The one best, most consistent advice I see from the "elmers" (the presumably wise and experienced hams who have seen what works and what hasn't) is this: "first and foremost, before you spend money or effort on anything else, put up the best possible antenna you can, working against the best possible ground you can. Once you've done that, if there is any money left over, you can buy a radio."
Thanks for having engineered the SDRPlay and having manufactured the unit in a manner that is nearly universally affordable! Your demo was a very nice primer too. I found the water experiment to be interesting and wondered what rock salt added to the mix might have produced. In closing, being a watercolorist I could not but help notice the two apparently original watercolor paintings to the right of the mag-loop with respect to the interior location of the loop in the video footage.
Commenting on an old video, but I've just discovered it when I was wondering what I could use beyond the long wire antennas that come bundled with some hand-held receivers. This video is very interesting and instructive and it shows how good results can be obtained using nothing but garage stuff. Thanks a lot.
I have my RSP1a hooked up to my 34 foot Amateur Radio Vertical with 60 radials. I LOVE ❤️ this little receiver !! I also have the radio going through my Antenna transmatch so the signal is matched on every frequency. I do have to unhook it after every listening session. Amazing DX at night on all bands. I also built a small transmitting Loop that works portable :)
Nash102030 ... not sure the ground he has is good. I am on heavy soil with a clay substrata 36 inches down. I have a serious 72 inch cooper rod with only a couple of inches left above ground level and a heavy duty clamp. The difference was a s5 noise reduction .
High noise floor when using a wire, even if it is connected to a (real) earth or a counterpoise. The loop is the best all round antenna and as you call it "an option" it is far better compared to a simple wire. Also the loop in this version is a wideband antenna. It is the Signal to Noise ratio that gives good radio reception and the loop is always better compared to a wire antenna. As you can see in the video the noise floor of the loop is almost 30 dB lower compared to te wire so it will hear even the small signals on the air. Yes, there is the simplicity and low cost of a wire, but that is its only quality. The loop only uses ample space and is producing superiour signals, but it is more expensive. Nice video Jon but we can barely see the noise floor but lucky for us the S/N ratio indication of SDRuno shows us the quality of the received signals.
@@02vLxcZF Active mag loops are superb for HF and (depending on the design) below - see ua-cam.com/video/aky9sVS0rTU/v-deo.html Discones can work well above 10MHz (depending on the design) and are excellent wideband non-directional antennas for VHF and above. More about antennas here: www.sdrplay.com/antennasuggestions/
Absolutely fascinating, especially the role water can play in making your ground rod more effective. I live in Nova Scotia Canada, a place where the soil is wetter than in many other locations, especially in Spring & Fall. By the Atlantic Ocean we are one of the best places in the world for AM and SW listening. I really appreciate your tutorial on the importance of a good ground or counterpoise. You are a great teacher, thankyou.
Thank you so much! Your video enlightened me on ground plane and grounds. I’m new to this and your simple demonstration cleared up a lot of questions I have had. Sometimes the easy methods of explanation are so much better than detailed (or too much) information.
This demonstration would be a very useful tool when teaching an amateur radio class for beginners through advanced operators. Very well done sir. John AA8YE
Very good demonstration of the ground wire contribution to noise reduction. Not many UA-cam discuss this fact and they just say just hang long wire on a tree and attach it to the radio ( no mention of either ground or poise wires)
Good info for beginners, It doesn't take much effort to receive a good signal, also magnetic loops are bi-directional, the signal can be peaked by turning the loop.
Well worth watching ! I will say the sdrplay is a very fine swl receiver no matter what antenna and ground you can muster. I would pay BIG for a version with scanning function.
Oh.. interesting. We bought some 10ft ground rods for our upcoming antenna system (not sure what we'll use), but will definitely have a good grounding system (and bond it to our home ground).
You can get 20m washing line strong plastic coated steel core for £1.50p.from ASDA at the time of writing. It's whats going on my 4 band valve radio for SW listening.
Thanks for this, I've been looking for a video that shows the difference in signal before and after using a ground rod. Too many videos just show them putting a rod in but don't compare before and after. Going to CEF later so I'll grab a rod while I'm there :).
