A 6-Inch Tunable Loopstick

The homemade tunable loopstick device, similar to the Q-Stick by DXTools continues to be a popular article on RADIO-TIMETRAVELLER. Let's revisit this simple device and build another one, this time a 6-inch version.

Old transistor or table radios can be had for almost nothing at your local yard sale or flea market. I have reported on yard sales and flea markets before. Great radio values can be had from uninformed sellers.

Don't Laugh at Yard Sales
Another Deal, The Panasonic RF-565
Viva Flea Markets

I always keep my eye out for both working and non-working varieties, as the non-working ones can be stripped for their parts. Most important for building a tuning device: the variable capacitor and the ferrite loopstick.

The better buys are the radios having longer loopsticks or serviceable tuning capacitors. Many pocket radios are configured with the tuning knob directly connected to the capacitor, though the capacitor itself is often small in this case. Larger radio varieties often have a slide rule type dial mechanism, usually driving a more substantial capacitor. Surprisingly, most tuning capacitors in old radios, even the small ones, have 1/4 inch shafts, though short. So if the main tuning knob is intact and is one which is connected directly to the capacitor shaft, all the better. Save the knob.

This summer's flea market take was four old transistor radios. One was pocket sized, and the others were the type you would set on a desk, about the size of a small book. Three of the four had seen better days and did not even work. The other actually worked decently enough to keep and experiment with. Each cost two dollars or less.

The best loopstick of the bunch was a nice six inch one, a rod instead of a bar, wound very nicely with evenly-spaced turns of Litz wire to about 80 percent the full length of the stick. A short IF coil was at one end. I carefully removed the IF coil, as it is not needed.

I selected a small tuning capacitor which had a nice dial knob. At the end of the loopstick where there was room, I taped the capacitor to it by slotting the tape with a razor so it would fit over the shaft. The capacitor could also be hot glued to the rod if desired.

The coil wires were then carefully soldered to the center and edge terminals of the capacitor, forming the parallel tuned circuit. Be sure to use the edge terminal having the greatest capacitance, as the other one is the IF side of the capacitor with lesser capacitance. If you want to get fancy, you could enclose the loopstick device in a short length of PVC pipe, capping the coil end, and fastening the tuning capacitor on the other end of the pipe.

To use the loopstick, simply hold it parallel and near to the internal loop in your radio, then tune it to peak the signal your radio is tuned to. Rotate the two together, radio and loopstick, for maximum signal. The loopstick can also be rotated independently to null an offending co-channel station. A short length of wire or even a longwire could also be attached to one of the capacitor terminals, providing more signal, though it will lessen the directivity of the loopstick.

KDKA Turns 90 Years Old

In 1920, Dr. Frank Conrad was an engineer in the employ of the Westinghouse Electric Company. He was also an amateur radio operator. With the release by Congress in July 1919 of all privately held radio and telephone equipment now that World War I had ended, the race to commercialize the new science of radio telephony was on.


To test transmissions during the war, Conrad placed one transmitter and receiver at the Westinghouse plant and another above his garage at home, four miles away. When the war ended and the government lifted the restrictions on amateur radio telephony, Conrad went back to his experimentation from home.

After the war, a fierce battle ensued between the US government and the Department of the Navy over control of the airwaves. The government won out and settled on the Department of Commerce to run things, wresting control from the Navy's hands. After the dust cleared, in April 1920, Conrad applied to the Department of Commerce to license his station. He was given the call letters 8XK.


Westinghouse saw that Conrad's experiments might be important and potentially profitable, and so with Conrad's help, started construction of a new transmitting facility on the roof of the Westinghouse plant in East Pittsburgh, PA. A presidential election campaign was in full progress that year, the election of 1920. The Republican ticket, comprised of Senator Warren G. Harding of Ohio and Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts was paired against the Democratic ticket's Governor James Cox of Ohio and former under secretary of the navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

On October 27, 1920, Westinghouse's radio facility was completed, and the Department of Commerce granted it the historic call sign KDKA. It transmitted on a frequency of 833 KHz (360 meters) with a power of 100 watts. Only two frequencies were assigned for broadcasting at this time. The other was 619 KHz (485 meters).

Hastily constructed, the "radio facility" was hardly more than a simple metal shack with all the necessary wires and equipment, and a desk from which an announcer could report election results. The election was slated for November 2.

On Tuesday, November 2, 1920, election night, up in that metal shack four men in dark suits compiled election returns received via wired-telephone from the newsroom at the Pittsburgh Post. The results were handed to one Leo H. Rosenburg. Leaning forward into an early microphone, Rosenburg's voice was sent through wires and apparatus out into the ether. It is estimated that between 500 and 1000 listeners heard this broadcast.

