Sure.  I order all my crystals from International Crystal Manufacturing in Oklahoma.  http://www.icmfg.com/
Just call them up--they have great customer service.  They sell to hams all the time. 

73, Tony N3WAK

Dennis--I have a Drake TR-4CW that I use on AM periodically.  If you haven't seen it, be sure to check out Ron Baker's website, WB4HFN.com.  There are also Drake nets on Sundays and Tuesdays--info on Ron's website.  Jeff, WA8SAJ, has a nice article on improving the AM quality of the TR-4/TR-6, which is posted on Ron's site.  Perhaps one of the net controllers on the Sunday afternoon net could give you some tips about using the Twins on AM. 

Drake radios rock!  73, Tony

I use two 6' Norden kitchen tables from Ikea, end to end.  I have loaded them with boatanchors, both on the table and a low shelf running the length of the two tables.  These are handsome and incredibly sturdy.  I have an inexpensive, faux leather, padded swivelling desk chair from Staples, and a long headphone cable.  This way I can lean back in my chair, put my feet up on the table, and enjoy the warming glow of my old boatanchors. 

At first, I only had one of the tables, without the extension leaf.  I thought that would be plenty of room.  As that proved not to be the case, I then built a shelf...then put in the extension leaf...then went the route of two tables (without using the leafs, so they can support the big load). 

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30116872/

Good luck!  But remember: Don't fool yourself.  There never seems to be quite enough room for all those radios....

73, Tony

Hi Gedas.  Welcome to the forum...and back to SWLing.  I, too, was an avid SWL growing up.  As you know, things are very different now in terms of SW broadcasting, but there is still a lot to listen to.  Be sure to take a look at the website of the Ontario DX Association.  They have a great newsletter each month--look at, among all of them, the World English Survey, which I print out every month.  It's like a "TV Guide" for English language broadcasts. 

I have no experience with the Heathkit rig.  The most modern SWL rig I have is a Drake R8A, but I generally listen using vacuum tube receivers.  The older rigs are a lot of fun, have "soul" which the technologically newfangled rigs seem to me to lack, and bring back memories of hunkering over glowing rigs when I was a kid, listening to Radio Nederland. 

It's still a wonderful hobby.  Thank goodness for Radio Espana Exterior, Radio Romania, Radio Australia, Radio New Zealand, Deutsche Welle, the BBC, Radio Japan, and others! 

73, Tony

Concur with W9GB: buy wire at thewireman.com  Great company to deal with.  Most of my antennas are insulated 14ga flexweave, which is wonderful, flexible, and easy to work with. 

73, Tony

I think that Dirty Harry was right.  "Do you feel lucky?" 

Through vast practical experience, and after researching the issue exhaustively in numerous antenna books (athough I confess I never learned how to use ENZEC), I have reached the conclusion that I am able to make more contacts on the low bands using a poor antenna than with no antenna at all.  Try as I might, I made zero contacts on 160 before I put up my "low" Inverted-L.  With no antenna, I couldn't even get the ARRL's WMN Award (Worked My Neighborhood), much less WAS.  (Although the band was always quiet, and I wasn't troubled by atmospheric or manmade noise--a real positive on medium wave.)  Then I put up my antenna.  What a difference!  Even though it is far less than ideal given its relatively short vertical height, I've had tons of fun with it. 

So, put up an antenna!  Maybe you'll be lucky too and have a bunch of fun on 160 meters!  I hope to see you there. 

73, Tony

Ray--WB6BYU and others gave you a lot of good advice.  I think WB6BYU said to put up your 40 meter dipole/inverted vee and see how the SWR is on 15 meters before doing anything else.  I completely agree.  Your SWR on 15 might be less than 2:1 without doing anything.  Sure, I know that it's macho and satisfying (and practical in many ways) to have an SWR really, really close to 1:1, but as a practical matter at HF it isn't going to matter at all IMHO.  Should your rig have an internal tuner, it will operate at full output.  Yes, I know you'll have a little more loss in your coax than with a "perfect" SWR, but you probably are never going to notice it. 

I generally subscribe to the "good enough" way of doing things.  If my SWR was 2:1 or less on 15 meters, I'd be very happy.  If the truth were told, based on the coax loss calculations I have run and reading several articles in QST, an SWR below 3:1 is generally fine on HF.  That sort of loss--IMHO--is inconsequential at 160 meters (technically, MF and not HF) but less tolerable at 10 meters, because loss increases with SWR as your frequency increases. 

But with good quality coax, such as RG-213, and a reasonable length of coax out to your antenna--less than 100 feet, lazy hams like me have nothing to worry about at HF with an SWR < 3:1.  A perfectionist or a serious contester will want to get his or her SWR less than that.  But I have no pretensions about being the biggest signal on the band, and I'm a happy go lucky ragchewer. 

Have fun with your antenna experimentation.  But if your SWR on 15 is fairly low even though you're using a 40 meter 1/2 wave dipole, you can completely relax and ignore the "problem" if you're so inclined.  I would. 

73, Tony

W9DEC: 

I have to tell you--your question is really wide-open.  There are so many possibilities based on what bands you want to operate on, what kind of room for antennas you have, how much power you're using, your price range or whether you intend to homebrew. 

