The simple answer is that I reinstated the flag after less than satisfactory results with a couple of K9AYs.
I was warned! Some DXers had told me that the K9AY would not outperform a flag. Quite encouraging if you're already a flag owner. But there's plenty of evidence to show that the K9AY is also a great performer. I have always been aware of the unavoidable fact that some people get on really well with certain antennas while others don't. It can depend on location, among many other things, so there are people who have had the opposite experience.
To begin with, I had been reading about the superior performance of the K9AY and how directional it was when two were constructed and phased against each other. I had to try it. Having to move my flag several times each year to chase different 'propagational seasons' was a pain. If I could construct one antenna and have it electrically rotatable, it would solve that problem.
"The Full Gary" was needed. This is the required size for a K9AY which is best resonant on the medium wave band. This is 7.5m in height with a suspended base of 9m and longer radials just below. But even with this size, I wasn't initially aware that a K9AY would perform as if it was a loop antenna at the bottom of the band. Hmm. That's not what I wanted to hear. Regardless, I continued with the construction.
As always, these things take a long time for me and it took several days to construct the central support, connect the wires and guy ropes such that I could throw it up in the air one day while disconnecting the flag and laying that down out of the way. I was hoping to have both antennas in the air for instant comparison, but this turned out to be impractical due to necessary field usage, so I took plenty of notes beforehand. I knew how the band 'felt' anyway.
The K9AY was erected without issue and hooked up, working straight away. There was some noise and signals were considerably down on to those of the flag, but I hadn't connected the base radials as I ran out of time and so had to finish those the following day.
Base radials in place ... Antenna hooked up ... Receiver on ... and ... Ugh! 30dB of noise across the band! Whaaaat? Where did this come from? I arranged a telephone call with a friend who has considerable knowledge in this field and he went through everything with me: Connections, physical dimensions, antenna location, coax, receiver, shack, etc. We checked it all. The conclusion was clear, that the noise was coming in through the antenna. But where was the noise coming from? Surely it couldn't be new noise which coincidentally fired up at on the same day I constructed my new antenna? Maybe it had been there all along but the flag was less susceptible to it. That would be more logical. Or would it? Signals were also down by a good 10dB or so compared to those of the flag.
After a few days of checking things through, I was painfully aware that I was missing DX and that I should probably get the flag up again. After all, I had tried everything.
So it was back to the flag. Was there new noise? It seems there was. What were the chances? But the noise was considerably less severe on the flag and, after a few days, most of it had disappeared. Phew!
Monday, 20 April 2026
Saturday, 28 February 2026
My Current DX Location
I am regularly asked where my DX setup is located and why it's no longer at home. This is the situation, as of February 2026.
My home is in Skegness, but I met my lady friend, Alison, in 2019. I had no idea she had a farm WITH LAND SUITABLE FOR ANTENNAS! (Ahem!) I have to admit that I became rather excited when I realised that she had five acres. She used to have 24 acres but sold most of that to a neighbouring farmer. (Damn!) Five acres sounds like a lot, but the downside was that her farmhouse was positioned on the wrong side of the fields. This resulted in any coax length needing to be as long as 300 meteres! Also, the arrangement of the fields did not quite allow for a full sized beverage unless it pointed north-west, where I could stretch out 200m - resonant at almost the top of medium wave. Other directions were shorter, down to South America little more than 110m.
The farm is located in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, not far from the village of Sutton St. James. It's quite isolated and only has one neighbouring farmouse, which generates noise a lot of the time, so I have to locate my flag antenna at the opposite end of the field to the offending farmhouse.
From the moment I met Alison, I knew that the farm was going to be sold at some point 'soon'. Last year, it was decided to put the farm up for sale this summer, but there are likely to be delays. Her life is so hectic, she has little time to set the process rolling. I was extremely pleased when Alison told me that she was hoping to retain half of the acreage so I could continue my hobby, giving me enough space for a large flag antenna. Some minor legal obligations had to be followed but planning permission was granted at the end of last year so the retention of part of the land will go ahead. One downside is that there won't be an electricity supply so I will have to invest in a couple of leisure batteries, one on the go while the other is charging. An NUC computer will also be needed as these are not so heavy on battery usage.
