XHDATA D-220: Incredible Indoor Shortwave Improvement Secret

[@w8lvradio]

You can also just wrap some wire around the entire radio, that also works pretty well. Sometimes I just take a thirty foot long wire, and wrap 3-4 loops around the radio. I also still carry a couple of alligator clips, to try the whip, sometimes that works, or to use to suspend the wire itself, that and a couple of pieces of double sided Velcro, to roll up the whole mess, and the velcro can also be used to hold things together, like the loop around the radio itself. Finally, sometimes the clips are good to attach to any large and insulated piece of existing metal that you might find. All the Best! 73 DE W8LV BILL

[@shortwavelistener]

@@w8lvradio Thanks Bill! I did do the loops in an older video but was looking for something a bit more compact. That’s when the wirewound came to mind. I want to find a small box and just add a bnc connector to it with the resistor in it. then just connect it directly. Appreciate the comment!!

[@BrianG61UK]

Exactly. No point in it being a coil if only one end is connected.

[@w8lvradio]

@@shortwavelistener Good Idea!

[@michael.mcshan]

I found the same resistor on Amazon and tried this myself. It works great! Thanks so much for sharing this idea.

[@shortwavelistener]

That's awesome! I'm glad it worked for you!

[@WilliamParmley]

Fantastic, well done!

[@shortwavelistener]

Thanks!

[@Kw1161]

Thanks you gave me an ideal on using a similar setup with my XHDATA D608-WB , Hanronda 701 , and ZhiWhis A320. 73! Have a great day!

[@shortwavelistener]

@@Kw1161 just to note - any conductor on the antenna end will do the trick! Let us know what worked on your other radios!!!!!

[@caoimhin7122]

Green eggs and ham!

[@shortwavelistener]

LOL - yes!

[@bendeleted9155]

Amazing improvement! Thank you! 👍

[@shortwavelistener]

@@bendeleted9155 I have to admit I was a bit shocked at the improvement!

[@radiorob7543]

You could also connect a variable resistor to ground, (Earth in the UK) and connect that to the open end of that resistor.

[@chriscampbell9191]

Great idea. I've used inductive and proximity coupling to use wire antennas with portables that would otherwise overload. That said, I have an XHDATA D-220, which I just got recently, and my 25 ft indoor wire antenna works well with the D-220, and I get no overload. So a lot of it probably depends on one's own location (I'm in a narrow valley, basically a lower signals area). So, for some like me, clipping a short random wire works. But with others, you'd obviously get overload. So, it's really YMMV. I think in a pinch, wrapping the end of a wire antenna, or feedline, around the D-220 would probably do much the same (I think another poster mentioned this method). PS, as for the wire wound resistor, would a junked choke (inductor coil, some which can get fairly large) work also?

[@shortwavelistener]

@@chriscampbell9191 Great idea! I’ll try that

[@bluesteelbass]

Great thinking! This will be fun to try, since I never purchased an adapter to plug in the MLA-30 to the shortwave radio antenna socket.

[@shortwavelistener]

I have the MLA-30+ and should try that as well! Thx!

[@mikek.3965]

Wow! Could I get a list and sources of the items you used for this reception? I'd like to try it on my small radios. Thanks!

[@shortwavelistener]

@@mikek.3965 I’ll add them to the video description today!

[@mikek.3965]

Fantastic, I appreciate that so I can order the right items. Thanks again!

[@shortwavelistener]

@@mikek.3965 done!! I added them.

[@f.kharrasi4333]

Peace be upon you; Doesn't this little radio have a telescopic antenna for shortwave? If not, then what kind of antenna did it have?

[@shortwavelistener]

It has a very short whip about 8 inches long. That whip works well outdoors but not great indoors. Check out my D-220 review video where I have examples of AM/MW and Shortwave indoors and outdoors.

[@richs39]

This looks to be capacitive coupling, since the resistor is only connected on one side, and is encased in metal.

[@shortwavelistener]

@@richs39 yes, that’s probably true. Inductive is used more as “induced” current via a field effect vs as an inductor in a circuit. The resistor coil is just adding a small amount of conductor to the antenna end. So, the very small induced current in the wire is electromagnetically coupled to the radio’s whip. As another commenter pointed out - any good conductor should work similarly. Thx for watching!

[@wellseewho]

You've just made yourselves a simple tuned preselector!

[@shortwavelistener]

@@wellseewho Ha! Yes!

[@F4LDT-Alain]

Excellent tip, thanks. I used a similar approach on my Xhdata D-608WB that had similar severe overloading / cross-reception issues when hooked to a long wire. I wrapped a dozen or so turns of thin wire around a section of the body of a pen, put some electrical tape on this and soldered a 3.5mm female mono jack to the end of that wire so that I can connect it to my long wire. I slide this DIY "coil" over the unextended antenna of the radio and I have the best reception. Somehow I suspect that the D-220 and the D-608WB radios share some electronics and especially the DSP chip because they show the same high sensitivity and tendency to overload and mix adjacent signals.

[@shortwavelistener]

Yes! Great suggestion on just using some wire - the resistor really only adds some extra as well.

[@nitinkale560]

Instead of using the wwr, using a rheostat of 500 ohm gives better results.

[@shortwavelistener]

Thanks! I'll take a look!

[@jameyevans29]

👍

[@BrianG61UK]

Duh! Assumption wire wound resistor is like an inductor. Wrong, it might be wound to minimise and cancel any inductance. Then it gets even more moronic. You connect only one end of your supposed inductor, and say putting it near the radio works because it's an inductor. Total nonsense, you're only connecting one end, no current will flow. You might as well use any lump of metal, it'll work just as well. Why not just design a normal variable attenuator to optimise the strength of the signal going into the tiny radio? Oh, wait I forgot you clearly know nothing about electronics, not even the simplest basic stuff.

[@shortwavelistener]

@@BrianG61UK A variable attenuator connected to the whip is an excellent choice. Yes, there is minimal current in the resistive winding - similar to those examples of just placing a loop of wire connected to an external wire near the radio. The winding seems to provide a better signal than just a piece of metal. But, I’ll take your word for it and try some tests. Thx for the comment!

[@shortwavelistener]

PS - thanks for challenging my assumptions!

[@MayanMe365]

@@shortwavelistener excellent idea , thanks ! the fun of playing with radios and antennas is that we can try and have fun .

[@socallars3748]

Brian, are you unaware that current can flow without a direct connection via inductive coupling? Have you never heard of a transformer? You're in no position to criticize anyone else's knowledge of electronics. You're embarrassing yourself by doing so.

[@BrianG61UK]

@@socallars3748 Oh come on. How can you be so daft. Current doesn't flow between the primary and secondary of a transformer. That pretty much the whole point of a transformer. The primary and secondary are isolated from each other, and only a small leakage current ever flows between them.