Kikuyumoja's realm

  • I love my DE1103

    Posted: October 23, 2010, 7:13 pm by jke

    I’ve already mentioned the arrival of this sweet gadget on my posterous blog earlier this week, but I am so pleasantly surprised by the qualities of this world receiver that I decided to mention it on my main blog.

    For technical details, pls see this full review or google for “Degen DE1103″. The Degen DE1103 is a Chinese world receiver that covers the 76.0 – 108.0 MHz range in FM and 100 – 29999 KHz in AM & SSB. It sells for about 50,- EUR including shipping, directly from eBay / China, and comes with a cord, a charger (!), rechargable batteries, headphones, an external wire antenna and a pouch.

    I am a bit late to the party as this model has already been introduced in ~ 2005 and every serious SWL and radio ham probably already had his hands on the Degen – for comparison reasons or because they couldn’t resist the offer like me – but this little DX goddess beats my other receivers (Commtel COM610 and Sony ICF-7600 DA + some home built equipment) hands down.

    If you are looking for a good & light radio receiver with SSB & a new FM station every 150-200 kHz (yes, it’s that good) – this is the one to buy. Seriously. Highly recommended.


  • Kommentare Werktags nur von 8 bis 19 Uhr.

    Posted: October 23, 2010, 6:29 pm by jke

    Zwei Artikel unter vielen, die mich im Oktober unterhalten haben und die ich gerne teilen möchte:

    23 Thesen zur Zukunft der Medien – von Jochen Wegner

    Digitales Leben – oder: Eine Frage der Lehre

    Wie gerne hätte ich auch hier kommentiert, jedoch:

    “Wir wollen die Qualität der Nutzerdiskussionen stärker moderieren. Bitte haben Sie deshalb Verständnis, dass wir die Kommentare ab 19 Uhr bis 8 Uhr des Folgetages einfrieren. In dieser Zeit können keine Kommentare geschrieben werden. Dieser “Freeze” gilt auch für Wochenenden (Freitag 19 Uhr bis Montag 8 Uhr) und für Feiertage.”

    Bei einer derartigen Betrachtungsweise – nicht nur bei der sueddeutschen.de, die Zensurversuche gibt es auch beim Spon & Co. – sowie der selten gelebten Diskussionskultur (in Deutschland meinem Empfinden nach nicht wirklich existent bzw. zu faschistoid oder zu schwarz-weiß), spare ich mir viele Kommentare und denke an den Spruch meiner Mutter: “Junge, wer soll das alles lesen?”.

    Am Wochenende zumindest niemand.


  • my first magnetic loop

    Posted: October 7, 2010, 6:16 am by jke

    Yay!

    I’ve just completed building my first magnetic loop – a special antenna that’s supposed to catch some short wave signals in this LAN-infested electric smog environment. Popular with a lot of SWLs and radio hams since many many years, so with my powerline network plug and no space for a proper antenna on the roof, the magnetic loop is my only option.

    The antenna is so jua kali, built from used parts – far away from an optimal setup, but I was longing for a quick win and an answer to the question if this is doable without much further ado.

    It consists of a ~ 3,5m long copper pipe that’s supposed to be (bended) circular (= loop). I guess I’ll still need to optimise the shape fo this …. egg? :-)

    The feed / cable to my receiver should actually be 1/5 of the diameter of the big loop and placed somewhere near the loop, but I ended up using these alligator clips which do the job for the moment. Obviously, lots of room for some improvements – starting by the shape of the loop. The alligator clips also helped in avoiding soldered cables which would probably attenuate the signal(s) even further. The knob I am using on the rotary capacitor is a bottle cap. It’s cheap, it works, it wins!

    This setup is so primitive – but I am pleasantly surprised that it really works, hence the need to blog about it. Uhmm… building antennas is like a virus – once you’re infected, you won’t stop.


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