[Premium-Rx] Looking for recommendations on high performance VLF receiver.

[Terry O']

Like Bob Nickels, I owned a slew of VLF specific and VLF capable 
receivers, R-389, WRR-3A, CEI 357, WJ-340A, WJ-DMS-105, Rycom R-2174...  
The noise level in that band is the unforgiving leveler in performance.  
After a certain point, you're just throwing hardware at unconquerable noise.

In many locations I did a great deal of successful NDB DXing with just a 
Sony ICF-2001 with a loop I made on a cut 27" bicycle rim using a 
control cable from a studio TV camera and a three section variable cap.  
Like Al Klase says, you'll hear better with a simple tuned loop.  And 
you can't beat the ability to null out an undesirable station by 
rotating the loop.

Location is also critical.  The best VLF DXing I ever did was from a 
farm house in southwestern Wisconsin, where the bedrock was red 
sandstone (laced with iron).  In the winter, I heard France and Alegria 
on 174 and 164 kHz on several occasions using a Hammurlund SP-200LF and 
a 40m dipole reconnected as a T antenna.  The combination of a good 
ground and almost no EMI was awesome.

Now I live 3/4 mile from an aluminum "recycler" and I don't even bother 
to try shortwave, let alone MF, LF or VLF.  When they have their 
smelters powered up, the electrical noise almost pins my signal strength 
meters well over 30 MHz.  I rarely hear WWV down in the noise when they 
are running shifts.  When business is slow and they drop their weekend 
shifts, I have few days of normal listening.

That's why I've gravitated toward researching radio history rather than 
messing with actual radios.

Terry O'


On 4/9/2018 10:22 AM, Al Klase wrote:
> Peter,
>
> You'll likely hear better with a simple tuned loop.
>
> Al
>
> On 4/9/2018 10:56 AM, Peter Gottlieb wrote:
>> I have about 150 feet at a max height of about 25 feet. What would be 
>> my best choice for a VLF monitoring antenna?
>>
>>
>> Peter