The excitement triggered by KDKA's 1920 election coverage set off a national hysteria for radio. Within weeks, Conrad had upped KDKA's power to 500 watts. It was now being heard as far away as Washington, D.C. Conrad started adding entertainment programs according to a schedule. Radio broadcasting, as we know it, was born.

Happy birthday KDKA-1020, Pittsburgh, PA, now 50,000 watts!

The Aeriola Senior regenerative radio.
Introduced December, 1921. $65.00

DXing From The Road, Fall 2010

I am currently in southwestern Arizona after crossing the country from Rochester, New York in the last few days of September and the first part of October. Of course I did some mediumwave DXing along the way. The general route was I-90 to Cleveland, I-71 to Columbus, then I-70 all the way into Denver, cutting through St. Louis and Kansas City. From Denver I drove again via I-70 on to Moab, Utah, then south on US 191/163 through red rock canyon country across the Navajo reservation to Flagstaff, AZ, then on from there. Pictured is graveyarder KCPX-1490 (1KW) in Spanish Valley, Utah, ten miles south of Moab.

Here are some DXing highlights from the trip. Note that I did day-to-day checking on some regulars like KOA-850, Denver, and R. Enciclopedia-530, Havana, Cuba. Some may find this redundant; I find it is interesting to see how propagation changes in reception of these stations as you cross the country. Mileages are from the reception point indicated. Times are local (L). The Tecsun PL-380 was barefoot.

Monday, September 27.

First day out. Rain all day, and lots of highway construction, typical. On the truck radio, all across I-90 in northern Pennsylvania and Ohio, boomer KDKA-1020, Pittsburgh, PA (50KW) comes in quite nicely (about 100 miles distant). Best listening station in this area is WKTX-830 (1KW), Cortland, OH, daytime only. It is locally owned, proud of it, and plays a nice variety of old music, mostly 1950s. I wish there were more of these locally owned stations.

Stressed from the rain, I moteled it in Mansfield, Ohio, about 50 miles south of Cleveland. I found myself only one-half mile from Mansfield's own graveyarder WMAN-1400 (1KW). The PL-380 desensed a little on the nearby adjacent channels due to the big signal, but reception was not affected out past +/-30 KHz or so.

Tuesday, September 28. Mansfield, Ohio.

Same night, Monday night after midnight actually. I woke up just after midnight and decided to do a little motel DXing with the PL-380.

0015L WHLO-640, Akron, OH (500W). 51 miles.
0028L R. Rebelde-600, Cuba. Latest location info I have shows Holguin, Cuba, 1424 miles. Good signal.
0033L CIAO-530, Brampton, ON. 237 miles. East Indian music.
0043L WMOB-1360, Mobile, AL (212W). 760 miles. Good catch for low power.

Up again at 0515L, getting ready to hit the road. Raining hard. PL-380.

0531L R. Enciclopedia-530, Havana, Cuba. 1223 miles. Great signal.
0540L KVNS-1700, Brownsville, TX (880W). 1337 miles. Another good catch for low power.
0605L KOA-850, Denver, CO (50KW). 1173 miles.
0645L WTRU-830, Kernersville, NC (10KW). 340 miles. "The Truth", over WCCO-830, Minneapolis, MN.
0642L WGY-810, Schenectady, NY (50KW). 461 miles.

It is interesting to note that Cuba seems to always boom into Ohio (and Indiana). I have found this to be the case on all my trips through the midwest. Cuba is much weaker in Rochester, and seasonally sporatic when casually listening without the help of loops, etc.

By Tuesday night I make it all the way to High Hill, Missouri, a quiet exit off of I-70 with two motels and not much else, about 70 miles west of St. Louis. Noise level is low.

Wednesday, September 29. From the motel using the PL-380.

0402L CKDO-1580, Oshawa, ON (10KW). 737 miles.
0404L WZRX-1590, Jackson, MS (1KW). 456 miles.
0408L R. Enciclopedia-530, Havana, Cuba. About 1400 miles. Fair signal, not nearly as good a Ohio-Indiana.
0420L WCBS-880, New York, NY (50KW). 940 miles. Good signal.
0422L KOA-850, Denver, CO (50KW). 717 miles. Strong signal.
0429L WABC-770, New York, NY (50KW). 925 miles.

Wednesday afternoon, using the truck radio. I-70 mile marker 220, central Kansas. It is early afternoon and the sun is high in the sky. Denver is a still long way off, but I find Denver is making a strong daytime DX appearance already. I should have checked these stations 50 or 100 miles ago when I was closer to Kansas City.

