{"id":21307,"date":"2016-09-12T07:32:39","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T11:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=21307"},"modified":"2016-09-12T07:36:48","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T11:36:48","slug":"sangean-wr-22-bills-tale-of-radios-and-outdoor-antennas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/sangean-wr-22-bills-tale-of-radios-and-outdoor-antennas\/","title":{"rendered":"Sangean WR-22: Bill’s tale of radios and outdoor antennas"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Bill, who writes:<\/p>\n

I was interested in the Sangean HDR-18 which showed up on SWLing Post<\/a>. But I\u00a0ended up going for the similar-looking WR-22 (here on the Sangean site<\/a>)\u00a0because it lookscooler. Well, yes, it also costs a bit less. Also, it trades the HDR-18’s HDRadio capability for Bluetooth streaming. Since I have a phone that canstream, and since there is as yet only one HD radio station, which streams,and which I can also get in my car, I thought the Bluetooth might be a bit\u00a0more use to me.<\/p>\n

I got the WR-22 expressly to use outdoor antennas. I had been using a CCRadio 2E for that purpose. The CCRadio actually worked better hauling it\u00a0out of the house, out to the picnic table in the back yard, clear of the\u00a0aluminum siding and the household electronic buzz. It’s nice to be able to\u00a0use the portable as a portable.<\/p>\n

I’d hoped the WR-22 would both stream from my phone and work on AM and FM as\u00a0well as the CCRadio. It surprised me by working far better. Therein hangs a\u00a0sad tale of radios and outdoor antennas.<\/p>\n

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I have a rooftop FM antenna I’d used on an old stereo. The CCRadio doesn’t\u00a0have an external FM radio jack, so I could never use the FM antenna with the\u00a0CCRadio.<\/p>\n

The CCRadio does have screw terminals for an AM outdoor antenna. A few\u00a0months ago, I put out a temporary one in the back yard. It’s quite modest,\u00a0within the ability of anyone with a small back yard. A ground rod pounded\u00a0into the ground outside the drip line of the roof, where the soil will get\u00a0wet; wet soil makes for a better ground, I’m told. Then a bit less than 50\u00a0feet of insulated copper wire, looped across the back yard to a pine tree\u00a0branch and then to a post we used to have a satellite TV dish on. Nothing\u00a0too complicated here.<\/p>\n

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The results were disappointing. I could get signals with this antenna not\u00a0quite as well as the CCRadio would do on its own on the picnic table. Oh\u00a0well, maybe nothing better was possible?<\/p>\n

Then, after I’d ordered the WR-22 through the mail, I came across a\u00a0description of a different external AM antenna. I found it on two web sites,\u00a0but C Crane’s own web site has a description of the thing. Here’s the<\/a>article.<\/p>\n

It could use the wire I’d already strung across the back yard and the ground\u00a0rod I’d already planted, so why not try it? I couldn’t see how an antenna\u00a0that didn’t connect to the radio directly could be any better than one that\u00a0did, but hey, it didn’t cost anything to try.<\/p>\n

Here’s how to make the antenna: String an outdoor wire somewhere SAFE, well\u00a0away from anything carrying electric current, both because it can get you\u00a0fried and because of radio noise. Reserve some of the wire to wind a coil at\u00a0the end of the wire inside the house, near your radio. Wrap a coil in the\u00a0wire near where your radio will be. C Crane says a 3 inch coil with 7 turns,\u00a0another site said a few turns of 6 inches diameter; apparently it’s not too\u00a0critical.<\/p>\n

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The wire continues unbroken through the coil, back out of the house again,\u00a0and to your ground rod outside. It doesn’t connect directly to your radio at\u00a0all. Of course you could do the wire in several pieces; have a separate coil\u00a0which attaches to the aerial wire and the ground wire with alligator clips,\u00a0for example. This would let you replace the different parts, experiment with\u00a0different sizes, shapes, and orientations of coils, and so on.<\/p>\n

As with any inductively coupled antenna, you get this loop to work by moving\u00a0the coil around the outside of the radio until you find the “sweet spot”\u00a0where it couples best with the portable radio’s internal ferrite bar.<\/p>\n

Good heavens! It worked far better than coupling the wire directly to the\u00a0CCRadio. I was astonished! I planned to put out a longer antenna- I have the\u00a0space for it, if I’m careful- and a neater installation, with a neatly wound\u00a0coil. I planned a program of trying different coils to see what would work\u00a0best.\u00a0However, I had the WR-22 on order. Since that was where I wanted to attach\u00a0outdoor antennas, I decided to wait until it came in before experimenting\u00a0with any new antennas.<\/p>\n

It came in and I set it up.<\/p>\n

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To my disappointment, the coil-type outdoor\u00a0antenna didn’t seem to send the WR-22 any signal at all. Before getting all\u00a0antisocial about it, I hooked the external antenna to the WR-22’s AM antenna\u00a0screw terminals.<\/p>\n

My goodness, all over again! Where the CCRadio hadn’t responded to this\u00a0setup at all well, the WR-22 lit up with all sorts of signals. Now, I’d read\u00a0on your site that the HDR-18 coupled the external AM antenna via a coil\u00a0wrapped around its internal ferrite rod. Perhaps this radio already HAS the\u00a0magic coil that seems to make so much difference built in, from the factory.
\nIt goes to show that your mileage may vary; a little experimentation with\u00a0your particular setup never hurts!<\/p>\n

I have a problem I’m sure a lot of your readers would love to have; there\u00a0are exactly NO really powerful AM radio signals in my area. Today I set up\u00a0several radios for a rough comparison to give you an idea of how things work\u00a0here.<\/p>\n

Tecsun PL-880, no external antenna, sitting on the “best” windowsill in the\u00a0back of the house: 4 AM (Medium wave) stations.<\/p>\n