Hey all!
First off, I forgot to mention last evening..
After a first listening, I snapped a ferrite core on the coax as close
to the antenna as possible
It made a big reduction in noise.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=110-452
In fairness, I did the same thing on the ST-2 whip last weekend
with the same result. (that was about all I could do that weekend)
(heh)
So I highly recommend trying that no matter what antenna you use.
Haven't tried it with twinlead, but thats worth a try for those using.
It really was a big reduction in noise.... which is not to say that
the quad didn't already majorly reduce the noise level by itself.
Also, thanks again to all for the well wishes and kind thoughts!!!
Its surprising how much better it makes ya feel.
I still feel bad for turning this into a medical thread.
I was thinking... maybe I should ask the owner to change the name
from AK to AudioGeriatrics or Medical Karma or similar.
Now for the backstory:
Fri was a rough day. Some are better than others tho a pattern
seems to be emerging... early in the day isn't to bad, but evening
the major pain sets in.
On fri, I had a migrane type headache on top of the rest.
Dunno if its related or not. The rest involves being nauseaus
to some degree all the time and just feeling generally weak and
lousy.
Fri was a get nothing done day. Sat morning was better... but if
ever there was a day ya wanted to just sit around, that was it.
In the AM it wasn't so bad so I got all ambitious. Put it in my head
that a quick trip to 2 local stores was do-able.
So I forced myself late in the day. Evening actually, by the time I
got out.
First RatShack... to return/exchange the microphone boom which
they mistakenly gave me instead of the stand.... back on the day
when the stone-pain started.
Come to think of it, it alllll started right there in RS that day.
Hmmmmm...
So there I was in R/S.. waiting for the return to be processed,
holding my gut and trying to fake a smile... lol.
Next stop... Lowes.. for the Propane for the torch.
The main thing needed for joining the last few copper elbows
to the copper tubes, and the coax to the copper tubes...
and a couple of other odds and ends, including a couple of copper
pipe clamps.
(I guess I saw the wrighting on the wall)
After barely making it home, I realized that was it... I really couldn't
get it done.
At least not that night, and in time for sunday listening.
Sunday is radio-music listening day begining with a great blues
show from 10AM-1PM.
Later, I'm going to mention the stations I'm trying go get, because
the situations are so diverse, it may help to understand better
the improvements the quad makes vs the challenges I'm trying to
overcome.
Sooo... obsessed with finally getting this thing done, I set about
trying to do what I could.
It pretty quickly became clear that setting up the mic stand and
stripping/pigtailing the coax was about all I was gonna be able to
get done b4 bedtime.
I knew that the quad structure would hold together... just barely
without completing the soldering..
(about half of it got soldered up successfully previously)
(heh.. thats when the pain first hit in a big way 2 weeks ago)
It would be real rickety, but if careful it might be good enough to
try it out.
Indeed it has been.
Since I now had the mic stand... and one end of the coax pigtailed,
all that was left to do, for it to pass signal to the tuner..
was to connect the coax to it.
Thats where the copper pipe clamps come in..
Glad I had the foresight to grab em.
Obviously the bare coax ends are clamped to the copper tubing
for now.
The point is..
Surely there'll be a better connection when the coax is soldered
on, and the pipes are soldered together.
That might yield a bit more signal at the tuner's terminal.
Also, since its so rickety, I could only turn it and move it around..
but not turn it sideways (for horizontal polarization) or put it out
the window, or even move it to every possible spot.
It did let me try it out... to see if its even worth the effort to complete.
It is.
Now, I can take my time to make it solid and pretty(er).
What should've been a one day project is something I can now
finish when I feel up to it, without keeping you all waiting for results.
Maybe I'll post a new thread (minus the kidney stones) that would
be more concise, when its in a finished state and I have more certain
data.
----------------------
The stations I want to get are as follows:
Nothing above 92.0.
ALL commercial garbage... both in content and SQ.
But....
Several nice things below 92, particularly on sundays.
There's a full-time 24/7 jazz station at 88.9
Its the most challenging to pull in, (it figures) but way worth it cuz
its good, and would give me listening pleasure not just on
sundays.
