On Tue, 2012-10-16 at 19:49 -0500, Bill Becky wrote:
Hi Group Has anyone found a way to improve the sensitivity on the 160
Meter Band?? It seems less lively compared to the other bands even
after alignment.
Thanks in advance
Bill KB9IV
There really very few instances where any increased sensitivity is
useful on 160M. If you listen to your radio without the antenna
attached and note the audio output and then attach the antenna you will
probably hear an increase in the audio output.
If you do hear an increase, any additional sensitivity does you no good
as the band noise will be amplified along with the signals by an equal
amount. An undesirable, associated effect is that the Rx will be more
easily overloaded.
Figure 1 on the 2nd page of the following .pdf shows some of the factors
that go into the type and amount of noise picked up by the average
antenna. Note the residual noise level as you move downward thru the
amateur bands. Factors such as proximity to your neighbors, the kind of
consumer junk they have in use, above or below ground utilities and the
like, tend toward more rather than less noise.
http://www.support.seasonde.com/Technicians_Information_Page_for_SeaSondes/Site_Selection_files/HF_Noise2.pdf
Now if you do not hear an increase, your BOG or 500' Beverage or 2' Rx
loop might need some amplification. If you are using your Tx antenna
and you are not hearing a noise increase when the antenna is attached,
you might want to find out why. Some DeOxit might be in order.
Someone with the appropriate test equipment might determine what the
band by band sensitivity of their R4-C is to see if your experience is
abnormal or par for the course.
Some of the Drake equipment like the TR3 and TR4 run out of steam at the
bottom of their lowest band due to the size of the tuning capacitor(s).
You might verify that when the preselector is set at the bottom and top
of the 160M segment you see the same apparent sensitivity.
Joe, K9HDE
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