On these cold winter nights, there's few things I enjoy as much as reading a book or magazine in our home library while SWL'ing.
We have a wood stove in the library, so it's often the warmest spot in the house. Last year I upgraded my receiver from a Radio Shack DX-390 to a well-worn but serviceable Heathkit SB-1400 and matching power supply. The SB-1400 was the Heathkit version of the Yaesu FT-747GX with some front panel changes.
The DX-390 is not a bad rig; but for use as a table radio its tall, skinny format makes it awkward and easily toppled. The SB-1400 works very, very well in its place, even though it doesn't have the DX-390's keyboard entry feature. The Heathkit's performance was decent, but I knew it wasn't what it could be. With my random wire antenna, the rig receives, but with no way to match the antenna to the rig it never worked as well as I felt it could.
Today my solution for improved performance arrived.
Recently I was the winning bidder on a little MFJ antenna tuner, the 16010-ST. I was certain a matching network would improve the receiver's abilities, and this one was dirt cheap. It's the unit on the bottom rung of the MFJ tuners, and it's appearance — tan with woodgrain top — meant it was of 1980s-era vintage, and less desireable than a later model.
Fortunately the one I received is in nearly perfect shape. And it was a stroke of luck it was the OLDER version too — the current MFJ-16010 tuner is a long-wire tuner only, and is a “L” network with an inductor and a capacitor. The early version I have has three knobs — a capacitor input, the inductor and capacitor output, just like my main shack antenna tuner. The one I have also has a 4:1 balun, and can handle coax fed, long wire and balanced lines.
None of this matters that much since I only have a random wire. It's nice to have a little tuner that could be pressed into service if needed, i.e. Field Day, QRP, portable, etc. The tuner only handles 200 watts, so that probably means being very careful if using 100 watts SSB or CW.
I don't plan on transmitting from the library; the XYL wasn't very happy to see a radio show up there in the first place, and my “it's just a receiver” defense didn't really fly. I've learned to pull off the headphones when she wants to sit and talk, so perhaps its earned a permanent spot. The tuner makes a world of difference, bringing signals up to the levels I'm used to hearing on my doublet outside. You know, I could run the wire out the window, over the tree and tie it off at the barn …. all I would need then is a straight key … naw, better not push my luck!
Happy SWL'ing es 73 … de KY4Z …. dit dit ….