I would suggest Googling "$4 Special Antenna" and reading that article, which is short, funny, and informative.  Then I'd buy an antenna book, like "Simple and Fun Antennas" from the ARRL.  If you read about coax vs. ladderline, vertical vs. horizontal polarization, etc., you'll be able to figure out what might work best for you. 

IMHO, if you're not too familiar with these various subjects right now, you should do some reading and then put up a simple wire, homebrewed dipole for HF.  You'll develop a tremendous amount of knowledge just by reading and then doing.  Then, you'll get a tremendous amount of satisfaction using a simple antenna which you've made yourself. 

Have fun and 73, Tony

Well, if by "regular center fed dipole, with a balun," you mean a 1/2 wave dipole fed with coax (and a balun), the antenna will only work fine on a single band--on the band where it is resonant.  That is, it will work great on 80 meters, but no place else.  The one exception would be a 40 meter dipole which you could use on 15 meters, where it will be a 3/2 wave dipole. 

As a practical matter, except for the 40/15 meter combination (and, maybe, just maybe, an 80/10 combination), a coax-fed dipole is going to limit you to a single band.  If you want multiband operation, try a coax-fed fan dipole or use ladderline and an external tuner. 

If you Google "$4 Special," you'll find a great introduction on homebrewing a simple, ladder line-fed antenna. 

73, Tony

Has anybody actually tried this?  I'm not talking about loading up your gutters.  I have a one story house.  I'm not even sure of the perimeter dimensions, but I've been thinking of making a loop of insulated hookup wire inside my gutter--running it all around my house, just laying in the aluminum gutter, and feeding it with ladder line and a tuner.  A low, horizontal loop of uncertain dimensions.  I'm concerned about shielding by the aluminum gutter and overall effectiveness.  I know that I'll be trying it soon, just to see if "it works," but has anybody else tried this already?  Decent results, or not really?  I have several antennas already, but have been itching to try this one for a couple of years.  However, I'm waiting for a really cold, really windy, and really miserable day to do my antenna work this fall. 

Thanks!  73, Tony

First of all, I congratulate you on wanting to construct your own wire antenna.  That's the way to go. 

1.  Go ahead and put your radio on stilts if you want--it won't matter. 

2.  In my experience (more than 35 years of experimentation, with a lot of duds along the way), a vertically-polarized antenna will be noisier than a horizontally-polarized antenna, although, depending on height above ground, a lower vertical will be better for DX than a lower horizontally-polarized dipole should it matter to you.  I'm a casual operator, so I prefer a horizontally-polarized antenna; most of mine are inverted vees, which are simple mechanically to erect and maintain. 

3.  As I understand it, your coax should depart from you dipole at a right angle, ideally.  Of course, any angle is better than no antenna.  Straight down has an advantage because gravity wants to pull your coax feedline to the ground.  If your feedline goes out to the side--which is fine, since it's still a right angle--you have to contend with gravity and support the horizontal run of coax.  Either should work, but I've never chosen to fight gravity--straight down to the ground has always worked best for me. 

4.  A 1/2 wave vertical dipole might work great for you.  Ideally, the bottom of the lower leg should be a 1/2 wave above ground, but it doesn't sound like that will be the case at your house.  I think I'd just try it regardless.  If it doesn't work great, try a horizontal dipole over the trees--if you feed it with ladderline and use an external tuner, you'll likely have a very effective, multiband antenna. 

5.  If you go the 1/2 wave vertical route, make sure a passer-by doesn't get close to or touch the lower leg of the antenna when you're transmitting.  They'll get RF exposure and maybe an RF burn.  So, be cognizant of safety if there are little kids around. 

73, Tony

Hi.  I would recommend the Ontario DX Association's website.  They update their newsletter each month--great columns always, and very informative.  They also have a chart that shows most of the English language broadcasts by time/frequency/country.  That is a tremendous resource--it's like a two page "TV guide" for the English-speaking SWL.  Check it out!  I keep one in my sunroom, by my pristine Drake SW-4A, and one in my "shack" with the other radios. 

Just Google 'em. 

73, Tony

Hi Bart.  I'm glad that you found something that works for you.  I will take a look at your A/V switch next time I am at Radio Shack.  By saving so much money on a fancy multiple rig/mic/speaker controller, think of how much money you have left over for (1) beer and pizza, and (2) the next absolutely necessary and only semi-redundant rig at your QTH.  Good luck! 

73, Tony

One more thing, Bart.  The coax switches I use aren't two rigs/one antenna.  I use the four rigs/one antenna one, and hook that to a one rig/four antenna one.  They're exactly the same coax switch, just one is "backwards."  With a short patch cords between the switches, I have a bunch of combinations--that is, I can switch between four rigs and four antennas, or four rigs and three antennas with a dummy load in the 4th position.  I actually have four switches hooked together in this way, because I have lots of rigs and four antennas. 

I am sure there are fancier ways to do this, but this works fine for me.  I took a label maker (from Wal-Mart) and labeled each of the positions on the various coax switches, which means I don't have to remember which position corresponds with which rig or which antenna. 

73, Tony

Hi Bart.  No interference at all--but you only use one rig at a time.  I buy the shielded audio cables with RCA connectors at Radio Shack.  Foolproof!  Give it a try--guaranteed. 

73, Tony