Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!snorkelwacker!apple!portal!cup.portal.com!thad
From: thad@cup.portal.com (Thad P Floryan)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Preamp for WWV radio.
Message-ID: <32913@cup.portal.com>
Date: 17 Aug 90 09:54:32 GMT
References: <11370@medusa.cs.purdue.edu>
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 44

sah@cs.purdue.EDU (Sean Hershberger) in <11370@medusa.cs.purdue.edu> writes:

	I have a WWV radio which interfaces to a computer on our network to
	provide us with an accurate time clock.  Due to recent construction
	nearby, our reception has gotten much worse.  The radio cannot maintain
	a good signal long enough or often enough to stay in High Spec mode.

	I was wondering whether a preamp would be effective in inproving the
	reception.  Local TV and Radio stores claim not to have a preamp for
	5 and 10 MHz signals, but it seems to me a preamp for a television
	should work.

	[...]

Sounds like you have the Heath clock (which I do, too, for the same purpose).

Don't even think of a TV pre-amp; that's for 50MHz on up.

What you need to do is string an external antenna per the instructions that
accompanied the clock depending whether you want 5MHz, 10MHz, 15 Mhz, or some
combination.

My situation is really severe: I'm practically on the Great Circle route
between WWV (Ft. Collins, CO) and WWVH (in Hawaii).  Thus, I had to rig an
inverted VEE antenna and cant it towards Ft. Collins to avoid the delayed
signal from Hawaii.

To figure all that out, I had to first write a Great Circle routing program;
gee, learned a LOT about haversines and such!  From the geographic coords of
each site (WWV and thadlabs) I determined the direction to WWV.

Then, using coax, a balun, and good ol' 10ga. antenna wire, rigged up the VEE
whose apex is on my TV tower (up 45') with its legs "facing" WWV.  Given that,
and with the reasonably good discrimination in the Heath receiver, I can get
the time signal (which I provide for others besides the computers on my own
networks; if I ever can get some more phone lines here, I may even make the
service publicly available).

If you don't have a good antenna, a pre-amp is gonna amplify all the crud,
reflections ("multi-path" in FM parlance), noise, and other junk along with
the desired signal.  Antenna wire, a balun, connectors, coax, and &tc.,
should run about $50-$60 or so.

Thad Floryan [ thad@cup.portal.com (OR) ..!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!thad ]