I totally agree with Jim. Diversity receive is the only way I use the second rx, and I never invested one cent in extra antennas for the second receiver. For use with my horizontally polarized main antenna I just connect the second rx to my existing vertical, which works fine even on bands that it is not designed for. At Field Day I put up a BuddiPole vertical with no coil and no attempt whatsoever to tune to any band, with a single wire counterpoise of random length. If I didn't have the vertical at home, or the BuddiPole for the field, I would just use two pieces of wire and suspend whichever way is convenient. However, assuming the antennas are not far from each other, it is important that they have opposite polarizations.
To have the second receiver and not use it for diversity is a tragedy. After you set the rf gain on the subreceiver to get a decent balance between the two receivers, you will find that the second receiver often allows you to hear a station in the second rx that is temporarily unreadable in the main receiver due to qsb. Also, in crowded band conditions the different stations within the receiver passband will arrive with varying polarizations, and you can hear them spatially separated like orchestra instruments on a stereo "sound stage". This is helpful both for ssb and cw. Sometimes it can even help with multiple cw signals on the exact same frequency. 73, Erik K7TV >Your second antenna does NOT need to be resonant to receive, either by itself or with another in diversity mode. My receive antenna is seasonal so I have employed antennas for other bands for receive when it is not up. While a non resonant will not present as strong a signal, it also will not present as strong a noise. The S/N ratio is unchanged but the human ear seems to hear better when the noise is reduced. I typically use an antenna for the next band (even harmonic). 73, Jim W5QM ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