The town of Long Sutton is often brought into the conversation and radio friends often ask where this fits in. Long Sutton is the home of Alison's ageing parents, where we spend a good deal of time caring for them. I have an FM DX setup here, although I do spend a lot of time at home in Skegness where I also have an FM DX setup so I can continue that side of my hobby. The medium wave aspect takes care of itself, with laptops and external hard drives recording the band for me. It's not live DXing, which I know some frown upon, but it's the only way I can do this.
There is now a Kiwi receiver at the farm too, known as the Fenland Kiwi. This shares my flag antenna with my Perseus receiver. The Fenland Kiwi has been provided by the Medium Wave Circle and is accessible only by its members. If you wish to access this, or to join the Medium Wave Circle, which I would strongly recommend as it's a dedicated medium wave DX club with many benefits, so check them out here: https://mwcircle.org/
My home is in Skegness, but I met my lady friend, Alison, in 2019. I had no idea she had a farm WITH LAND SUITABLE FOR ANTENNAS! (Ahem!) I have to admit that I became rather excited when I realised that she had five acres. She used to have 24 acres but sold most of that to a neighbouring farmer. (Damn!) Five acres sounds like a lot, but the downside was that her farmhouse was positioned on the wrong side of the fields. This resulted in any coax length needing to be as long as 300 meteres! Also, the arrangement of the fields did not quite allow for a full sized beverage unless it pointed north-west, where I could stretch out 200m - resonant at almost the top of medium wave. Other directions were shorter, down to South America little more than 110m.
The farm is located in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, not far from the village of Sutton St. James. It's quite isolated and only has one neighbouring farmouse, which generates noise a lot of the time, so I have to locate my flag antenna at the opposite end of the field to the offending farmhouse.
From the moment I met Alison, I knew that the farm was going to be sold at some point 'soon'. Last year, it was decided to put the farm up for sale this summer, but there are likely to be delays. Her life is so hectic, she has little time to set the process rolling. I was extremely pleased when Alison told me that she was hoping to retain half of the acreage so I could continue my hobby, giving me enough space for a large flag antenna. Some minor legal obligations had to be followed but planning permission was granted at the end of last year so the retention of part of the land will go ahead. One downside is that there won't be an electricity supply so I will have to invest in a couple of leisure batteries, one on the go while the other is charging. An NUC computer will also be needed as these are not so heavy on battery usage.
The town of Long Sutton is often brought into the conversation and radio friends often ask where this fits in. Long Sutton is the home of Alison's ageing parents, where we spend a good deal of time caring for them. I have an FM DX setup here, although I do spend a lot of time at home in Skegness where I also have an FM DX setup so I can continue that side of my hobby. The medium wave aspect takes care of itself, with laptops and external hard drives recording the band for me. It's not live DXing, which I know some frown upon, but it's the only way I can do this.
There is now a Kiwi receiver at the farm too, known as the Fenland Kiwi. This shares my flag antenna with my Perseus receiver. The Fenland Kiwi has been provided by the Medium Wave Circle and is accessible only by its members. If you wish to access this, or to join the Medium Wave Circle, which I would strongly recommend as it's a dedicated medium wave DX club with many benefits, so check them out here: https://mwcircle.org/
The Aziloop and "Should I get one?"
Simple answer: Yes .... er, and no. (Maybe).
Firstly, I don't really use this blog anymore, but I realsie its use when it comes to posting information where I can make one posting, as opposed to multiple, individual postings when I need to explain something to the masses.
Anyway, I have been thinking about getting an Aziloop - and I expect I might well do, but it won't be prioritised over other up and coming expenses, so next year looks like a possibility.
What advantages could there be? The electronic rotation would be incredibly useful. But since I don't have an internet connection there, apart from the Kiwi connection which is not actually mine, I wouldn't be able to control the direction, and its many other features, over the internet, but I presume it is possible to pre-programme things like direction changes.
What about gain and directivity? Would there be significant improvements over my large (5.5m tall x 20m long) flag? Not necessarily, but there would be some advantages. The Aziloop fine tunes everything very nicely, but it would need minor adaptation, i.e. appropriate ground planes, to help it perform better at the bottom of the medium wave band. Even then, it would need to be flipped from K9AY mode to mag-loop mode below about 700 kHz., at which point it would become a loop! :(
After a lot of discussion on the Medium wave Circle's Facebook page, plus private emails between radio friends, I get the firm message that the gain from the Aziloop is not as high as a beverage (understandable) but even when compared to a large flag or K9AY and large DKaz. This may not be an issue of course. A few very contended users rate their Aziloops very highly and all seem to state that it's the best little antenna they have had. I understand that you can construct them with larger dimensions but I don't know the acceptable parameteres, so please don't quote me on this. I am still learning.
