Requirements for DX

[Nick23]

Just yesterday I made over 2000 mile contact to Jacksonville, Florida from Phoenix, Az. This was using a barefoot Uniden pc78ltw and a Predator 10-K on a mag. It has a lot to do with conditions. My signal was smaller and the contact didn't last long, but I did make the contact.

If you don't run a little fire on am you might be lucky to get over the noise floor. Then you have to go up against 100-1000 watt stations. Did I say it wasn't possible, no. On am you are lucky when you get barefoot contacts. Running power on am will help you enjoy the hobby. Instead of getting frustrated and yelling into your radio for hours with no results.

 

[ND88]

Just yesterday I made over 2000 mile contact to Jacksonville, Florida from Phoenix, Az. This was using a barefoot Uniden pc78ltw and a Predator 10-K on a mag. It has a lot to do with conditions. My signal was smaller and the contact didn't last long, but I did make the contact.

If you don't run a little fire on am you might be lucky to get over the noise floor. Then you have to go up against 100-1000 watt stations. Did I say it wasn't possible, no. On am you are lucky when you get barefoot contacts. Running power on am will help you enjoy the hobby. Instead of getting frustrated and yelling into your radio for hours with no results.

lmao, this is me.
So I guess what you all are saying is ditch the wilson and get a permanently mounted antenna so I can bond and ground it properly? I was thinking about installing a 108" whip on the lip of the truck bed. sound like a better antenna system? Wish I just would have bought the predator when I was antenna shopping, I was trying to decide between that and the wilson and kept reading that the 1000 mag mount was nearly as good.

 

[GnG8d]

Then you have to go up against 100-1000 watt stations.

That range of power would make a good driver

 

[M0GVZ]

How about a better antenna and amp? Just saying it works for me.

If you bought a 400BHP car and it only put out the same power at the wheels because of transmission losses as a 200BHP car would you be happy?

A better antenna will still be working like crap on a poor installation. Yes it'll work a bit better than the antenna you've replaced but it still isn't going to be working to its full potential.

An amp only compensates partially. It won't improve receive and if you've a poor install adding more power can actually create problems because of the increased common mode RFI. There's a good demonstration on this board about why an amp doesn't cure everything. THere was one post from a guy with an antenna mounted on the rear bumper running 100W who couldn't get 5 miles up the road wondering how to get it to work better. I can do 20+ with 4W because my antenna is installed properly. 4W beats 100W simply because of the antenna installation.

 

[Bundy]

lmao, this is me.
So I guess what you all are saying is ditch the wilson and get a permanently mounted antenna so I can bond and ground it properly? I was thinking about installing a 108" whip on the lip of the truck bed. sound like a better antenna system? Wish I just would have bought the predator when I was antenna shopping, I was trying to decide between that and the wilson and kept reading that the 1000 mag mount was nearly as good.

I don't see where the Wilson mag is the problem. Would it be better if you drilled the hole? Probably yes from what I've heard but I cant see that being necessary.

 

[Nick23]

If you bought a 400BHP car and it only put out the same power at the wheels because of transmission losses as a 200BHP car would you be happy?

A better antenna will still be working like crap on a poor installation. Yes it'll work a bit better than the antenna you've replaced but it still isn't going to be working to its full potential.

An amp only compensates partially. It won't improve receive and if you've a poor install adding more power can actually create problems because of the increased common mode RFI. There's a good demonstration on this board about why an amp doesn't cure everything. THere was one post from a guy with an antenna mounted on the rear bumper running 100W who couldn't get 5 miles up the road wondering how to get it to work better. I can do 20+ with 4W because my antenna is installed properly. 4W beats 100W simply because of the antenna installation.

Most amps have pre amps. These will help recive greatly. He has a good antenna setup. Stop saying he has a poor antenna setup.

 

[Nick23]

I can do 30+ miles with my barefoot Uniden 78 and a Predator 10-K. And that's with the sinful magnet mount.

 

[Nick23]

ND88 did you say you ordered a new MIC? I can't remember if you said that somewhere along the line. If so what did you order?

 

[johnny9]

just thought back to when i had a similar problem in a truck yrs ago..i put a ground strap/wire from the antenna to a bolted frame connection and had great results.
that being said theres nothing like a 102'' ss whip,,ever,period!,imo..meaning i never had any wilson 5000 or equivelent out perform a whip..and ive had some great wison antennas.
when i ran a whip many diff times it was night and day difference,but it still has to have a good ground and set up properly.

 

[ND88]

ND88 did you say you ordered a new MIC? I can't remember if you said that somewhere along the line. If so what did you order?

Yes. I ordered an Astatic Road Devil. Any experience with one? I researched a lot of different mics and liked the way that one sounded. I'm excited to try it out, i'm hoping it's a step up from the stock cobra mic i'm using, i get reports that it is quiet.

 

[Mustang 131]

If you bought a 400BHP car and it only put out the same power at the wheels because of transmission losses as a 200BHP car would you be happy?

A better antenna will still be working like crap on a poor installation. Yes it'll work a bit better than the antenna you've replaced but it still isn't going to be working to its full potential.

An amp only compensates partially. It won't improve receive and if you've a poor install adding more power can actually create problems because of the increased common mode RFI. There's a good demonstration on this board about why an amp doesn't cure everything. THere was one post from a guy with an antenna mounted on the rear bumper running 100W who couldn't get 5 miles up the road wondering how to get it to work better. I can do 20+ with 4W because my antenna is installed properly. 4W beats 100W simply because of the antenna installation.

Exactly. That's why I run 6 element on a 40' boom. But that'll only get ya so far. You need at least 100 watt carrier to be heard on the am channels. Anything under 2 carrier is basically qrp.

 

[Shockwave]

I'll take that challenge. A lot of operators spend the time to correctly run am. Never pinch and run around 160% pos.
And a good fight is fun...God 80 am can get boring, with a few exceptions.

I'm going to have to assume those that think good sounding AM is rare on this band have not heard your transmitter 131. Probably one of the top 10 I've heard and nothing on 75 could be interpreted as noticeably better.

While AM dies a slow death on the HF bands it's in revival this solar cycle on 11. At no time in history have there been so many Hi-Fi stations on the band.

 

[Nick23]

Yes. I ordered an Astatic Road Devil. Any experience with one? I researched a lot of different mics and liked the way that one sounded. I'm excited to try it out, i'm hoping it's a step up from the stock cobra mic i'm using, i get reports that it is quiet.

Yeah most stock MICs are crap. I think you'll have great results with that MIC. I really like my new 636.

 

[M0GVZ]

Most amps have pre amps. These will help recive greatly.

No they don't. They never have done. All they do is increase the crud and make the dynamic range even worse making the weak station even harder to copy.

He has a good antenna setup.

Not if the furthest he's getting is 3 miles.

 

[Nick23]

No they don't. They never have done. All they do is increase the crud and make the dynamic range even worse making the weak station even harder to copy.

Not if the furthest he's getting is 3 miles.

I think your right. Companies and techs across the country designed them specifically not work

That doesn't mean a thing. I lived in a place for a year where there was nobody on the air. I thought it was my station. No, I went back to my home town and talked to everyone with ease..