Early Saturday Morning...

[19&41]

I woke up too early at 5:30 and turned on the Magnavox's shortwave to see what I could get. At around 7245 I got a weak station. I could recognize the accent of the female announcer as that of Australia or New Zealand. It increased in strength and at 6AM I could clearly hear the time signal and the station ID of Radio New Zealand Pacific. I had thought it only possible to get them in the spring. It has been a year or two since I have been able to get them.

[19&41]

I also went to the station's website and called up the streaming broadcast, that I got with a slight delay.

[William]

Wow, Rex, that is a long, long ways away. My farthest was somewhere in Texas. Do you have a long outside antenna?

Bill

[19&41]

I have a 50 ft antenna ran under the eaves of my house, oriented east-west. The first couple years I had it up, I could get Radio Australia as strong as WSB here. Only RNZ operates shortwave now. I can barely get WSM though.

[William]

Thanks, Rex. I guess I need to run a long wire if I expect to receive better short wave.

Bill

[electra225]

I haven't tried radio here in the wee tinies. My antenna is 20' long times four, oriented on each wall of the shop at the very top of the room. I have it tapped to have two 90 degree antennas. The HOA won't let me have an outside antenna. I may put guttering on the shop and use it for a radio antenna.

Bill, I had a 100' longwire antenna in Missouri. I strung it up in the neighbor's big oak trees about 30' high. I had a tree trimmer put it up for me. I ran it in the gable end of the garage thru a chunk of plastic pipe so as not to short it out. Naturally, I had to be careful of lightning. I grounded the antenna when I wasn't using it. I could pull in KKOW at 860 AM during the daytime. The station was in Pittsburg, KS, basically across the Kansas line from Joplin, MO. About 175 miles as the crow flies. WSM came in at night like they were broadcasting from our back patio. I could either get WSB in Atlanta or WLW in Cinncinatti, depending on which was the wind was from. I couldn't get anything west of the Rockies, though.

[19&41]

The guttering may work as an antenna as long as it's a single piece run. I have some copper foil tape that can be used as an antenna also. I have vinyl covering for my eaves that angles beneath the bottom. I just slipped the wire in the space it created.

[electra225]

Seamless guttering is what I was thinking of. Use one of the supports to connect the antenna lead-in wire. Wonder if there would be any advantage in tying the two gutters together for one big antenna?

[19&41]

What is their orientation? Not end to end, but the broad side.

[electra225]

One on the north side, running east and west. One on the south side similarly oriented. Tie them together with a wire under the gable end of the roof? Then pull the signal off the other end.

[19&41]

Those may not be ideal for distant coverage to the east and west It will get you north and south, predominantly.

[Motorola minion]

I use 4c #18 Cu stranded (flat brown) antenna rotor wire from my basement, up 25 feet to two 50-foot north-south runs, each to a tree. Two wires up to this arrangement, allow for switching in one or both lines. This can help select a station but weather seems to make it impossible. When its colder, AM reception is consistently better it seems.

A 120 foot wire between trees is on the other side of the house and the wire drops from one end into where my Magnavox Berkeley is, entering a window which has a lightning arrester just outside, next to a ground wire and rod.

This is an example of materials needed. https://www.ebay.com/itm/274395704339?h ... R46C_ff4YA

[19&41]

On Saturday, I left the tuner as it was. I got up a bit early and turned on the shortwave and RNZ Pacific came through again, a bit clearer and stronger than before. It was a program of recorded music.I'm glad I was able to find it, just a touch either way loses it.

[TC Chris]

That's almost enough to coax me out of bed at an ungodly hour. Almost. Not quite. Sometimes I wake up in the night for a bathroom break. Maybe if I do on a weekend, when I can sleep longer anyway, I'll try to have a listen. Do you have frequencies to suggest?

Chris Campbell

[19&41]

I would try 7245 from 5.30 to 6.30 eastern Also Radio Havana Cuba at 9700. they have an english broadcast early (2AM) Sunday morning. The rest I hunt around for.

[19&41]

Each day this last week, I was able to get RNZ. Friday they featured Paul Simon who turned 81 with live performances of his greatest hits. It was interesting to go to their website and stream it and compare the two. Not bad for traveling halfway around the world.

[19&41]

Over this last week I have completely lost any trace of the station. I wonder if it was a fluke in propagation?

[TC Chris]

Over this last week I have completely lost any trace of the station. I wonder if it was a fluke in propagation?

Isn't that a quasi-pirate station? If so, it's an amateur, nonprofit undertaking, and they may have personnel problems or, for that matter, $$$ problems with pumping all that electricity into the air.

Chris Campbell

[19&41]

No, It's the national radio organization of New Zealand. The last pirate SW station that I had received went over to internet recently. They had used a ship in the north sea as their transmitter.

[TC Chris]

Well, I find this on Spaceweather.com:

"Sunspot AR3141 exploded on Nov. 7th (0011 UT), producing an impulsive M5-class solar flare. Radiation ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere and caused a shortwave radio blackout over the South Pacific, including part of Australia and all of New Zealand: map. Stay tuned for updates. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text"

That probably explains the silence.

Chris Campbell