Its WDNA.org. Only 6KW, 47miles away almost directly to the south, over the horizon.
The side of the building parallel with my window is slightly in the
way of LOS.
Its so low power since it might interfere with TV ch-6.. heh.
Its further hobbled by the fact it shares the freq with a strong
NPR to the north only slightly further away... and another
broadcaster in the tampa area causing the FCC to make them
point the radiation pattern downwards in my direction.
Totally figures... the only 24/7 jazz station in the area, and a good
one.. hobbled in every way possible.
FM-Fool.com (a fantastic site btw) has it listed as -72.9DB down
at my location, and recommends a 10.2 ant height above average
terrain.
The real strong stations (which suk) are listed in the low to mid
-30s DB down.
Those you can pick up on a tooth filling... even in my RF-Hell here.
This station is the "holy grail" for me.
It even has decent SQ. Probably due to being so low budget that
they can't afford all the fancy modern digital junk.
They play CDs and some LPs.
With the ST-2 whip... noise level equal to or worse than signal..
fades in and out, with the NPR to the north fading in about a
quarter of the time.(muting off and filter-narrow)
So... unlistenable.
On the other hand... with the quad...
Still noisy... to noisy to listen to it as a "serious" source in the main
system, but noise lower than signal.
Good news is... with the tuner in mono... it sounds fine! (quad ant)
About a 3 to 3-1/2 on the meter when boosted with the MD "Signal-Sleuth".
Totally listenable with practically no noise if you listen in mono.
I could live with that if I have to... but if only I could get that lil bit
more for stereo.....
With the ST-2.. unlistenable is even with it out the window, in mono,
and with the Sleuth.
Next is the (1 year old) 24/7 classical station.
Its nowhere near as hobbled, and same distance away.
WKCP 89.7.
100KW (almost) from a 1000ft tower.
Over the horizon, at -59.4DB, (same transmitter site I think)
13.7ft recommended receive ant height here.
This one is still a challenge.
With the quad, it comes in at around a 3 on the meter, and 3-1/2
with the Sleuth engaged.
With the ST-2, it was about one point lower on the meter.
So.. its still a bit noisy. To much so to be a good source.
But now, the noise is in the background, rather than competing
with the signal... and theres less hashy noise (mainly just hiss)
then with the ST-2.
Next on the challenge list is:
WXEL 90.7, to the north.
30kw at 1000ft. 29mi, -62db.
I guess its bad terrain between, why the -62... so its a challenge.
Its LOS though.
Its an NPR with decent but variable SQ. Divided between talk,
Varied classical and to a lesser extent, jazz-type programing.
On sundays, they relay a great program called Music by the sea.
http://yachtamusic.com/
Its a real nice sunday afternoon show, featuring "Great American Songbook"
music. Ie: Swing/bigband/vocal.
Its streamed for those interested, and I really enjoy it.
Decent SQ... he plays about 50% CDs and 50% LPs!
...and brags about the "brand new audio chain".
This station was barely listenable with the ST-2, with the noise level
high enough to make it unplesant to listen.
(also partially blocked by the building side parallel)
On days with bad weather, much worse.
Mono didn't help much.
2 on the meter, 2-1/2 with sleuth engaged.
Now... with the quad.. 3 on the meter, 3-1/2 or a bit more with
sleuth. A bit more occurs with careful ant placement.
I didn't really feel up to experimenting to get every last bit.
Its now very listenable... bearable hiss in the background.
Didn't even feel the need to try the mono switch.
That gives me one more station as an option much of the time.
My tuner needs a 4 for good quieting.. 4-1/2 is dead silent.
(well almost)(not a "black background but like an LP or R2R)
Next is WKCP.
A highschool station. Well Board of Ed technically.
Mostly junk, but that GREAT blues show on sun mornings.
http://www.blueatheart.com/home.html
This one is a good news story.
With the ST-2... to noisy to enjoy.
Even with the Sleuth engaged.
Heavy hiss, competing with the signal...
