THE RSPduo GOES TO SEA

[glovisol]

Posted below two photos showing the RSPduo receiving meteofax at sea. Getting far from the harbour and leaving a lot of noise behind is really good!

HF reception in the ham bands when afar is also good, considering that the antenna is an insulated stainless steel backstay 15 m long approximately, but the Ham bands were full today on account of the season's holidays.

[glovisol]

Shown below the backstay arrangement as a 15 m (short!) wire antenna. A single wire, connected to the insulated backstay, goes to the ferrite balun transformer near the RSPduo. This wire runs inside a plastic conduit far from other wiring or metal parts/devices. The other primary lead of the transformer goes directly to the engine, which is in contact with the sea trough the saildrive & propeller. 1" long secondary leads of transformer go to the P & N terminals of the RSPduo. No ground connection at all seems to be beneficial in minimising internal boat noise. In fact diesel motor and/or fridge do not cause any noise increase. This is amazing, considering that the diesel turns two alternators!