This is not only portable, it could turn the Belka into a wearable MW DX rig! The AFA200 is also available in 2 other versions, the -B model working from 1.5 to 7.5 MHz and the -D model receiving 3.5-18 Mhz. Short of buying the 700€ super-high-tech active ferrite bar antenna off Reuter Elektronik, I found a Greek shop offering an antenna that looked like it was (almost) made for the Belka, costing little more than 1/10th of the Reuter: The AFA200C by SV2CZF is an active, tuned (0.5-2.5 MHz) 200mm loopstick antenna with a male BNC plug to attach the Belka directly to the antenna. ![]() I also failed at getting my questions answered by “BAZ Spezialantennen” and there’s also Grahn and Reuter (all in Germany) making ferrite antennas, but they’re all relying on pretty bulky tuner/amplifier boxes and cost up to 850€. But it wasn’t available on and the C.Crane shop told me they don’t ship to the EU and to try it on Amazon. Not as portable as I hoped for but I figured it might give the Belka a performance comparable to the CCRadio 2E with its similar antenna. My first idea was – of course – the C.Crane “Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna Signal Booster”, recently reviewed by Jock Elliott. Rare as hen’s teeth: small, portable loopstick antennas The omnidirectional whip doesn’t allow me to null out unwanted co-channel interference though, therefore I wanted to find a reasonably sized loopstick antenna to pair with the Belka. That was sure asking for a comparison with the most sensitive MW radio I have and gave me hope to use the Belka for ultra-portable MW DXing on the move. To my surprise that average bar turned out way too low for the Belka! When I reviewed the updated Belka (gen3, 2022) for its MW/LW performance in October last year, I just wanted to know if it’s any good with just the whip antenna and used the XHDATA D-808 as a reference radio because it’s a Jay Allen 2.5-star average performer on MW and my expectations were not high for MW reception on a short whip.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |