Alinco DJ-X11 and The Poor Man’s SIGINT Station, by Holy Serf

   I recently consulted with NC Scout regarding my search for a portable scanner. I had attended his Basic & Advanced RTO Courses along with the SIGINT Course afterwards and recall the need for a communications receiver. I took his advice and made a purchase of an ALINCO DJ-X11 Wide Band Communication Receiver from DX Engineering. DX Engineering shipped quick as usual and the receiver was in my hands in a matter of a couple of days after purchase. I opened the box and inspected the radio along with the included battery charger stand, a lithium ion battery, instruction manual and pleasantly surprised to see an included dry battery case. That is a good piece to have with every radio I own as a back up power supply.
  

   I turned on the radio and opened the instruction manual in order to get familiar with the basic operation. I found the radio easy to navigate and had operating modes that were advanced for such a small package of a radio. This radio can receive dual bands with separate dials to adjust the volume and the frequency. The LCD display was easy to read and had time options for the backlit screen. On the main channel, you had the capability to use AM, FM, WFM, USB, LSB & CW for your listening options. The dials and key operation was easy to manipulate in switching modes and frequency bands. I was able to listen to the local sheriff’s department, local EMS, NOAA weather, etc.
After I got familiar with the basic operation, I wanted to see its capabilities in direction finding. I attached an Arrow Antenna Fox Hunt Loop to the antenna base. I had previously used this loop antenna in the SIGINT Course so I knew how it was supposed to work for direction finding. It worked as expected and I was able to direction find some ham radio chatter in my area within a matter of minutes.
  

   Now that I was satisfied with its basic operation, direction finding operation, I wanted to check out its HF capabilities. I constructed a ground loop antenna and switched the dial to 80m, 40m & 20m. I easily switched between USB and LSB, using the keypad, to listen quite clearly to several operators from a few hundred miles away. I could understand their conversation and felt comfortable with its HF receive capability. The last test was to use dual bands to listen to HF operators from far away and listen to local radio traffic. I switched the sub dial to the sheriff’s office and turned up the volume. Success! This compact receiver allowed me to monitor traffic from a few miles away and hundreds of miles away simultaneously. All I had to do once tuned to the proper frequency was to turn the volume up and down depending on which frequency I wanted to hear.

   I am very pleased with my Alinco DJ-X11 Wide Band Communication Receiver and added accessories for my SIGINT capabilities. This receiver with the extra antennas take up very little space and easily set up for a wide range of listening. You won’t be disappointed with your purchase if you decide to buy one. You’ll really appreciate it even more if you have attended RTO & SIGINT Courses.

HOLY SERF