...I've spent many hours on my DX160...LW becons-Swl-AM stations at sunsets - good fun
Posted on 01/11/2013 3:10:42 PM PST by virgil283
"In 1967, Radio Shack introduced the DX-150 general coverage ...Over the next few years, this line underwent several improvements.. . In 1975 the DX-160 was introduced with the most noticeable change being the addition of a LW band (150-400 kHz). This family of radios was made for Radio Shack by General Research of Electronics, Inc. of Japan....My impressions? This is as solid a radio as I could ask for given its age and simplicity of design. It has reasonably good selectivity and you have to be careful to tune it slowly or you'll miss the station you're looking for. The external speaker gives good quality audio. And--well, what else can I say--it just looks like a radio is supposed to look.
It's big --and add another 3" for the external speaker), solid (weighing in at about 15 pounds), seven knobs, four switches, and a pleasant glowing face. I can't imagine the shack without one of these types of radio in it. Until I got the DX-160 I had my Heathkit SW-717 on the bench. There is no comparison in their performance
(Excerpt) Read more at hamuniverse.com ...
...I've spent many hours on my DX160...LW becons-Swl-AM stations at sunsets - good fun
Love radio. I threw out all TV sets and have not watched TV in over 3 years. Rediscovered the joy of radio when I purchased a Grundig S350DL. Haven’t been this happy since I was a kid, when I received my first transistor radio.
I have 2 of these in my hoard.
When I was a kid, I built one of these:
http://www.ohio.edu/people/postr/bapix/StarRmr.htm
I loved my DX-160....I miss shortwave...sure you can get everything now on the Internet, but it just isn’t the same.
I didn’t start working for Radio Shack until 1969. Unfortunately, they didn’t sell this radio anymore - or at least I don’t recall it. All the other guys I worked with however, were ARRL boys. I learned a lot from these guys.
Later, CB became all the rage, and all the Ham Operators dismissed this fad as Circus Band radio. Still, we sold a pant-load of CB radios. But the Ham Radio guys will always have my admiration as people who really know their stuff...
If any HAM that’s watching has a cheap or old HF transceiver they’re looking to get rid of, I’m buying.
I’m going to get my Technician and CW test done tomorrow.
73s.
Couple years nack at a Goodwill I saw some wood in the stereo section - so I bought it!
Realistic STA-80 receiver. AM/FM only, built in amp which I don’t use...
but it is probably the single most sensitive receiver I’ve ever owned. Great FM stereo, has no trouble with distant or weak AM stations.
They made some good stuff back then! Not this throw away BS you see today!
I’ll never forget the day when Radio Nederland read one of my letters. Always anxiously waiting for the QSL cards to arrive in the mail. Ahh, good times.....good times.
Oh,I still have all of my TV’s :-)
People do not realize how important Amateur Radio is today. In addition to emergency preparedness, Skywarn, should the internet fail it would be a primary method of communications.
Good luck!
Had my DX-440 now for about 25 years....still works like a charm.
Yeah, but wait until it becomes self-aware.
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Thanks a bunch for posting this.
Have been hamming/swling since, umm, 1958. On the desk right now is an HQ-180, an FRG-7 and a SONY SW7600GR. My first QSO’s were with a WWII ARC-5 and Heathkit AT-1.
While this hobby is viewed by some as eccentric old guy behaviour, I suspect we will be important in the months/years to come. The HF broadcast frequencies are filled with loads of counter-cultural information (some of it is even accurate - imagine that).
Where I am headed with this is the inevitable need for COMINT when the internet and grid go down, or are shut down. All Freepers and preppers would be wise to take up your pasttime; learn their way around the SWL bands, not to mention the VHF/UHF ‘official’ channels. I believe that the foreign HF outlets will be going long after the coming tyranny co-opts the internet.
While it would be great for preppers to become amateur operators - that takes time and money. Having several shortwaves (tube & solid-state) will possibly provide intelligence when it really matters.
I have been quite favorably impressed with the Grunding G3 and G5. I keep one in the survival kit in the trunk of the car. Anyway, thanks for the post and 73’s.
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