Helpful demo as I have just bought a rsp1a and a good earth helped a lot. So many WiFi signals close by does not help but the software helped attenuate these levels after tweaking. Tnx 73
A more efficient and easier ground stake would be: A 3/4" copper pipe hydrodrilled into the ground 6', the hole around the pipe filled with bentonite clay (cat litter, usually), and several teaspoons of copper sulfate mixed with the clay. This really works with bad ground conductivity (sandy, or limestone type ground surfaces) as the copper sulfate improves contact with the earth ground as it slowly leaches into the dirt. Add water to the clay copper sulfate mixture to get it working. Shortwave radio stations that do not place a metal ground mesh 1' under the ground use this, but multiplied 36 times in a 360 degree fan around their antenna, one stake every 10 degrees. It works, cause I've used it around vertically polarized antennas for decades.
Excellent demo! Thank you for sharing the various approaches. I enjoy my Wellbrook antennas at home and on DXpeditions but for hiking with a portable setup, a quick and easy ground plane would be a good way to help reception with a random wire.
Hello thank you for the video first off. I'm setting this up tomorrow hopefully and I'm using a 9 to 1 balun from an eBay seller named lowbander. He uses a separate built-in ground connection and I am going to use 125 feet approximately of wire running down my neighbors 7 foot tall stockade fence. I got his permission of course LOL. I'm looking forward to this. I also bought a ground rod and some 8 gauge wire to ground it once the authorities mark the natural gas line. I'm starting out with a RTL-SDR v3 but I am either getting a RSP1A or and RSP2 soon.
Good demo. Of course, while you say a 'good ground', the initial 20cm of earth rod in the ground isn't a 'good' ground. Better would be to drive that rod in further, or use several rods and link them.
Thank you very much for this very interesting video and the need of ground connection. It is simple and obvious. By the way, I am seen some people using balun 9/1 or 49/1. Why you do not propose such balun ?
Thank you for this informative video, still I have some questions: 1 with the longwire antenna by using a 9:1 balun will increase the reception or this js mainly used for transit purposes? 2 using the grounding connector from the outlet will induce any risks? 3 using a tuner unit like the Yaesu FRG 7700 will help or isn't needed for RSP1A? 4 I have a DIY magloop from a 2m copper (18mm in diameter) pipe and a 1000pF variable capacitor connected to the RSP1A. Is there the risk of burning the RSP1A (front-end)? Thank you Catalin
Really helpful. Maybe a silly question as I’m new to SW but on a portable radio receiver where would I connect a ground? I’m currently using a wire antenna with a crocodile clip on the radios telescopic antenna. Thanks.
Often, a portable shortwave radio's headphone socket is also coupled to the Radio's RF internal circuitry and is also RF Signal Ground. I found this article which tells you how to exploit this: groups.google.com/g/rec.radio.shortwave/c/sIpVAaOAHx4
you should read some of Tesla's patents on transmission, the Ground is probably more important than the Ant. as a Ham I have been making my own for 30 years
Very informative discussion and video but it leaves out an issue that can become a life threatening hazard and a financial nightmare if not addressed properly. If your antenna wire is above the roof of your house, 10m or so, it may attract a lightning discharge. Lightning arrestors for telecoms/radio circuits are commercially available and can be connected in series with the long wire antenna but are likely to cause impedance matching issues and signal loss of strength. Please comment
Thanks, is there anything i can do if my radio doesn't have an antenna socket? It has AC in, 12 volt dc in, headphone jack, audio in and battery compartment.
Nice video. But here is a question. What if you are using a portable shortwave radio that only provides a alligator clip attached to a simple wire antenna. How do you configure a counter poise or a ground?
Depends on the radio design - the whip may be in conjunction with a ferrite rod / tuning coil in which case it's relying on the magnetic field and an additional earth may not help much. However a long wire extension via your alligator clip would probably dominate and then additional benefit might be had by connecting a ground or counterpoise to the outer of say the headphone jack - again it depends on the design. A case of trial and error. The trick is to get more wanted signal and not even more by way of noise.
Thanks for the video very helpful as a newbie to SDR. I have just had my RSP 1A delivered yesterday. I am always mucking around with random wire antennas into my Tecsun S2000. I am looking forward to using this piece of apparatus, looks really interesting. Just wondering whether the use of a 9:1 Unun would be needed here, or my homemade ATU both which I use for my receiver, sorry for my ignorance on this. Thanks again.
