Radio DXing & Radio Astronomy
Radio Dxing
Radio DXing is an exciting hobby that involves searching for both known and unknown radio signals from distant locations, including space.
It's like fishing in the vast ocean or searching for treasure from a distant radio source. If you're lucky, you could pick up signals from remote radio stations, satellites, extra-terrestrial sources, outer space, or even aliens! Who knows, you could get lucky 😊
Dxing is a radio term for looking for radio signals from far away. Broadcast Dxing is the hobby of trying to "catch" as many far-away radio stations as you can. AM Broadcast signals by nature can carry for hundreds if not thousands of kilometres at night. Radio hobbyists have been Dxing since radio was first invented over 100 years ago.
Many DX'ers keep records / journals of all the stations they have heard.
How to start or learn? Easy, any normal radio set can be used for the Dx activity, but if you want to receive a 'unique' or a rare Radio signal, you might require a more sophisticated setup including a Wide Band radio Receiver like the one shown here and an external antenna setup etc.,
My Radio Dxing Setup
My 'Ultra-Wideband' Radio Dx'ing Setup.
This setup covers continuous tuning across VLF, MF, HF, VHF, AB, and UHF spectrum. This is a 3 Antenna Port setup and I use multiple Antennas right from Discone, Active Magloop and a simple long-wire Antenna. This setup gives me the ability to tune from 100 KHz to 6 GHzs continuously, with Zero Gap bandwidth. With this kind of setup, you can listen to Submarine communication to spacecraft communication right from your home!
Needless to say, my this 'dream setup' all the components of my Dxing setup are carefully chosen and configured. I am happy with the overall performance. I'll share the exact configuration here soon, with useful online resources and links. However, online search can help you with abundant information like Videos & DIY Guides, if you are in a hurry.
Antenna Setup
In the picture, typical Wide Band Discone Antenna. Antenna is a very important element of your Radion Dxing setup. However, to begin with, one can start using a simple long wire hooked to an out point, but for noise-free performance, it is better to use a ‘Tuned Antenna’.
You can buy or make antennas for a very low cost and even use a piece of copper or aluminium wire as an antenna. However, if you want to fine-tune and pick the remote RF Signal, you need an LNA - Low Noise Amplifier coupled with an Antenna for better performance.
The antenna is as crucial as your Radio Receiver. So, pay utmost importance while setting up your antenna. You can buy or make your own Antenna easily with locally available materials and a little bit of patience.
economical Alternative!
I also use a budget-friendly setup of RTL SDR along with a Wideband, Low Noise LNA aka Active Pre-Amp, powered by Bias-T.
RTL-SDR is the best option to start if you want to scan the sky for unknown Radio Signals, on the budget. However, in my opinion, these SDRs, aka 'Software Defined Radios' are in no way a match to the commercially available Wide Band Radio Receivers like Icom IC-R8600 in terms of performance, sensitivity or selectivity. So, if budget allows, go for a more sophisticated Commercial Radio Receiver for your Dxing Activity.