{"id":42934,"date":"2020-04-21T09:02:12","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T13:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=42934"},"modified":"2020-04-21T09:02:12","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T13:02:12","slug":"bruces-passion-for-swling-and-single-transistor-regenerative-receivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/04\/bruces-passion-for-swling-and-single-transistor-regenerative-receivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce’s passion for SWLing and single transistor regenerative receivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Bruce (VE3EAR), who shares the following:<\/p>\n

I live in the village of Saltford, ON, Canada, near the eastern shore of Lake Huron. It\u2019s a quiet location signal wise, and I\u2019m lucky that I have enough property to erect some big antennas. My two favourites are a 1200 foot long terminated Beverage, aimed at 50 degrees true, which targets Europe and the UK. The other is a 333 foot perimeter delta-loop, apex up and oriented north-south. Both antennas are fed with RG-6 coaxial cables and impedence-matching transformers.<\/p>\n

I use the loop with a recently acquired Airspy HF+ Discovery SDR and the Gqrx SDR software, in my iMac. I like to listen to amateur activity on 160, 80, and 40 metres, along with the few shortwave broadcast station that are still on the air. I also like to listen to the trans-Atlantic air traffic control stations in Shannon, Ireland and Gander, Canada.<\/p>\n

I once heard a U2 spy plane returning from a mission over Russia!<\/p>\n

My other hobby is designing and building simple, one transistor regen receivers, most of which tune the AM broadcast band, although I have built a couple covering the lower portion of the HF broadcast bands as well, just for a challenge. All my receivers are built breadboard style.<\/p>\n

My favourite of them is one based upon the Vackar oscillator, with the addition of a diode detector and \u201cBenny\u201d, as is used in crystal radios.<\/p>\n

Here is the schematic of the Vackar circuit:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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

The diode and \u201cBenny\u201d connect to the collector of the transistor, then to a pair of home made headphones using two telephone earpiece elements installed in a pair of hearing protectors. The receiver is both very selective and very sensitive. Here is a pic:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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

Most of the electronics are on a proto-board, which allowed easy component substitutions during the build. When I had it optimized, I decided to leave it that way! The controls, left to right, are on-off switch, regen, fine tuning, main tuning, and range selector switch, hidden behind the reduction drive. Audio is taken from the DET OUT jack, to either the headphones described above, or to an audio amplifier for listening with a speaker.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bruce, it sounds like you certainly have an excellent spot and excellent antennas for DXing! I love regen receivers as well and radio design can hardly be more simple.<\/p>\n

Thank you for sharing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bruce (VE3EAR), who shares the following: I live in the village of Saltford, ON, Canada, near the eastern shore of Lake Huron. It\u2019s a quiet location signal wise, and I\u2019m lucky that I have enough property to erect some big antennas. My two favourites are a 1200 foot long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"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":[373,627,2262,3,305,43],"tags":[8460,3112,3111],"class_list":["post-42934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-am","category-how-to","category-listener-posts","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-shortwave-radio","tag-bruce-mccreath-ve3ear","tag-regen-receivers","tag-regenerative-receivers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-bau","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44834,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/bruce-compares-two-homebrew-ncpl-antennas-to-the-airspy-youloop\/","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":0},"title":"Bruce compares two homebrew NCPL antennas to the Airspy Youloop","author":"Thomas","date":"August 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Bruce (VE3EAR), who writes: I decided that more testing of the Noise-Cancelling Passive Loop (YouLoop) antenna was needed, but I wanted to start with a clean page. I built two identical loops using some 3\/8 inch heliax scraps I had on hand. Both are\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\/2020\/08\/YouLoop2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/YouLoop2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/YouLoop2.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49586,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/07\/mike-harwood-explores-active-magnetic-loop-antennas-with-sdrplay\/","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":1},"title":"Mike Harwood explores active magnetic loop antennas with SDRplay","author":"Thomas","date":"July 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to Jon Hudson with SDRplay who shares the following announcement: Introducing a new series of videos comparing the performance of wideband active loop amplifier\/antennas for HF frequencies and below. In this introductory video, Mike Harwood shows how an RSPduo enables a real-time comparison of two antennas - in\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\/2018\/05\/SDRplay-RSPduo-Antenna-Ports-Angle-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/SDRplay-RSPduo-Antenna-Ports-Angle-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/SDRplay-RSPduo-Antenna-Ports-Angle-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/SDRplay-RSPduo-Antenna-Ports-Angle-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24400,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/the-w6lvp-magnetic-loop-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":2},"title":"The W6LVP magnetic loop antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"February 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Troy Riedel, who asks: Just curious if you or anyone you know have any experience with Magnetic Loops from W6LVP? [...]Here's his eBay page - 458 feedbacks and 100%. Thank, Troy! I've never used the W6LVP loop, but the price--in comparison with other wideband\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Accessories"","block_context":{"text":"Accessories","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/accessories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/W6LVP-Loop.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":54741,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/11\/video-giuseppe-tests-four-classic-receivers-on-three-different-antennas\/","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":3},"title":"Video: Giuseppe tests four classic receivers on three different antennas","author":"Thomas","date":"November 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to\u00a0SWLing Post\u00a0contributor,\u00a0Giuseppe Morl\u00e8 (IZ0GZW), who shares the following: Dear Thomas and Friends of SWLing Post, This is Giuseppe Morl\u00e8 from Formia, central Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea. I want to share with you this test with 4 old receivers with 3 different antennas: Yaesu FRG-7 AOR 3030 -\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\/2022\/11\/FRG-7-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/FRG-7-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/FRG-7-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/FRG-7-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/FRG-7-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23941,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/video-eb3dyws-homebrewed-regenerative-receiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":4},"title":"Video: EB3DYW’s Homebrewed regenerative receiver","author":"Thomas","date":"June 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"While browsing a videos on YouTube, I stumbled across this demonstration of a brilliant little homebrewed regen receiver by Javier Guillaumet (EB3DYW): https:\/\/youtu.be\/EUTTGHjnTjU Click here to view on YouTube. What a beautiful little receiver! Though I've build a number of receiver kits, I've never built one from scratch. Someday, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Regenerative-Receiver-Homebrew.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Regenerative-Receiver-Homebrew.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Regenerative-Receiver-Homebrew.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20248,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/selecting-a-budget-antenna-for-urban-radio-listening\/","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":5},"title":"Selecting a budget antenna for urban radio listening","author":"Thomas","date":"August 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, an SWLing Post reader contacted me with questions regarding budget antenna choices for an urban apartment.\u00a0He's about to purchase an SDR, but knows that a decent antenna capable of coping with urban radio interference is a\u00a0critical\u00a0component. I suggested that, since I'm no expert with urban interference, he pose his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban-City-Cityscape","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Urban-City-Cityscape-e1470052384993.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Urban-City-Cityscape-e1470052384993.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Urban-City-Cityscape-e1470052384993.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Urban-City-Cityscape-e1470052384993.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42934\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}