Johnny,
You're right about not getting hf signals on the duck.
Here's what I do when I want to use the THF6 for HF listening.
First of all, I have found that using more than about 15 feet of wire is
useless due to signal overload with anything longer than that.
Not long after purchasing my THF6, I bought an adapter cable that is a short
length of RG174 with the SMA connector for the radio on one end, and an
SO239 on the other. I normally use this cable when connecting the radio to
an external mobile antenna, but I also use it to connect a wire to it for HF
listening.
For this, you only use the center conductor. That is, you only use the hole
in the middle of the so239. If you want to get fancy, you can install a
pl259 on one end of the wire you want to use, connecting the end of the wire
only to the center pen of the connector.
You can also buy a banana plug from Radio Shack, connect it to the end of
the wire, and push the banana plug into the center of the so239. That makes
a good connection, and doesn't hurt either connector.
Or, if you're really cheap, skin enough insulation from the end of the wire
to make several short folds in the bare wire, thus creating a wire that is
thick enough to stay in the center of the so239 when pushed into it. This
one isn't really physically stable, but it will work fine in a tight.
I've also been told that you can simply wrap several turns of the wire
around the rubber duck for a noticeable improvement in hf reception. I've
never tried that, but the technique makes sense.
Regardless of which of the above you use, remember that there is a menu
setting that causes the built-in AM antenna to be used below 10 mhz. Unless
you are right on top of the station you want to hear, this doesn't work very
well either. In order to get the external wire to work below 10 mhz, you
will need to find this menu setting and turn it off.
I forget what the number is, but maybe someone else can tell us. Of course,
you have to undo that setting when using the radio in the AM broadcast band.
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