MW DX - Equipment

Equipment

While any radio covering the mediumwave (AM radio) band can be used for DX purposes, serious DXers generally invest in a higher-quality receiver, and often a specialised indoor tuned box loop or outdoor longwire antenna. At the lower end of the spectrum, a portable radio with a larger-than-normal internal ferrite core antenna designed for long-distance AM radio reception may be used, such as the discontinued GE Superadio or Sony ICF-2010 with synchronous detection or the Panasonic RF-2200. More serious DXers may spend much more for a tabletop shortwave communications receiver with good performance on the lower mediumwave frequencies using an external antenna, such as the AOR 7030+, Drake R8/R8A/R8B, Icom R-75, or Palstar R-30. In such a configuration, a high-performance loop antenna may be employed, or in the alternative, one or more outdoor longwire Beverage antennas, sometimes many hundreds of meters long. In order to cancel out reception of unwanted stations, some DX listeners employ elaborate phased arrays of multiple Beverage antennas. For trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific reception, where the target station is on a 9 kHz rather than a 10 kHz multiple or vice versa, receivers with narrow RF filters are useful in rejecting adjacent broadcasts on the listener's own continent. To combat noise, DXers may use an outboard noise attenuation device, or a radio with built-in digital signal processing capabilities. A personal computer with specialized logging software or simply a paper notebook is used to write logs. Tape recorders or other recording devices can be used to archive memorable DX moments, or identify hard-to-hear station receptions after the fact.