Short wave radio recommendations?

[djf]

FReepers being the experts they are, I am curious about peoples experiences/recommendations for a decent short-wave radio.

I know nothing about the subject! Can you hear stations/people from around the world? Would a 12V one be better than a 110V?

Antennas? Do you have to live on the top of the Empire State Building?

My curiosity is prompted because it is entirely clear that the solar minimum is over. BIG TIME OVER!!!! Check spaceweather.com to see what I mean.

TIA!

[Doogle]

http://www.nextag.com/shortwave-radio/products-html

[Palter]

C-Crane has decent radios, and free tech support.

[MichaelP]

Eton or Grundig digital tuning. Don't waste your time on anything else. You'll need an amplified antenna for indors. AOR makes a good loop antenna. Go to www.grove-ent.com for best prices.

Mike

[politicianslie]

Before you buy a radio, what do you want to listen to?

Just shortwave broadcasts from Radio Moscow etc?

Ham Comm (SSB/CW) requires a much better radio

You do want digital readout

You do want an antenna jack so you can use an external jack

Filters? Do you want to listen exotic things?

Define what you want to do with it first. If you’ve never listened to shortwave (I mean spent time and you probably haven’t) start with something simple, $150-300, who knows you might get the bug and want to get your license. That’s the way I started.

WE4I

[djf]

Thanks.
Radio Shack has models for 33, 66, and 99.

But I need to find out more about the subject. As much as I know now, I could be listening to some guy from Alpha Centauri and not have a clue...!!

[djf]

Not sure what I want to listen to, because I’m not sure whats’s out there!

Doubt I would be listening to Argentinian soccer or whatever. But are there worldwide news broadcasts in English? Informational type contents, not entertainment. That sorta stuff.

You know, the kind of thing you would want to listen for after the asteroid hits...

[NVDave]

There’s a wide selection of SW radios out there, and the sky is nearly the limit on how much you can spend. You can spend from $50 up to $10K on radios.

The better radios will allow you to listen to more than just SW broadcasts from major stations, and will handle interference from adjacent stations better. Typically, when you pay more, you get:

- better selectivity
- better sensitivity
- better sound quality

But not always in a linear increase in price.

Antennas: The smaller your antenna, the less you will be able to hear. That’s the long and short of it in antenna theory. All the gibberish and folderol can be boiled down to this: the more wire you have up in the air, better your reception. In shortwave radio, antennas make a huge difference in either transmitting or receiving. After over 25 years as a ham, I can tell you that I’d rather spend more time and money on antenna(s) than on the latest gee-gaw features in the equipment.

You can make almost anything conductive into an antenna. Gutters and downspouts (if you bond them together), a wire run back and forth in your attic, or under your eaves, from a window out to a tree, etc. The higher the better, the longer the better. If you’re running a wire outside, you’ll want to install lightening protection on the wire before you bring it inside.

The larger question here is “To what do you want to listen?” SW broadcasts from major powers are easy to hear. I could whip up a SW receiver in a few hours out of parts scavenged from an old TV or radio to listen to major SW broadcast stations. They’re like circus carnies shouting through megaphones in the world of radio. If you want to listen to utility stations, time stations, hams, etc... you need to start considering higher-feature radios with better sensitivity and selectivity.

12V vs.. 120V. Are you interested in taking the radio on the road? That should answer the question for you.

[Freedom4US]

Collins R-390 is probably what you want. Check with spouse first. :)

[NVDave]

Yes, there are. Most major powers have SW broadcasts in a variety of languages. eg, Germany’s “Deutsche Welle” has broadcasts in English and German as well as Arabic, Spanish and other languages.

Voice of America has broadcasting in umpteen languages other than English.

The thing you’ll want to do first is figure out how much time and money you want to sink into this. Because you can sink in quite a little bit of both...

[FReepaholic]

You might try international radio stations that stream over the Internet before you shell out money for a SW radio:

http://www.live-radio.net/info.shtml

http://www.mikesradioworld.com/

Looks like there are some SW stations that stream over the net also:

http://www.k5kj.net/swl.htm

[NVDave]

Actually, you want a R-390A.

I have one. One of the best radios ever designed. Still is able to detect signals barely off the galactic noise floor.

Bang:buck, it is probably one of the better deals out there for a serious SW listener.

[NewHampshireDuo]

Pick up a copy of Monitoring Times and look at the general coverage communications receivers. MT also has lots of information on international shortwave broadcasters (schedules and frequencies).