KHOW-630 (5KW). 367.5 miles.
KKZN-760 (50KW). 370.0 miles.
KOA-850 (50KW). 356.1 miles.

The surprise here is little KHOW-630 with only 5 kilowatts, received at 367.5 miles. Its signal was better than KKZN-760's 50KW signal! This distance would be impossible during daytime hours on the east coast.

Wednesday night puts me into Hays, Kansas. From the motel using the PL-380.

2059L CBW-900 (CBC), Winnipeg, MB. 761 miles. Interesting interview with Ingrid Betancourt.
2106L WSM-650, Nashville, TN (50KW). 717 miles. Fair signal.
2110L KRSL-990 (30 watts), Russell, Kansas. 27 miles. Weak. Flea power. Much competition from a couple of other unknown stations. Interesting that 30 watts struggles over a distance of only 27 miles at night.

Thursday, September 30. Hays, Kansas. Still at the motel. PL-380.

0420L R. Enciclopedia-530, Havana, Cuba. 1480 miles. Weak.

No more DXing was noted until I hit Utah.

Thursday, October 7. From a desert campsite ten miles north of Moab, Utah. Reception approximately one hour before local sunset time. PL-380.

KKOH-780, Reno, NV (50KW). 541 miles.
WBBM-780, Chicago, IL (50KW). 1161 miles. Weak, under KKOH.
WSM-650, Nashville, TN (50KW). 1271 miles. Mixed with KMTI-650, Manti, UT.

Sunday, October 10. Three miles north of Mexican Hat, Utah. Mexican Hat is about as remote and far away as you can get from mediumwave outlets in this part of the southwest. The closest station is KVFC-740 in Cortez, CO, 73 miles distant, a little 1KW outlet. Big gun KTNN-660 (50KW), The Voice Of The Navajo Nation, is 96 miles, and its not-overpowering -95dBm strength is still heads and shoulders above any other station.

A mid-afternoon low bandscan (530 KHz - 1000 KHz) was done, using the PL-380.

1437L KLLV-550, Breen, CO (1.8KW). 97 miles.
1439L KTNN-660, Window Rock, AZ (50KW). 96 miles. The powerhouse.
1441L KOAL-750, Price, UT (10KW). 173 miles. Weak.
1441L KVFC-740, Cortez, CO (1KW). 73 miles.
1442L KHAC-880, Tse Bonito, NM (10KW). 115 miles. Weak.
1444L KNDN-960, Farmington, NM (5KW). 94 miles. "K-Indian" Navajo station with great country music.

That's it! Only a half a dozen stations could be heard between 530 and 1000 KHz. And about half of them were weak. Talk about a quiet band. Coupled to the 24-inch loop, many more stations were received. It is amazing how much extra signal even a 24-inch loop provides, making a dead band come to life.

It is interesting to bandscan with the PL-380 in such an extremely quiet location. The PL-380 has more whistles, strange whoops and heterodynes than I thought.

Hello Everybody! The Dawn Of American Radio

It's that time of year once again when I'm getting ready to head cross country from New York to Arizona for the winter. One of the things I do is stockpile a bunch of books to read through the season. At the top of the radio reading list this year is a book entitled "Hello Everybody! The Dawn of American Radio", by Anthony Rudel. It is the story of the diverse entrepreneurial pioneers of radio, covering the era from 1912 through the 1920s and 1930s. Touching lightly on the technical aspects and inventors of radio, Rudel emphasizes the entrepreneurs and evangelists, hucksters and opportunists who saw the medium's true potential.

From Rudel's website:

"Long before the internet, another young technology was transformed--with help from a colorful collection of eccentrics and visionaries--into a mass medium with the power to connect millions of people.

When amateur enthusiasts began sending fuzzy signals from their garages and rooftops, radio broadcasting was born. Sensing the medium's potential, snake-oil salesmen and preachers took to the air, at once setting early standards for radio programming and making bedlam of the airwaves. Into the chaos stepped a young secretary of commerce, Herbert Hoover, whose passion for organization guided the technology's growth. When a charismatic bandleader named Rudy Vallee created the first on-air variety show and America elected its first true radio president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, radio had arrived.

With clarity, humor, and an eye for outsized characters forgotten by polite history, Anthony Rudel tells the story of the boisterous years when radio took its place in the nation's living room and forever changed American politics, journalism, and entertainment."

It arrived yesterday and it promises to be a great read. Available from amazon.com and other booksellers. Published in 2008.