There is no doubt at all that this antenna is a performer, especially above 2 MHz. Some say that the high price is justified and actually quite reasonable. It's creator, Dave Evans, certainly knows his onions and has gone to considerable lengths to make this work. Short of actually trying one, I would like to think that I will be the proud owner of one in another year or so, but I won't be prioritising the purchase as I have other financial priorities in the next year or two. I am poor! Being self-employed in the industry I choose to work has good and bad times. It's seasonal, plus I have just been hit with a four figure sum for a replacement clutch for my car.
My large flag is more than adequate for my needs at the moment. Providing I maintain it well and give it the TLC it deserves, I cannot see a huge amount of difference between this and the Aziloop. The remotely controlled directivity of the Aziloop is the real selling point for me, so I think it would be incredibly useful to own one.
Any improvements to antennas of this size and performance will almost certainly be negligible, so I don't think I am missing out on DX by not having one.
So this is my current thinking on the matter. It's a luxury which would be very useful, but not absolutely essential. Will I buy one? I'd like to but not just yet. When you look at the different antennas we use for medium wave DX, you learn fairly quickly that there is not one 'all-singing, all-dancing' antenna. They all have their pros and cons. The general consensus is that the beverage wins out over all those antennas mentioned above. After that, I think the rest are on a par. No doubt some will agree and some will disagree. Comments welcome below.
Anyway, I have been thinking about getting an Aziloop - and I expect I might well do, but it won't be prioritised over other up and coming expenses, so next year looks like a possibility.
What advantages could there be? The electronic rotation would be incredibly useful. But since I don't have an internet connection there, apart from the Kiwi connection which is not actually mine, I wouldn't be able to control the direction, and its many other features, over the internet, but I presume it is possible to pre-programme things like direction changes.
What about gain and directivity? Would there be significant improvements over my large (5.5m tall x 20m long) flag? Not necessarily, but there would be some advantages. The Aziloop fine tunes everything very nicely, but it would need minor adaptation, i.e. appropriate ground planes, to help it perform better at the bottom of the medium wave band. Even then, it would need to be flipped from K9AY mode to mag-loop mode below about 700 kHz., at which point it would become a loop! :(
After a lot of discussion on the Medium wave Circle's Facebook page, plus private emails between radio friends, I get the firm message that the gain from the Aziloop is not as high as a beverage (understandable) but even when compared to a large flag or K9AY and large DKaz. This may not be an issue of course. A few very contended users rate their Aziloops very highly and all seem to state that it's the best little antenna they have had. I understand that you can construct them with larger dimensions but I don't know the acceptable parameteres, so please don't quote me on this. I am still learning.
There is no doubt at all that this antenna is a performer, especially above 2 MHz. Some say that the high price is justified and actually quite reasonable. It's creator, Dave Evans, certainly knows his onions and has gone to considerable lengths to make this work. Short of actually trying one, I would like to think that I will be the proud owner of one in another year or so, but I won't be prioritising the purchase as I have other financial priorities in the next year or two. I am poor! Being self-employed in the industry I choose to work has good and bad times. It's seasonal, plus I have just been hit with a four figure sum for a replacement clutch for my car.
My large flag is more than adequate for my needs at the moment. Providing I maintain it well and give it the TLC it deserves, I cannot see a huge amount of difference between this and the Aziloop. The remotely controlled directivity of the Aziloop is the real selling point for me, so I think it would be incredibly useful to own one.
Any improvements to antennas of this size and performance will almost certainly be negligible, so I don't think I am missing out on DX by not having one.
So this is my current thinking on the matter. It's a luxury which would be very useful, but not absolutely essential. Will I buy one? I'd like to but not just yet. When you look at the different antennas we use for medium wave DX, you learn fairly quickly that there is not one 'all-singing, all-dancing' antenna. They all have their pros and cons. The general consensus is that the beverage wins out over all those antennas mentioned above. After that, I think the rest are on a par. No doubt some will agree and some will disagree. Comments welcome below.
Saturday, 17 January 2026
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