Hi, could you please advise on this setup ? II have a (properly terminated) coaxial connected to the antenna port of my mains fed receiver, this coaxial goes up into my loft, at the loft the centre wire of this coaxial is connected to a long single wire (clipped around the roof space); do i still need to earth the coaxial ??. Bear in mind my receiver is earthed at the mains and so the coax connected into it is also earthed yes, so no need to earth it again with a stake or purpoise. Great vid btw, easy for us novices to understand.
Hi James, ideally you would connect some kind of counterpoise to the outer of the coax at the point where the other wire starts. It depends a lot on the frequencies of interest. For HF and above, because you are a significant portion of a wavelength away from ground, you can't really provide an RF ground in a loft situation. Hence why it's a counterpoise. The purpose of this is to create as big as possible a differential instantaneous voltage at the point where the coax starts. The job of the coax is to bring that signal to the radio without adding more noise. (The radio earth doesn't really do anything to help) In the real world you also have to make the counterpoise run well away from the other (centre-fed) wire for it to contribute and this in turn may cause a headache in the same roof-space and since it may need to run near say house wiring which is a terrible source of noise! Regarding impedance matching, this tends to be of secondary benefit for receiving set-ups. Use of baluns is a whole topic in itself but first and foremost it will be about signal strength and signal to noise. (Again I'm thinking about HF and below - please note that for VHF and above the length and quality of the coax becomes very important). Best of all, I recommend asking these questions and sharing your set-up with others in a forum where they can give real practical comments, suggestions and advice: www.sdrplay.com/communitylinks/ (these are SDR and SDRplay-related but much of the knowledge is radio receiver agnostic)
The one best, most consistent advice I see from the "elmers" (the presumably wise and experienced hams who have seen what works and what hasn't) is this: "first and foremost, before you spend money or effort on anything else, put up the best possible antenna you can, working against the best possible ground you can. Once you've done that, if there is any money left over, you can buy a radio."
One of the best demonstration on shortwave antenna I have seen so far. Thank you. You made my day.
Best shortwave antenna video on UA-cam! Thank you 👍
I can't wait untill my neighbors ask why I'm watering my antenna. I'm starting an antenna farm. Lol.
Win comment 💀💀💀
Thanks for having engineered the SDRPlay and having manufactured the unit in a manner that is nearly universally affordable!
Your demo was a very nice primer too. I found the water experiment to be interesting and wondered what rock salt added to the mix might have produced.
In closing, being a watercolorist I could not but help notice the two apparently original watercolor paintings to the right of the mag-loop with respect to the interior location of the loop in the video footage.
I think the water conductivity is already pretty good. And yes my other half is a watercolourist - not me!
One of the most useful antenna comparison videos i've ever seen! Thanks for posting
Commenting on an old video, but I've just discovered it when I was wondering what I could use beyond the long wire antennas that come bundled with some hand-held receivers.
This video is very interesting and instructive and it shows how good results can be obtained using nothing but garage stuff. Thanks a lot.
Old radios used to have one plug for the aerial antenna and another plug for the ground antenna
I have my RSP1a hooked up to my 34 foot Amateur Radio Vertical with 60 radials. I LOVE ❤️ this little receiver !! I also have the radio going through my Antenna transmatch so the signal is matched on every frequency. I do have to unhook it after every listening session. Amazing DX at night on all bands.
I also built a small transmitting Loop that works portable :)
Very excellent demonstration of setting up a simple wire antenna and also your grounding technique. Thank you, Sir.
These are the videos you would never want to end! Thank you John!
Thank you for showing that a receive antenna need not be complicated nor expensive, and yet will produce good results.
Thank you! I didn't know that grounding is so importandt for a receiving antenna.
Nash102030 ... not sure the ground he has is good. I am on heavy soil with a clay substrata 36 inches down. I have a serious 72 inch cooper rod with only a couple of inches left above ground level and a heavy duty clamp. The difference was a s5 noise reduction .
@@robertl.fallin7062 Well dude prolly got tired.. Give'm a break. ;)
I am impressed by your three demonstrations. I did not realize they will be so effective. Thank you.
You answered all my questions in one video. Thanks!
