a G5 Globe Traveler and a Yacht Boy 400. And I own a plethora of different antennas: TG34 (KA33/W31MS), KA35, a Slinky-type antenna, a Radio Shack 20-280, Sony AN-1/AN-12, and a Grundig Wire Reel antenna w/ 22.5’ of wire. Nearly each antenna has its niche. But as others have clearly stated: before an antenna is used – even before one powers-on a radio – the radio must physically be in the right place (away from sources of interference). I have found that if step one is successful, then my antennas will enhance my listening experience.The Sony AN-1/AN-12 does a great job – arguably the best overall performer having both a long whip (that can be mounted outdoors) and an amplifier/attenuator. But you’re not taking this on the road!In my experience the slinky is only good if it is “tuned” by the Radio Shack 20-280; neither one alone seems to work very well.The KA35 sits on my windowsill with the cable connected to my radio on my nightstand. ↓.
Post authorVaxxi and Troy–Thanks so much for the input. Very, very good points. With precautions, and under the right conditions, amplified antennas can fill a niche.I think the intention of my post was to make people aware that amplified antennas aren’t an instant salvation and that under heavy RFI, can disappoint. Frankly, even a passive wire antenna will effectively receive RFI.I actually had some good success with the AN-LP1 while on vacation in an off-grid cabin last year.
No RFI to be heard and the little loop and tuned amp certainly pulled in weak signals better than the whip.I wish someone would develop a mini wellbrook antenna. One that amplifies the magnetic portion of EM, thus eliminating RFI.
Something small enough for travel.Hey, at least one can dream!Cheers,Thomas. ↓.Well, I’ve read the opinions on amplified SW antennas, but decided to bite the bullet and get one. I have a Kestrel W31MS from eBay (also found under the names Degen DE31MS, Kaito KA33, TG34). I didn’t bother to put on video too many tests of the antenna, but here’s the most relevant sample:It’s a loop of wire which can be unfolded into a square loop, with a curtain clip at the top of the loop (end of cable).
The other end has a 3.5″ jack which plugs into a cigarette-sized amplifier, running on 2 AAA batteries (which last forever). With the amplifier off, it seems to act like a simple wire which is perfectly fine for me. Scotch tape to stick the loop high up on the room window and that’s it.Considering the whole thing fits in a cigarette pack, it’s not much of a bother to take it in luggage. For me, it’s worth having; sometimes it can amplify the signal just enough to make it understandable (noise and all), which is what you want anyway.
Who We AreThe Trappist Cistercian Nuns at Santa Rita Abbey founded Cistercian Altar Breads in southern Arizona over thirty-five years ago. Our contemplative monastic way of life is one of prayer, lectio divina, manual work, and community life. Our altar bread work enables us to support our monastery and to share with the poor. We actively cultivate an atmosphere of prayerful recollection at our work, and we like to think that our prayer is an extra special ingredient in our altar bread recipe.
It is a both privilege and a joy for us to prepare the bread which becomes the Body of Christ for the People of God! Our HistoryOur monastery, Our Lady of the Santa Rita Mountains, was founded in 1972 by Mt.
Mary’s Abbey, Wrentham, Massachusetts. In the late 1970’s they took their first steps in the altar bread industry. We began Cistercian Altar Breads with one baking plate, a one-at-a-time people’s host cutter, and a handful of altar bread parish customers.
Over the course of three and a half decades, our production capacity and our customer list have grown tremendously. Today our Sisters produce millions of high quality whole wheat altar breads annually for over 300 churches all across the United States. Our Bakery TeamIt was our intrepid Mother Victoria (just Sister Vicki back then) who got our bakery started. Now it is our Sister Rita who plans our baking and cutting schedule, keeps all our specialized equipment going, and handles customer orders. All of the Sisters in our community have worked in the bakery over the years, and most of us still work there now.
We are assisted by two wonderful employees, who mix the altar bread batter for us. Four of our Sisters take turns baking the breads. Two of our Sisters run the computerized cutting machine, and everyone helps with sorting (quality control), bagging, and clean-up. We love our work and we love working together. We feel blessed that we can earn our living in this deeply meaningful way. We keep all our altar bread customers in our daily prayer, most especially at the Eucharist. Our HostsThe Trappist Cistercian Nuns at Santa Rita Abbey have been baking altar breads for over thirty-five years. It is a joy for us to prepare the bread which becomes the Bread of Life for the People of God, and we like to think that our prayer is an extra special ingredient in our altar bread recipe.Cistercian Altar Breads are 100% whole wheat and are baked according to Roman Catholic liturgical norms.Our breads are approximately 1.5 mm in thickness, and come in five different sizes.
