There is lots of discussion on micro power transmitters without using a good receiver and antenna the transmitter will not be heard at a distance.
There is lots of discussion on micro power transmitters without using a good receiver and antenna the transmitter will not be heard at a distance.
On frequencies 60 mhz to 40khz I use a kenwood ts540s transceiver and my antenna is a 6BTV vertical. Can adjust selectivity and makes a really good broadcast receiver.
On FM use Wouxun kg-uvd1p dual band transceiver and has a FM broadcast band the receiver sensitivity is less then 1 uv and use a Diamond long antenna called a duck. Has good selectivity and will store 10 fm stations. This is $110 and there are some China transceivers at $60 that have the FM broadcast band too. If you are not a licensed amateur load the FRS channels , weather and on a boat marine. The Wouxun transceiver has been approved for USA use.
My AM/FM portable has SCA in the FM band. SCA is a narrow band carrier imbedded in a FM broadcast. Because it is only 10% of main transmitter power the FM receiver has to be really sensitive and selective.
Want to hear about others receiving equipment.
There are four receivers used here as listed below with commentary.
1. Yaesu FRG-100, 50 kHz to 30 MHz tuning range. This one is connected to a dipole antenna in the woods behind my house so it is away from man (and woman) made noise (QRM). It was with this "Big Ear" setup that I heard a taking house from over two miles away. The receiver has a S meter which gives a gross indication of my AM tx. signal strength and I have tapped into the circuitry and brought the signal out for display on a DVM. With this I can tell the difference between wet and dry conditions at my outdoor antenna and it serves as a check that things are in the normal operating mode.
2. BC-1004-C. This old tube set has adjustable IF bandwidth and a great audio amplifier. When I want to listen in "hi-fi" to my signal this is what I use. It is remarkably disappointing how poor the audio from commercial broadcasters sound on this rig. Shortwave broadcasts, however, sound very good.
3. El Cheapo GE portable AM/FM radio. This is what I use when listening to voice programs (such as the LPH) which I broadcast and while I am perched on my "rock" in my driveway. The "rock" is actually a lawn chair from which I listen to radio and observe the world going by. Prior to the installation of my outdoor broadcast antenna the range for my station using this radio was to the end of my driveway (about 100 feet from the tx.). Now the range is at least along the street for about 500 feet and probably beyond but I haven't gone the distance to confirm this.
4. The radio in my truck is used for range checking.
Neil
I forgot to mention that my s10 pickup has a lumber rack on to and mounted car radio antenna on it an use it for range testing. I did a test on 87.7 mhz and could hear transmitter across town on 100mw. Got scared and moved it back in band.
Having antenna on rack got rid of motor noise on both bands. I know now that if channels were open below 88 mhz for low power transmitters life would be good.
Interesting thread.
I currently have an ICOM R71A that I use for casual shortwave listening, hooked up to my Comet CHA-250 amateur radio vertical.
However, I generally listen to my own signal in my car. The best receiver there was in my Hyundai 2007 Santa Fe, pure OEM. Beat the pants off any other name brand receiver I listened to, both older and newer, on both AM and FM, particularly FM). The one in my Nissan Cube (again, OEM) doesn't hold a candle to that one - I wish I knew who made it so that I could get something similar. I have an old school Alpine (the one with the in-dash 3 CD changer) in my 99 Tracker, but the Santa Fe was more sensitive and selective.
But when I do listen to my signal in the house, I like to use vintage receivers. I had an older Farnsworth tube radio that recently gave up the ghost and is waiting to be fixed. I have a 60s vintage hand held transistor radio that I use outside. Not much point in having anything better, and there are no other Part 15 broadcasters in the area. And there's just something about listening to vintage music on vintage radios that is RIGHT. That's why on AM I broadcast on 1570 - few older radios went above 1610, as the police band used to be there.
As far as radio's go, it is hard to tell if you will be purchasing a lemon or a high performance receiver. Even if good reviews are posted all over the internet those reviews may not be written by someone with real world experience. Many of us here have had access to tube type radio's, high end mobile receivers or even built our gear. Good radio's are hard to come by these days so buyer beware.
With that being said i have five radio's here that range from 1 to 10.
1. being the worst and 10. being the absolute best.
First radio is a Durabrand am/fm cd player boombox.
Reception on fm is rated 5 with poor adjacent channel rejection, most local stations here in town are loud and clear even inside my mobile home. However station's further than the city limit's are difficult to receive clearly.
Reception on am is an easy 8. It really shines at night when skywave is in full swing. Am also suffers from adjacent channel interference.
Second radio is a Bose factory am/fm cassette car stereo removed from my Pontiac Transport. Reception on FM and AM are equal and adjacent channel rejection is great but the radio is prone to noise from power lines, led store signs (like at Walgreens) and gas pumps. I rate it at an 8.
Third radio is a Dual brand am/fm CD player with usb recharge port which is currently installed in my Pontiac Transport. Reception on AM is great with minimal interference or splatter from other stations. FM is good too but not as good as the factory radio and is easily affected by outside noise such as gas pumps and led billboards. (again Walgreens comes to mind) A sweet feature of this stereo is the ability to switch to European channel spacing from the main menu.(am and fm) I have yet to try dx'ing with this feature it is on my to do list. I give this radio a 7 only because i feel it could do better if only i replace the factory antenna with one that is not installed on the inside of the vehicle up against metal.
Fourth radio, Sony Walkman SRF-M37W it is am/fm/weatherband radio with local/dx option. This radio really surprises me for such a small receiver. It is about the size of a pack of Luck Strike cigarettes.
I have actually used this radio for dx'ing on Medium Wave with great results. It reject's noise from outside sources and stronger stations on the band, rotating the radio also works to null stronger station's to receive weaker signals. Weather band is a bit weird. The local/dx switch seems to affect reception of NOAA Weather radio so in order to receive my local weather station in Jackson Ky i must be sure to set the radio to dx. Overall i give this radio an 8.
Fifth radio, A Grundig G3 Globe Traveller AM/FM/SW/LW with RDS and Single Side Band. First off i have to say this radio is an easy 9. It could be a 10 if i had a place to hang a dipole in the air away from all the noise coming off of the cable, wifi and God knows what else. It seems Grundig has made a great shortwave radio. Only a few station's around London broadcast RDS information which i guess is useful for the many traveler's stopping in to re-fuel or grab a quick lunch during their commute. Longwave reception is good but again i don't have it connected to a suitable antenna, i have heard beacons on LW though.
Shortwave is outstanding, the audio quality from this radio is clear with some bottom end and pleasant mid range and highs. Surprisingly good for such a small radio with a 5 1/2 inch speaker. The fine tuning should have been a knob instead of a slider control and tends to be difficult to use when tuning single side band signals. The Syn Detector does help a lot when using single side band. Airband reception is good if you don't live inside a tin can, i was able to hear the local airport weather radio from my front porch with no problem. Am and Fm are great, so good in fact that you can tell when a commercial station is broadcasting less than ideal audio. It seems a lot of station's around here are just loud while dis-regarding dynamics. So much so that i personally find it hard to listen to the locals for more than five minutes. My only complaint with the G3 is the memory presets. Even after reading the manual over and over again i still have trouble setting presets. Once again, a great radio but then this is just my opinion.
Until next time, Keep On Rockin