Wonderfully practical, informative, and clear. You pulled off the Trifecta .... as we say in the States. Thanks!
Very informative video. While I understand the theory of ground or counterpoise, it really is helpful to see a real world demonstration.
High noise floor when using a wire, even if it is connected to a (real) earth or a counterpoise. The loop is the best all round antenna and as you call it "an option" it is far better compared to a simple wire. Also the loop in this version is a wideband antenna. It is the Signal to Noise ratio that gives good radio reception and the loop is always better compared to a wire antenna. As you can see in the video the noise floor of the loop is almost 30 dB lower compared to te wire so it will hear even the small signals on the air. Yes, there is the simplicity and low cost of a wire, but that is its only quality. The loop only uses ample space and is producing superiour signals, but it is more expensive. Nice video Jon but we can barely see the noise floor but lucky for us the S/N ratio indication of SDRuno shows us the quality of the received signals.
How do discones compare to loops? For reception only, they seem to cover larger bandwidth and they also are cheaper
@@02vLxcZF Active mag loops are superb for HF and (depending on the design) below - see ua-cam.com/video/aky9sVS0rTU/v-deo.html
Discones can work well above 10MHz (depending on the design) and are excellent wideband non-directional antennas for VHF and above. More about antennas here: www.sdrplay.com/antennasuggestions/
You sir are brilliant. I love your products!
Absolutely fascinating, especially the role water can play in making your ground rod more effective. I live in Nova Scotia Canada, a place where the soil is wetter than in many other locations, especially in Spring & Fall. By the Atlantic Ocean we are one of the best places in the world for AM and SW listening. I really appreciate your tutorial on the importance of a good ground or counterpoise. You are a great teacher, thankyou.
Great video. I've got the Wellbroook hooked up to my RSP2pro and I'm very happy with the results.
Great! Simplest explanation without any extra stuff to complicate it, like baluns etc. Gives a chance to absorb the basics first.
Thank you so much! Your video enlightened me on ground plane and grounds. I’m new to this and your simple demonstration cleared up a lot of questions I have had. Sometimes the easy methods of explanation are so much better than detailed (or too much) information.
This demonstration would be a very useful tool when teaching an amateur radio class for beginners through advanced operators. Very well done sir. John AA8YE
Very good demonstration of the ground wire contribution to noise reduction. Not many UA-cam discuss this fact and they just say just hang long wire on a tree and attach it to the radio ( no mention of either ground or poise wires)
Top notch video, crystal clear explanation by a professional. Many thanks!
I never knew Shortwave listening could be this fun!
Good info for beginners, It doesn't take much effort to receive a good signal, also magnetic loops are bi-directional, the signal can be peaked by turning the loop.
Excellent video. Best coverage on this subject I've ever seen. Blessings!
Wonderful video! Thanks for putting this together.
Wherever you live is absolutely gorgeous! Such a wonderful backyard!
Excellent video without using expensive options for the sdrplay. My dx is enroute. Look forward
Excellent video. You answered a question I had about grounding a long wire antenna. 👍🏾
Great demonstration. Much better than a plain long wire.
Absolutely great video!
Amazing video. Best video on the topic.
Simply amazing.
Thank you for explaining it so passionately. 👍👍
Excellent, folk really don't understand the importance of ground the outer coax of an antenna, it makes a huge difference in signal to noise.
Excellent and should be very helpful for many.
Very good job, explanation are easy to understand & informative.
Well worth watching ! I will say the sdrplay is a very fine swl receiver no matter what antenna and ground you can muster. I would pay BIG for a version with scanning function.
We hope to release scanning software in the next few weeks (next release of SDRuno)
Great video! Thanks for posting. 👍
Thank you for all this information! Cheers.
I love you man... Many things are clear about the radios to me now.
Simple but very efficient technique Sir
Thanks for the excellent video
A very kind offering that you have given us. I learn a valuable information, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. N4KBM.
Oh.. interesting. We bought some 10ft ground rods for our upcoming antenna system (not sure what we'll use), but will definitely have a good grounding system (and bond it to our home ground).
Sir, Greetings from California. Thank you for the demonstration.
Excellent demonstration, Thank you!