A good place to see reviews of all kinds of communications equipment is eham.net. The general coverage receivers are at http://www.eham.net/reviews/products/8

If you are serious about this, get your ham ticket. It’s never been easier. You can get good 100 watt all mode (AM/FM/CW/SSB/FM) HF plus VHF/UHF radios that also include wide range receive - all freqs not just ham.

A good source to drool over radios is http://hamradio.com

[djf]

Thanks!
Exactly the kind of stuff I’m trying to find out.

I would want to have the ability to listen to “official” government news sources, but also the ability to listen to amateur broadcasts for info that you can’t get elsewhere.

And as far as taking it on the road, my idea on 12V is mostly because if the grid goes down. I have a generator and extra batteries so if I got 12V, I’d be covered pretty much no matter what.

Can you take one on the road? Drive down the road with a fifty foot wire antenna dragging out the back? Lol!
See, these are my types of questions. I am inclining towards thinking getting a cheapo one at first is the best idea to get used to it and see what it does, then when I find out more, go for a better one.

[Fresh Wind]

Digital tuning is overrated, in my opinion. It’s fine if you know exactly what you’re looking for. For browsing, I’ll take analog tuning every time, preferably with a digital readout of frequency.

My favorite is the legendary Panasonic RF-2200 (long since out of production, unfortunately).

[djf]

Thanks much!
Great idea.

[Eye of Unk]

I would think what should be considered is a type of radio that cannot be easily tracked or traced nor can be easily jammed. On that can hop frequencies? Be field portable? Have a computer interface for text messaging?

Basically a device free from ANY supported network and able to operate discretely, able to transmit burst would be a handy feature such as sending a large message.

[Fresh Wind]

Actually, you want a R-390A.

Great receiver. Just don't plan to move it very often!

[NVDave]

Here’s a web site that will help you with a lot of issues and questions:

http://www.dxing.com/index.html

Yes, you can take sw radios on the road. I used to operate ham radios from my car in the early/mid-80’s - and tube radios at that. I won’t bore you with all the details, but yes, it is possible. The antennas available to you in a car situation are all bad compromises, however. They’re all 9’ whips, and a 9’ whip is a puny bit of metal compared to a long wire run out to a tree or pole from your window.

You’re best to get a cheap(er) radio, or a used radio, before you pile a bunch of money into this. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, but NB that lots of the answers about the radios and antennas themselves can become quite technical, quite quickly. You will be doing homework. Being a retired EE, I could bore you to tears with technical details of SW radio, and you’d come away with nothing but more questions, because all radios are a trade off and I’d be boring you with the details of that trade-off. When you have a portable radio, for example, you’re typically giving up things like stability and selectivity. When you give up portability, you can get a whole slew of features, and so on.

Hence, you must decide what criteria are most important to you in using your radio.

I was not being facetious when I said you can spend thousands of dollars on a SW radio receiver. The “cheapie” radios will be in the $50 to $200 range, and the moderate-to-good radios will be in the $400 to $800 range. You can get a lot of value in a used receiver from a reputable dealer.

The really serious radios start at about $800 and up, and up, and up.

When I was a young twerp, I worked for one of the few companies left in the US that makes SW radio equipment - Harris RF. One day, I will buy one of their R-590A receivers, and i’ll likely expect to pay at least $2500 for it. But it was a hugely impressive radio, made for the US and NATO military and you could almost hear a mouse fart in Russia with that thing.

That’s an example of what you can get into for thousands of dollars. Beyond that, there are new “software defined radios” which you interface to a PC and with which you can do utterly amazing things which I won’t detail here and now.

[NVDave]

Completely agree. I’ve never, ever liked digital tuning, and I’ve operated a LOT of radios in my day. I’ll take pure analog tuning with mechanical dials over digital digit-by-digit tuning - any day.

The best of both worlds was a setup like the older Kenwood radios, eg, the TS-820, where you had analog mechanical readout with a digital readout above it. It is very difficult to tell how far you’re whipping across a band by looking at a digital display, because it cannot keep up as you rapidly change frequency.

For most people, I’d rate the Panasonic RF-2200 as just about an “ideal” a radio as you could get for bang:buck, simplicity and easy operation. It is a great example of marketing departments not “leaving good things alone” when they dropped the ‘2200 from their product line in favor of digital radios.