[Leica] Short wave radio

[piers.hemy at gmail.com (piers@hemy.org)]

Chicksands or Edzell, Larry?


On 6/27/10, Lawrence Zeitlin <lrzeitlin at gmail.com> wrote:
> If we are still talking about short wave radio receivers, I have a 
> Realistic
> DX-302 which has worked well for the last quarter of a century. I picked it
> up at a closeout at the local Radio Shack for about $150. At the time it 
> was
> rated as comparable to the Yaesu FRG-7. These names and acronyms are about
> as familiar to DX radio fans as Summicron and pixel count are to Leica
> addicts. Both radios incorporated a modified Wadley loop design for
> frequency stability, although the DX-302 had to warm up for about 15 
> minutes
> before it was really stable.
>
>
> In the early 1960's I was involved in the communications intercept world of
> the NSA. The long range NSA sites typically had a mile radius circular
> antenna field funneled into a large bank of Racal communications receivers.
> Interesting messages about Russian troop movements were recorded and sent 
> to
> Washington DC for analysis. The Racal receivers cost over $6000 each in 
> real
> 1960's money. I was intrigued by the DX-302 because it had the same
> specifications and the same performance as the Racals at less than 1/20 the
> cost. Our antenna consisted of a long wire run up to the ceiling and strung
> around the walls of the room. The total length was about 60 feet. It was
> sufficient to bring in most European stations with excellent clarity. It
> could pick up Asian stations too, albeit with more noise. My experience 
> with
> COMINT convinced me that it was the antenna, rather than the receiver, that
> had the main influence on reception. The longer and more directional the
> antenna, the greater the range. I would have liked to string up a 400 foot
> rhombic pointing directly at Europe but alas I didn't have the space.
>
>
> My son was the real radio fan until he entered college and became 
> interested
> in girls. Now, with the internet, I hardly ever use the radio except to set
> my watch by WWV. The DX-302 just occupies space on the edge of my desk.
>
>
> Larry Z
>
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