I did it, it's really doing amazing work 😊
You can get 20m washing line strong plastic coated steel core for £1.50p.from ASDA at the time of writing. It's whats going on my 4 band valve radio for SW listening.
Excellent video! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this experiment. Bravo!❤
Thanks for this, I've been looking for a video that shows the difference in signal before and after using a ground rod.
Too many videos just show them putting a rod in but don't compare before and after. Going to CEF later so I'll grab a rod while I'm there :).
The counterpoise is the missing half of a half wavelength dipole. Quarter wave in the air, the other side, counterpoise, quarter wave on the ground.
Helpful demo as I have just bought a rsp1a and a good earth helped a lot. So many WiFi signals close by does not help but the software helped attenuate these levels after tweaking. Tnx 73
that would of been a great test to compare the wire and ground , with a loop antenna. from my trials, the loop always wins, cause i can lower noise.
Loved this! The only thing missing was a Balun / Unun.
You are right... although it is of secondary benefit. :-)
@@SDRplayRSP True, it only becomes important when you have a transmitter, and start to worry about SWR.
Thanks for all your time and effort.
Hi well done really enjoyed this Regards Tim
Great video, very informative and helpful. Thanks Ronan
Very well done!!! Thank you!!!!
A more efficient and easier ground stake would be: A 3/4" copper pipe hydrodrilled into the ground 6', the hole around the pipe filled with bentonite clay (cat litter, usually), and several teaspoons of copper sulfate mixed with the clay. This really works with bad ground conductivity (sandy, or limestone type ground surfaces) as the copper sulfate improves contact with the earth ground as it slowly leaches into the dirt. Add water to the clay copper sulfate mixture to get it working. Shortwave radio stations that do not place a metal ground mesh 1' under the ground use this, but multiplied 36 times in a 360 degree fan around their antenna, one stake every 10 degrees. It works, cause I've used it around vertically polarized antennas for decades.
Excellent demo! Thank you for sharing the various approaches. I enjoy my Wellbrook antennas at home and on DXpeditions but for hiking with a portable setup, a quick and easy ground plane would be a good way to help reception with a random wire.
Thanks for the video.
Hello thank you for the video first off. I'm setting this up tomorrow hopefully and I'm using a 9 to 1 balun from an eBay seller named lowbander. He uses a separate built-in ground connection and I am going to use 125 feet approximately of wire running down my neighbors 7 foot tall stockade fence. I got his permission of course LOL. I'm looking forward to this. I also bought a ground rod and some 8 gauge wire to ground it once the authorities mark the natural gas line. I'm starting out with a RTL-SDR v3 but I am either getting a RSP1A or and RSP2 soon.
Good demo. Of course, while you say a 'good ground', the initial 20cm of earth rod in the ground isn't a 'good' ground. Better would be to drive that rod in further, or use several rods and link them.
Very good practical advice👍
This video helped me out a lot. Thanks for making it.
Thanks for the amazing video sw frequency antenna
Thank you for posting, i really appreciate it, i am very interested in radio, this is very informative.
A great, practical video explaining this at last! Why does the grounding improve the signal?
A trick used by the military for a good ground in desert sand... back a water trailer up to the ground rod and give it a good drink.
Great video, thanks very much.
superb demo, many thanks
Thank you very much for this very interesting video and the need of ground connection. It is simple and obvious. By the way, I am seen some people using balun 9/1 or 49/1. Why you do not propose such balun ?
Baluns do add additional benefits with matching but the improvements are secondary to what you get by having a good ground when using wire antennas.
Fantastic video
Great demo exactly what I needed to know! Subbed❤️👍😎
You just proved it ain’t rocket science......nice video.
Thank you so much! This was very helpful!
If you will connect any antenna just with center conductor, you will get attenuation of a signal....
if you live in appartment you can also use copper water pipes as a ground
Thank you for this informative video, still I have some questions:
1 with the longwire antenna by using a 9:1 balun will increase the reception or this js mainly used for transit purposes?
2 using the grounding connector from the outlet will induce any risks?
3 using a tuner unit like the Yaesu FRG 7700 will help or isn't needed for RSP1A?
4 I have a DIY magloop from a 2m copper (18mm in diameter) pipe and a 1000pF variable capacitor connected to the RSP1A. Is there the risk of burning the RSP1A (front-end)?
