Re: [IRCA] PL-606 LW/MW plug-in antenna mod?

[Stephen Airy <pianoplayer88key@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Gary,
 
Thanks for the photo... but I'm still not sure I understand where the connections need to be re-routed on the board.  I see the terminals & wires on the left, but the plug-in terminal is on the right.  I want to set it up so I can either use the stock loopstick, or plug something in, which disengages the stock stick and use whatever's plugged in.
 
Also I have your articles about the 7.5" loopstick for the PL-360 and supercharging the Tecsun PL-380, but are there others I should review for making loopsticks?  I don't believe those deal with LW, which I also have an interest in.  (In the meantime, does putting the radio on a barbed wire fence across the street from my house, which enhances LW signals significantly, take me out of the "barefoot" category even though the fence wasn't originally intended to function as an inductively-coupled antenna?)
You use Amidon Type 61 ferrite bars for MW and 33 for LW, right?  Who would you say is a good current source for litz wire, and is there a recent article/post detailing what you recommend using?  BTW I don't have an LCR meter, and am not very experienced with things like making shock mounts.
 
I've taken a photo and uploaded it to Picasa, and drew a few lines, but I'm not sure if that's how the connections would need to be made.
https://picasaweb.google.com/PianoPlayer88Key/TecsunPL606#5601655903458871346
 
A couple antennas I'd want to experiment with may be a 7.5" antenna (or maybe a 4" as an intermediate), and a smaller one that takes the height of the cabinet, plugged in directly (so I can use the radio in vertical orientation - that way it can go in my pocket, but then how would I protect the loopstick?)
 
In addition to plugging in bigger antennas, sometimes I just want to disengage the stock loopstick without plugging in anything very sensitive, for reducing the sensitivity of the unit and doing some experimentations with "weaker" signals.  Once I have the wiring done properly, would just plugging in a 1/8" headphone adapter (the little plugs that are intended to adapt from one type of plug to another) without anything else be sufficient to take the signal levels shown in the image linked above down to about 30 to 40 dBu or so, and still be directional?  Or would I need to make some small loop to maintain directionality without having the radio pig out on strong RF signals?

--- On Sat, 4/30/11, d1028gary@xxxxxxx <d1028gary@xxxxxxx> wrote:


From: d1028gary@xxxxxxx <d1028gary@xxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [IRCA] PL-606 LW/MW plug-in antenna mod?
To: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Saturday, April 30, 2011, 9:01 PM


Hi Stephen,

A detailed photo showing the Tecsun PL-606 loopstick connections is
posted at http://www.mediafire.com/i/?d7i9qy8o5nz4rrr

When you access the link, click on the "Large" photo option, then
follow the two Litz wire connections from the loopstick's left side to
the "AM Coil" terminals on the upper left side of the circuit board.
These are the two connections that you will need to reroute to an
external hard-wired antenna, should you desire to permanently improve
upon the PL-606's AM or LW performance. Of course, the use of
inductively coupled external antennas like tuned passive loops (ferrite
or air core) will allow you to temporarily boost the PL-606's AM or LW
performance without the need to perform any such "surgery" on the radio
itself.

73, Gary


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