Three people’s sizes: 1-1/8″, 1-3/8″, 1-1/2″; and two priest’s sizes: 2-1/2″ and 5-1/2″.All our breads are plain, without any markings, except for the 5-1/2″ bread which can be ordered either plain or scored for easy breaking into 16 pieces.
Pareidolia is the psychological response to seeing faces and other significant and everyday items in random stimulus.It is a form of apophenia, when people see patterns in random, unconnected data.There have been multiple occasions when people have claimed to see religious images and themes in unexpected places.In space, one of the most famous is the 'face on Mars' spotted by one of the Viking orbiters in 1976.This was later proven to just be a chance alignment of shifting sand dunes.' Aliens are using moon minerals and they have bases there too.
830 sharesHowever, one experts claims that the so-called 'alien antenna' is nothing more than an optical illusion.' In this case the vertical looking hill is more likely to be caused by shadows from a hill that has a steep bank or cliff face on the right-hand-side,' Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual, told MailOnline.'
There are plenty of alternative explanations that don't involve the intervention of aliens, but enthusiasts are always eager to leap on anything unusual and build them into their extraterrestrial fantasies'. The 3.5-mile (5.6km) high structure was spotted in images from Google Moon, with some believing it to be a 'launch pad' that was constructed by aliens.Now, however, a researcher working with Nasa's LROC moon-mapping mission claims the strange mark is nothing more than a crater within a crater.A conspiracy website claimed the spire was 'probably built to accommodate a very large vessel so that it could dock safely without landing.' Speaking to, the scientist explained the appearance of a tower is an artefact generated from the process of putting the mosaic of images together'In the high sun images, the bright craters are more easily seen, but there's nothing there that is unusual compared to any other areas on the moon.' The conspiracy website explained: 'The spire looks to be coming out of the centre of a crater, but these are not craters, but many small white shiny structures.' The spire was probably built to accommodate a very large vessel so that it could dock safely without landing.' However, expert opinion has since emerged that disputes these suggestions.' That's no spire!
What is going on is that there is a small crater that formed on the rim, after the larger crater, Mersenius E,' explained Noah Petro, a project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) mission.LROC is a Nasa craft currently orbiting the moon to map its surface.Speaking to, the scientist explained the appearance of a tower is an artefact generated from the process of putting the mosaic of images together'In the high sun images, the bright craters are more easily seen, but there's nothing there that is unusual compared to any other areas on the moon,' explained Petro. The 3.5-mile (5.6km) high structure (pictured) was spotted in images from Google Moon, with some believing it to be a 'launch pad' that was constructed by aliens. Now, however, a researcher working with Nasa's LROC moon-mapping mission claims the strange mark is nothing more than a crater within a crater (right).He added that the sun is so low on the horizon that the dimple in the crater wall creates a shadow on along the east.While the dark 'cascade of material' falling down into the larger crater is likely caused by material falling into the crater floor.The moon spire is the latest in a long line of alien conspiracies based on freely available images released by space agencies.
Nearly half of US adult smartphone owners fall victim to cyberthieves each year – but the notorious founder of the world's largest security technology firm believes he has a solution.John McAfee has unveiled plans to develop what he calls 'the world's first truly private smartphone', which is said to be 'hack-proof'.Boasting a $1,100 price tag, the 'John McAfee Privacy Phone' will be equipped with switches that enable users to manually disconnect certain components such as the antennas for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and geolocation. 'The smartphone contains a bank of switches on the back cover that allow the user to physically disconnect the battery, the antennas for WiFi, Bluetooth and geolocation, the camera and the microphone, McAfee (pictured) said during an interview with Newsweek.According to the release, the 'phone will be procured as an OEM model using the Android operating system, and then modified using the skills of MGT's cybersecurity team.' However, Newsweek noted that the full specs of McAfee's phone will not be made public until a week before it is unveiled.