Thank you
Catalin
Great video, thanks for sharing.
Really helpful. Maybe a silly question as I’m new to SW but on a portable radio receiver where would I connect a ground? I’m currently using a wire antenna with a crocodile clip on the radios telescopic antenna. Thanks.
Often, a portable shortwave radio's headphone socket is also coupled to the Radio's RF internal circuitry and is also RF Signal Ground. I found this article which tells you how to exploit this: groups.google.com/g/rec.radio.shortwave/c/sIpVAaOAHx4
Thank you for the help. I’ll have a look at the link.
you should read some of Tesla's patents on transmission, the Ground is probably more important than the Ant.
as a Ham I have been making my own for 30 years
the loop is a very nice small / cheap ($30-$60) option
Very informative discussion and video but it leaves out an issue that can become a life threatening hazard and a financial nightmare if not addressed properly. If your antenna wire is above the roof of your house, 10m or so, it may attract a lightning discharge. Lightning arrestors for telecoms/radio circuits are commercially available and can be connected in series with the long wire antenna but are likely to cause impedance matching issues and signal loss of strength. Please comment
Illuminating!
Thanks, is there anything i can do if my radio doesn't have an antenna socket? It has AC in, 12 volt dc in, headphone jack, audio in and battery compartment.
Nice video. But here is a question. What if you are using a portable shortwave radio that only provides a alligator clip attached to a simple wire antenna. How do you configure a counter poise or a ground?
Depends on the radio design - the whip may be in conjunction with a ferrite rod / tuning coil in which case it's relying on the magnetic field and an additional earth may not help much. However a long wire extension via your alligator clip would probably dominate and then additional benefit might be had by connecting a ground or counterpoise to the outer of say the headphone jack - again it depends on the design. A case of trial and error. The trick is to get more wanted signal and not even more by way of noise.
Fascinating!
Thank you sir for this fantastic suggestion,can you please help what to do for portable telescopic counterpoise ànd ground.
Excellent information!!
Thanks for the demo. What about on a plastic/fibreglass/carbon boat? is the size of the magnetic loop a factor?
would you like a station playing music on short wave and would it go far?
Thanks for the video very helpful as a newbie to SDR. I have just had my RSP 1A delivered yesterday. I am always mucking around with random wire antennas into my Tecsun S2000. I am looking forward to using this piece of apparatus, looks really interesting. Just wondering whether the use of a 9:1 Unun would be needed here, or my homemade ATU both which I use for my receiver, sorry for my ignorance on this. Thanks again.
As always, awesome video .... 😍
Excellent
The counterpoise should be directly under the antenna to be most effective.
Hi, could you please advise on this setup ? II have a (properly terminated) coaxial connected to the antenna port of my mains fed receiver, this coaxial goes up into my loft, at the loft the centre wire of this coaxial is connected to a long single wire (clipped around the roof space); do i still need to earth the coaxial ??. Bear in mind my receiver is earthed at the mains and so the coax connected into it is also earthed yes, so no need to earth it again with a stake or purpoise. Great vid btw, easy for us novices to understand.
Hi James, ideally you would connect some kind of counterpoise to the outer of the coax at the point where the other wire starts. It depends a lot on the frequencies of interest. For HF and above, because you are a significant portion of a wavelength away from ground, you can't really provide an RF ground in a loft situation. Hence why it's a counterpoise. The purpose of this is to create as big as possible a differential instantaneous voltage at the point where the coax starts. The job of the coax is to bring that signal to the radio without adding more noise. (The radio earth doesn't really do anything to help) In the real world you also have to make the counterpoise run well away from the other (centre-fed) wire for it to contribute and this in turn may cause a headache in the same roof-space and since it may need to run near say house wiring which is a terrible source of noise!
Regarding impedance matching, this tends to be of secondary benefit for receiving set-ups. Use of baluns is a whole topic in itself but first and foremost it will be about signal strength and signal to noise. (Again I'm thinking about HF and below - please note that for VHF and above the length and quality of the coax becomes very important).
Best of all, I recommend asking these questions and sharing your set-up with others in a forum where they can give real practical comments, suggestions and advice: www.sdrplay.com/communitylinks/ (these are SDR and SDRplay-related but much of the knowledge is radio receiver agnostic)