{"id":19569,"date":"2016-06-20T17:06:35","date_gmt":"2016-06-20T21:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=19569"},"modified":"2016-06-20T17:06:35","modified_gmt":"2016-06-20T21:06:35","slug":"useful-services-for-shortwave-dxers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/useful-services-for-shortwave-dxers\/","title":{"rendered":"Useful Services for Shortwave DX’ers"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m always tinkering, experimenting…trying different antennas and set ups and what not. But, the downside is, I don’t have the patience or a lot of technical skills to hand build stuff, so I have to buy it pre-made.<\/p>\n

Like most, I don’t like throwing my money at a crap product. I have found two different folks who make some quality stuff that I wanted to share with the rest of you. I make ABSOLUTELY ZERO $$ from referring anyone to these two folks, but since quality products, good customer service and sometimes, customization are hard to come by, I wanted to share these.<\/p>\n

\"lowbander-antenna\"<\/a><\/p>\n

User “lowbander” on eBay makes longwires and dipoles. They come in stock 80 feet lengths with a 9:1 balun and a way to shunt common mode noise to ground. And unlike many longwires\/dipoles, lowbanders products come with quality belden coax as well. So you order from him. you’re all set to plug and play<\/p>\n

His dipoles and longwires range from $49 to $59, I do believe. Do you need a custom length? Want something shorter or longer then 80 feet? Send him an Ebay message and he’ll take care of you.<\/p>\n

Do you need something other then the stock PL259 connector on your cable HE an likely help with that, let him know!<\/p>\n

http:\/\/ebay.to\/28KVp1g<\/a><\/p>\n

\"q\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My next find is Craig at K1CRA.COM<\/a>. It’s mainly a store geared towards ham operators, but he also has a service useful to DX’ers.<\/p>\n

He sells RG58 cable for 25 cents a foot, that’s right. 25 cents a foot. It’s the cheapest I’ve found anywhere. For those of us needing cable for our antennas going to our radios, this is a good option. For $8, he can put pl259 connectors on each end. Need something other then PL259’s? Put an order through and add comments on what connections you need and he can do that…I’ve had him do PL259s, 1\/8th” (3.5mm) headphone jack types and BNC male connectors on cable for me<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.k1cra.com\/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DAVISRG58C-U<\/a><\/p>\n

Select how many feet you want by changing the quantity.. say you want 25 feet? Make the quantity 25. The option to add the connectors is a bit down the page, with a checkbox.<\/p>\n

Both lowbander on eBay and Craig at K1CRA ship via USPS priority mail. I had lowbander send me a package from Kansas City on a Friday and I had it here in Alaska on a Tuesday!<\/p>\n

I have probably close to $500 worth of Lowbanders antennas and Around $150 worth of product from K1CRA.com stuff<\/p>\n

I live in an area far from most of anything now, so finding good quality products at an affordable price from people you can trust is hard, and I just wanted to share these two.<\/p>\n

Paul Walker is located in Galena, Alaska and is a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Be sure to check out Paul\u2019s YouTube\u00a0channel<\/a> and SoundCloud channel<\/a>\u00a0where everything he logs is recorded and posted.\u00a0Click here<\/a> to read his other contributions on the SWLing Post.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m always tinkering, experimenting…trying different antennas and set ups and what not. But, the downside is, I don’t have the patience or a lot of technical skills to hand build stuff, so I have to buy it pre-made. Like most, I don’t like throwing my money at a crap product. I have found two different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3607,3194,3,43],"tags":[1643,5195,5194,928,819],"class_list":["post-19569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-antennas","category-guest-posts","category-news","category-shortwave-radio","tag-antennas","tag-cable","tag-coax","tag-shortwave-radio-listeners","tag-swl"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-55D","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18576,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/have-you-ever-installed-a-covert-shortwave-radio-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":19569,"position":0},"title":"Have you ever installed a covert shortwave radio antenna?","author":"Thomas","date":"April 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, in a comment thread, SWLing Post reader Dan described a covert antenna he once installed in a student apartment: I'm waxing nostalgic now, but I had a great set-up for a couple of years back in the '70s. The receiver was a black WW2 Navy surplus Hammarlund RBG CHC-46140.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Hammarlund RBG CHC-46140 (Photo by Rich Post, KB8TAD)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Hammarlund-RBG-CHC-46140.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Hammarlund-RBG-CHC-46140.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Hammarlund-RBG-CHC-46140.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26839,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/the-wdx2radio-timeless-classic-longwire-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":19569,"position":1},"title":"The WDX2RADIO Timeless Classic longwire antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"July 2, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Mike (N1YKH) writes: Hi Thomas, Just wanted to promote an antenna I sell for a fellow HAM, It sells via http:\/\/www.dipolesusa.com\/shortwave.html WDX2RADIO Timeless Classic. 50' foot longwire antenna kit w\/ 25' foot lead in, quick clip (to click onto a telescoping antenna), wire connector ends to radio, twine, shrink tube\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Wire-Antenna-SWL-e1498993214379.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Wire-Antenna-SWL-e1498993214379.jpeg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Wire-Antenna-SWL-e1498993214379.jpeg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Wire-Antenna-SWL-e1498993214379.jpeg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20626,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/dxpedition-first-test-of-deployable-200-metre-longwire-antenna-by-oxford-shortwave-log\/","url_meta":{"origin":19569,"position":2},"title":"DX’pedition: first test of deployable 200 metre longwire antenna by Oxford Shortwave Log","author":"Clint Gouveia","date":"August 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A view looking toward \u00a0Oxford Shortwave Log\u00a0DX'pedition territory; a wood in rural Oxfordshire Regular viewers of my youtube channel will know that I spend much of my shortwave listening time out in an Oxfordshire wood where QRM is negligable and Tropical Band stations can be heard with, at times, unprecidented\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48163,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/shortwave-portables-external-antennas-overloading-and-electrostatic-discharge\/","url_meta":{"origin":19569,"position":3},"title":"Shortwave portables, external antennas, overloading, and electrostatic discharge","author":"Thomas","date":"March 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jack Dully, who writes: I am just wondering what portable receivers are more susceptible to overloading with long dipoles, say 60-70 ft. I regularly use such and I have never noticed anything unusual happening with a Sony ICF-7600GR, Grundig G3, or PL-880 to name\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antennas"","block_context":{"text":"Antennas","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/antennas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Sony-ICF-SW7600GR-RA-CO.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Sony-ICF-SW7600GR-RA-CO.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Sony-ICF-SW7600GR-RA-CO.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27750,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/08\/horizontal-loop-antenna-experiments\/","url_meta":{"origin":19569,"position":4},"title":"Horizontal Loop Antenna Experiments","author":"Rob Wagner","date":"August 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Man-made RF noise levels have increased dramatically at my place in the past six months. It has become much harder to hear weaker shortwave signals. Even the stronger stations are getting covered in all types of hash from all manner of electrical appliances. 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In the 1980s and 90s almost any radio astronomy experiment equated to forking out some serious money to purchase a wideband receiver (serious money to a student, at least). 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