Worse yet, very suceptible to the grungy-hash from the neighbor's
appliance... whatever it is, they insist on using all day every sunday.
A digital TV or computer, probably... I think its the upstairs neighbor
and whatever it is wipes out all RF reception.
This station is located due west, and most of my apartment and
the neighors are in that direction...
So, lots of noise between the ant and that station.
The best reception is near the windows for all the other staions
which are all north or south.
Its a 3kw station, 5mi away with a 100ft ant height, on top of the
school bldg. (lol)
With the ST-2, veeerry hard to listen to. To bad too, since the SQ
is good and the content is great... from 10AM till 1 PM.
With the quad... with some work at placement...
IT COMES IN GREAT!!!! WooHoo!! :thmbsp::ntwrthy:
:nutz:
That leaves the only other station I care about:
WLRN 91.3, due south/south-east with less bounce of the bldg..
13.3mi, 1000ft tower-LOS. 50kw -38.4db here.
This one was never a problem to get.
With the ST-2.. about a 4 on the meter, 4.5 with sleuth.
Even upright/indoors it worked fine, only with a tad more multipath
and some more noise, compared to out the window horizontal.
This station has great SQ all the time... in fact I can't believe its FM radio.
They don't play files.. mp3 or any other type from servers.
Its all CD & LP. I wouldn't be surprised if they also have/play
DVD-A and/or SACD.
In any case, they have damn good sounding CD players.
There's a decent "mainstream" jazz show each night from
10pm-1am thats fairly decent.
On sunday nights though, there's a wonderful show called Night Train.
Hosted by a real old timer who has incredible knowledge.... and taste.
Its a somewhat historical show, with a 1 or 2 hour feature.
The feature is usually educational and fascinating.
There's the monthly installment of the Glenn Miller story
(or whatever he calls it) mainly during the war years.
Besides good music, its filled with stories and anecdotes of that
time.. like the difficulties the band members faced... for instance
after the fall of Paris, the men had families and couldn't send home
enough $$ to support them, and had to moonlight in the Cafes
of Paris... where ppl like Django Reinhardt would come and sit in.
Naturally he plays the recordings of that..
Or, the Tensions between the BBC and the U.S. Armed Forces
Radio ppl before D-Day, when BBC handled technical stuff and
A&R stuff.
There were conflicts in both technical matters, since the 2 organizations
just did things differently... and in artistic matters, like when the
BBC honchos forced Miller to incorporate. local talent... vocalists,
when
he rarely used them.
There was even a lengthy description of the vast directional antenna
arrays built along the British coast, to beam in the music to France
and Germany, as an important propaganda effort.
Other times, its historical stuff and accompanying music of other
important musical figures of the 20th century.
All with a swing/jazz focus.
The rest of the show, before and after the feature is incredibly
tastefully chosen jazz.
He plays about 50% LPs! ...particularly since much of this material
was never put on CD.. and likely will never be.
Including some radio transcriptions during the historical segment.
I hate missing this show... soooo much better than watching TV.
Sorry for the digression!
Its streamed from WLRN.org for those who may be interested.
-----------
This is another success story for the quad antenna, but for a
wierd
reason, and one I just can't figure out.
While it came in fine with the ST-2... just a small amount of background
hiss..
The sound is WAY better with the quad!!!
HUGE 3 dimensional enveloping sound.. Precise placement too.
Better bass too.
I just can't believe it.
As mentioned in yesterdays post, its the same on weak stations too.
So its not just the tuner working "better" due to more signal... or
even less noise.
I can't for the life of me figure out why this would happen, but I'm
SURE it is.
I'm a skeptic on that kind of thing too.. so at first I thought it was
just my ears or some such.. but its not.
Its real.
On this station... that was ok before... now its tremendous, and in
a SQ way!
I'd love to know why this is...
You'd think more signal would just help with quieting... not do
anything to the SQ... particularly since its an RF signal.
Go figure.
So thats the backstory, and the details promised last night.
Greg
:
uke:
). In the old days, they'd say buy a case or two of beer and pi** that bugger out now !!