{"id":54134,"date":"2022-09-24T06:42:14","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T10:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=54134"},"modified":"2022-09-24T06:42:14","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T10:42:14","slug":"teaching-an-old-dog-old-tricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/09\/teaching-an-old-dog-old-tricks\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching an old dog old tricks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was Don Moore\u2019s excellent article — An Introduction to DXing the MF Marine Bands<\/a> — that inspired me. If you haven\u2019t read it, do so now<\/a>; it\u2019s terrific. But be warned: my guess is that it will inspire you too.<\/p>\n

Bottom line, ever since I read it, I have very much wanted to hear at least some of those MF marine stations that Don writes about. One of Don\u2019s recommendations is \u201cHang Out on 2182 kHz.\u201d So sometimes when I am messing around in the radio shack, I will park one of my shortwave receivers on 2182 USB in the hopes of hearing some marine communications. 2182 is the frequency that the US Coast Guard once monitored as a distress frequency, but no more.<\/p>\n

According to Don: \u201cToday 2182 kHz still gets some use as a calling frequency, where a ship and a shore station quickly arrange to have a conversation on another frequency. But the more common use now is for shore-based marine broadcasters to pre-announce marine information broadcasts they are about to transmit on other frequencies.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Just the other day, I brought up 2182 on my Satellit 800, but the atmospheric noise was pretty bad. I fooled around with a couple of different indoor wire antenna configurations but wasn\u2019t able to achieve any substantial improvement. But in the midst of that messing around, I \u201crediscovered\u201d my Icom IC-706 MkIIG on a shelf. It receives from 30 kHz to 199 MHz and from 400 to 470 MHz, and I used mine for over a decade to run the Commuter Assistance Network on two meters<\/a>. I still keep the 706 as a back-up in case my main rig for running the net goes down.<\/p>\n

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

But I had never used the 706 extensively on HF (weird, I know, but that\u2019s the truth). Nevertheless, a little voice in the back of my head (probably one of the brain dudes) kept saying \u201cWhy don\u2019t you give the 706 a try as an HF receiver?\u201d<\/p>\n

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

So I did. I hooked up the 706 up to my horizontal room loop<\/a> through some coax and an LDG 9:1 unun (the same antenna setup I had been using on the Satellit 800). And \u2013 shazam \u2013 the 706 is substantially quieter on 2182 with that antenna than the Satellit 800.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s good, I thought, but what if the 706 appears to be quieter because it is less sensitive? So I did some comparative tests with the 706 and the Satellit 800 on the 80 and 40 meter ham bands and satisfied myself that the 706 is both quieter and more sensitive than the Satellit 800. I could just plain hear the signals better (and more pleasantly) with the 706.<\/p>\n

The only substantial weirdness with the Icom 706 MkIIG is that, as a small unit, it has relatively few buttons on its face. As a result, it has no keypad for direct frequency access. There are buttons for jumping from one ham band to another and another button for changing tuning steps, so with judicious use of those buttons and the tuning knob, it\u2019s fairly easy to get from one frequency to another, but it is not as fast as direct entry.<\/p>\n

And, of course, the 706 does not have all the cool seek-and-store functions and the like that are available on today\u2019s really slick shortwave portables.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the upshot: if you\u2019ve been on the hunt for a better HF receiver with single sideband capabilities, an old dog, like an old ham transceiver, might be just what you need. And if you are already enjoying an old ham transceiver as a shortwave receiver, I\u2019d like to hear about it.<\/p>\n

So, have I heard any of those cool MW maritime stations? Not yet, but I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll have fun trying!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM It was Don Moore\u2019s excellent article — An Introduction to DXing the MF Marine Bands — that inspired me. If you haven\u2019t read it, do so now; it\u2019s terrific. But be warned: my guess is that it will inspire you too. Bottom line, ever since I read it, I have very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[3194,545,3,26,43],"tags":[3276,2190,9323,4082],"class_list":["post-54134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-posts","category-ham-radio","category-news","category-radios","category-shortwave-radio","tag-general-coverage-transceivers","tag-icom-ic-706mkii","tag-jock-elliott-kb2gom","tag-shortwave-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-e58","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61335,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/12\/here-we-go-loop-de-loop-in-which-your-humble-correspondent-tests-a-hypothesis\/","url_meta":{"origin":54134,"position":0},"title":"Here we go loop de loop . . . in which your humble correspondent tests a hypothesis","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"December 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM It was this post by Alan -- https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/11\/bbc-rd-how-to-test-a-loop-antenna\/ -- that set me off. After downloading the BBC report on how to test a loop antenna, I noticed the following in it: \u201cPolarisation Illustrations of the antenna usually show it mounted upright; that is, with its axis\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\/2024\/12\/MW-amp-001-1024x431.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/MW-amp-001-1024x431.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/MW-amp-001-1024x431.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60044,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/06\/the-joys-of-traveling-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":54134,"position":1},"title":"The Joys of Traveling Light","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"June 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM I had intended to travel light; I really did . . . but I betrayed my best intentions. Instead of a \u201cminimal\u201d radio go-bag, I had stuffed a small cross-body bag with: a ham radio handi-talkie (a Yaesu VX-6R) with high-performance antenna, extra batteries for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Traveling-Light-radio-gear-003-002-Medium.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":54111,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/09\/the-passing-of-a-compassionate-shortwave-listener-agnes-joan-negra\/","url_meta":{"origin":54134,"position":2},"title":"The passing of a compassionate shortwave listener, Agnes Joan Negra","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"September 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM I just received this: Dear Jock: It is with a heavy heart that I must report that 102 year old, Agnes Joan Negra passed away last Friday, peacefully, and at home. She went into Hospice care about three weeks ago. We had a private funeral for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Guest Posts"","block_context":{"text":"Guest Posts","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/guest-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/waves-of-hope.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":53468,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/07\/what-is-it-about-swling-that-keeps-you-coming-back-a-reader-participation-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":54134,"position":3},"title":"What is it about SWLing that keeps you coming back? A reader participation post.","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"July 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM After trying to copy Shortwave Australia on 4835 this AM, the curiosity bug has bitten me. What, I wonder, is it about SWLing that keeps my fellow readers of SWLing.com coming back? For me, it\u2019s three things. 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When I worked the world on the HF ham bands, I considered myself a \u201cconversation hunter.\u201d I wasn\u2019t content to simply make a contact, exchange signal reports, and move on; I wanted to\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\/2022\/12\/short-dipole-002-001-1024x734.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/short-dipole-002-001-1024x734.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/short-dipole-002-001-1024x734.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55946,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2023\/02\/the-ccrane-skywave-ssb-2-and-long-wire-antennas\/","url_meta":{"origin":54134,"position":5},"title":"The CCrane Skywave SSB 2 and long wire antennas","author":"Jock Elliott","date":"February 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Jock Elliott, KB2GOM Frequently when people write about attaching a long wire to a portable shortwave receiver, readers will comment that you need to worry about desensitizing or overloading the receiver or ever harming the front end of the receiver. Clearly that can be a concern. But recently I\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\/2023\/02\/Skywave-SSB2-001-1024x768-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Skywave-SSB2-001-1024x768-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Skywave-SSB2-001-1024x768-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Skywave-SSB2-001-1024x768-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54134","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\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54134"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54141,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54134\/revisions\/54141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}