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I just got my technician license, and I'm just fooling around a bit on the Grundig.

I'm trying to pull in WWV from NJ, so 1st, is that possible with the radio whip? I've tried the built-in whip on 5, 15 & 20 Mhz at 4 PM and at 9 PM. nothing

Next question: I have a spool of galv fence wire, bent it into a very tight loop, at the spool and pushed it into Female - female SO239. Screwed that into 100 Ft brand new RG8X cable. Pulled out 40 feet and taped it 7 feet high in the house. Nothing on 5,15 or 20 Mhz . More details. I probably have 30 feet of coax coiled at the radio. ( vs coiling it near the wire antenna. IMPORTANT : I have NOT cut 40 feet off the spool. I have the coax attached to the pigtail ON THE SPOOL and ran 40 feet out.

do I need to cut the wire off the spool?

What am I doing wrong? It was my understanding that even 15 feet of wire upstairs, with the radio and myself down in the basement, would be good enough?

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    $\begingroup$ Are you receiving any stations at all? $\endgroup$
    – Glenn W9IQ
    Feb 3, 2018 at 13:19
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    $\begingroup$ It sounds like something is wrong with your Grundig. You should be able to pick up something with the whip antenna. $\endgroup$
    – rclocher3
    Feb 4, 2018 at 17:58
  • $\begingroup$ It will pick up some signals. I just did a test against a NooElec SDR hooked to the same antenna, and stations that were understandable from the SDR were NOT intelligible from the Grundig. I just find it weird that I can't get WWV at all, on any freq, at any time of the day... $\endgroup$
    – Bob Housedorf
    Feb 5, 2018 at 22:27
  • $\begingroup$ find a friend with a similar radio, have him come over to your place with it, and compare the results. regarding all this business with the fence wire, SO239, coax and whatnot, simply clipping the end of a 20 foot piece of insulated wire to the tip of the whip antenna should work fine as a listening antenna (40 feet would be even better). also try tuning in a SW station with the whip pulled all the way out (signals should be stronger) and then all the way collapsed (signals should be weaker). If nothing changes, then the wire connecting the whip with the radio chassis may be broken. $\endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Feb 6, 2018 at 4:09

2 Answers 2

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WWV is transmitted on 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 MHz from each of two locations.

  • WWVB from Boulder, Colorado

  • WWVH from Hawaii

So with the Grundig you should be able to receive at least WWVB.

Propagation varies by time of day. And we are at a point of very low solar activity, which limits the skip at higher frequencies.

From the Desert Southwest it is pretty normal to hear it at 5 MHz during the evening/night, and 10 MHz during the day on a whip antenna using a Tecsun PL-880 - a very similar radio in terms of sensitivity.

In the absence of interference or locally-produced radio noise, I would expect about the same from NJ.

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Answer to question 1: Yes you should be able to pull in WWV on 5 - 10 - 15 MHz at all hours of the day, from NJ, with the higher frequency during the day, and the lower frequency at night. Something might be wrong with your radio, make sure you have fresh batteries, and so on. If you are hearing other stations, (try 6060 kHz for Radio Havana) then try 3330 or 7530 KHz for CHU time signals in Canada, best at night. Another thing, you may need to go outside, if your building is blocking signals.

Answer to question 2: You should not need an external antenna with your Grundig. The whip antenna should suffice for any reception need. Your Grundig is built to add lots of gain to what the whip antenna can detect. Again, check your radio, check for fresh batteries, go outside, and so on. I also have a Grundig (Yacht Boy) and I find that it works horrible with an external antenna.

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